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Protein Quality

In order to have good protein, you have to have all the essential amino acids in the proper proportions. If one or more amino acid is not included in the right amount, the protein is incomplete. Diets that are very low in protein or that are very restrictive in the types of protein consumed (e.g., vegetarian diets) may not provide complete protein.
There are nine essential amino acids, and there exist an optimal level for each amino acid. In a  protein source the amino acid with the lowest level is considered the “limiting” amino acid for that food and determines how good the protein is.Optimal levels for amino acids are based on the following amino acid profile recommended by the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board:

That being said, a lot of people believe that whey protein is the wrestler’s ideal protein source because it is absorbed quickly by the body and can be used to supply energy pre-, during-or post-match. This quick absorption will give you more energy and will help you outlast your opponent on the mat.

Whey protein can also improve your mental function. After a hard match or training session, whey protein will give your tired and damaged muscles the protein they need to recover.

But while whey protein is beneficial in some settings, we do not always need protein to be absorbed right away.

Here is a potential protein plan – imagine that money is not an issue and you are disciplined enough to follow such a regimen:

1. A fast-acting whey protein first thing in the morning and 30 minutes before workouts
2. A recovery product containing protein plus carbohydrates immediately after workouts
3. A moderately-digested egg protein in between meals.
4. All-casein protein at bedtime for sustained amino acid delivery throughout the night while you sleep.

Therefore just using whey protein is not optimal, nevertheless very realistic option and at this point in our research we are true beginners to protein so less walk before we run and stick to whey protein for now.

After doing a small bit of research online, a lot websites seem to recommend:

But more importantly, anywhere you look, this product gets nothing but the best reviews. Let’s take a look at the product.

Say you buy:
Optimum 100% Whey Protein, 5lbs @ $41.99
Container Size: 5 Lbs
Serving Size: 1 Scoop
Servings Per Container: 74

1 scoop = 24 grams of protein

There are 74 scoops in the 5-pound container. Therefore you have 1776 grams of protein in a container.

In a month you will need, according to our previous research, about 3630 grams of protein (121g*30days). So, you might as well buy the 10 pound container at $79.99 with 3552 total grams of protein.

If you only used the shake to provide for your protein then you should take about 5 scoops during the day = 120 grams.

The total fat of 5 scoops = 7.5 grams
The total calories of 5 scoops = 650 grams
The total cost of 5 scoops = $2.58

If after reading this, you feel I am telling you to only eat protein in powder form then you have completely misunderstood the article. Read it again.

Using protein supplements saves money on most occasions. They also allow room for other foods that we crave and need, while helping the body to become stronger.

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First, let me tell you the truth – I have always despised and been very skeptical of powder supplements. I always thought to myself that in this capitalist society, manufacturers probably put a bunch of unnecessary chemicals in powder supplements to maximize the product. So if I take them, 10 years from now I will end up with cancer. But, after doing some research about nutrition, I’ve realized that I’ve been wrong – and I may have done a disservice to my athletic career.

Let me explain: I have been breaking my body instead of building it. Why didn’t I notice? Simply because I was in my in my teens! But now, at the age of 23, I have realized that without proper nutrition I might never accomplish my goals. Before moving on, let me explain where my previous mindset was wrong.

1. The beauty of capitalism is that it encourages competition. A lot of these products have not been approved by the FDA, which I don’t like, but they are regulated by consumers and experts. If a product doesn’t produce results, it does not get positive reviews from experts or consumers – and boom it’s out of the stores and the company is out of business. But even if the product is good, as soon as another product becomes a bit better, or even equal in quality, there is no competitive advantage. This forces the manufacturers to go on a never-ending journey of improvement. And that’s a good thing.
2. If you can get the same amount of protein from natural foods like steak, fish, etc., this is obviously the best choice. But, before you assume you are getting the right amount of protein from non-supplement sources, lets examine how much protein a BJJ athlete should consume. This is according to my previous research (Small Steps to Better Nutrition for Athletes)

So, if you are like me and weight 175 pounds, you should eat an average of 121 grams of protein per day.

How much fish is that? From http://www.nutritiondata.com we see that it will take about one and a half fillets of salmon every day to accomplish that. And while you’ll be getting your protein, you’ll also be eating 66 grams of fat. That would only leave us with 12 gram of fat to eat for the rest of the day, according to our previous researh (Small Steps to Better Nutrition for Athletes).

Here are some other high protein foods to help you get a perspective:

Food, Amount, Protein
Fish, 3 oz, 21 grams
Chicken, 3 oz, 21 grams
Turkey, 3 oz, 21 grams
Meat, 3 oz, 21 grams
Milk, 8 oz, 8 grams
Tofu, 3 oz, 15 grams
Yogurt, 8 oz, 8 grams
Cheese, 3 oz, 21 grams
Peanut butter, 2 tbsp, 8 grams
Eggs, 2 large, 13 grams

If you get the non-organic salmon for $6 a pound, this will cost you about $9 dollars a day, or $270 dollars a month – and that’s just for salmon!

Also, it’s important to point out that this salmon-only diet only provides 1101 calories per day. Our research( Lehigh Wrestling Balance Diet for Fueling Wrestlers ) also indicates that a 175-pound BJJ athlete should eat anywhere from 1,700 to 3,500 (1700 being absolutely minimal and not good during hard training periods like Panams Championship or World Championship preparation periods). So, we have to eat about 1000 calories more, but we can only only eat 12 more grams of fat! That’s a pretty hard act to follow.

This is why Protein Powder Supplements are a necessary evil. Most of us don’t have the time to plan exact diets with natural products. And we also don’t have the money, nor the time and energy, to cook after training sessions.

In our next article, we will examine protein more scientifically and determine the best solution to our protein needs.

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If you have never visited the www.NutritionData.com website and you are serious about nutrition you must do it NOW. This is a wonderful free resource in the internet. Not only does it give you all the specs (and I mean more specs that you can handle) about thousands of foods, but it also gives you personal account to keep track of recipes, foods, etc… and tools like

• Compare Foods Tool
• Custom Entry Tool
• Nutrient Search Tool
• Food Category Explorer
• Daily Needs Calculator
• and many more…

There are many interesting articles as well. I have been using this as a resource for a lot of my  research.

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Researching for about nutrition I stumble upon this peace of information from Lehigh University. Lehigh is know for its prestigious wrestling program. So you get an idea of what we are talking about here is a handy table;

In College Wrestling that is not easy folks. Anyways here is some nutritional facts I found:

Fueling

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends(http://www.acsm.org):

The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 20,000 international, national and regional members are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_College_of_Sports_Medicine)

• College wrestlers need to eat at least 1,700 to 2,500 calories per day. During very hard training, wrestlers may need an additional 1,000 calories per day.
• Wrestlers need 2.3 to 3.6 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight per day (5 to 8 g/kg/day). Good sources of carbohydrates include whole grain breads and cereals, fruits, and vegetables.
• Wrestlers typically need 0.55 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (1.2 to 1.7 g/kg/day). If calorie intake is restricted for quick weight loss, protein needs may increase to 0.9 grams per pound per day (2.0 g/kg/day). Good sources of protein include fish, chicken, turkey, beef, low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, nuts, and soy foods (tofu, soy nuts, and soy burgers).
• Wrestlers need at least 0.45 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day (1 g/kg/day). Choose heart-healthy fats, such as canola oil, olive oil, and nuts.

Summary and Practical Table

Fluids

• Drink 2 cups of fluids 2 hours before a match.
• Drink another cup of fluid 15 minutes before exercise.
  When possible, drink ½ cup of fluid every 15 to 20 minutes during practice.
• After practice or a match, weigh yourself and drink about 3 cups of fluids for every pound you lost through sweat while you were active.
• Choose sport drinks to replace electrolytes lost in sweat.
• Eat foods with a lot of water in them (such as grapes,
  watermelon, apples, celery, peaches, lettuce, and
  cucumbers)

Supplements

• Creatine may help athletes in sports with short bursts of activity, such as wrestling. Creatine may also help your muscles to recover, which could help you to train harder. Creatine monohydrate powder is a common type of creatine supplement. It can be taken at a dose of 3 to 5 grams per day. Taking more than that amount does not increase the benefits. For creatine supplementation to work, you must drinkadequate fluids. Weight gain is common with creatine supplementation.
• For this reason, wrestlers may choose to avoid this
  supplement.
• Creatine is not recommended for athletes younger than
  18 years because it is not known whether it is safe for
  people in that age group.

For the complete article please visit:

https://www.lehighsports.com/assets/sportsmed/Wrestling.pdf

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Bad Foods

1. Acorn Squash
2. Baked Beans
3. Beets
4. Black Eyed Peas
5. Butternut Squash
6. Cooked Carrots
7. Corn
8. French Fries
9. Hubbard Squash
10. Lima Beans
11. Parsnips
12. Peas
13. Pinto Beans
14. Potato
15. Refried Beans
16. Sweet Potato
17. Turnip
18. Banana
19. Cranberries
20. Dates
21. Figs
22. Guava
23. Mango
24. Papaya
25. Prunes
26. Raisins
27. Fruit Juice
28. Vegetable Juice
29. Bagel
30. Biscut
31. Bread Crumbs
32. Bread
33. Steak Sauce
34. Bulgar
35. Sweet Relish
36. Cereal
37. Cornstarch
38. Croissant
39. Crouton
40. Doughnut
41. English Muffin
42. Granola
43. Grits
44. Melba Toast
45. Muffin
46. Noodles
47. Instant Oatmeal
48. Pancake
49. Popcorn
50. Rice
51. Rolls
52. Taco Shell
53. Tortillas
54. Udon Noodles
55. Waffle
56. BBQ Sauce
57. Ketchup
58. Cocktail Sauce
59. Honey
60. Jelly
61. Sugar
62. Maple Syrup
63. Teriyaki Sauce
64. Chocolate
65. Corn Chips
66. Ice Cream
67. Potato Chips
68. Pretzels
69. Saltine Crakers
70. Molasses

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Good Foods List

1. Water
2. Oatmeal
3. Eggs
4. Protein Powder
5. Peanut Butter
6. Tahini
7. Olives
8. Beef
9. Cheese
10. Salsa
11. Black Beans
12. Kidney Beans
13. Ground Turkey
14. Soy Sausage
15. Chicken
16. Turkey Sausage
17. Salmon
18. Turkey
19. Canned Tuna
20. Canned Chicken
21. Soy Burgers
22. Cottage Cheese
23. Almonds
24. Macadamia Nuts
25. Avocado
26. Tofu
27. Tomato
28. Lettuce
29. Onion
30. Mushroom
31. Cucumber
32. Blueberries
33. Milk
34. Broccoli
35. Zucchini
36. Apple
37. Grape
38. Plum
39. Shrimp
40. Mayonnaise
41. Plain Yogurt
42. Deli Meat
43. Ham
44. Soy Milk
45. Spirulina
46. Tempeh
47. Egg Substitute
48. Oil
49. Peanuts
50. Swordfish
51. Tuna Steak
52. Tomato Sauce
53. Spinach
54. Carrots
55. Orange
56. Pear
57. Pineapple
58. Brussel Sprouts
59. Eggplant
60. Sauerkraut
61. Hot Dogs
62. Chick Peas
63. Lamb
64. Pork
65. Dill Pickles
66. Soy Beans
67. Asparagus
68. Cantaloupe
69. Strawberry
70. Peach

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It’s hard to be an athlete in the USA. Have to work 40+ hour jobs, sponsor yourself, and the training, and some time there is just not enough time in the day to eat right.

My main current challenges as an athlete that I am trying to overcome are:

• Nutritional Discipline
• Flexibility and Stretching Discipline
• Periodization
• and Sleep!

I will be writing about the ladder three topics in later issue, nevertheless nutrition is the little secret of my BJJ career. Here is some background.

Nutritional Background

In College I was to poor to afford healthy food. I literally ate butter and bread for months, and did not miss any free food event regardless of what it was for. I was broke. Free Pizza could not be turned down.

Out of college my economic situation changed when I got my first job, but I did not know how to cook, or better yet…I hate cooking. I am a very impatient person when it comes to food. I would eat the food while cooking it and that made the whole process of cooking illogical.

Also I have a sweet tooth. I love “tres leches” ( latin dessert…REALLY GOOD)…cheesecake…how can one turn down cheesecake I do not know.

Lately the last obstacle to make itself really obvious it’s not having time to eat right which is really crazy, but its true.

So let’s put it in the open these main factors.

Common Factors Affecting Good Nutrition

• Money: Good food usually cost more.
• Sweets & desserts: They are too tempting and to good.
• Not knowing/liking to cook: Processed foods are usually terrible for you.
• Time: To busy to eat right.

I will  take a wild guess that an average serious athlete is:

• Not Rich: Most athletes do not make much money in their sport until they have reached high levels after many years of sacrifice.
• Craves good food: Due to the abstinence of not having it during hard intensive workouts and weight cutting period.
• Does not have a lot of time in his day: Due to the many trainings sessions plus side jobs.
• Will not necessarily like cooking: Especially after a hard training session.

Looking at this factors and characteristics it become so clear to see why I struggle with balanced nuitrition and I don’t think am the only one out there on this boat. One thing we left out is the lacks of Nutritional Experts helping athletes be informed and make the right choices when picking their food or diets. I am only aware of nutritional experts that are accessible to athletes for not an arm and a leg at the Olympic Training Center. Other wise its up to the athlete to educate himself and that takes time, and we are back to where we started. Time that one can steal only from one’s sleep, but let’s fix one issue at a time. When designing a nutritional program. I have realized it has to be realistic given the conditions above. Lets put it in one sentence:

Goal: A nutritional program that is affordable, includes tasty food and occasional desserts ( treats) , does not required a lot of time, and does not required for you to be an expert chef.

I know it sounds to good to be true, but lets give it a first shot by writing a set of rules. This rules cannot be broken or otherwise its not the program that failed but ourselves. I promise they will not be harsh at all, like I said before: “I am with you on this one.”

Rules for Better Nutrition

Rule # 1. No Fast Food: Plain and simple there are enough supermarkets where one can drive to and one can drop in the deli and grab high quality meat for less of the time that you may have while waiting at the drive through and for less money too.

Let’s take a look at what the cross fit guys tell us (http://www.crossfit.com). In Summary

according to Crossfit who are very big on Dr. Barry Sears’ Zone Diet (http://www.drsears.com/) and seem to base their believes of his research which does a good job of jointly managing issues of blood glucose control, proper macronutrient proportion, and caloric restriction the three pillars of sound nutrition whether your concern is athletic performance, disease prevention and longevity, or body composition.

Of course as I write this I took a second to buy Dr. Sears’ book Enter the Zone at Amazon and I got a huge list of his books that are recommended by Amazon. Ok, ok, ok, so I know I have impulsive tendencies, so let me check with coach and long time friend Julius Park who has been down these waters way back when I didn’t know what BJJ was. Minutes later  Julius agreed that we are heading on the right direction with our research therefore I also ordered:

• Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes: 150 Fast and Simple Healthy Recipes
• A Week in the Zone
• Zone Meals in Seconds : 150 Fast and Delicious Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• The Top 100 Zone Foods : Supercharge Your Health
• The Omega Rx Zone Low Price CD: The Power of the New High-Dose Fish Oil

Julius also added his valuable input to my research which will explain why we also decided to buy “The Omega Rx Zone Low Price CD: The Power of the New High-Dose Fish Oil”. More on this later though.

Nevertheless lets get back to our summary of Crossfit’s Journals 2, and 3. Nutrition plays a critical role in your fitness as it can amplify or diminish the effect of your training efforts.  Crossfit explains that there exist a theoretical hierarchy for the development of athletes. The pyramid starts with nutrition at the base.

Theoretical Hierarchy for the Development of Athletes

The pyramid hierarchy reflects foundational dependence on one level on the others below. If you have a deficiency at any level of “the pyramid” the compo­nents above will suffer. As a result if your  nutrition is bad, then most  of  everything you do as an athlete will suffer because of it.

One the needs to ask what does effective nutrition look like? Crossfit explains that effective nutrition is moderate in protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Balanced macronutrient and healthy nutrition looks more like 40% carbohydrate, 30 % protein, and 30% fat. Which brings us to our next rule:

Rule # 2. Throw Low Fat Diets Out The Window!

Why? Once Again from Crossfit Journal’s 2 and 3, Gary Taubes, a well respected science writer pretty much wrote about how dietary fat is not the problem but excess consumption of carbohydrate is - particularly refined or processed carbohydrate. Not only that but now there is an increasing awareness that excess carbohydrates play a dominant role in chronic diseases like obesity, coronary heart disease, many cancers, and diabetes due to “hyperinsulinemia.”

Hyperinsulinemia: the chronic and acute elevation of insulin as a result of habitual consumption of excess carbohydrate.

The list of ills probably linked to hyperinsulinemia is a little scary :

• Hypertension Obesity
• Colorectal Cancer
• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Diabetes
• Metabolic Syndrome X

That is  only after googling hyperinsulinemia for 15 minutes.

The diseases above can easily be avoided by minimizing carbohydrate consumption - specifically carbohydrate that gives substantial rise to blood sugar and consequently insulin levels.

Lets add another rule:

Rule #3. Eat good foods not bad foods.

That rule its so simple its stupid. Yeah but not really, if you think about how we will determine GOOD FOODS vs. BAD FOODS .

Good foods don’t cause use diseases that’s for sure. Lets follow Dr. Sears and Corssfit standards. Once again as  our main goal is to start some where so that later on we can build upon unto better nutritional systems. Pretty much or new eating habits mus include food that won’t cause significant rise to blood sugar and consequently insulin levels. Acoording to the above sources the Glycemic Index is a measure of a food’s propensity to raise blood sugar. Therefore we must avoid high glycemic foods.

Lets stick for now to the list  give to us by Crossfit but we can also find a lot of this info online,

Rick Mendosa’s list of glycemic indices , or by reading , The Top 100 Zone Foods : Supercharge Your Health by Dr. Sears.

Here are our always  updated and  always growing list of

• GOOD FOODS
  
• BAD FOODS
  

Here is our list to start with and plan to build upon, For an experiment have Highlighted Green the foods that are good that I currently eat. The Green Highlights with bold are foods I really enjoy! In the same fashion I have Highlighted Red the foods I eat that are bad. An the Red Highlights with bold font are those which I will surely miss. I suggest you do the same as the results are quiet shocking.

So far it sounds lie I will really miss giving up:

• French Fries
• Banana
• Fruit Juice
• Bagel
• Biscut
• Bread
• Croissant
• English Muffin
• Pancake
• Rice
• Taco Shell
• Tortillas
• Waffle
• Ketchup

But will really enjoy

• Eggs
• Olives
• Beef
• Cheese
• Ground Turkey
• Chicken
• Turkey Sausage
• Salmon
• Turkey
• Canned Tuna
• Avocado
• Lettuce
• Onion
• Shrimp
• Mayonnaise
• Deli Meat
• Ham
• Oil
• Peanuts
• Swordfish
• Tuna Steak
• Hot Dogs
• Lamb
• Pork

Seems like the best compromise ever to me… I know the list might be limited but I plan to add more to it in future posts.

Time for another rule:

Rule #4. Keep a printed rule of good foods vs bad foods in your wallet/ purse and one in your fridge where you can see every day: It will take you a while to remember all the good and the bad foods and also some discipline so ltes have a constant reminder and not allow any room for accidents.

Let’s look back our initial goal:

Goal: A nutritional program that is affordable, includes tasty food and occasional desserts ( treats) , does not required a lot of time, and does not required for you to be an expert chef.

So far I think we have run across some tasty foods and a lot of them can be combined fro greater taste results.

I don’t know much about cooking but from the green list above I can see some easy combinations that will take me a couple of seconds to make and required almost no cooking expertise. Pretty much  the time factor  and cooking expertise factor are taken care of, for now. If not buy yourself a Foreman Grill that thing saves my life.

The occasional dessert or treat we will take care with our last rule, so do not worry about it for now. All that is left for us to examine is the money aspect:

From my list I know that:

• Eggs
• Olives
• Cheese
• Ground Turkey
• Chicken
• Turkey Sausage
• Salmon
• Turkey
• Canned Tuna
• Avocado
• Lettuce
• Onion
• Mayonnaise
• Deli Meat
• Ham
• Oil
• Peanuts
• Hot Dogs
• Pork

Are not bad for the money. I will compare my grocery bill for the next months using these foods to previous months and let you know in a future post, but I have a feeling it will be cheaper.

By the way for those fo you who want to take it to the next level . Julius Park recommended to make sure we don’t have any deficiencies.

• greens +
• standard multivitamin
• carlson’s fish oil
• glutamine
• bcaa
• protein powder

I will research all of this and write about them also in a future post.

So how about dessert? Here is where all of you jump in joy.

Rule # 5. Follow all the above rules except one day of the week. I will let you eat anything you want  one day of the week. Try to mix it up. Notice that the title of this post is “Small Steps…” and while this may not be desirable for ever it’s definitely  a good place to start!

I think so far we have achieved a good starting point , but I want to add one more final rule.

Rule # 6. Start today; No need or reason to delay a better life today. Don’t waste any time.

So there you have it a not so bad redefined grocery list and 6 rules to maintain. Looking forward to your comments.

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