Spot the odd one out?

In the tune made famous by Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the others, one of these things is different from the rest"

Take a look at the below and then really think about it and tell me which one is the Odd One Out?

Before I give you the answer, I'll tell you about how the idea for this blog came about.  I was having lunch with a friend at work the other week and this very topic came up in discussion.  We were talking about my friends particular choice from the canteen menu and how that the body itself doesn't make the choices and also doesn't (and can't) tell the difference between many foods because almost everything that we put into our mouths has to end up as glycogen because this is the fuel that the body uses for nearly every bodily function.  I should point out that there are things called ketones and micronutirents; I've simplified this.

So, to understand which is the odd one out we need to appreciate the fact that the cells in the body cannot tell the difference between the foods above because they only see the result of the foods once they are broken down and (at the risk of over simplifying this) all they see is glucose.

If you guessed that the odd one out is the T Bone steak, then you were right.  Why do I believe that it's the odd one out?  Well, the orange juice (a breakfast staple), the pasta, the sugar and the bread are easily and quickly converted by the body into glucose and then to glycogen.  This drives an insulin response which then shunts the glycogen into the adipose tissue - BODY FAT anyone?  And in fact, the orange juice is perhaps the worst of the bunch because it contains a high amount of fructose, a monosacharide and fructose is (according to Dr. Robert Lusting - listen to this podcast) turned into glucose in the liver up to seven times faster than other sugars.  Whereas table sugar is a disaccharide and is made up of fructose and glucose and therefore converted slower (no where near as slow as the steak) and remember, sugar drives glucose drives insulin drives body fat.

Whereas the steak is not converted into glucose quickly; does not cause an insulin response; contains essential amino acids (building blocks); contains essential fatty acids.  And that is why, in my humble opinion, I believe that the T Bone steak is the odd one out.

I'd really appreciate any feedback and comments on topics for upcoming blogs.  The next blog article will be about calories and how the calories in / calories out is nonsense.

Take care until next time.

Paleo Sports Gel

In my last post I made mention of a home made paleo sports gel I had made and in this post I'll tell you about how I made it and how I went using it as the only fuel source during the AROC Adventure race I did on Saturday.

This paleo sports gel is based on an idea I got from one of Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution podcasts.  My own recipe for the paleo sports gel is:

1. green apples (450g)
2. sweet potato (125g)
3. raw sugar (2tbs) To make this a better paleo option you should use raw organic honey (I wasn't thinking at the time - doh!)
4. water

It's very simple to make, here's how:

• Peel the apples and sweet potato
• Boil the apples and sweet potato in a pan with the water covering them (add some cinnamon if you want)
• Leave them boiling until they're nice and soft
• Separate the apples and sweet potato from the water and put the water to one side. you'll need that in a minute
• Put the apples and sweet potato into the blender and blend on high until nice and smooth
• This next step is not necessary but I wanted to increase the glucose content.  So, take about 250ml of the water and add some honey. (I added raw sugar but will definitely use raw organic honey next time)
• Add the water into the mixture slowly and blend in.  You want to have the mixture nice and runny so that it flows easily and is easy to eat/drink
• Leave the mixture to cool slightly and then add to small plastic bottles you can take on the trail.

I used this gel during a four hour event this weekend and it worked beautifully.  I had made enough that I also had it for breakfast before the event as well.  It was nice and tasty and gave me the energy I was after.  Right through to the end of the event (3hr57m) I had plenty of "go" in my legs.  I did suffer a rather nasty cramp just 500 metres from the end but this was due to an electrolyte problem.

There's a couple of things I would do differently next time.

1. I'd add some natural Himalayan salt to the mixture to bring up the electrolyte profile; and
2. I would use raw organic honey instead of raw sugar to make it a better paleo option.

I will defiantly use this in the future for any endurance events I do.  It was delicious, easy to carry and easy to digest.

Give it a go yourself and let me know how you go.

Take care until next time.