CONTENTS

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction

Chapter 1. The Diet Revolution

Part I.The Road Map to Peak Performance

and Health

Chapter 2. Stage I: Eating Before ExerciseChapter 3. Stage II: Eating DuringExerciseChapter 4. Stages III, IV, and V: EatingAfter Exercise

Part II.Nutrition 101: Understanding Basic

Concepts

Chapter 5. Food as Fuel During ExerciseChapter 6. Fitness and FoodChapter 7. Overtraining and Diet

Part III.Our Stone Age Legacy

Chapter 8. Why Eat Like a Caveman?Chapter 9. The 21st-Century Paleo DietChapter 10. The Paleolithic Athlete: TheOriginal Cross-Trainer

Part IV.

Putting It into Practice

Chapter 11. The Training TableChapter 12. Paleo Recipes

ReferencesIndexAbout the Authors

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSFROM JOE FRIEL:

First, I want to thank my coauthor, Dr.Loren Cordain, for introducing me to thePaleo Diet in 1995. In doing so, heforever changed the way I train athletesand improved the health and well-beingnot only of me but also of my family andfriends. What I have learned from Lorenhas done more to improve my ongoingathletic performance than anything elseI’ve done with my training in the last 20years. I still view our chance meeting andsubsequent conversations as we becamegood friends as turning points in my life.

Second, I want to thank the scores of

athletes I have coached—from novice toOlympian—who allowed me to changetheir diets in order to refine the conceptsyou will read about here. Chief amongthem is Dirk Friel, my son, who continuesto offer valuable feedback on therelationship between his high-leveltraining for bike racing and his diet. And,finally, I want to thank Joyce, my wife of46 years, for her assistance with many ofthe recipes included here and for allowingme the freedom to tinker in her kitchen andto get up at 4:00 a.m. to research andwrite about things that fascinate me.

FROM LOREN CORDAIN:On a beautiful spring morning about 20years ago, I went out for an early-morning

run on the deserted roads and trails aboveFort Collins, Colorado. About 2 milesinto my 7-mile run, I noticed a leansilhouette following me about a half milebehind. Being somewhat competitive inthose days, I picked up the tempo andexpected to shake this lone runner.Nothing doing; he picked up the pace aswell. After another mile, I put it into highgear, expecting to bury this upstart.Unbelievably, this unknown figure hadmanaged to close the distance to less than200 yards. By the end of the run, we wereboth in full sprint. As I was totally spent atthe end of my run, Joe passed me and said,“Good morning!” I want to thank mycoauthor for encouraging me to write thisbook in a slightly gentler manner than hepushed me on that Colorado spring

morning. Finally, I want to thank my wife,Lorrie, and my three sons, Kyle, Kevin,and Kenny, for putting up with all of thelost weekends and late evenings needed tomake this book happen.

INTRODUCTIONInformation on the topic of nutrition forathletes has been on the market for thebetter part of the past century. It’sinteresting to note the changes that haveoccurred in such advice. For example, in1945, Coach Willie Honeman offered thefollowing dietary suggestions for bikeracers:

The question of food and whatto eat is one that would takemuch space to cover. A goodrule of thumb is to eat whateverfoods appeal to you, but be surethey are of good quality andfresh. Avoid too many starchy

foods, such as bread, potatoes,pies, pastries, etc. Eat plenty ofgreen and cooked vegetables.

—Willie Honeman, in AmericanBicyclist, 1945

Contrast Honeman’s suggestions withwhat two modern cycling authoritiesproposed to athletes.

Carbohydrate supplementationis essential to meet the needs ofheavy training. Greater portionsof pasta, potatoes, and breadscan help, but many athletes mayprefer the concentratedcarbohydrate found in “high-carbohydrate drinks.” Such

products as Ultra Fuel, ExceedHigh-Carbohydrate Source, andGatorlode are used to generateadditional carbohydrate intakewithout the bulk of solid food.

—Edmund Burke, PhD, andJacqueline Berning, PhD, RD, in

Training Nutrition, 1996

These selections illustrate what hashappened to the logic of coaches, athletes,and even sports scientists since the 1970s.The current thinking is that athletes shouldload up on carbohydrate continuously,even to the extent of supplementing theirdiets with commercial products whileavoiding “real” foods. The shift awayfrom “good quality and fresh” foods,

especially fruits, vegetables, and animalproteins, is widespread in the athleticworld. Such a shift, while beneficial interms of glycogen stores, which arenecessary for performance—especially inendurance events—overlooks thenecessity of eating foods that are also richin other nutrients. This conventionalviewpoint not only has negativeconsequences for health but alsocompromises an athlete’s capacity forrecovery and subsequent quality oftraining.

In The Paleo Diet for Athletes, wepropose that this trend must be reversedand that the optimal model for the athleteis the same one that we as Homo sapienshave thrived on for nearly all of ourexistence on the planet—a Paleolithic, or

Old Stone Age, diet, albeit one slightlymodified to meet the unique demands ofathletes.

The Paleo Diet is somewhat higher inprotein and fat and lower in carbohydrate,relative to what sports nutritionistsencourage American athletes to eat. Butthe greatest differences in what wepropose here may be found in the timing ofcarbohydrate and protein ingestion,especially branched-chain amino acids;selecting foods based on glycemic load atcertain times relative to training; the base-enhancing effects of our diet on blood andother body fluids; and periodization ofdiet in parallel with training. All of thismeans that you will recover faster andperform better by following our program:the Paleo Diet for Athletes. We’ve seen it

happen in athlete after athlete for the past15 years.

What we propose here is notintended as a quick-fix weight-loss diet,although many of the athletes who haveconverted to it have reduced their excessfat stores. The dietary strategies we offerare intended for health and performanceenhancement.

Performance is obvious, but whyhealth enhancement? Unfortunately, manyathletes are not truly healthy, despite beingmagnificently fit. Health and fitness do notalways go hand in hand.

High volumes of training, oftenexceeding 2 hours per day, play havoc onthe human immune system when it is notgiven adequate nutrients for renewal in the

hours following training. A daily diet top-heavy in starch, especially from a singlesource such as grains, is bound to leavethe athlete’s body starved for protein andmany trace nutrients. The Paleo Diet forAthletes satisfies those demands daily.

Although heavily based upon scienceand thoroughly tested and honed in the realworld of athletics, the value of eatingmuch as our prehistoric ancestors ate isnot generally accepted at face value bysome scientists or athletes, as it flies inthe face of much that we have been taughtto believe about diet. When one suggestseating in this manner, many argumentsagainst it are proposed. You may also beexperiencing some healthy skepticism atthis point—and some skepticism is a goodthing. In order for you to continue reading

this book in a more open manner, we needto address the most common of theseconcerns.

COMMONCOUNTERARGUMENTS

Some of the most widespread, intuitivecounterarguments against the Paleo Dietare that “they [hunter-gatherers] died at anearly age” and thus “didn’t live longenough to develop heart disease, cancer,and other chronic illnesses.”Consequently, “they really were nothealthier or fitter than modern people.”

If you have bought into the firststatement, then you are absolutely correct.

There is no doubt that the average lifespan of hunter-gatherers and Stone Agepeople was quite short, compared withour own. Case in point: The average ageof Neanderthals has been estimated at 12to 15 years; pre-European-contactAmerican Indians, 20 to 25 years. Today,US women live to age 79; men to 72. Itshould be pointed out, though, that“average life span” is a misleading term.In reality, average life span is nothingmore than the average age at death for anentire population; it tells us zilch about theage and health characteristics ofindividual, living people. For example, iftwo parents lived to the ages of 79 and 72,were healthy for most of their adult lives,and had two children who died at birth,the average life span of this group of four

people ([79 + 72 + 0 + 0]/4) would be37.7 years. On the surface, based upon thelow average life span, it would appearthat all people in this group were not veryhealthy.

In order to more accurately portray apopulation’s age and healthcharacteristics, scientists have devisedwhat are called life tables—charts thatshow the entire living population by agegroup, not just the people who have died.In a study of more than 450 !Kung hunter-gatherers in Botswana, life tablesrevealed that 10 percent of the populationwas age 60 and older. But more important,the aged populations in hunter-gatherersocieties are virtually free of obesity,hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes,and other chronic diseases that are near-

universal afflictions of the elderly inWestern societies. Hunter-gatherers diednot from chronic, degenerative disease butfrom the accidents and trauma of ahazardous life spent in a perilousenvironment.

Think about camping out for yourentire life, and you can get an appreciationfor how harsh and dangerous theirlifestyle was. While most of us reallyneed not worry about death until middle orold age, hunter-gatherers commonlysuffered early death from causes thatclaim comparatively few of us. They hadno modern medicine, no advancedsurgical procedures, no antibiotics, and nounderstanding of the germs that causeinfection and disease. Civil war, strife,and regional conflict were a fact of life

that continually raged throughout most oftheir lifetimes, and infanticide (thedeliberate killing of infants) wascommonly practiced. Because they livedoutdoors their entire lives and wereconstantly challenged by the elements andthe physical environment, the risk of injuryfrom accidents was quite high over thecourse of their lifetimes. Hunting of biggame, then as now, would have been arisky business, increasing the likelihoodof accident or injury. The net result ofliving an entire life in a perilousenvironment produced a high death ratefrom trauma and accident in these people.It is rather remarkable that 10 to 20percent of the population lived to 60 andbeyond.

However, again, the take-home

message is that the living, regardless oftheir age, were universally lean, fit, andfree of the chronic degenerative diseasesthat are epidemic in our world. Figure I.1shows that the aerobic fitness levels ofyoung men, age 20 to 30 years, fromhunter-gatherer and non-Westernizedpopulations are far superior to that of theaverage Western couch potato, whileFigure I.2 shows that their body fat levelsare much lower.

It may surprise you, but despite dietsrich in animal foods, these people havehealthful blood cholesterol levels thatleave the average Westerner in the dust( s e e Table I.1). Further, high bloodpressure—the most prevalent risk factorfor coronary heart disease in the UnitedStates, affecting at least 50 million

Americans—is rare or not present in non-Westernized societies.

The Yanomamo Indians of SouthAmerica, to whom salt was unknown inthe late 1960s and early 1970s, werecompletely free of high blood pressure.Table I.2 shows the remarkable results oftheir salt-free diet in conjunction withtheir non-Westernized lifestyle on bloodpressure. Not only is their averagepopulation blood pressure (102/64) lowerthan values considered to be normal(120/80) in the United States, but alsothere is no age-associated rise in bloodpressure. In the United States, by the agesof 65 to 74, 65 percent of all Americanshave high blood pressure (140/90 orgreater).

FIGURE I-1

FIGURE I-2

The superb health and fitness levelsof hunter-gatherers were recorded notonly in the medical literature but also inhistorical accounts by early explorers,adventurers, and frontiersmen. Cabeza deVaca, the Spanish explorer, saw NativeAmericans in Florida in 1527 anddescribed them as “wonderfully well

built, spare, very strong, and very swift.”Similar observations of these Indianswere made in 1564 by the French explorerRene de Laudonniere, who noted, “Theagility of the women is so great that theycan swim over great rivers, bearing theirchildren upon one of their arms. Theyclimb up, also, very nimbly upon thehighest trees in the country … even themost ancient women of the country dancewith the others.”

TABLE I.1

Blood Cholesterol Levels in Non-Westernized Populations

SOCIETY LOCATION MEAN SERUM

CHOLESTEROL (MG/DL)Aborigines Australia 139

Eskimos Canada 141Hadza Tanzania 110!Kung Botswana 120Pygmies Zaire 106Yanomamo(men) Brazil 123

Yanomamo(women) Brazil 142

Westerners UnitedStates 210

TABLE I.2

Blood Pressures (Systolic/Diastolic) in506 Yanomamo Indians Throughout Life MalesAGE BLOOD PRESSURE0-9 93/5910-19 108/6720-29 108/6930-39 106/6940-49 107/6750+ 100/64

FemalesAGE BLOOD PRESSURE0-9 96/6210-19 105/6520-29 100/6330-39 100/6340-49 98/62

50+ 106/64

In his 1773 account of CaliforniaNative Americans, Jacob Baegert notedthat “the Californians are seldom sick.They are in general strong, hardy, andmuch healthier than the many thousandswho live daily in abundance and on thechoicest fare that the skill of Parisiancooks can prepare.” In his book AcrossUnknown South America, Henry SavageLandor describes the Borono Indians ofthe Amazon in 1913.

They displayed powerful chests,with ribs well covered withflesh and muscle. With theirdark yellow skins they were notunlike beautiful bronze torsi.The abdominal region was

never unduly enlarged, perhapsowing to the fact that theirdigestion was good, and alsobecause they took aconsiderable amount of dailyexercise…. The anatomicaldetail of the body was perfectlybalanced. The arms werepowerful, but with fine, well-formed wrists—exquisitelychiseled, as were allattachments of their limbs. Greatrefinement of the race was alsoto be noticed in the shape oftheir legs—marvelouslymodeled, without an ounce ofextra flesh, and with smallankles.

Captain Cook, who visited NewZealand in 1772, was particularlyimpressed by the good health of the nativeMaori.

It cannot be thought strange thatthese people enjoy perfect anduninterrupted health. In all ourvisits to their towns, whereyoung and old, men and women,crowd about us, prompted bythe same curiosity that carriedus to look at them, we neversaw a single person whoappeared to have any bodilycomplaint, nor among thenumbers that we have seennaked did we perceive theslightest eruption upon the skin,

or any marks that an eruptionhad been left behind…. Afurther proof that human natureis here untainted with disease isthe great number of old men thatwe saw … appeared to be veryancient, yet none of them weredecrepit; and though not equal tothe young in muscular strength,were not a whit behind them incheerfulness and vivacity.

Another common counterargumentproposed by doubting Thomases is this:“We don’t really know what they, ourStone Age ancestors, ate.” In Chapter 8,we will delve into all the archaeological,anthropological, physiological, and fossilevidence showing us exactly what Stone

Age hunter-gatherers ate. But for now, letus challenge you with a simple questionthat most of you could intuitively work outwith little or zero knowledge of the fossilrecord or archaeology.

What foods could not have beenconsumed by Stone Age people?

This is no trick question; just do alittle bit of reasoning with what you knowabout how some of the foods on your dailyplatter got there. Let’s tackle some of theeasy ones first. How about the cup of milkyou had with your breakfast cereal—where did it come from? Well, of course,a farmer milked a cow, and the milk wasprocessed, pasteurized, homogenized, andbottled at a dairy, then eventually made itsway to your local supermarket. Bingo—as

simple as that, right?Now stop and think a moment about

where that docile, milkable cow camefrom. Were these peaceful, domesticatedbeasts always with us? Of course not!Modern-day milk cows weredomesticated from wild, unruly beastsbearing enormous horns, called aurochs.Julius Caesar, who encountered thesefierce brutes in Europe before theybecame extinct, remarked, “They are alittle below the elephant in size, and of theappearance, color, and shape of a bull.Their strength and speed areextraordinary; they spare neither man norwild beast which they have espied.” Priorto domestication, aurochs, like all wildmammals, would not let humans approachthem, much less milk them. So, you can

see that all of the milk and dairy productswe consume today simply would not havebeen on the menu of our hunter-gathererancestors. In the average US diet, milk anddairy represent 10.6 percent of total dailyenergy intake.

How about refined sugars? Theannual per capita consumption of allsugars in the United States is a staggering152 pounds, or 18.6 percent of our totaldaily calories from all foods combined!Do you think it would have been possiblefor your Stone Age ancestors to haveconsumed that much refined sugar?Absolutely not! Table sugar (sucrose)comes from either the sugarcane plant orsugar beets. Hunter-gatherers simply didnot possess either the tools or knowledgeto make refined sugars. In fact, sugar from

sugarcane was first manufactured innorthern India about 500 BC, whereassugar extracted from sugar beets datesback to only 1747, in Germany. Theubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup, thepreferred sweetener in soft drinks andmany processed foods, was introducedinto the US food supply as recently as thelate 1970s. We now consume almost asmuch high-fructose corn syrup (63.6pounds per capita) as we do sucrose (65.6pounds per capita). There is no doubt thathunter-gatherers would have relishedrefined sugars, just as we do. However,except for honey, which was rare and onlyseasonally available, they simply had noreadily available source of refined sugar.

Now that you are getting the drift ofwhich foods could and could not have

been on hunter-gatherers’ menus, itbecomes apparent that no highlyprocessed foods were ever eaten. Thisisn’t rocket science by any means—justsimple, deductive logic that almost anyonecan work out with a few basic facts.

However, here’s a fact that maysurprise you. Although bread, grains, andcereals symbolize “the staff of life” invirtually all Westernized societies andnow represent almost 25 percent of thecalories in the typical US diet, they wererarely or never consumed by our StoneAge ancestors. How do we know this?Have you ever tried to pop down ahandful of uncooked whole wheat berries?How about some uncooked corn kernelsor brown rice grains? If you perform theselittle experiments, you will see that the

hard morsels come out of your body justlike they went in—fully intact andundigested! Whole grains are tough as oldboots unless their cell walls are firstbroken down by milling and their starchmade digestible by cooking. Although ourStone Age ancestors had controlled fire byabout 250,000 years ago, we know thatgrains did not become staple foods untilthe very recent appearance of crude stonegrinding tools 13,000 years ago in theMiddle East, according to fossil records.The bottom line is that grains, like dairyproducts and refined sugars, were not partof the native human diet.

While a cheese puff may look quite abit different from a tortilla chip or afrozen waffle or even a bagel, all of theseprocessed foods are almost

indistinguishable from one another whenyou look at their individual foodcomponents. Think about it. They arereally nothing more than mixtures of thesame old three to six major ingredients—refined grains, refined sugars, some kindof processed vegetable oil, salt, artificialflavoring, and, perhaps, some kind ofprocessed dairy product. Processedvegetable oils and salt, just like dairyfood, refined sugars, and grains, areJohnny-come-latelies into the human diet.These ubiquitous foods and processedfood mixtures made with them nowcompose 70 percent of all the foodconsumed in the US diet. By default, theirinclusion into our diets displaces morehealthful fruits, veggies, lean meats, andseafood—the staples of our Stone Age

ancestors. As the next 12 chapters unfold,we will show you how you can improveyour diet and thereby maximize yourpotential to improve your performance byincreasing your intake of lean meats,seafood, fruits, and vegetables, along withcareful and judicious consumption ofcertain “non-Paleo” modern foods.

CHAPTER 1

THE DIETREVOLUTION

When Joe and I began writing The PaleoDiet for Athletes in 2004, books on low-carbohydrate diets such as Dr. Atkins’sNew Diet Revolution, Protein Power, theZone, and the South Beach Diet had ruledthe bestselling book lists for at least adecade. At the time, millions ofAmericans lost weight with diets that flewdirectly in the face of conventionalmedical and nutritional wisdom, which

advocated low-fat, high-carbohydratediets. If we fast-forward to 2012, most(but not all) things have remained thesame. The USDA replaced its “FoodPyramid” with the “MyPlate” in June2011; however, the change was onlycosmetic in nature, as the same old low-fat, high-carbohydrate recommendationsremained firmly in place. The Zone andProtein Power have disappeared from thebestseller lists, only to be replaced by thelatest reincarnation of Atkins and TheSouth Beach Diet. In the ensuing 7 yearssince our book was first published, a newconcept has arrived on the dietary scenethat threatens to displace not only the low-carb diets but also government-andinstitution-recommended low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets.

In the past 2 years, Paleo diets havebecome internationally known, and bookssuch as The Paleo Diet, The PaleoSolution, The Paleo Diet Cookbook, ThePaleo Diet for Athletes, Paleo ComfortFoods, Everyday Paleo, The PaleoAnswer, Make It Paleo, The PrimalBlueprint, Well Fed: Paleo Recipes forPeople Who Love to Eat, and others havedominated the bestseller lists. In Figure1.1 from Google Trends from a search of“Paleo Diet” (www.google.com/trends?q=the+paleo+diet), it is apparent that,except for a small group of dedicatedfollowers, the Paleo Diet concept wasvirtually unknown to the world in the 4years following the publication of ourbook in 2005. In contrast, during the past 2years, “Paleo” has literally become a

household word and is perhaps the hottestnew concept in diet, health, nutrition, andlifestyle. More important, as we willshow you, the fundamental science behindcontemporary diets based upon Stone Agefood groups underlies their acceptance inboth the scientific and popular literature.

A similar revolution in dietarythinking has made waves in the sportsworld by athletes worldwide who happento be privy to this way of eating that hasdramatically improved their athleticperformances. Their dietary formula forsuccess was not accidentally stumbledupon by trial and error but resulted from achance conversation between two oldfriends, Joe Friel and myself, in the springof 1995.

Fast-forward 17 years. Joe hasbecome an internationally recognizedcoach of world-class athletes, has written11 bestselling books on athletic training,and is a worldwide authority onendurance training. Meanwhile, Loren, auniversity professor, has become aleading international scientific authorityon Stone Age (Paleolithic) diets, and haswritten more than 50 scientific papers onthe topic as well as five popular dietbooks. Had Joe and I not had thatconversation in the spring of 1995, thesmall ripple that eventually became a tidalwave concerning diet and athleticperformance likely never would havesurfaced.

FIGURE 1.1

LOREN’S CHALLENGE:THE PALEO DIET IN A

NUTSHELLIn 1995, I challenged Joe to give the PaleoDiet a try. Joe had been a longtimeadherent to the standard very high-

carbohydrate diet for athletes and wasskeptical of my claim that eating lessstarch would benefit performance. Nearlyevery successful endurance athlete thatJoe had known ate as he did, with a heavyemphasis on cereals, bagels, bread, rice,pasta, pancakes, and potatoes. In fact, Joehad done quite well on this diet as an All-American duathlete (run-bike-run) in hisage group, winning national races andfinishing in the top 10 at WorldChampionships. Joe had also coachedmany successful athletes, bothprofessional and amateur, who ate thesame way he did.

I suggested Joe try eating a diet morein line with the Paleo Diet for 1 month.Joe took the challenge, determined toshow me that eating as he had for years

was the way to go. He started by simplycutting back significantly on starches anddairy and replacing those lost calorieswith fruits, vegetables, and lean meats.Although a simple formula, it wasn’t easyat first.

For the first 2 weeks, Joe feltmiserable. His recovery followingworkouts was slow, and his workoutswere sluggish. He figured he was well onhis way to proving that I was wrong. Butin week 3, a curious thing happened. Henoticed not only that he was feeling betterbut also that his recovery followingworkouts was speeding up significantly,and he decided to experiment to see howmany hours he could train. Since his earlyforties (he was 51 at the time), he had notbeen able to train more than about 12

hours per week; whenever he exceededthat weekly volume, upper respiratoryinfections would soon set him back. Inweek 4, he trained 16 hours without a signof a cold, sore throat, or ear infection. Hewas amazed—he hadn’t done that manyhours in nearly 15 years. He decided tokeep the experiment going. That year Joefinished third at the US NationalChampionship with an excellent race andqualified for the US team for the WorldChampionships. He had a stellar season,one of his best in years.

Joe’s little experiment proved tohave far-reaching effects. After makingcertain refinements to my basic PaleoDiet, Joe found this way of eating to be“ergogenic,” a term exercise physiologistsuse to describe nutritional supplements

that can enhance athletic performance. Bythe late 1990s, Joe was recommending thePaleo Diet to the athletes he coached,including Ryan Bolton, a member of theUS Olympic Triathlon team in the 2000Sydney Olympics and a winner of theIronman USA Triathlon. Increasingly, byword of mouth and the Internet, athletesworldwide were becoming aware of thecompetitive edge they could gain byadopting a diet based upon my dietaryprinciples and fine-tuned by Joe’spractical experience with it.

The Paleo Diet for Athletes is notjust for world-class performers like RyanBolton and Gordo Bryn (an ardent devoteeof the Paleo Diet and past winner of theUltraman Triathlon and the World’sToughest Half-Ironman Triathlon) but also

for everyday fitness enthusiasts like DonMoffat. Here’s Don’s story.

I wish I had known about thePaleo Diet 5 years ago, when Iwas a sub-3-hour marathonerbefore my health startedbreaking down due to insulinresistance-related issues.Following a high-protein, low-carb diet for the last 2 monthshas created startling results inmy fitness. I’ve lost 3 inchesfrom my waist (down to 32),and I can’t believe how, at 38,I’m putting on muscle. My runtimes have dropped by 25percent. (I’m still not fast again,but I’m seeing steady, week-to-

week progress.) I find theincrease in muscle strengthparticularly gratifying, as thiswas always a problem for mebefore, even in my earlytwenties. It’s sort of like gettingsome youth back.

WHY IS THE PALEO DIETFOR ATHLETESERGOGENIC?

There is indeed a method to this madness,and I have uncovered the scientific basisfor the effectiveness of the modification ofthe original Paleo Diet. In a nutshell, thereare four basic reasons the Paleo Diet

enhances athletic performance.1. Branched-chain amino acids.

First, the diet is high in animal protein,which is the richest source of thebranched-chain amino acids—valine,leucine, and isoleucine. Branched-chainamino acids (BCAA) are different fromother amino acids that collectively makeup protein in that they are potentstimulants for building and repairingmuscle. This information is new and hasbeen reported in the scientific literatureonly in the past decade. But the dig is this:These amino acids work best whenconsumed in the postexercise window.

Lean meats and fish are far and awaythe greatest sources of BCAA. A 1,000-calorie serving of lean beef provides 33.7

grams of BCAA, whereas the sameserving of whole grains supplies a paltry6 grams. Because most endurance athletesfocus on starches (breads, cereals, pasta,rice, and potatoes) and sugars at theexpense of lean meats, particularlyfollowing a hard workout, they getprecious little muscle-building BCAA intheir diets. By consuming high amounts ofanimal protein (and hence BCAA) alongwith sufficient carbohydrate, athletes canrapidly reverse the natural breakdown ofmuscle that occurs following a workoutand thereby reduce recovery time andtrain at a greater intensity at the nextsession. Joe’s advice for athletes toincrease fresh meats along with plenty offruits and vegetables now makes perfectsense and explains the athletes’ near-

universal report of improved recoverywith these dietary recommendations.

2. Blood acidity versus alkalinity. Inaddition to stimulating muscle growth viaBCAA, the Paleo Diet for Athletessimultaneously prevents muscle proteinbreakdown because it produces a netmetabolic alkalosis. All foods, upondigestion, report to the kidney as eitheracid or alkali (base). The typicalAmerican diet is net acid producingbecause of its high reliance upon acid-yielding grains, cheeses, and saltyprocessed foods at the expense of base-producing fruits and veggies. The athlete’sbody is even more prone to bloodacidosis due to the by-products ofexercise. One way the body neutralizes anet acid-producing diet is by breaking

down muscle tissue. Because the PaleoDiet for Athletes is rich in fruits andveggies, it reverses the metabolic acidosisproduced from the typical grain- andstarch-laden diet that many athletesconsume, thereby preventing muscle loss.

3. Trace nutrients. Fruits andvegetables are also rich sources ofantioxidant vitamins, minerals, andphytochemicals and, together with freshmeats (excellent sources of zinc and Bvitamins), promote optimal immune-system functioning. The refined grains,oils, sugars, and processed foods thatrepresent the typical staples for mostathletes are nearly devoid of these tracenutrients. From examining the training logsof numerous people he has coached, Joe

found that the frequency and duration ofcolds, flu, and upper respiratory illnessesare reduced when athletes adopt the PaleoDiet. A healthy athlete, free of colds andillness, can train more consistently andintensely and thereby improveperformance.

4. Glycogen stores. One of the mostimportant goals of any athletic diet is tomaintain high muscle stores of glycogen, abody fuel absolutely essential for high-level performance. Dietary starches andsugars are the body’s number one sourcefor making muscle glycogen. Proteinwon’t do, and neither will fat. Athletesand sports scientists have known this truthfor decades. Regrettably, they took thisconcept to extremes; high starch, cereal-based, carbohydrate-rich diets were

followed with near-fanatical zeal 24 hoursa day, 7 days a week.

It is a little-known fact, but, similarto the situation with branched-chain aminoacids, glycogen synthesis by musclesoccurs most effectively in the immediatepostexercise window. Muscles can buildall the glycogen they need when they getstarch and sugar in the narrow time framefollowing exercise. Eating carbs all daylong is overkill and actually serves todisplace the muscle-building animalproteins and alkalinity-enhancing,nutrient-dense fruits and veggies that areneeded to promote muscle growth andboost the immune system. Perhaps themost important refinement made to myoriginal Paleo Diet was Joe’s recognitionthat consumption of starches and simple

sugars was necessary and useful onlyduring exercise and in the immediatepostexercise period. Joe has also foundthat certain carbohydrates are moreeffective than others in restoring muscleglycogen, particularly specific types ofsugar, such as glucose and net alkaline-producing starches found in bananas,sweet potatoes, and yams.

NOTHING NEW IN 40YEARS

The standard dietary advice given toathletes by sports physiologists,nutritionists, and physicians hasn’tchanged much in 40 years. It is similar tothe USDA’s Food Pyramid (recently

renamed the MyPlate)—high in grain-based carbohydrates and low in fat—thesame diet that many scientists believe ispartially responsible for the obesityepidemic in this country. The world nowis aware that an alternative exists to theFood Pyramid/MyPlate. Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets haveproven to be more effective in promotingweight loss than are conventional high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. Unfortunately,many people in the athletic world are littleaware that these same types of diets(higher in protein and lower incarbohydrate) can be extremely effectivein enhancing performance. Except for theathletes privy to my research and Joe’spractical implementation of it, athletes ingeneral are unaware that an alternative

diet exists—a diet that can maximizeperformance in a range of sports, frombodybuilding and tennis to running and thetriathlon.

The Paleo Diet for Athletes was andis revolutionary and is creating anupheaval in the sports world, similar tothe commotion set in play by thetherapeutic and health effects of the PaleoDiet. The information contained in thisbook is thoroughly supported by scientificliterature, to which Loren continues tomake cutting-edge contributions. Moreimportant, Joe has shown that the StoneAge diet of our ancient ancestors, withslight modifications, works extremelywell for recreational athletes all the wayup to Olympians. The Paleo Diet forAthletes has passed the most important

test by the most critical audience of all:the athletes themselves.

THE PALEO DIET FORATHLETES: NUTRITIONALCHARACTERISTICS IN A

NUTSHELLThe essential dietary principles of thePaleo Diet for Athletes arestraightforward: You can eat as muchfresh meat, poultry, seafood, fruit, andveggies as you like. Foods that are notpart of modern-day Paleolithic fareinclude cereal grains, dairy products,legumes, alcohol, salty foods, processedmeats, refined sugars, and nearly all

processed foods.There are a number of crucial

exceptions to these fundamental rules thatwill be completely explained in comingchapters. Case in point: Immediatelybefore, during, and after a workout orcompetition, certain non-Paleo foodsshould be eaten to promote a quickrecovery. During all other times, mealsthat closely follow the 21st-centuryPaleolithic diet, described in Chapter 9,will encourage comprehensive long-termrecovery and allow you to attain yourmaximal performance potential.

At first glance, you might think itcounterproductive or even foolish toreduce or eliminate two entire foodgroups (cereal grains and dairy), along

with most of the processed foods in yourdiet. One way of looking at our Paleodietary recommendations is to comparethem with the USDA FoodPyramid/MyPlate, the diet officiallyrecommended by the US government andspecifically designed to improve ourhealth and reduce our risk of chronicdisease. The USDA has published anextensive handbook, Using the FoodGuide Pyramid: A Resource for NutritionEducators (available on the Web atwww.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/guide.pdf),in which government dietitians haveoutlined sample 5-day menus that conformto Food Pyramid guidelines. The USDAhas also been gracious enough to provideus with the vitamins, minerals, andnutrient values in its example menus.

Consequently, it is a relatively simpleexercise to compare modern-day Paleodiets with those officially sanctioned bythe USDA.

TABLE 1.1

Sample 1-Day Menu from a ModernDiet Based on Paleolithic Food Groups

for a Woman (25 years old; 2,200-calorie daily intake)

FOOD QUANTITY

(g)ENERGY(kcal)

BreakfastCantaloupe 276 97Atlantic salmon (broiled) 333 605LunchVegetable salad with walnuts Shredded romaine lettuce 68 10Sliced carrot 61 26

Sliced cucumber 78 10Quartered tomatoes 246 52Lemon-juice dressing 31 8Walnuts 11 70Broiled lean pork loin 86 205DinnerVegetable, avocado, and almondsalad

Shredded mixed greens 112 16Tomato 123 26Avocado 85 150Slivered almonds 45 260Sliced red onion 29 11Lemon-juice dressing 31 8Steamed broccoli 468 131Lean beef sirloin tip roast 235 400DessertStrawberries 130 39SnacksOrange 66 30Carrot sticks 81 35Celery sticks 90 14

Remember the ground rules ofmodern-day Stone Age diets: The dietscontain no grains, dairy products, salt,processed foods, or processed meats; theyconsist almost entirely of fresh fruits,veggies, meats, and seafood. Table 1.1outlines a typical menu for a 25-year-oldwoman whose daily caloric intake is2,200 calories.

Now let’s see how thisrepresentative day’s worth of modernPaleo food stacks up against the USDAFood Pyramid/MyPlate. First, take a lookat the major dietary components, whichare listed in Table 1.2. You immediatelysee that the Paleo Diet is much higher inprotein and lower in carbohydrate than theFood Pyramid/MyPlate diet. Notice that alittle more than half of the calories in the

Paleo Diet come from meat and seafood,and that almost 40 percent of the dailyenergy comes from fat. The fats you willbe getting in this diet are just plain goodfor you! Observe that the good fats(monounsaturated and polyunsaturatedfats) that lower blood cholesterol levelsare considerably higher than what youwould get by following the FoodPyramid/MyPlate diet.

Many people have heard that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like salmon arehealthful, but fewer are aware that afamily of fats called omega-6 fatty acids,found in vegetable oils, margarine, andprocessed foods, can be harmful whenconsumed at the expense of omega-3s. Inthe standard American diet, the ratio ofomega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is an

unhealthy 10:1. Contrast this ratio to thewholesome 1:1 to 3:1 in the native humandiet. Now take a look at the FoodPyramid/MyPlate: The recommendation isan appalling 14:1 and is actually worsethan what the average American iscurrently eating! The Food Pyramid wasoriginally conceived and thrust upon atrusting US public in 1992, prior to thewidespread knowledge that an imbalancein omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids hadmuch to do with health and well-being.Unfortunately, we are still saddled withthis botched bit of advice even after thePyramid was revised in June 2011 to thecurrent MyPlate recommendations.

TABLE 1.2

Dietary Characteristics of aContemporary Diet Based on

Paleolithic Food Groups and in aRecommended USDA Food Pyramid

Diet for a Woman (25 years old; 2,200-calorie daily intake)

NUTRIENT FOOD

PYRAMIDMODERN PALEODIET

Protein (g) 113 217Protein (% energy) 20 38Carbohydrate (g) 302 129Carbohydrate (%energy) 53 23

Total sugars (g) 96.6 76.5Fiber (g) 30 42.5Fat (grams) 67 100.3Fat (% total energy) 27 39Saturated fat (g) 19.6 18Saturated fat (% totalenergy) 7 6.4

Monounsaturated fat(g)

22.8 44.3

Polyunsaturated fat (g) 19 26.7Omega-3 fatty acids (g) 1 9.6Omega-6 fatty acids (g) 14.3 14.2Cholesterol (mg) 219 461Sodium (mg) 2,626 726Potassium (mg) 3,450 9,062

But just wait—there are troubleswith the Food Pyramid/MyPlate beyondits improper fat balance. In 1992, theconcept of a glycemic load and its impacton health were unknown to the dietitianswho designed the Pyramid. Should we beconcerned about the glycemic load of afood? Absolutely! Does the FoodPyramid/MyPlate differentiate betweenhigh and low glycemic foods? Absolutelynot! There is little doubt that even the

recently revised MyPlate is badly in needof repair. It’s high time that nutritionistsconsider the evolutionary basis for theoptimal human diet rather than relyingupon human foibles and biases indeveloping healthful, performance-enhancing diets.

As an athlete, you want to maximizeyour performance by maximizing yourdiet. This includes the amount of vitaminsand minerals that you get from your food.Let’s contrast the nutrient density of oursample Paleo Diet to the USDA FoodPyramid/MyPlate. Take a quick look at thevalues in Table 1.3, and you will see thatthere is really no comparison. Except forcalcium, the Paleo Diet simply blowsaway the Food Pyramid/ MyPlate. InChapters 5 and 9, we fully explain why a

reduced calcium intake does not representa problem, particularly if you eat amplefruits and vegetables.

TABLE 1.3

Trace Nutrients in a Modern DietBased on Paleolithic Food Groups and

in a Recommended USDA FoodPyramid Diet for Women (25 years old;

2,200-calorie daily intake) FOOD PYRAMIDNutrient Amount % RDAVitamin A 1,659 mcg RE 207Vitamin B1 2.3 mg 209Vitamin B2 2.6 mg 236Vitamin B3 30 mg 214Vitamin B6 2.6 mg 200Folate 453 mcg 113

Vitamin B12 4.7 mcg 196Vitamin C 233 mg 388Vitamin E 10 IU 125Calcium 1,215 mg 122Phosphorus 808 mg 258Magnesium 427 mg 138Iron 19 mg 127Zinc 14 mg 116

MODERN PALEOLITHIC DIETNutrient Amount % RDAVitamin A 6,386 mcg RE 798Vitamin B1 3.4 mg 309Vitamin B2 4.2 mg 355Vitamin B3 60 mg 428Vitamin B6 6.7 mg 515Folate 891 mcg 223Vitamin B12 17.6 mcg 733Vitamin C 748 mg 1,247Vitamin E 19.5 IU 244Calcium 691 mg 69

Phosphorus 2,546 mg 364Magnesium 643 mg 207Iron 24.3 mg 162Zinc 27.4 mg 228

An essential part of making this dietwork for endurance athletes like you is tomaintain an adequate carbohydrate intakeso that your muscle glycogen levels willbe fully restored before your nextworkout. Consequently, you will need toinclude additional carbohydrates in yourdiet, particularly during and followinglong workouts. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4, wefully explain the ins and outs ofcarbohydrate ingestion relative to yourworkout, your training schedule, and yourpersonal needs.

PART I

THE ROADMAP TO PEAKPERFORMANCEAND HEALTH

CHAPTER 2

STAGE I: EATINGBEFORE EXERCISE

What should an athlete eat before, during,and after exercise? This is a question towhich athletes have sought the answer foras long as there have been competitivesports. In the days of the Roman Empire,gladiators ate the heart and muscle oflions before the contest, believing thiswould give them the ferocious qualities ofthe animal. As late as the 1960s, athleteswere still eating prodigious quantities of

red meat before engaging in “battle.” Inthe 1970s, there was a swing towardconsuming carbohydrates on race day.That trend still continues, but recentlythere has been an increased interest inprotein and fat in the athlete’s race-daydiet. And so the pendulum swings theother way once again.

While the role of carbohydrateingestion before, during, and afterexercise has been studied extensively overthe past 40 years, only recently has therebeen much research into the role andtiming of dietary protein and fat relative toexercise. Since such research is still in itsinfancy, there is a great deal not fullyunderstood, and, further complicating thematter, there are contradictions in thelimited research available.

THE DEMANDS OFENDURANCE TRAINING

Training for endurance sports such asrunning, cycling, triathlon, rowing,swimming, and cross-country skiingplaces great demands on the body, puttingthe athlete in some stage of recoveryalmost continuously during periods ofheavy training. The keys to optimumrecovery are sleep and diet. Even thoughwe recommend that everyone eat a dietsimilar to what our Stone Age ancestorsate, we realize that nutritional concessionsmust be made for the athlete who istraining at a high volume in the range of 10to 35 or more hours per week of rigorousexercise. Rapid recovery is the biggestissue facing such an athlete. While it’s not

impossible to recover from such trainingloads on a strict Paleo Diet, it issomewhat more difficult to recoverquickly. If it is modified before, during,and immediately following challengingworkouts, the Paleo Diet provides twobenefits sought by all athletes—quickrecovery for the next workout andsuperior health for the rest of your life.

Such high training loads require agreat intake of carbohydrate for short-termreplenishment of expended glycogenstores, perhaps as much as 1,200 to 1,500calories. Eating low to moderate glycemicindex foods in the Paleo-approvedcategories of fruits and vegetables maycertainly replace such deficiencies, butwill be accompanied by several pounds offiber. Such a diet will also be slow to

replace expended glycogen stores in themuscles following hard workouts orraces, thus delaying or substantiallyaffecting a subsequent workout or race inthe next few hours and days. This is whenmodification of a strict Paleo Diet isbeneficial to the serious athlete.

While highly fit and athletic, ourStone Age ancestors never ran 26.2 milesat the fastest pace possible or willinglytook on any of the other racing challengesof 21st-century athletes. Evolutionarily,today’s athletes are pushing the limits ofphysiology. Their diets must be adjustedto meet these demands.

In this and the next two chapters, wewill examine the times when eating inways other than the more conventional

Paleo Diet is appropriate for the seriousendurance athlete. But we can’t emphasizestrongly enough that these are exceptionsto the standards discussed in Chapter 9and are limited to specific time windowsrelative to training sessions and races. InChapters 2, 3, and 4, we discuss the fiverecovery stages through which the athletepasses on most days that include exercise.By dividing the day into the followingstages and eating appropriate foods inadequate amounts in each, you canenhance your recovery and maximizeperformance.

Stage I: Immediately beforeexercise

Stage II: During exercise

Stage III: 30 minutesimmediately following exercise

Stage IV: A period equal to theduration of the precedingexercise session

Stage V: Long-term,postexercise recoverypreceding the next Stage I

Before getting into the details ofthese stages, let’s take a look at dietduring a time when most athletes seem tobe unsure of what to eat—the week of therace. To differentiate the importance of allof the race events on your schedule, weclassify them as priority A, B, or C.Priority A events are the most importanton your schedule. Normally an athlete will

have only two or three of these plannedfor a given season since each involvescutting back on the training load forseveral days to a few weeks prior. Suchreductions, while allowing the athlete tofully realize race readiness, may well leadto diminished fitness if done morefrequently than a few times per season.Priority C races are the least importantevents on your schedule. There may bemany of these because they are consideredlittle more than challenging workoutsdone, for example, to test fitness or tomake final preparations for a higher-priority race. As you might expect,priority B events fall between A and C interms of importance. You want to do wellat these races, so you may rest for a fewdays before them, but you won’t taper

your training over the longer period as isdone for the highest-priority events.

EATING DURING RACEWEEK

This is not a time to make wholesalechanges in your diet. Stick with the foodsyou’ve been eating, but be aware that ifthis is a priority A event, you willprobably need to reduce the amount offood that you eat this week, as yourtraining volume is reduced, so you mayavoid excessive weight gain. You mightstill put on as much as 2 or 3 pounds, butmost of that is water. For every gram ofglycogen your body stores away in themuscles, it also packs away 2.6 grams of

water. Having extra water on board maywell be an advantage, especially if you’llbe racing in hot or humid conditions.

The day before the race, if you’vebeen carefully following a Paleo Diet,shift your food choices by taking inslightly more carbohydrate than usual toensure that your carbohydrate storage sitesare full. With the reduced volume thisweek, your body is primed to storeglycogen, so this last day of shifting yourdiet to increased carbohydrate should beadequate.

Now is a good time to eat more fruitssuch as bananas, peaches, cantaloupe,watermelon, and honeydew melon, alongwith vegetables such as potatoes, sweetpotatoes, and yams. Snack on dried fruit

today. To moderate the glycemic index ofthese foods, include protein and fat witheach meal. Examples of good fats to selecttoday are olive and flaxseed oils as saladdressing along with cold-water fish suchas salmon, halibut, haddock, herring, andmackerel. Such fish, as always, willsatisfy both the protein and fat needs theevening before the race. Skip the pastaparty.

In addition, reduce dietary fiber toallow for easier digestion of foods inpreparation for the next day’s race.Otherwise, eat at usual times and keepfood types as normal as possible.

STAGE I: EATING BEFORE

EXERCISEIt happens all too often: An athleteprepares meticulously for weeks andmonths for an important event. There is noworkout that is too demanding, nosacrifice too great. Then comes race day,and an error is made in the prerace meal:choosing food that takes too long to digestor digests too quickly; eating too much tooclose to the race start; taking in too littlefluid; or eating nothing at all. The result isa disastrous performance—all thatpreparation for naught. We’ve seen ithappen too many times. In fact, we’veexperienced it ourselves. Live and learn.

How could this have beenprevented? How, indeed, could theathletic performance have been enhanced

by the foods eaten before a demandingrace or training session? The purpose ofthis section is to help you establish adietary routine that serves you well,whether for a workout starting at yourback door or a race a thousand milesaway. Of course, it’s easier if you’re athome than on the road. Our goal here is toestablish a select menu of foods that youcan find whether you’re in Hometown,USA, or traveling to Hobart, Australia, fora race.

Preexercise Eating GoalsLet’s start by examining the goals forpreexercise foods and fluids. There arefive major objectives we are trying toaccomplish with nutrient intake just before

the race or workout.Satisfy hunger. This is pretty basic,

so it’s a wonder that some athletes ignorefood first thing in the morning. If it’s raceday, you may be too preoccupied to beaware of telltale signs at first, but yourbody will soon cry out for food. Thelonger you put it off, the greater the risk ofstarting exercise underfueled. The biggestdownside of such a mistake is whatcyclists call “bonking” and runners call“hitting the wall.” You simply run verylow on muscle and liver glycogen—thebody’s storage form of carbohydrate.When that happens, you’re forced to slowdown or completely stop.

Realizing that you’re hungry in thelast hour before exercise may well be too

late. Eating so close to starting is likely todo more harm than good. Don’t starthungry and don’t put off eating. Ifpossible, eat at least an hour in advance ofexercise. The higher the intensity of theworkout or race, the more time isnecessary for digestion. At first you mayfind it difficult to eat right out of bed, butthis aversion is mostly mental. Get used totaking in food of some sort early everyday and it will be much easier on raceday. You may find that a liquid meal is thebest option if you dislike eating early inthe morning.

Restock carbohydrate storesdepleted by the overnight fast. Duringthe night, as you slept, your body was busyrepairing and replacing tissues in an

ongoing maintenance routine it has beenengaged in since your conception. And, ofcourse, there were energy demandsthroughout the night simply related tobeing alive—breathing, cardiac activity,movement, digestion, and other life-sustaining functions. All of this takesenergy, and one of the most available fuelsources for this activity is thecarbohydrate stored in your muscles asglycogen. So when you awake afterseveral hours of sleep, your carbohydratestores may be depleted by as much as 140to 260 calories, depending on your bodysize and fat-free mass (muscles, bones,hair, fingernails, organs—everything otherthan fat). Replacing these expendedcalories, roughly 10 percent of yourcarbohydrate stores, is important to your

immediate athletic performance, and thelonger the race or workout session, themore critical this becomes.

Reestablish normal body fluidlevels. Besides expending energy as youslept, your body also lost water in yourbreath, through your pores, and during anybathroom visits. First thing in the morning,your body may be down several ouncesfrom normal hydration levels. Failing toreplenish fluids prior to exercise could setyou up for a substandard race or workout.

Optimize performance. This is abig one. Other than simply restoring yourfuel and fluid levels, proper preexercisenutrition has a lot to do with how youperform. Certain nutrients have beenshown to boost performance for some

types of events. We’ll examine thesepossibilities later in this chapter.

Prepare the body to recoverquickly postexercise. The better yourhydration and fuel levels are going into therace or workout, the faster you’ll recover,assuming you refuel and rehydrateadequately during exercise. But if youstart with a low tank, even if you eat anddrink as you should during activity,recovery may well be delayed. Thismeans it will take you longer to return to ahigh level of training in subsequent days.It’s even more critical if you are workingout two or three times a day or if you arestage racing, as road cyclists often do.

Preexercise Eating

There is little doubt that preexercisenutrient intake can help your athleticperformance. The big question has to dowith what you should eat and drink. Wecan offer several guidelines that come notonly from the research but also from ourpersonal experiences as athletes and fromcoaching hundreds of others in severalsports over the past 30 years. In a nutshell,here are the guidelines that will help youmake decisions about what to take inbefore starting a race or workout.

Consume 200 to 300 calories perhour prior to exercise. The amount youneed is determined by your body size,how much you ate the night before, whattime that meal was eaten, and yourexperience with eating before exercise.

We recommend eating no less than 2 hoursbefore the race or workout when possible.Three hours is usually better, especially ifyou tend to have a nervous stomach onrace days. If you eat 2 hours before, takein 400 to 600 calories. If eating 3 hoursbefore, you could eat 600 to 900 calories.Your body size and experience shouldhelp you narrow the range.

Take in mostly carbohydrate. Aswas explained in the previous section,during the multihour fast of your night’ssleep, your body’s stores of glycogenwere reduced. The fastest, most efficientway to restore this vital fuel source is byeating carbohydrate. If chosen wisely,carbohydrate also has the advantage ofdigesting fairly quickly so that you won’tbe carrying a load of undigested foodstuffs

early in the training session or race. Thetype of foods to eat will be addressedshortly.

The more time before the start of therace or workout, the more you shouldreduce the glycemic index of the meal.The glycemic index of a food indicateshow quickly a carbohydrate’s sugar getsinto the blood. A quick release of sugarfrom the meal triggers the release of thehormone insulin by the pancreas. Thisresults in a rapid decrease in the bloodsugar level, followed quickly byincreased hunger shortly before the racebegins. That’s not what you want tohappen. But by eating a lower glycemicindex food 2 or more hours beforestarting, your gut will have time to digestit and slowly replenish glycogen stores.

Fruit, for example, is a good choicebecause its sugar, fructose, is slow todigest, lowering the glycemic index.

Keep the meal low in fiber. Thereare several ways to reduce the glycemicindex of a food. One of the most effectiveis the addition of fiber. But this may betoo effective for a preexercise meal; thefiber in some foods, such as coarse,whole-grain cereals, is so dense that itcould well sit in your gut for severalhours, soaking up fluids and swelling.That’s not a good feeling to have at thestart of a race or hard workout.

Include protein, especially thebranched-chain amino acids. Aminoacids are the building blocks of protein.Certain amino acids, the “essential” ones,

are critical for your health and fitness andmust be in the foods you eat because thebody can’t produce them. Research out ofthe lab of Peter Lemon, PhD, at theUniversity of Western Ontario reveals thatthree of these essential amino acids, thosecalled branched-chain amino acids(BCAA), have benefits for performancewhen taken before aerobic exercise. (Ifyou study protein for athletes, you’re sureto come across Dr. Lemon’s name often,as he is considered one of the leadingauthorities in the world on this topic.) Inthis study, cyclists were given 6 grams ofBCAA or 6 grams of gelatin 1 hour beforean exhaustive session on a bicycle.Compared with the gelatin feeding, theBCAA significantly improved time toexhaustion and maximum power output,

while lowering heart rate at submaximumefforts. Blood sugar and lactate levels didnot differ between the two trials.

Other research has revealed that amixture of the essential amino acids andcarbohydrate taken before strenuousexercise not only improves enduranceperformance but also effectivelystimulates protein synthesis after exercise.This is great news for the seriousendurance athlete, as time to recovery iscritical for performance. The faster yourecover, the sooner you can do anotherquality workout; the more qualityworkouts in a given period of training, thebetter your subsequent performances inraces.

Finally, an additional benefit of

adding protein to a preexercise meal isthat this lowers the glycemic index of thecarbohydrate ingested along with it. Alowered glycemic index means a longer,slower release of sugar into thebloodstream during the subsequentexercise session, thus delaying the onsetof fatigue.

Drink to satisfy thirst. You canprevent dehydration during exercise bymaking sure that you are well hydratedbefore starting. Furthermore, research hasshown that consuming adequate fluidsrelative to thirst reduces proteinbreakdown during exercise. Anything youcan do to spare protein or prevent its useas a fuel during a race or workout benefitsboth performance and recovery. You don’twant to use muscle tissue to fuel exercise.

Drinking to satisfy thirst before exercise isone simple way to help ensure this doesn’thappen.

Take in water only in the last hour.The purpose here is to prevent a rapidinflux of sugar to the blood, followed bythe release of insulin to control it. Such asugar-insulin (hypoglycemic) reaction islikely to leave you low on blood sugar atthe start—just the opposite of what youintended—so you feel slightly dizzy andlight-headed within a few minutes ofstarting exercise.

The exception to this guideline is thatin the last 10 minutes prior to exercise,high glycemic index fluids may beconsumed. This is explained in greaterdetail below.

Preexercise Food ChoicesFoods to eat before exercise should bethose that can be found in grocery stores,no matter where you are racing, or easilybe carried during travel. The followingare examples of such food sources to eatprior to the last hour before startingexercise. You should select those thatappeal to you in the morning and are welltolerated by your body. Try them on thedays of race-simulation workouts andpriority C races, well before the targetedpriority A event for which you intend touse them. You may want to combine twoor more of these to create some variety inyour preexercise meal.

Fruit with eggs. Eggs are loadedwith protein and easily digested by most

people. Boiled eggs may be taken to arace venue if they are kept chilled, or youcan order scrambled eggs at a restaurant.One large, whole egg contains about 6grams of protein and 1.5 grams of BCAA.Combine this with fresh fruit, especiallyfruit that is low in fiber, such as bananas,peaches, cantaloupe, honeydew, andwatermelon. Fibrous fruits to avoidinclude apples, berries, dates, figs,grapes, pears, mango, papaya, andpineapple.

Applesauce mixed with proteinpowder. Look for unsweetenedapplesauce. This is low in fiber and has alow glycemic index primarily due to itsfructose content, and it’s well tolerated bymost people. Stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons of

powdered egg or whey protein to furtherslow the glycemic reaction and to addBCAA. The BCAA content of proteinpowders varies with source andmanufacturer, but they contain roughly 2.2grams per tablespoon. Carry proteinpowder in a plastic bag when traveling toraces and purchase applesauce at yourdestination. While this doesn’t exactlysound like a gourmet meal, realize that youare eating before the race only to providefuel for your body. Be sure to try this intraining or before a priority C race.

Baby food, including animalproducts. This may sound strange, but itworks well. Chopped and pureed babyfood can be found anywhere and is easilydigested by the human gut at any age.

Good choices are fruits or vegetables,along with chopped meats such as turkey,fish, or chicken.

Liquid meals. If you tend to have avery nervous stomach prior to races,blending foods may produce a liquid youcan more easily digest. Blend low-fiberfruit, such as those listed above, with fruitjuice and 2 or 3 tablespoons of powderedegg or whey protein.

Commercial meal-replacementdrinks, although not optimal, are an optionwhen you are away from home and don’thave any other options for real food. Lookfor products with added protein, such asEnsure High Protein. It’s best to avoidthose drinks that use milk as a base. Wheyprotein as an ingredient, however, will

meet your protein needs for the preracemeal. Be aware that these drinks arebecoming so popular with enduranceathletes that stores in the vicinity of racesoften sell out days in advance. Bring yourown or shop early.

Sports bar with protein. This is theleast attractive of the options, but it’llwork in a pinch. Protein bars, sometimescalled meal-replacement bars, are easilycarried and available almost everywhere.While primarily a carbohydrate-basedfood source, they contain just enoughprotein to slow the glycemic reaction andadd some BCAA to the meal.

Fluids, especially water. You mayalso use coffee or tea, which have knownbenefits associated with caffeine. As little

as 1 or 2 cups (depending on body size) ofstrongly brewed coffee, which has about 3times as much caffeine as tea, beforeexercise has been shown to improveendurance performance in athletes whoare not chronic users. However, be awarethat there are potential downsides withcaffeine, such as upset stomach andincreased nervousness. Most studies havefound that caffeine is not a diuretic. Theneed to urinate after drinking caffeinateddrinks probably has to do with drinkingbeyond thirst. The World Anti-DopingAssociation (WADA) does not considercaffeine to be a prohibited substance,while the International OlympicCommittee (IOC) as of 2008 enforces alimit of 12 mg per liter of urine. It wouldtake most athletes 6 to 8 cups of strong

coffee to reach this level.Fruit and vegetables juices may also

be taken in before exercise, but not in thelast hour prior. Be sure to experiment withthese during training sessions. Goodchoices are tomato, apple, and orange.Tomato juice often has added sodium,which may increase your thirst and needfor fluids (there is more on sodium inChapter 3).

10 Minutes Before StartTaking in carbohydrate within the lasthour or so of starting exercise, notincluding the final 10 minutes before, maycause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)during the first several minutes of exercisein some people who are especially

sensitive to sugar. For them, carbohydrate,especially a high glycemic load source,causes an almost immediate increase inblood insulin levels to reduce the blood’ssugar level, resulting in hypoglycemia.Many athletes may well experience light-headedness or dizziness in the ensuingexercise because of this reaction. Whydoesn’t this happen when high glycemicindex carbohydrate is taken in during thefinal 10 minutes before starting? Theanswer is that there just isn’t enough timefor the body to respond by pumping outinsulin. By the time exercise occurs, thebody immediately begins to down-regulateits need for insulin. During exercise, sugarintake produces smaller increases of thishormone because the muscles becomemore sensitive to insulin and permeable to

glucose, reducing the need for largeamounts of insulin that normally arerequired to escort the sugar into themuscle.

Taking in 100 to 200 calories from afew ounces of sports drink or gel,followed by 6 to 8 ounces of water, maywell give you the energy boost neededright before starting, without any negativeeffects. This is especially beneficial forthose early-morning workouts when youget out of bed within an hour of headingout the door. It may also prove helpful tothe athlete who just can’t eat first thing inthe morning.

Just as with the preexercise mealexamples offered above, the purpose ofthis 10-minute topping off is to replenish

glycogen stores while ensuring adequatehydration levels.

CHAPTER 3

STAGE II: EATINGDURING EXERCISE

Eating during exercise is a learned skillthat requires considerable planning andtesting and includes discovering tastynutrient sources along with the amountsand timing that work best for you. Thisdemands careful trial and error andmeticulous attention to detail. Don’tassume that just because certain sourceswork well for someone else, they willalso work well for you. Tolerance for

food during exercise is an individualmatter.

FOOD TOLERANCEDURING EXERCISE

The workouts that are the best indicatorsof what you can or cannot eat are the onesthat most closely simulate the event forwhich you are training, including theexpected race duration, intensity, terrain,and weather. You will find that yourbody’s tolerances for food and fluidchange as conditions vary. The leastimportant priority C races on yourschedule that mimic the conditions of thepriority A events serve as even better testsfor nutrition because these also place

psychological demands on you. Theultimate test is the goal race. From thisexperience, you can draw even betterconclusions for future races.

The intensity of exercise has a greatdeal to do with how well the stomachtolerates food and drink. At very highintensities, such as above 85 percent maxVO2 (approximately at anaerobicthreshold), the gastrointestinal systemessentially stops functioning as blood isshunted to the hardworking muscles and tothe skin for cooling. Conversely, at lowintensities, such as when racing in anultra-marathon event that takes many hoursto complete, many athletes experience anas-yet-unexplained mechanism thatproduces nausea. Fortunately, if the event

for which you are training is short andintense, such as a 5-K run or bicyclecriterium, there is no need to take inadditional fuel. You have plenty on boardalready.

If, on the other hand, your event islong and not a steady effort but, rather,punctuated by high-intensity efforts thatdetermine the outcome, such as a bicycleroad race, then eating and drinking mustoccur at times when the intensity is low.The nausea associated with very longevents, such as Ironman triathlons or ultra-marathons, isn’t as simple. Among thepossible reasons for the queasiness:

Poor pacing. This is the mostcommon cause of nausea early in a long,steady race. Going too fast in the early

stages—perhaps because of nervousenergy and a poor pacing strategy whilesimultaneously taking in food, whethersolid or liquid—causes the digestive tractto fill excessively. Due to the highintensity, the gut doesn’t process what’staken in. Continuing to consume calorieseven after the intensity has settled at amore conservative level just exacerbatesthe problem. Slowing down dramaticallyand temporarily stopping food intake arethe only solutions.

Excessive fluids. Another possiblecause of nausea in long-duration events isoverdrinking. The stomach can holdroughly 32 ounces and empties at a rate ofapproximately 30 to 42 ounces per hour,depending on body size and exerciseintensity. If the stomach’s reservoir

capacity is exceeded, as can be the casewith poor race-nutrition planning and alack of refueling rehearsal, it has nochoice but to remove the excess byvomiting.

Excessive nutrients. Related to thelast cause is another: taking in food ordrink that is excessively concentrated withnutrients. The greater the fuel’s nutrientcontent, the slower the stomach processesit. While physiology textbooks say that, onaverage, the stomach empties about 6calories per minute, or 360 calories perhour, most long-distance athletes know itis possible to handle far more than that—perhaps as much as 600 calories per hour(and maybe even more in some largeathletes). There seems to be a lot of

variation in individual tolerance for foodvolume. Whatever your limit, slightlyexceeding it for several hours willeventually lead to the stomach overfilling,with but one solution—puking.

Dehydration. Excessive dehydrationin the heat may also contribute to nausea.If fluid intake is well below one’s sweatrate for a long period of time, body fluidsare shunted away from the digestivesystem to the skin (for cooling) andmuscles (for work production). When thathappens, the processing of fuel and fluidsis reduced. In other words, the stomach’semptying rate falls and whatever is takenin accumulates until the excess triggersnausea.

Saltwater ingestion. In ocean-swim

events, such as Ironman-distancetriathlons or long-distance swimming,swallowing seawater may set up theathlete for nausea later in the event.“Seawater poisoning” occurs when thehigh sodium content of ocean water causesthe stomach to shut down until the gut’ssodium content is diluted, preferably bydrinking plain water. If the athlete doesnot gradually take in water to dilute thesodium, or if he or she takes in fuel in anyform (including liquid), the body willmake its own adjustments by pulling waterfrom the blood and intracellular space intothe stomach or by vomiting.

None of the above. Your gut’sdispleasure during a given event could bedue to several of the above scenarios—orit could be caused by something altogether

different, such as nervous excitement, foodpoisoning, exhaustion, or extreme heat. Itmay also be that your body, while in goodshape, is not yet fully prepared for a long-distance event. An extreme event relativeto your fitness level may simplyoverwhelm your body’s ability to cope.

The good news is that once youvomit, it’s likely that you’ll start feelingbetter. But don’t get carried away by thenewfound relief—the problem could sooncome back to haunt you. At this point,slow down if you haven’t already, andbegin sipping water to see how that isaccepted. If your stomach seems to handlethat for 10 to 20 minutes or so, progress toa diluted drink by mixing water and asports beverage. Take in only 2 to 3ounces over 10 to 20 minutes. Again, if

that stays down, try a normallyconcentrated sports drink. At some point,you will know that the conservativeapproach is working and you can resume agreater intensity, but be cautious; yourstomach may still be upset. Even thoughthis may cost you time, it is better to finishthan to make the DNF (did not finish) list.

HYDRATION DURINGEXERCISE

Athletes are generally greatly concernedby dehydration. After a poor raceperformance, especially on a hot day, theyare likely to blame the less-than-stellarexperience on excessive loss of bodyfluids. Recent research is showing,

however, that the level of dehydrationnecessary to affect performance is greaterthan formerly believed. The trend istoward accepting dehydration at somelevel as a normal condition of exercise.For example, the American College ofSports Medicine in 1996 concluded thatathletes should prevent any level ofdehydration by continually replacing allwater lost during exercise. By 2007 theACSM’s position had changed due toconcerns about excessive drinkingresulting in hyponatremia (discussed laterin this chapter), a far worse problem thandehydration. They now advise athletes torestrict water losses during exercise toless than 2 percent. But even that isquestionable.

The clinical evidence is not

overwhelming that losing 2 percent ofbody weight due to sweat is harmful toyour health or to endurance performance.In fact, field studies conducted on athletesat long-distance races in hot and humidconditions, such as the Ironman TriathlonWorld Championship in Kailua-Kona,Hawaii, find that athletes continue toperform at very high levels with body-weight losses of 3 percent or even greater.Some exercise scientists point out that themost dehydrated athletes in a race aretypically the first to finish. They certainlywere not slowed down by body-weightlosses of greater than 2 percent.

Body weight is not recommended asa way to determine your fluid needs. For,after all, while racing or training youdon’t have the opportunity to weigh

yourself to gauge fluid replacement needs.Nor can you use past experiences whenyou’ve weighed before and after exercise.There are many variable conditions whenyou are training and racing that impactfluid levels. Small changes in airtemperature, humidity, wind speed,exercise intensity, exercise duration,altitude, hydration status at the start line,glycogen storage levels, and other factorsaffect how much fluid your body losesthrough sweat and breathing. Knowing thatone set of such conditions caused a loss ofa certain amount of body weight does notmean that all exercise will result in thesame or even similar losses. So howshould you gauge fluid losses to preventwhat could be excessive dehydration?

The answer is simple: thirst.

Somehow, athletes have come to believethat thirst is not a good predictor of theirbody’s fluid needs. It’s likely due toeffective marketing by sports drinkcompanies, which has been shown to havea great influence on what athletes believeabout hydration. If thirst does not work forhumans, then we would be the onlyspecies in the animal world to have such acondition. And it’s unlikely that as aspecies we would have flourished andspread around the world to so manyextreme environments.

Early humans evolved while runningand walking long distances in the heat ofthe dry African savannah while huntingand gathering. Water was not readilyavailable. There were no aid stations.They drank just enough to maintain healthy

fluid levels, but not necessarily bodyweight. The key to this delicate balance,now as much as 10,000 years ago, is thesensation of thirst. If you learn to payattention to how thirsty you are and drinkenough to satisfy it, you will no longerneed to be concerned with body weight.Nor will you need a “drinking schedule,”which is, at best, based on flimsyconclusions about what the manyconditions will be during exercise. It’sactually quite simple: If you are thirsty,drink; stop drinking when you are nolonger thirsty.

SODIUM AND EXERCISELet’s address another rehydration issue

common in endurance sport—the need forsodium intake to maintain or even improveperformance.

During exercise, as fluid is lostthrough sweating and breathing, theconcentration of sodium in the bodyactually increases. The reason is becausemuch more fluid than sodium is lostthrough sweating. One might sweat offaround a liter of water during intenseexercise on a warm day, but lose only atiny amount of sodium. Normal bodysodium levels are about 140 millimolesper liter (mmol/l) of water while the levelof sweat is about 20 to 60 mmol/l.

So let’s say an average-size humanbody contains 40 liters of water when atrest and normally hydrated. That means it

has stored away something like 5,600mmol of sodium (40 x 140 = 5,600). If 1liter of fluid is lost during exercise andwith that 60 mmol of sodium is excreted(the high end or “salty” sweater), then thenew sodium concentration is about 142mmol/l (5,600 - 60 = 5,540 / 39 =142.05). The concentration of sodium hasrisen, not declined. Guess what happensnext after a sufficiently large rise insodium concentration occurs? Your thirstmechanism kicks in and you drink water todilute the sodium, bringing it back downto something closer to 140 mmol/l. Astudy by Hubbard and associates foundthat a rise of about 2 or 3 percent ofplasma sodium concentration evoked astrong desire to drink.

So your sodium content becomes

more concentrated during exercise as yousweat, not less, as we’ve been led tobelieve. In other words, you don’t need toreplace lost sodium during exercisebecause the loss is inconsequential, whilethe volume of water lost is significant. Buteven if you did, the sodium content ofmost sports drinks is only 10 to 25mmol/l, not enough to replace the loss.More than that makes the drinkunpalatable. The extracellular fluid inyour body, where much of the sodium isstored, has about the concentration ofseawater. If you’ve ever swallowedseawater, you know how nasty that wouldbe as a sports drink.

Would not taking in sodium during along race or workout impact yourperformance? Not according to the

research. For example, a study by Mersonand associates found that adding sodium toa sports drink did not improveperformance in a time trial effort after 4hours of exercise at a moderate intensity.Similarly, a study by Barr and associatesfound that sodium in a sports drink did notimpact the ability to complete 6 hours ofmoderate-intensity exercise.

Should you take in sodium at allduring a race or workout? There is noknown downside to doing so. In fact, theremay be a slight advantage, but not for thereasons we’ve been led to believe. A bitof sodium may improve the rate ofabsorption of both water and carbohydratein the upper part of the small intestine.Sodium during exercise also is known toexpand blood plasma volume, increasing

the amount of blood pumped by the heartfor each stroke. That’s a good thing. Andafter exercise, extra sodium may beneeded to prevent dilution in the cells aswater is taken in to recover from the slightdehydration that occurred. So the bottomline is that it’s okay to take in sodiumduring and after a race or workout.

HYPONATREMIAThe greater issue for the long-durationathlete is hyponatremia—low sodiumconcentrations in the body fluids. This canlead to not only poor performance but alsoacute health problems and even death. Inrecent years there have been two reporteddeaths in marathons related to over-

hydration-induced hyponatremia. Bothwere back-of-the-pack runners who hadbeen on the road for several hours.Studies of Ironman-distance triathleteshave shown that many competitorsexperience mild levels of hyponatremia.

This condition is considered to be asodium concentration level of less than135 mmol/l by some experts. The mostcommon way this occurs is throughdilution of sodium stores caused byoverdrinking during exercise. So the mainissue is not replacing sodium, but rathernot drinking too much fluid. Thirst is thekey to this balance. If you drink only whenthirsty and to a level that satisfies thirst,then you will not drink too much. Drinkingas much as possible, which used to be acommon tip for athletes, or drinking to a

predetermined schedule during eventslasting longer than about 4 hours, has thepotential to cause hyponatremia.

Hyponatremia occurs when thesodium concentration of the blood isreduced to dangerous levels. It can resultfrom prolonged vomiting or diarrhea orfrom taking diuretics; but in enduranceathletics, it’s most commonly seen withexcessive intake of fluid during longevents. And the fluid doesn’t have to bewater. The death of one of the twomarathoners mentioned above occurredfrom overdrinking a commercial sportsbeverage. Even though these drinks havesodium as an ingredient, they do notmaintain a healthy concentration if youdrink to excess. Hyponatremia isextremely rare in events lasting less than 4

hours, but it’s common in competitionstaking 8 or more hours to complete. Instudies at the New Zealand and HawaiiIronman Triathlons, events that take 8 to17 hours to complete, researchers foundthat up to 30 percent of finishersexperienced mild to severe hyponatremia.

How does this happen? In a mistakenbelief that one cannot take in too muchwater during exercise, the athleteoverhydrates and may even gain weightduring the event. The problem is mostcommon with slower participants becausethey have greater opportunity and moretime to drink. (The fastest athletes aremore prone to dehydration than tohyponatremia; they find it more difficult totake in fluids at their level ofcompetitiveness, plus they spend less time

on the course.)It can be difficult to determine if you

are experiencing hyponatremia becausethe signs come on slowly. Early symptomsinclude headache in the forehead, nausea,muscle cramps, lethargy, confusion,disorientation, reduced coordination, andtunnel vision. One sure sign ofhyponatremia is bloating. Look forpuffiness and tightness around rings,watches, sock bands, and elasticwaistbands. In extreme cases, the athletemay experience convulsions,unconsciousness, respiratory distress, orcardiac arrest. Because urination isgreatly reduced or stops altogether whenblood sodium concentrations are low,hyponatremia is often misdiagnosed asdehydration—and that can be a fatal error.

If water intake is increased in a mistakenattempt to rehydrate the athlete, thecondition worsens.

Let’s now examine the uniquenutritional characteristics of workouts andraces of various duration ranges.

EATING DURING 2- TO 90-MINUTE EVENTS

These are the shortest exercise sessionsthat qualify as endurance activities andinclude 800-meter through about half-marathon runs, sprint-distance triathlons,bicycle criteriums and time trials, somemountain bike races, 5-K to about 30-Kcross-country ski races, and most rowing

events.What sets such events apart from

longer-distance racing is the highintensity. At the pace the athlete istraveling, taking in solid food is out of thequestion and, thankfully, not necessary.The focus of nutrition during training orracing for these events, regardless ofone’s speed, is on hydration, which isresolved by drinking enough to satisfythirst.

Assuming adequate nutrition in thedays and hours preceding a 2- to 90-minute session, the athlete’s body is wellprepared with glycogen stores. The risk ofbonking is quite low for experiencedathletes. Novices and weekend warriorsmay need to assume their starting point for

taking in carbohydrate is 60 minutes,because they don’t store as much glycogenin their muscles. There is no harm innovices or advanced athletes using asports drink, regardless of the duration.Some research has even foundperformance benefits from the intake of asugar-based fuel source in events lastingless than an hour. Interestingly, one studyfound that rinsing one’s mouth with asports drink and spitting it out improvedperformance in relatively short events.The mechanism for this isn’t understoodand the research is contradictory.

With this in mind, however, thegreatest nutritional need at this duration iswater. As explained above, it’s best todrink enough to satisfy your thirst. In sucha short race, that may not be possible,

especially for the fastest athletes, whofind it difficult to move at high speed anddrink at the same time. There should belittle cause for concern if that is the case.With such a short event, dehydration isunlikely to be sufficient to harm yourhealth or even to result in a poorperformance.

EATING DURING 90-MINUTE TO 4-HOUR

EVENTSExamples of race events in this range arehalf- to full-marathon runs, Olympic tohalf-Ironman-distance multisport races,bicycle criteriums and road races,

mountain bike races, and 30-K to 100-Kcross-country ski events. Longer workoutsat a more leisurely effort are also includedhere.

At this duration, inadequate nutritionand environmental stresses on the bodybegin to take a toll on performance. Allathletes are at risk for depleted muscleglycogen stores, and very fast athletes facethe possibility of dehydration, sonutritional goals must begin with taking inadequate fluids and carbohydrate. It isbest to use a sports drink or gel withwater to maintain carbohydrate stores.Take in 200 to 300 calories per hour,depending on your body size andexperience. The longer the event, the moreimportant it is to replenish fuel stores.

From the outset of the exercisesession, replace some of the expendedglycogen to delay the onset of fatiguewhile maintaining power. Do not waituntil the latter stages of the workout orrace to take in carbohydrate, as that maywell set you up for a poor performance oreven a bonk. The carbohydrate at thisduration is best in a liquid form. There islittle reason to use solid foods. Assuminga good nutritional intake before the eventand the consumption of carbohydratethroughout, food in solid form will haveno marked advantage, but the potential fornausea at race intensity is significant.

Especially for longer events in thisrange, using sports drinks and gels insteadof only water has the added advantage oflimiting muscle damage. For high-intensity

exercise sessions, the body will turn toprotein for a fuel source as glycogenstores run low. Much of that protein willcome from muscle. Failing to get adequatecarbohydrate during intense exercise at thelonger end of this duration range can resultin muscle wasting.

In studies comparing the effects ofcarbohydrate and water on perceivedexertion during intense exercise at thisduration, carbohydrate was the clearwinner. This means that even though yourheart rate and blood acidosis levels maybe the same whether you drink water or asports drink, the effort will feel lowerwith the sports drink. The combination ofcarbohydrate and protein (primarily thebranched-chain amino acids, described inChapter 4) may enhance performance and

postexercise recovery, while helping toprevent the transport of excessive amountsof serotonin to the brain. Serotonin is achemical that can cause the onset ofcentral nervous system fatigue,accompanied by increased sensations ofexertion and even sleepiness. Theresearch on sports drinks that combinecarbohydrate and protein is notconclusive. When carb-only and carb-plus-protein drinks with equal amounts ofcalories are compared in such studies,there is generally no significantperformance improvement. For someathletes, the consumption of protein duringexercise seems to contribute to nausea.

For the shorter end of this durationrange many athletes will get by withminimum fuel intake. When exercising at

maximum intensity for the longer end ofthis duration, take in up to 200 to 300calories per hour in an equal distributionevery 10 to 20 minutes, primarily fromliquid sources. The minimum intake is 1calorie of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight per hour.

As always, drink enough to satisfyyour thirst. Doing this is a skill that mustbe developed in training and priority Craces, as some athletes become so focusedon performance that they forget to payattention to their thirst. High glycemicindex drinks with much greatermaltodextrin or glucose than fructosecontent are preferred, as some athletesexperience gastrointestinal distress fromeven a moderate amount of fructose. Mostcommercial drinks include at least some

fructose. Let experience be your guide.Consider using a caffeinated sports

drink or gel; this has been shown toenhance the utilization of the glucose insports drinks. The mechanism here is notfully understood, and research in this areais limited. Could using caffeine result inan upset stomach? In the only study on thistopic, conducted at University Hospital,Maastricht, Netherlands, there was nodifference in the stomach-acid levels ofthe people using drinks with caffeine andthose who didn’t use caffeine. But asalways, it’s best to experiment withcaffeinated drinks in training and priorityC races than to try them for the first timein an important event.

LACTIC ACID’S BAD RAPFor the better part of a century, athletes and physiologistsalike have considered lactic acid a primary cause of fatigueduring high-intensity exercise and referred to it as a “wasteproduct” of muscle metabolism. But now this way of thinkinghas changed, as scientists have learned that this substance weproduce in large quantities during exercise, especially highlyintense exercise, is not a cause of fatigue and actually helps toprevent it.

The former misrepresentation started with Britishphysiologist and Nobel laureate Archibald V. Hill, who in 1929flexed frog muscles to fatigue in his lab and noted that lacticacid accumulated when muscular failure occurred. Heconcluded that the lactic acid caused the fatigue associatedwith repeated muscle contractions. What he didn’t know isthat when the muscle is examined as part of a completebiological system instead of in isolation from the rest of thebody, we can see that lactic acid is processed and converted tofuel to help keep the muscles going. It does not cause fatigue.

Nor does lactic acid cause muscle soreness the day afterhard exercise. This myth has been around for decades andrefuses to go away, despite evidence to the contrary over thepast 30 years. Soreness is more likely the result of damagedmuscle cells resulting from excessive usage.

So if lactic acid is not the villain we’ve made it out to be,what does cause fatigue and the burning sensation in themuscles during short, intense exercise bouts, such as intervalsor races lasting just a few minutes? To get at the answer, it’snecessary to understand the pH scale, which tells us howacidic or alkaline (base) the body’s fluids are in a range of 1 to14, as hydrogen ions increase or decrease. On this scale,hydrogen readings dropping below neutral 7 indicateincreasing acidity, while those rising above 7 indicateescalating alkalinity. Examples of acidic fluids are hydrochloricacid (pH = 1) and vinegar (pH = 3), while milk of magnesia (pH= 10.5) and ammonia (pH = 11.7) are alkaline.

At rest, the pH of your blood is around 7.4—slightlyalkaline. In terms of your blood, small absolute changes inacid-base balance have major consequences. For example,during a 2- to 3-minute all-out effort, your blood’s pH may dropas low as 6.8 to 7.0. In biochemical terms, this is a huge acidicswing, producing a burning sensation in the working musclesand an inability for them to continue contracting. Fatigue hasset in.

If lactic acid didn’t cause the drop in pH, what did? Theanswer has to do with our sources of fuel during such shortexercise bouts—glycogen and glucose. Both arecarbohydrates, but they have slightly different chemicalcompositions. Glycogen is stored inside the muscle, where itcan be quickly broken down to produce energy. Glucose, a

form of this carbohydrate-based fuel that is stored in the liverand floats around in the bloodstream, is called on to produceenergy for exercise when muscle glycogen stores can nolonger keep up with the demand or are running low. Asglycogen is broken down to produce energy, it releases oneunit of hydrogen. But if glucose must be used for fuel, such aswhen the intensity of the exercise exceeds glycogen’s ability tokeep up, two units of hydrogen are released. This rapiddoubling of hydrogen ions in the system lowers the blood’spH, causing the burning and fatigue associated with acidosis.The same amount of lactic acid is released no matter which fuelis used.

Far from being an evildoer, lactic acid is an ally duringintense exercise. It does a great deal to keep the body goingwhen the going gets hard. Besides being converted back into afuel source, when hydrogen begins to accumulate, lactatetransports it out of the working muscle cells and helps tobuffer or offset its negative consequences.

After 80 years, lactic acid’s bad boy reputation has beenlifted.

EATING DURING 4- TO 12-HOUR EVENTS

At this duration we are moving into eventsin which the athlete’s health and well-being during exercise cannot be taken forgranted. Hyponatremia, as describedearlier, is now a real threat, andnutritional planning is critical in waysother than simply performance.

Races in this range include marathonand ultra-marathon running, half-Ironman-to Ironman-distance events, bicycle roadraces and century rides, and ultra-marathon cross-country ski and rowingevents.

At such durations the intensity ofexercise is quite low, with the effort

seldom, if ever, approaching theanaerobic threshold in most sports. Theexception is bicycle road racing, in whichepisodes lasting about 2 minutes duringbreakaways occur at a highly anaerobiclevel. With this exception, the fuel sourcefor long, steady events is now veryheavily weighted in favor of fat, withcarbohydrate playing a smaller, but noless important, role. There is an oldsaying in exercise science that “fat burnsin a carbohydrate fire.” In the real worldof endurance athletics, this means that ifcarbohydrate stored as muscle glycogenruns low, the body will gradually lose itscapacity to produce energy from fat. Inother words, a bonk is highly likely duringevents in this category if carbohydrateingestion is neglected for even a little

while. Once an athlete is well behind thecarbohydrate intake versus expenditurecurve, catching up is difficult and may beaccomplished only by slowingdramatically or stopping exercisealtogether. This is the dreaded “deathmarch” so commonly found late in theseevents.

Carbohydrate must be taken in rightfrom the beginning of these sessions inorder to stay close to the expenditure rate,delaying the onset of fatigue whilemaintaining power. Although replacingmost of the expended glycogen is the goalfor this duration, it’s doubtful you will beable to restock all of it. At the highestintensities, the fastest athletes expendabout 1,000 calories per hour, withperhaps up to 60 percent of that coming

from carbohydrate-based glycogen. It’sunlikely that all but the largest athletesconsume that much carbohydrate. In fact,you don’t need to replace it at all if youdid a good job of eating qualitycarbohydrate in the 24 hours leading up tothe race or workout. If you did, you haveprobably stored 1,500 to 2,000 calories ascarbohydrate in your muscles and liver,depending on your body size. By keepingthe hourly deficit (exercise expenditureminus intake) at less than 100 calories,even the elite athletes in the longest ofthese events—those who are likely to burnthe most calories—can avoid bonking.Slower athletes can keep the deficit evensmaller, but that isn’t particularly aproblem because their burn rate is lower.

In such events, get about 200 to 400

calories per hour in an equal distributionevery 10 to 20 minutes, primarily fromliquid sources with a minimum of 1calorie of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight per hour. At the upper end of thisrace-duration range, around 12 hours,sports bars or even solid foods may beused as desired. Solid foods must be ofmoderate to high glycemic index, low infiber, and easily digested.

Some athletes have success whenusing commercial meal-replacementdrinks at durations of about 8 hours ormore. If you decide to experiment withthese, it’s best to avoid those that usedairy products as the primary source.Unfortunately, most drinks in this categoryare largely cow’s milk. One exception isEnsure.

Otherwise, the guidelines forcarbohydrate fuel replacement are thesame as in the previous section, includingthe possible use of a caffeinated drinkwith added protein. As with the 90-minuteto 4-hour events, taking in some proteinmay help prevent the onset of centralnervous system fatigue, which is markedby general malaise and even yawning—even though you’re consuming adequatecarbohydrate and aren’t particularlybored. But once again you must considerthe possible downside of nausea.Experiment in training and low-priorityevents to see if the addition of protein toyour sports drink can be managed by yourgut.

The elite athlete’s greatest concern atthis distance is dehydration. Slower

athletes should be able to easily avoid thiscalamity by drinking when thirsty, but theyneed to be aware of overdrinking resultingin hyponatremia, as described above.Overhydrating with water by as little as 2percent can bring on this dreadedcondition.

Solid food is more likely to beneeded only during the longest events inthis range, although some athletes continueto use only liquid sources of fuel evenwhen approaching 12 hours.

WHAT CAUSES MUSCLECRAMPS?We’ve all had it happen. The race is going great—then all of asudden, from out of nowhere, a muscle begins to feel “twitchy”

and seizes up. You slow down, hoping it will go away. It does,but as soon as you start pouring on the power, it comes back.The promise of a stellar race is gone.

There is no more perplexing problem for athletes thancramps. Muscles seem to knot up at the worst possible times—seldom in training, but frequently in races.

The real problem is that no one knows what causes cramps.There are theories, the most popular being that muscle crampsresult from dehydration or electrolyte imbalances. Thesearguments seem to make sense—at least on the surface.Cramps are most common in the heat of summer, when lowbody-fluid levels and decreases in body salts due to sweatingare likely to occur.

But the research doesn’t always support theseexplanations. For example, in the mid-1980s, 82 male runnerswere tested before and after a marathon for certain bloodparameters considered to be likely causes of muscle cramps.Fifteen of the runners experienced cramps after 18 miles. Therewas no difference, either before or after the race, in bloodlevels of sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, hemoglobin, orhematocrit. There was also no difference in blood volumebetween the crampers and the noncrampers, nor were theresignificant differences in the way the two groups trained.

Note that we are talking about exercise-induced crampshere. In such cases of cramping, the knotted muscle is almost

always one that is involved in movement in the sport. Ifdepletion of electrolytes was a cause of cramping duringexercise, why wouldn’t the entire body cramp up? Why justthe working muscles? Electrolytes are lost throughout thebody, not just in working muscles. We know that people whobecome clinically hyponatremic by losing a great deal of bodysalts (not exercise-induced) cramp in all of their muscles. It’sgeneralized, not localized.

It should also be pointed out that when someone cramps,the “fix” is not hurriedly drinking a solution of electrolytes, butrather stretching the offending muscle. For example, a runnerwith a calf cramp will stop and stretch the calf muscle byleaning against a wall or other object while dorsiflexing theankle against resistance—the standard “runners stretch.”

In fact, what is known is that sweat, with regard toelectrolytes, is hypotonic. That means the concentration ofsodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and calcium is weakerthan it is in the body. This indicates that more water is lost inthe sweat than electrolytes. So if the body lost more of itsstored water but not as much of its electrolytes, what wouldhappen to electrolyte concentration in the body? Theconcentration would increase. So during exercise when youdehydrate and lose electrolytes, their concentration in thebody is greater than it was before you started to exercise. Thebody functions based on concentrations, not on absoluteamounts. That alone presents a great problem for the argument

that the cause of cramping is the loss of electrolytes that mustbe replaced.

So if dehydration or electrolyte loss through sweat doesn’tcause cramping, what does? No one knows for sure, buttheories are emerging. Some researchers blame poor posture orinefficient biomechanics. Poor movement patterns may cause adisturbance in the activity of the Golgi tendon organs—“straingauges” built into the tendon to prevent muscle tears. Whenactivated, these organs cause the threatened muscle to relaxwhile stimulating the antagonistic muscle—the one that movesthe joint in the opposite way—to fire. There may be some quirkof body mechanics that upsets a Golgi device and sets off thecramping pattern. If that is the cause, prevention may involveimproving biomechanics and regularly stretching andstrengthening muscles that seem to cramp, along withstretching and strengthening their antagonistic muscles.

Another theory is that cramps result from the burning ofprotein for fuel in the absence of readily availablecarbohydrate. In fact, one study supports such a notion:Muscle cramps occurred in exercising subjects who reachedthe highest levels of ammonia release, indicating that proteinwas being used to fuel the muscles during exercise. Thissuggests a need for greater carbohydrate stores before, andreplacement of those stores during, intense and long-lastingexercise.

When you feel a cramp coming on, there are two ways to

deal with it. One is to reduce your intensity and slow down—not a popular option in an important race. Another is toalternately stretch and relax the affected muscle group whilecontinuing to move. This is difficult if not impossible to do insome sports, such as running, and with certain muscles.

There is a third option that some athletes swear by:pinching the upper lip. Who knows—it may work for you thenext time a cramp strikes.

EATING DURING 12- TO18-HOUR EVENTS

Events in this duration include theIronman-distance triathlon, double-centurybike ride, and ultra-marathons in suchsports as running, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, swimming, and kayaking.The stresses placed on the athlete can be

extreme, with fatigue, heat, humidity, hills,wind, and currents taking their toll andgradually reducing performance. Nutritionis critical for these events.

Much of what was said in theprevious section remains true here. Thecaveats are that solid foods now become anecessity, and hunger may well dictatewhat you decide to use for fuel. This mightinclude bananas, cookies, jellysandwiches, fruit juices, and soup. All ofthe foods selected should be toward thehigh end of the glycemic index. Otherwise,intake of carbohydrate, protein (especiallybranched-chain amino acids), andcaffeine, as described above, may becontinued.

EATING DURING EVENTSLONGER THAN 18 HOURS

These are the true “ultra” events of theworld of endurance sports: the RaceAcross America (RAAM) and Paris-Brest-Paris bike races, double-Ironman-distance triathlon, Western States 100-mile run, and multiday bicycle racingtours such as the grueling Tour de France,the Vuelta a Espana, and the Giro d’Italia.It can be very difficult to take in adequatefood and water, but for events done indaily stages, such as the Tour de France,daily nutritional intake between stages isoften the difference between finishing anddropping out.

The longer the event, the more

crucial it is that caloric needs be met bybalancing nutrient intake with expenditure.Unsupported events require the athlete tocarry nutrients or purchase them along theroute, which makes planning all the morecritical—the preferred sources must belight or generally available at conveniencestores. Plan on taking in at least 6,000calories daily—and that’s conservative.RAAM riders who spend at least 5 daysriding across the United States, from theWest to the East Coast, typically report10,000-calorie days.

The longer the event, the lower theintensity, diminishing the relative amountof carbohydrate used as fuel. Whereascarbohydrate may account for 80 percentof the expended calories in events that lastless than 90 minutes, it may contribute

only about 50 percent of the total energyused in ultra-events. This means that thecarbohydrate content of your fuel need notbe as carbohydrate-rich as for shorterevents. Conversely, protein intakebecomes more important and should makeup 5 to 15 percent of your fuel, so yournutritional source should reflect thisdemand. Not getting enough protein maywell result in muscle wasting. That’s notconducive to good performance.

Fat also becomes more important inevents of this duration. You’ll burn a lotof it, so it’s okay to take in a considerableamount—a fifth to a third of your fuelsource—during the activity. In fact, ultra-marathoners often report a craving for fatduring their events. Fat tends to presentfewer gut problems during exercise than

carbohydrate does, but that doesn’t meanit won’t affect your stomach at all. Beforethe event, be sure to experiment todiscover the mix and types of fuels thatwork best for you.

Nutritional Goals for 18+Hour EventsGiven the importance of refueling inevents of this duration, it’s a good idea toclosely examine all aspects of nutrition ingreat detail. Let’s start by considering thenutritional goals for the ultra-marathonathlete.

Replace all of the expendedcarbohydrate. Even at relatively slowvelocities, a considerable amount ofdietary carbohydrate is needed to delay

the onset of fatigue while maintainingpower. Carbohydrate should be taken infrom the outset of exercise, usingpredominantly high glycemic indexsources. It’s generally best that the sportsdrinks you choose have greatermaltodextrin or glucose sources thanfructose.

What changes from the previousdiscussions, however, is that the demandfor carbohydrate relative to time isreduced. You’ll be using less fuel perhour while burning fewer calories fromcarbohydrate sources and more from fatthan for short events, so the totalreplacement of carbohydrate is not asdifficult as in shorter, faster events.

Prevent excessive dehydration

while avoiding hyponatremia. Stayingadequately hydrated for such events iscritical. Once you are excessivelydehydrated, it is difficult to get fluidlevels back to normal. As always, usethirst as your guide to drinking.Hyponatremia is a threat to all athletes,including the faster ones, in events of thisduration. The key, again, is drinking tosatisfy thirst and not on a schedule. Therewill be a significant loss of body weightdue to dehydration in each day’s activityin multiday events even while you aredrinking to thirst. During rest and recoverytimes fluids should be consumed asdesired.

Prevent central nervous systemfatigue. Low levels of branched-chain

amino acids in the blood during these longevents can allow serotonin to enter thebrain, causing the central nervous systemto fatigue even though the other systems ofthe body are doing well. (See “What IsFatigue?”)

Prevent muscle wasting. It is notunusual for athletes in ultra-distanceevents, such as the Tour de France, to loseseveral pounds, mostly from muscle. Astudy of trekkers in the Andes found thatthose who supplemented their diet withbranched-chain amino acids gainedmuscle mass over 21 days, while theirplacebo-supplemented companions whootherwise ate the same diet lost muscle.Without adequate protein intake, thetrekkers’ bodies were “cannibalizing”themselves. This helps us understand why,

after ultra-marathon events, athletes lookso gaunt. To prevent muscle catabolism, itis critical that the athlete take in proteinalong with carbohydrate during the race.

Prevent hunger. You will becomequite hungry if you go 18 hours or longerwith nothing more than sports drinks andgels. Foods including solid sources are anecessity, as they are more energy-densethan liquid sources. You’ll also find thatafter several hours, you become very tiredof sweets and crave fat. Follow yourdesires and eat what sounds appealing, butconsider these treats rather than mainsources of fuel. The typical warnings stillstand: Keep these foods low in fiber, andtry them in workouts before using them inraces.

Nutritional Guidelines for18+ Hour EventsThe guidelines for including fat andprotein (primarily branched-chain aminoacids) now shift toward fat and proteinand slightly away from carbohydrate.Your 300 to 600 calories hourly fromcarbohydrate, fat, and protein should bebroken down, respectively, as 60 to 70percent, 20 to 30 percent, and 10 to 15percent. This proportion may enhanceperformance and recovery, while helpingto prevent the serotonin buildup that cancause central nervous system fatigue andgreater exertion.

Races of this distance often provideor allow support in the form of aidstations, feed zones, or even following

support vehicles. This makes thereplacement of huge energy needsthroughout the event possible. Formultiday events such as bicycle stageraces, rest and recovery breaks are thetimes when the day’s caloric expendituresmust be made up. During these times,which are essentially Stages IV and V ofdaily recovery, an assortment of foodssuch as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams,vegetables, turkey sandwiches, freshfruits, and soup will providecarbohydrate, fat, and protein.

CHAPTER 4

STAGES III, IV, ANDV: EATING AFTER

EXERCISE

Immediately after a race or workout ends,it’s time to start focusing on recovery.This should be your highest priority. Thehigher your athletic goals, the moreimportant quick recovery becomes. If youaspire to achieve at your peak levels, thenboth the quantity and quality of trainingare crucial for success. The sooner you

can do another key workout, the faster youwill get into race shape and the better yourresults will be.

If everything is done rightnutritionally, both before and during theexercise session, then you’re well on yourway to accomplishing this result.Following exercise, your objective mustbe to return your body to its preexerciselevels of hydration, glycogen storage, andmuscle protein status as quickly aspossible. Diet is the critical component inthis process.

There are three stages in thisprocess: 30 minutes postexercise (StageIII); short-term postexercise (Stage IV),lasting as long as the exercise session; andlong-term postexercise (Stage V), lasting

until the next Stage I. Generally thesestages will occur in sequential order fromI through V. But on days when multipleworkouts are done with only a few hoursbetween sessions, Stages III and IV maybe completed followed by a return toStage 1, repeating the entire process.Stage V would then be very late in theday. This is quite common for seriousathletes who train and race at a high level.Stages III and IV may also be modifiedbased on the total stress of the workout.Let’s examine the details of each stage ofpostexercise recovery.

STAGE III: EATING 30MINUTES POSTEXERCISE

Following a highly stressful workout orrace, this is the most critical phase.During the first 30 minutes after exercisestops, your body is better prepared toreceive and store carbohydrate than at anyother time during the day. If the precedingsession was challenging, your body’sglycogen stores have been significantlydiminished and there may be damage tomuscles as well. Get nutrition right now,and you are well on your way to the nextkey workout. Blow it, and you’re certainto delay recovery.

Timing is a critical component forthis stage. At no other time in the day isyour body as receptive as it is now tomacronutrient intake. Research shows thatthe restocking of the muscles’carbohydrate stores is two to three times

as rapid immediately after exercise as it isa few hours later. In the same way, otherresearch reveals that the repair of musclesdamaged during exercise is more effectiveif protein is consumed immediately afterexercise. Don’t delay. Begin refueling assoon as possible after your cooldown.

There are five goals for this brief butcritical window of opportunity.

Goal #1: Replace expendedcarbohydrate stores. During highlyintense exercise, especially if it lastedlonger than about 1 hour, you used upmuch of your carbohydrate-based energysources. Even though you may have takenin fuel during the session, you were unableto replace all that was expended. Muscleglycogen stores are now at a low level.

These can best be restored by taking incarbohydrates that are high on theglycemic load scale for quickreplenishment, along with sources that arelower on the scale to provide for a steadyrelease of carbohydrates into the blood.Glucose, the sugar in starchy foods suchas potatoes, rice, and grains, is a goodsource for quick recovery, while fructose,the sugar in fruit and fruit juices, providesa steady, slowly released level of sugarinto the bloodstream. Take in at leastthree-fourths of a gram (3 calories) ofcarbohydrate per pound of body weightfrom such sources. This recovery “meal”is generally best taken in liquid rather thansolid form, partly because solid foodsoften aren’t very appealing at this time. Aliquid meal also is absorbed more quickly

and contributes to the rehydration process.Good sources are commercially producedrecovery drinks. Or you can make yourown “homebrew” recovery drink, whichis much cheaper and exactly designed tosuit your tastes. (See Table 4.5.)

One of the highest glycemic loadcarbohydrates is glucose. By addingglucose to the homebrew, you replace thebody’s expended carbohydrate storesmore quickly than by eating fruit anddrinking fruit juice alone, because thesefoods are rich in fructose, which the bodytakes somewhat longer to digest. Pureglucose, sometimes referred to as“dextrose,” is difficult to find, although itis typically in commercial sports andrecovery drinks. You can purchaseglucose from various sources on the

Internet, such as amazon.com,bulkfoods.com, carbopro.com,honeyvillegrain.com, iherb.com, andnuts.com. As of this writing it cost about$3 per pound.

Goal #2: Rehydrate. Chances aregood that you are experiencing some levelof dehydration following a long or hardworkout or race. Losing a quart of fluidsan hour—about 2 pounds—is fairlycommon, especially on hot days. At thegreatest sweat rates, an athlete may losearound a half gallon (1,800 milliliters) ofsweat per hour. That’s about 4 pounds.Among the highest sweat rates everreported in the research literature wasabout 1 gallon per hour in one ofAmerica’s best all-time marathoners, 147-pound Alberto Salazar. That would be

about 8 pounds—roughly 5 percent of hisbody weight. Replacing such high rates offluid loss during exercise is difficult, ifnot impossible, potentially leaving theathlete in a dehydrated state as thepostexercise stage of recovery begins.

To replenish fluid levels, begintaking in 16 ounces (500 milliliters) ofliquid for every pound lost duringexercise. You probably won’t accomplishthis in 30 minutes, especially after a longsession on a hot day, so plan on continuingthroughout the next few hours into StageIV. You may need to take in 150 percentof what your weight indicates you lost justto keep up with your body’s ongoing needfor fluids in the hours following theworkout or race. Thirst also plays a rolehere just as it did during exercise. When it

is quenched, whether you have replacedall lost body weight or not, reduce or stopyour intake of fluids. Forcing down fluidswhen you are not thirsty is never a goodidea.

Goal #3: Provide amino acids forresynthesis of protein that may havebeen damaged during exercise. In anintense 1-hour workout, it’s possible touse 30 grams (1 ounce) of muscle proteinfor fuel. With even longer exercisesessions, the protein cost of fueling thebody is likely to rise. As carbohydrate isdepleted in the working muscles, the bodybegins to break down protein structureswithin the muscle cells to create moreglycogen. In addition, cells may have beendamaged during exercise, and consuming

protein immediately after will hasten theirrepair while diminishing or evenpreventing the delayed onset of musclesoreness.

Protein, particularly sources that arerich in the branched-chain amino acids(leucine, isoleucine, and valine), shouldbe taken in at a carb-to-protein ratio ofabout 4:1 or 5:1 over the 30-minuterecovery period. The research is clear onthe need for protein after stressfulsessions; the exact amount is not clear,however. We’ve found that 4 or 5 partscarbohydrate to 1 part protein seems to bepalatable and effective. If you are using aprotein powder to mix a recovery drink,the best sources of protein are egg orwhey products, which contain all of theessential amino acids and a healthy dose

of branched-chain amino acids, as can beseen in Table 4.1.

Table 4.2 provides a breakdown bybody weight of the caloric components ofa recovery drink with a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio ofcarbohydrate to protein. You may feel theneed to take in more or fewer caloriesdepending on how intense or long theworkout was, your nutritional status priorto the session, what and how much youtook in during exercise, and how goodeating sounds to you at this time. Even ifyou don’t feel up to taking in this muchimmediately after your workout, at leastbegin to sip the recovery drink, andspread its intake over a longer period. Theresearch on recovery meals isn’tconclusive as to how long the window isopen. But 30 minutes is known to be an

effective duration. The workout or raceconditions may also influence how muchyou take in. For example, as it does withfluids, heat increases the need for bothcarbohydrate and protein.

TABLE 4.1

Branched-Chain Amino Acid Content ofSelected Foods

SOURCE (100-Calorie Sample)

ISOLEUCINE(mg)

LEUCINE(mg)

VALINE(mg)

TOTALBCAA(mg)

Egg white, powder 1,200 1,791 1,352 4,343Egg white, raw 1,188 1,774 1,340 4,302Whey protein 922 1,719 896 3,537Meats 928 1,474 967 3,369Soy protein 886 1,481 923 3,290Seafood 744 1,285 803 2,832Hard-boiled egg 389 442 494 1,325

Milk 323 524 358 1,205Beans 319 524 349 1,192Vegetables 238 287 245 770Grains 130 303 172 605Nuts and seeds 111 198 149 458Starchy rootvegetables 45 66 58 169

Fruits 20 31 29 80

TABLE 4.2

Recovery Drink Calories by BodyWeight

WEIGHT(lbs)

CARBOHYDRATECALORIES (Minimum)

PROTEINCALORIES

TOTALCALORIES

100 300 60-75 360-375110 330 66-83 396-413120 360 72-90 432-450130 390 78-98 468-488140 420 84-105 504-525150 450 90-113 540-563

160 480 96-120 576-600170 510 102-128 612-638180 540 108-135 648-675190 570 114-143 684-713200 600 120-150 720-750210 630 126-158 756-788

Goal #4: Begin replacingelectrolytes. Electrolytes are the saltssodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, andmagnesium, which are found either withinthe body’s cells or in extracellular fluids,including blood. Dissolved in the bodyfluids as ions, they conduct an electriccurrent and are critical for musclecontraction and relaxation and formaintaining fluid levels. During exercise,the body loses a small portion of thesesalts, primarily through sweat. So animbalance between electrolytes and fluids

occurs while sweating, with theirconcentrations increasing. Followingexercise, as you begin to drink, you willgradually return body fluids levels to amore normal level. This will result in alow concentration of electrolytes if theyaren’t taken in now.

Most of the electrolytes are found inabundance in natural food, which makestheir replacement fairly easy. Drinkingjuice or eating fruit will easily replacenearly all of the electrolytes expendedduring exercise—with the exception ofsodium, which is not naturally abundant infruits and juices. Two or three pinches oftable salt may be added to a postexerciserecovery drink for sodium replenishment.Table 4.3 lists good juice and fruitsources to use in a Stage III postworkout

drink for the replenishment of sodium,magnesium, calcium, and potassium.Chloride is not included, as there islimited research on its availability inthese foods.

TABLE 4.3

Electrolytes in Juices and Fruits Usedduring Recovery

SODIUM

(mg)MAGNESIUM(mg)

CALCIUM(mg)

POTASSIUM(mg)

Juice (12 oz)Apple,frozen 26 18 21 450

Grape,frozen 7 16 12 80

Grapefruit,frozen 3 45 33 505

Orange,fresh 3 41 41 744

Pineapple,frozen 4 35 42 510

FruitApple, 1medium, raw 1 6 10 159

Banana, 1medium, raw 1 33 7 451

Blackberries,1 cup, frozen 2 33 44 211

Blueberries,1 cup, raw 9 7 9 129

Cantaloupe,1½ cups,raw

21 25 25 741

Grapes, 1½cups, raw 3 8 20 264

Orange, 1large, raw 2 22 84 375

Papaya, 1medium, raw 8 31 72 780

Peaches, 3medium, raw 0 18 15 513

Pineapple,1½ cups,raw

2 32 17 262

Raspberries,1½ cups,raw

0 33 40 280

Strawberries,2 cups, raw 4 32 42 494

Watermelon,2 cups, raw 6 34 26 372

Goal #5: Reduce the acidity ofbody fluids. During exercise, body fluidstrend increasingly toward acidity. There isalso evidence indicating that as we age,our blood and other body fluids also havea tendency toward acidity. The cumulativeeffect is a slight lowering of pH(increased acidity), which the body offsetsby drawing on its alkaline sources.Regardless of your age, if this acidic trendfollowing exercise is allowed to persistfor some period of time, the risk of

nitrogen and calcium loss is greatlyincreased. The body reduces the acidityby releasing minerals into the blood aswell as other body fluids that have a netalkaline-enhancing effect, thuscounteracting the acid. Calcium from thebones and nitrogen from the muscles meetthis need. The trend toward greateracidosis is stopped. This prevents a healthcatastrophe, but at a great cost.

The problem is that in neutralizingthe acid this way, we give up valuablestructural resources. You’re essentiallypeeing off bone and muscle as the acidityof your blood stays high. Whilecannibalizing tissue is necessary from astrictly biological perspective, this is anexpensive solution from an athletic and along-term health perspective. While body

fluids may be chemically balanced by theprocess, future performance and healthmay well be jeopardized as muscle andbone are compromised.

Research has shown that fruits andvegetables have a net alkaline-enhancingeffect. Table 4.4 demonstrates the acid-and alkaline-enhancing effects of variousfoods. The foods with a plus sign (+)indicate increased acidity; the greater theplus value, the higher the acid effect.Those foods with a minus sign (-)decrease the acid of the body fluids indirect proportion to their magnitude. So,by preparing a recovery drink with fruitsand juices that have a net alkaline-enhancing effect (they reduce acidity), youare doing more than merely replacingcarbohydrate stores; you’re also

potentially sparing bone and muscle.Interestingly, a recent study by Cao andassociates at the US Department ofAgriculture found that although animalprotein increased the urinary excretion ofcalcium, it did not have any negativeconsequences for bone health.

Table 4.4

Acid/Base Values of Food (100 gportions)

ACID FOODS (+)GrainsBrown rice +12.5Rolled oats +10.7Whole wheat bread +8.2Spaghetti +7.3Corn flakes +6.0

White rice +4.6Rye bread +4.1White bread +3.7 DairyParmesan cheese +34.2Processed cheese +28.7Hard cheese +19.2Gouda cheese +18.6Cottage cheese +8.7Whole milk +0.7 LegumesPeanuts +8.3Lentils +3.5Peas +1.2 Meats, Eggs, FishTrout +10.8Turkey +9.9Chicken +8.7Eggs +8.1Pork +7.9

Beef +7.8Cod +7.1Herring +7.0

ALKALINE FOODS (-)FruitsRaisins -21.0Black currants -6.5Bananas -5.5Apricots -4.8Kiwifruit -4.1Cherries -3.6Pears -2.9Pineapple -2.7Peaches -2.4Apples -2.2Watermelon -1.9 VegetablesSpinach -14.0Celery -5.2Carrots -4.9

Zucchini -4.6Cauliflower -4.0Potatoes -4.0Radishes -3.7Eggplant -3.4Tomatoes -3.1Lettuce -2.5Chicory -2.0Leeks -1.8Onions -1.5Mushrooms -1.4Green peppers -1.4Broccoli -1.2Cucumber -0.8

Reprinted from the Journal of the American DieteticAssociation, V95(7), Thomas Remer and Friedrich Manz,“Potential renal acid load of foods and its influence on urinepH,” pp. 791–97, 1995, with permission from the AmericanDietetic Association.

HOMEBREW RECIPESBased on all of the above, then, here’swhat you want in a homemade recoverydrink: fruits and juices (to provide fluidsand slow-releasing carbohydrate withelectrolytes while reducing bloodacidity), glucose (a quickly absorbedenergy source), protein (to replace whatwas used in exercise and hasten musclerecovery from breakdown occurringduring exercise), and sodium (becausefruits and juices are low in thiselectrolyte). Using ingredients that aremostly found in your own kitchen, you canmake a smoothie that fulfills all thoserequirements.

Start by filling a blender with about12 to 24 ounces of fruit juice, based on

your body weight (see Table 4.5). Apple,grape, grapefruit, orange, and pineappleare good choices due to their relativelyhigh glycemic loads and electrolytecontents. Next, add a fruit from the list inTable 4.3 and glucose, also sometimescalled dextrose (see Table 4.5). Then,with the blender still running, add proteinpowder from either egg or whey sources(see Table 4.1). Sprinkle in two or threepinches of table salt. If you didn’t usefrozen berries, add a handful of ice. Thereyou have it—a fairly inexpensive drinkthat has all of the ingredients needed forimmediate recovery.

TABLE 4.5

Ingredients for Homebrew Recovery

Drink (by body weight) BODYWEIGHT INPOUNDS (kg)

FRUITJUICE(oz)

GLUCOSE(tbsp)

PROTEINPOWDER(tbsp)

TOTALCALORIES(approx.)

100 (45.5) 12 2 1½-2 390-415110 (50) 12 2 1½-2 390-415120 (54.5) 12 3 2 445130 (59.1) 12 4 2-2½ 470-495140 (63.6) 16 4 2½-3 550-575150 (68.2) 16 4 2½-3 550-575160 (72.7) 16 5 2½-3 580-605170 (77.3) 20 5 3-3½ 660-685180 (81.8) 20 5 3-3½ 660-685190 (86.4) 24 5 3-3½ 720-740200 (90.9) 24 5 3-3½ 720-740210 (95.5) 24 6 3-4 750-790

Each smoothie also includes one fruit and two or threepinches of table salt.

You don’t need to use this type of

recovery drink after every workout, justthose that include a significant amount ofintensity or last at least 60 to 90 minutes.In fact, avoid using this drink when youdon’t need it, as the high glycemic load islikely to add unwanted pounds of body fat.After short and low-intensity workouts,you can make a smaller version of thehomebrew without the glucose.

STAGE IV: SHORT-TERMPOSTEXERCISE

For very intense, short workouts or thoselonger than about 60 to 90 minutes,recovery needs to continue beyond theinitial 30-minute window. Although thereis no research supporting this, we have

had success in coaching athletes who eat aPaleo diet in Stage V in continuing tofocus on recovery for the same amount oftime that the workout or race took. StageIII is unlikely to fully meet all of yourrecovery needs following a workout thatlasted longer than about 90 minutes.Recovery needs to continue into Stage IVfollowing such lengthy sessions. And thelonger the workout was, the more criticalStage IV becomes. When athletes tell methey don’t recover well as Paleo dieters, Iusually discover through questioning thatthey go straight to Stage V withoutinserting a Stage IV. Stage IV is critical toyour recovery. Don’t omit it.

So how does Stage IV work? Let’ssay you exercised for 2 hours and it was achallenging workout. The initial 30-minute

recovery period (Stage III) should befollowed by an additional 90 minutes inStage IV. In the same way, a 4-hourworkout or race should be followed by thestandard 30 minutes in Stage III and thenby 3½ hours in Stage IV. This criticalstage continues the focus on “macrolevel”recovery, meaning the emphasis is stillprimarily on the intake of carbohydrateand protein.

As your body returns to a restingstate following exercise, sensations ofhunger will emerge. After not taking in anysubstantial food sources for perhapsseveral hours, the body begins to cry outfor complete nutrition. How long it takesfor hunger to appear depends on how longand intense the preceding exercise was,how well stocked your carbohydrate

stores were before starting the session,how much carbohydrate you took in duringthe session, and even how efficient yourbody is in using fat for fuel while sparingglycogen. The foods you eat now shouldemphasize moderate to high glycemic loadcarbohydrates.

Stage IV RecoveryGuidelinesThe focus of this period is similar to thatof the 30-minute window preceding it.The difference is that now there is a shifttoward taking in more solid foods,although continued fluid consumption isalso important. Here are guidelines foreating during this extended recoveryperiod.

Carbohydrate remains very importantat this stage of recovery, but the differenceis inclusion of more solid foods,especially starchy vegetables that are highon the glycemic load scale while having anet alkaline-enhancing effect on bodyfluids. Good choices include potatoes,yams, and sweet potatoes, as well asdried fruits, especially raisins. These areexcellent to snack on or even make a mealof during Stage IV recovery because theyhave the greatest alkaline-enhancing effectof any food studied while also having ahigh glycemic load. That means a greatamount of carbohydrate is delivered to themuscles quickly, which is more valuableat this time than having a high glycemicindex. Table 4.6 lists the glycemic loadsof various alkaline-enhancing fruits,

juices, and vegetables. Notice that whilesome foods, such as watermelon, have ahigh glycemic index, their glycemic loadsare low; the lower the load, the more ofthe food you will need to eat. Glycemicload is a measure of not only how quicklya food’s sugar gets into your blood butalso how much sugar is delivered. Thefoods listed first are preferred, but all aregood choices. You may also select grainssuch as corn, bread, a bagel, rice, andcereal to continue the rapid replacementof carbohydrate stores. Grains are notoptimal, for while most have a highglycemic load, they have a net acid-enhancing effect, so be certain to includeplenty of vegetables, fruits, and fruitjuices to counteract the negativeconsequence.

During this extended recovery stage,continue taking in carbohydrate at the rateof at least 0.75 gram (3 calories) perpound of body weight per hour.Otherwise, your appetite may serve as aguide as to how much to eat. Afterespecially long or intense exercise, youmay find liquids more appealing thansolids. If so, continue using a recoverydrink, just as in the first 30 minutespostexercise.

At this time you must also maintainyour lean protein intake, using the same4:1 or 5:1 ratio with carbohydrate. Thepurpose, as before, is to continueproviding amino acids for the resynthesisof muscle protein and maintenance ofother physiological structures that rely onamino acids, such as the nervous system.

Animal products are the best sources ofthis protein because they’re rich inessential amino acids, including thebranched-chain amino acids that we nowknow to be critical to the recoveryprocess. Fish, shellfish, egg whites, andturkey breast are excellent choices. It isbest to avoid farm-bred fish and feedlot-raised animals, and not just at this time butthroughout the day. The physicalcomposition of their meat, especially theoils, is dramatically different from that ofwild game and free-ranging animals. It’scommon for Paleo athletes to keep a stockof boiled eggs, deli-sliced turkey breast,tuna salad, and other such protein sourceseasily available in their refrigerators justfor this purpose.

TABLE 4.6

Glycemic Load and Index of SelectedAlkaline-Enhancing Foods (100 g

serving) FOOD GLYCEMIC LOAD GLYCEMIC INDEXRaisins 48.8 64Potato, plain 18.4 85Sweet potato 13.1 54Banana 2.1 53Yam 11.5 51Pineapple 8.2 66Grapes 7.7 43Kiwifruit 7.4 52Carrots 7.2 71Apple 6.0 39Pineapple juice 5.9 46Pear 5.4 36Cantaloupe 5.4 65Watermelon 5.2 72

Orange juice 5.1 50Orange 5.1 43Apple juice 4.9 40Peach 3.1 28Strawberries 2.8 40

If you continue eating fruits andvegetables now, you will also restockelectrolytes that may be necessary forrecovery, depending on how long theexercise session was and how hot theweather.

It’s still important to drink adequateamounts to satisfy your thirst. This mayvary greatly depending on how long thesession lasted, its intensity, and theweather. Thirst will tell you when to drinkand when to stop. Fruit juices are anexcellent choice because they also bolstercarbohydrate stores and are rich in most

electrolytes. If you’ve otherwise met yourcarbohydrate-restocking needs by late inStage IV, then drink water to quench thirst.

Again, we want to emphasize howcritical it is to follow these Stage IVrecovery guidelines, especially after verylong and stressful sessions. If you rushinto Stage V directly from Stage III after along and hard workout or race, then yourfull recovery may well be delayed.

STAGE V: LONG-TERMPOSTEXERCISE

You’ve gotten yourself through a gruelingworkout and refueled as you should inStages I through IV of recovery. You’re

back at work or in class, spending timewith the family, maintaining your houseand landscaping—whatever it is you dowhen you’re not training or racing. Thispart of your day may look ordinary to therest of the world, but it really isn’t.You’re still focused on nutrition for long-term recovery.

This is the time when many athletesget sloppy with their diets. The mostcommon mistake is to continue eating ahigh glycemic load diet that is low inmicronutrient value and marked by thehigh starch and sugar intake prescribed forStages III and IV. Eating in this waycompromises your development as anathlete. It’s a shame to spend hourstraining only to squander a portion of thepotential fitness gains by eating less-than-

optimal foods.What are optimal foods? These are

the categories of foods that have beeneaten by our Paleolithic ancestors formillions of years; the ones to which weare fully adapted through an inheritance ofgenes from the many generations thatpreceded us here on Earth: fruits,vegetables, and lean protein from animalsources. Optimal foods also include nuts,seeds, and berries. These are also themost micronutrient-dense foods availableto us—they’re rich in vitamins, minerals,and other trace elements necessary forhealth, growth, and recovery. Table 4.7compares the vitamin and mineral densityof several foods. Those with the highestcontent are in boldface. Notice thatvegetables especially provide an abundant

level of vitamins and minerals; most otherfoods pale by comparison.

Stage V Recovery GuidelinesIn terms of athletic performance, thenutritional goals and guidelines for thisstage of recovery are as follows.

Maintain glycogen stores. For sometime prior to this stage of recovery, youintently focused your diet aroundcarbohydrate, especially high glycemicload sources such as the sugars in starchyfoods. While these foods are excellent forrestocking the body’s glycogen stores,they are not nutrient dense (see Table 4.7).There is no longer a need to eat largequantities of such foods; in fact, they willdiminish your potential for recovery.

Every calorie eaten from a less-than-optimal food means a lost opportunity totake in much larger amounts of health- andfitness-enhancing vitamins and mineralsfrom vegetables, fruits, and lean animalprotein. The more serious you are aboutyour athletic performance, the moreimportant this is.

TABLE 4.7

Comparison of Vitamin and MineralDensity of Selected Foods (standard

units)

The highest vitamin and mineral contents in each column areindicated by a bold listing.

* No information available

Furthermore, one of the beauties ofthe human body is that, regardless ofwhich system or function we are talkingabout, it takes less concentrated effort tomaintain than to rebuild. This means thatby eating prodigious quantities of highglycemic load carbohydrates in theprevious stages, you’ve rebuilt yourbody’s glycogen stores, and now lesscarbohydrate is required to maintain thatlevel. Low glycemic load fruits andvegetables will accomplish that whilealso providing the micronutrients neededfor this last stage of recovery.

Rebuild muscle tissues. Despiteyour best efforts to take in amino acids inrecovery, if the workout was sufficientlydifficult, you will have suffered somemuscle cell damage. If you could use an

electron microscope to look into themuscles used in an intensely hard trainingtoday, it would look like a war zone,albeit a very tiny one. You would seetattered cell membranes and leakingfluids. The body would be mobilizing its“triage services” to repair the damage asquickly as possible. To do this, the bodyneeds amino acids in rather largequantities. Most needed are the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) you read aboutearlier. Without them, the body is forcedto cannibalize other protein cells to findsufficient amounts of the right amino acidsto complete the job. Also needed are theessential amino acids, those that the bodycannot produce and that must come fromfood.

BCAA and essential amino acids are

most abundant in animal products. Ifyou’re hesitant to eat red meat fromfeedlot-raised animals, we don’t blameyou. The common beef products you buyin supermarkets are a poor source of food.While certainly rich in BCAA, meats fromfeedlot-raised animals are also packedwith omega-6 polyunsaturated fats andother questionable chemical additives andare best avoided.

So what should you eat to provideBCAA and the essential amino acids foryour rebuilding muscles? The bestpossible source would be meat from gameanimals such as deer, elk, and buffalo. Ofcourse, chances are that you don’t have thetime to go hunting, given your workout andcareer choices. (For our ancestors, huntingwas exercise and career all rolled into

one activity.) No, it’s unlikely that youwill find game meat outside your backdoor, and it can’t be sold in supermarkets,either. But there are other readilyavailable choices that are almost as good.

TABLE 4.8

Suggested Daily Protein Intake perPound of Body Weight

TRAINING VOLUMEIN HOURS/WEEK

PROTEIN/DAY/POUND OF BODYWEIGHT IN GRAMS (calories)

< 5 0.6-0.7 (2.4-2.8)5-10 0.7-0.8 (2.8-3.2)10-15 0.8-0.9 (3.2-3.6)16-20 0.9-1.0 (3.6-4.0)> 20 1.0 (4.0)

Ocean- or stream-caught fish andshellfish are among the best proteinsources; they are, after all, wild game. It’sbest, however, to avoid farm-raised fish,which is essentially the same as feedlot-raised cattle. Another good choice isturkey breast. It comes as close to

providing the lean protein and fat makeupof game animals as any domestic meatavailable. It’s still a good idea to seek outmeat from turkeys that were allowed torange freely in search of food. The samegoes for any meat you may choose. Free-ranging animals have not only exercisedbut have also more likely eaten foods thatare optimal for their health. This meansthat omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturatedfats are in better balance. You’ll find thatsuch meats are more expensive than themore common meat of penned-up animals.It’s just like so much in life: Quality costsmore. You get what you pay for.

In Stage V, continue to take in 0.6gram to 1 gram (2.4 to 4 calories) ofprotein per pound of body weight relativeto your training load. The longer or more

intense your exercise was, the moreprotein you should take in, as shown inTable 4.8.

Maintain a healthy pH. In ourdiscussion of Stage III, we told you aboutthe acid- and base-enhancing properties offoods, illustrated by Table 4.4. The needto maintain a healthy pH continues in thisstage in order to reduce the risk of losingnitrogen and calcium. This is especiallycritical for older athletes whose bodiestend toward acidity more so than youngathletes’. As explained earlier, nitrogen isan essential component of muscle, andcalcium is crucial for bone health.Fortunately, the very foods that are themost nutrient-dense are also the ones—theonly ones—that reduce blood acidity:fruits and vegetables. Any fruit will do

now, so eat whichever appeal to you. Asfor vegetables, it’s best to choose those ofvibrant colors—red, yellow, green, andorange—while avoiding white ones. Beaware that beans, although oftencategorized as vegetables, are net acid-enhancing and best avoided. This includespeanuts, which are legumes.

Prevent or reduce inflammation.All athletes are susceptible toinflammation of muscles and tendons—itcomes with the territory. You may have atendon that is a persistent problem for youfollowing high-effort workouts andsometimes flares up, causing pain ordiscomfort. Muscle tissue damaged duringan intense workout may also result ininflammation. If allowed to go unchecked,

nagging inflammation can become a full-blown injury, causing you to miss trainingand lose fitness. Omega-3 polyunsaturatedfat supplements have been shown toreduce inflammation by lowering the ratioof omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, whichshould be approximately two parts omega-6 to one part omega-3 or less. Due to thehigh intake of omega-6 from snacks andother packaged foods that are abundant inour society, the average American diet hasa 10:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. Infact, avoiding omega-6 is quite achallenge in Western society. Byconsuming foods that are rich in omega-3—cold-water fish, leafy vegetables,macadamia nuts and walnuts, eggsenriched with omega-3, and liver—youcan lower this ratio and reduce your

inflammation risk. We recommend that toimprove the odds of accomplishing this,you take an omega-3 supplement, such asfish oil or flaxseed oil.

Optimize body weight. For mostendurance sports, maintaining a low bodymass translates into better performances(see Chapter 6 for more details on this).Yet, even with a lot of daily exercise toburn calories, avoiding weight gain can bea struggle for many endurance athletes.We think you will find that by eating aStage V diet made up primarily of fruits,vegetables, and animal protein, weightcontrol will not be a problem. It’s whenyou eat less-than-optimal foods that youtend to add body fat.

STAGE V ANDCARBOHYDRATE

On a conventional Stone Age nutritionplan, such as the one described in ThePaleo Diet, a person would be eatingmuch more protein and less carbohydratethan the diet we suggest here for athletes.The shift toward more carbohydrate is dueto the need to quickly recover fromstrenuous exercise, a need that theaverage, sedentary person does not have—and that our Stone Age ancestors didnot have. For the athlete who trains morethan once per day or has exceptionallylong workouts, as is common with manyserious athletes, the absolute carbohydrateintake is even higher because the need torecover increases as the number of

training hours rises.For example, an athlete training once

a day for 90 minutes may burn 600calories from carbohydrate duringexercise and needs to take in at least thatmuch during Stages I, II, III, and IV ofrecovery. This athlete may be eatingaround 3,000 total calories daily. If hegets 50 percent of his daily calories fromcarbohydrate, he would take in anadditional 900 calories in carbs that dayin Stage V, above and beyond thecarbohydrate consumed in the earlierstages of the day. Of course, thiscarbohydrate should primarily come fromfruits and especially vegetables, socalories aren’t wasted by eating foodslacking in micronutrients.

The high-volume athlete may do twoof these 90-minute exercise sessions aday, thus doubling the total requirementfor carbohydrate to 1,200 calories duringthe first four stages that day. This shifttoward greater volume of training alsoshould be accompanied by an increase intotal calories consumed daily. Say 3,600calories are taken in on such a day; if theathlete is also eating a half-carbohydratediet, he will need another 600 caloriesfrom carbohydrate sources this day inStage V. This illustrates how the absolutecarbohydrate intake varies with thetraining load of the athlete, despite thepercentage of intake being the same.

STAGE V AND PROTEIN

Getting too little carbohydrate in the dietis seldom a problem for athletes; it’sabundant in grocery stores, inexpensive,and enjoyable to eat. No, the realstumbling block is protein intake. Whenwe do dietary assessments of athletes, wetypically find that they aren’t eatingenough protein. Why? Because protein isnot abundant in stores, it’s relativelyexpensive, and it’s not as enjoyable to eatas a sweet or starchy food. Protein in theform of meat has also gotten a bad rap inthe last few decades. We’ve been taughtthat animal meat is bad for us, as itcontributes to heart disease, cancer, andassorted other evils. The problem withthis conclusion is that it doesn’t isolate thetrue causes of these diseases. It’s notprotein that is to blame for Western

society’s health woes but, largely, theomega-6 fats and other additives that oftenaccompany it. And combining saturated fatwith high glycemic load foods (thinkmashed potatoes and gravy or bread andbutter) is a double whammy. Protein fromfree-ranging animals and fish does notcause heart disease. And, in fact, is quitehealthy.

Let’s not throw the baby out with thebathwater. Feedlot-produced animalprotein should be eliminated from yourdiet, but not the protein from free-ranginganimals. Fish, shellfish, and turkey breastare excellent sources of healthy proteinand rich in essential and branched-chainamino acids. For now, the take-homemessage is that athletes need an abundanceof amino acids daily, and these are best

found in free-ranging animal sources.Since protein is so important to your

total recovery, this is a good place tobegin deciding what to eat at meals inStage V. The first concept to understand isthat the amount of protein you need isrelated to how much you train. For theaverage person on the street who doeslittle or no exercise, the level of proteinintake stays much the same from day today, as physical activity is usually quitelimited. It’s different for the athlete whooften pushes his or her body to near itslimits and, in the process, potentiallydamages a lot of muscle tissue whileperhaps using some protein as fuel. Thegreater your training volume or intensity,the greater the likelihood such cellularharm will occur. A considerable amount

of amino acids from animal proteinsources is needed in the hours of Stage Vrecovery to repair this tissue and preventthe body from seeking amino acids frominternal sources, such as other muscles orthe immune system. Without adequateprotein, the risk of a compromisedimmune system increases and thepossibility of muscle wasting rises.

Table 4.8 provides generalguidelines for how much protein to eatwith regard to your weekly trainingvolume. Intensity of training is muchharder to quantify, but you may alsoassume that when doing a lot of intervaltraining, hill work, resistance training, orother high-effort exercise, you probablyneed to increase your protein intake to thenext level in the table.

The next matter is deciding whereyou will get this lean protein. You may beaware that you can obtain all of theessential amino acids by mixing grainsand legumes in a meal. Each of those foodcategories is lacking in one or more of theessential amino acids, but when you eatthem in combination, the meal becomesmore balanced (although plant-based dietswill always be lacking in the essentialamino acids lysine and tryptophan). Whatis not generally explained, however, isthat the volume of plant-based foods onehas to eat to get adequate daily protein( s e e Table 4.9) requires eatingconsiderable amounts of grains and beansbecause these foods are nutritionally poor.In addition, they contribute to body acidityand the loss of nitrogen and calcium (see

Table 4.4). A serious athlete attempting toget nearly a gram of protein per pound ofbody weight from a combination of grainsand legumes would need to eat all daylong—and have a gut that can process asignificant amount of fiber. Even if he orshe could do this, blood acidity levelswould stay high, and anti-nutrients wouldprevent the absorption of much of thelimited micronutrients these foods have.

Table 4.9

Protein and Essential Amino AcidContent of Common Foods

FOOD (100-calorie servingsize)

PROTEINCONTENT(grams)

ESSENTIAL AMINOACID CONTENT(grams)

Animal

Cod (3.4 oz) 22 8.7Shrimp (3.6 oz) 21 8.2Lobster (3.6 oz) 21 8.1Halibut (2.5 oz) 19 7.5Chicken (2 oz) 18 6.8Turkey breast (2oz) 17 6.9

Tuna (1.9 oz) 16 6.3Tenderloin steak(1.75 oz) 14 5.1

Eggs, whole (1¼) 7.7 3.4LegumesTofu (½ cup) 10 3.6Kidney beans (½cup) 7 2.8

Navy beans (1⁄3cup)

6 1.9

Red beans (½cup) 5 2.5

Peanut butter (1tbsp) 4.6 1.4

GrainsBrown rice (½

cup) 2.1 0.7Whole-wheatbread (1½ slices) 3 0.8

Corn (3⁄4 cup) 3.7 1.4

Bagel (½ bagel) 3.8 1.1

A 150-pound athlete training 15hours a week would need to take in about135 grams of protein a day (150 x 0.9),according to Table 4.8. Assuming 20percent of that comes from assortedvegetables, fruits, fruit juices, sports bars,and sports drinks consumed throughout theday, including during the workout, another108 grams of protein would be neededthat day. To get that from animal sources,he could eat:

4 ounces of cod6 ounces of turkey breast

4 ounces of chicken

Those foods would provide all of theadditional protein and contain 44.5 gramsof the all-important essential amino acidsfor our theoretical athlete. The totalenergy eaten to get these nutrients wouldbe 454 calories. To get the same amountof protein by combining grains and beans,he would have to eat all of the followingin one day:

1 cup of tofu1 cup of kidney beans6 slices of whole wheat bread1 cup of navy beans1½ cups of corn

1 cup of red beans1 cup of brown rice2 bagels2 tablespoons of peanut butter

Our athlete had better like beans andhave a huge appetite! The above requireseating an additional 2,300 calories thatday—more than five times as much aswhen eating animal products—just to get108 grams of protein. Eating grains andlegumes to get daily protein is not onlyvery inefficient, but, far worse, thevegetarian athlete will come up short onessential amino acids—even if he or shecan stomach all those beans and grains.

STAGE V AND FATJust as there are good and bad sources ofcarbohydrate and protein, there are fatsand oils you should pursue in your dailydiet and certain others to avoid. Thedesirables include omega-3polyunsaturated and monounsaturatedtypes. As described earlier in this chapter,lowering the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3has positive implications for reducing thelikelihood of inflammation, a persistentproblem for athletes. Omega-6s, whilenecessary for health, are more thanabundant in our modern diet. This fat iscommon in vegetable oils such assoybean, peanut, cottonseed, safflower,sunflower, sesame, and corn. Most snackfoods and many grain products, including

breads and bagels, rely heavily onvegetable oils due to their low cost.

Monounsaturated fats should also beincluded in the athlete’s diet because oftheir health benefits, including loweringcholesterol and triglyceride levels,thinning the blood, preventing fatalheartbeat irregularities, and reducing therisk of breast cancer. Remember thathealth always comes before fitness. Goodsources of monounsaturated fat areavocados, nuts, and olive oil.

Avoid the fats found in abundance inwhole dairy foods and feedlot-raisedanimals, especially beef, and trans fatfound in many of the foods in our grocerystores—not only snack foods but alsomany bread products, peanut butter,

margarine, and packaged meals. Steerclear of trans fat, referred to as “partiallyhydrogenated” oil on food labels,whenever possible. Trans fat increasesLDL (the “bad” cholesterol associatedwith heart disease) and also decreasesyour body’s production of HDL (the“good” cholesterol linked with a lowincidence of heart disease). That’s adouble whammy best avoided.

PART II

NUTRITION101:

UNDERSTANDINGBASIC

CONCEPTS

CHAPTER 5

FOOD AS FUELDURING EXERCISE

DIETARY ORIGINSUpon introduction to the Paleo Dietconcept, many people assume that therewas a single universal diet that all StoneAge people ate. Nothing could be furtherfrom the truth. In the 5 million to 7 millionyears since the evolutionary split betweenapes and hominins (primates who walkupright on two feet), as many as 20 or

more different species of hominins mayhave existed. Their diets varied bylatitude, season, climate, and foodavailability. But there was one universalcharacteristic: They all ate minimallyprocessed wild plant and animal foods. Inthe Introduction, we told you all about thefoods they couldn’t have consumed; inChapter 8, we will show you the evidencefor the food that they ate. But in themeantime, it’s important to understandhow the current Western diet differs fromtheirs and how these differences mayaffect exercise performance.

If you contrast the average Americandiet to hunter-gatherer diets (even at theirmost extreme deviations), the standardAmerican diet falls outside the hunter-gatherer range for certain crucial

nutritional characteristics. By examiningthe diets of more than 200 hunter-gatherersocieties, we have found that the typicalWestern diet varies from ancestral hunter-gatherer diets in these seven key features:

1. Macronutrient balance2. Glycemic load3. Fatty acid balance4. Potassium/sodium balance5. Acid/base balance6. Fiber intake7. Trace nutrient density

MACRONUTRIENTBALANCE AND

GLYCEMIC LOADFigure 5.1 compares the macronutrientcomposition (protein, fat, carbohydrate) ofhunter-gatherer and typical US diets. Notethat in hunter-gatherer diets, protein isuniversally elevated at the expense ofcarbohydrate, while the diets usuallycontained more fat than what we get.However, the types of fat they consumedwere healthful omega-3 andmonounsaturated fats, and certainpolyunsaturated and saturated fats. But theimportant issue here for the athlete is thecarbohydrate story. Not only was thecarbohydrate content of their diet lower,but the quality of their carbs was worldsapart from what most of us eat.

FIGURE 5.1

Glycemic Index andGlycemic LoadOne quality of any carbohydrate food is itsglycemic index. The glycemic index, ascale that rates how much certain foods

raise blood sugar levels compared withglucose, was developed by Dr. DavidJenkins at the University of Toronto in1981. Sometimes white bread, which hasa glycemic index of 100, is used as thereference food rather than glucose. One ofthe shortcomings of the original glycemicindex is that it only compares equalquantities of carbohydrate (usually 50grams) among foods to evaluate the bloodglucose response. It doesn’t take intoaccount the total amount of carbohydratein a typical serving. This limitation hascreated quite a bit of confusion. Forinstance, watermelon has a glycemic index(GI) of 72, while a milk chocolate candybar tops out with a GI of only 43. Doesthat mean we should eat candy bars ratherthan fruit? Of course not! The candy bar is

a much more concentrated source ofcarbohydrate (sugar) than watermelon is.You would have to eat only 3 ounces ofthe chocolate to get 50 grams ofcarbohydrate, whereas you would have toeat a half pound of watermelon to get 50grams of carbs. To overcome thislimitation, scientists at Harvard Universityin 1997 proposed using a new scalecalled the glycemic load, defined as theGI multiplied by the carbohydrate contentin a typical serving. The glycemic loadeffectively equalized the playing field andmade real-world food comparisonspossible.

Almost all processed foods madefrom refined grains and sugars have quitehigh glycemic loads, whereas virtually allfresh fruits and veggies have very low

glycemic loads (see Table 5.1). The Webs i te www.glycemicindex.com helps youdetermine the GI and glycemic load ofalmost any food.

TABLE 5.1

Comparison of Glycemic Index andLoad of Refined and Unrefined Foods

(100 g portions) WESTERN REFINED FOODSFood Glycemic Index Glycemic LoadCrisped rice cereal 88 77.3Jelly beans 80 74.5Cornflakes 84 72.7Life Savers 70 67.9Rice cakes 82 66.9Table sugar (sucrose) 65 64.9Shredded wheat cereal 69 57.0Graham crackers 74 56.8Grape-Nuts cereal 67 54.3Cheerios cereal 74 54.2Rye crisp bread 65 53.4Vanilla wafers 77 49.7Corn chips 73 46.3

Mars bar 68 42.2Shortbread cookies 64 41.9Granola bar 61 39.3Angel food cake 67 38.7Bagel 72 38.4Doughnut 76 37.8White bread 70 34.7Waffles 76 34.2100% bran cereal 42 32.5Whole wheat bread 69 31.8Croissant 67 31.2

UNREFINED TRADITIONAL FOODSFood Glycemic Index Glycemic LoadParsnips 97 19.5Baked potato 85 18.4Boiled millet 71 16.8Boiled broad beans 79 15.5Boiled couscous 65 15.1Boiled sweet potato 54 13.1Boiled brown rice 55 12.6Banana 53 12.1

Boiled yam 51 11.5Boiled garbanzo beans 33 9Pineapple 66 8.2Grapes 43 7.7Kiwifruit 52 7.4Carrots 71 7.2Boiled beets 64 6.3Boiled kidney beans 27 6.2Apple 39 6.0Boiled lentils 29 5.8Pear 36 5.4Watermelon 72 5.2Orange 43 5.1Cherries 22 3.7Peach 28 3.1Peanuts 14 2.6

TABLE 5.2

Blood Glucose and Insulin Responses(239-kcal sample)

FOOD GLUCOSE INSULINWhite bread 100 100Eggs 42 31Beef 21 51Fish 28 59

The glycemic reference is white bread with a glucose andinsulin response of 100.

Meat and seafood generally don’tcontain any carbohydrate and causeminimal rises in blood sugar and insulinlevels (see Table 5.2).

Surprising—and somewhat alarming—is the paradoxically high insulin

response of milk (90) and fermented milk(98) compared with their low glycemicresponses (30 and 15, respectively). Asimilar dissociation of the blood insulinand glucose response occurs in yogurt.Generally, however, the GI of most foodsnicely parallels the insulin response orinsulin index (II). Hence, high GI foodsare almost always high II foods.

Because the carbohydrates inPaleolithic diets came from minimallyprocessed wild plants, and becausehunter-gatherers ate no refined grains orsugars (except for seasonal honey), theglycemic loads of their diets would havebeen very low by modern standards. Butremember, the fat and protein intakewould have been higher. What are theimplications of these dietary

macronutrient patterns upon enduranceperformance?

Muscle Fuel SourcesWhen you are at rest and not exercising,about 60 percent of the energy needed tofuel your body is provided by fats. Thebalance is provided by carbohydratebecause protein is a relatively minorsource of energy. When you are at rest,free fatty acids (FFA) circulating in thebloodstream provide the major source offat to fuel metabolism. FFA in the bloodcomes from fat stored in cells in yourbelly, thighs, and any other place whereyou accumulate fat. At low exercise levels(25 percent of your aerobic capacity ormax VO2), fat provides 80 percent of the

muscle’s fuel, and the balance (about 20percent) comes from carbohydrate. At 25percent max VO2, most of the fat fuelingmuscle contraction still comes from FFAin the blood, although a small amount isderived from stored fat droplets insidemuscle cells—the intramusculartriglycerides (IMT). Twenty to 30 yearsago, exercise scientists didn’t pay muchattention to IMT when it came toendurance performance; their sights werenarrowly focused upon glycogen.Glycogen is made up of chains of glucosemolecules, which is how carbs are storedinside muscle cells.

Let’s continue with the tutorial onmuscle fuel sources so you can eventuallysee how Paleolithic macronutrient patterns

weren’t necessarily a liability forperformance. As exercise intensityincreases, so does IMT usage by themuscles. At approximately 65 percent maxVO2, IMT stores are being maximallydrawn on, so that energy contribution fromfats and carbs is about 50:50. Whenexercise intensity increases to 85 percentmax VO2, IMT supplies only 25 percent ofthe energy needed for muscle contraction.Finally, as you continue to 100 percent ofyour aerobic capacity, glucose frommuscle glycogen stores becomes thepreferred and necessary fuel source. Whyis that? Why isn’t fat used to fuel veryintense and high-level exercise?

If you look at the caloric density offat, it has 9 calories per gram—more than

twice as much as carbohydrate’s 4calories per gram. So, at least on thesurface, it looks like fat would be thepreferred fuel for high-level exercisebecause it’s such a concentrated energysource. But there’s another side to thestory, and it’s called fuel efficiency—aconcept you know better as “miles pergallon.” When you look at body fuelefficiency in terms of oxygen rather thanenergy density, the picture changes. Ittakes considerably more oxygen formuscles to burn fat than to burncarbohydrate. Carbohydrate yields 5.05calories per liter of oxygen, whereas fatgives only 4.69—a difference of 7percent. During aerobic metabolism, this 7percent caloric advantage for carbstranslates into a threefold faster energy

production in the muscles. The take-homemessage: Muscle stores of glycogen areabsolutely essential in performingendurance exercise at or above 85 percentmax VO2 for any extended period.

But here’s the problem: There is alimit to how much glycogen the musclescan store. Trained endurance athletes canstore twice as much muscle glycogen ascouch potatoes can. However, it’simportant to know that muscle glycogenstockpiles cannot be shifted from onemuscle to another during exercise: Anyglycogen in your arms will not help yourlegs and vice versa. The values for muscleglycogen in Table 5.3 represent whole-body muscle stores and obviously will beconsiderably lower for specific muscle

groups.

TABLE 5.3

Total Body Carbohydrate Stores in aNontrained Person

SOURCE AMOUNT

(g)CORRESPONDINGCALORIES

Blood glucose 5 20Liver glycogen 100 400Muscleglycogen 400 1,600

Because the muscle glycogen storesare limited, high-intensity enduranceactivity (> 85 percent max VO2) can lastonly as long as the glycogen lasts. Butthere’s a catch here, and if you are anexperienced endurance athlete, you know

it: You can drink athletic beveragescontaining glucose to slow the muscle’sglycogen loss during exercise but,unfortunately, you cannot drink them fastenough. The maximum rate that ingestedglucose can be metabolized duringexercise is about 1 gram per minute—stillnot fast enough to replace what’s beinglost during hard exercise. As muscleglycogen stores become depleted, you’reforced to slow down because theremaining fat stores require more oxygento be burned. This reduced oxygenefficiency of fat compared with glucose isprecisely why you must reduce yourintensity once muscle glycogen reservesare severely depleted.

There is still a way out of thisbottleneck. You can slow muscle glycogen

loss by increasing how efficiently youburn fats and by increasing your IMTstores. Fats play a key role in how wellyou will perform in ultra-enduranceevents and bicycle road races. In long,moderate-intensity races such as these, notonly do you deplete your carbohydratereserves; you simply cannot metabolizeingested carbs (from drinks or energybars) as fast as you are losing them.Accordingly, if you can maximize bothyour muscle IMT and glycogen before therace, you will be in a lot better shapeduring the race. Michael Vogt, PhD, andcolleagues from the University of Bern inSwitzerland showed that athletesconsuming a 53 percent fat diet for 5weeks were able to double their IMTstores without compromising muscle

glycogen stockpiles. Further, the athletes’endurance performance at moderate tohigh intensities was maintained with asignificantly larger contribution of fat toenergy output. These results have beenconsistently confirmed in the ensuing 7years since the publication of the firstedition of The Paleo Diet for Athletes.Interested readers may consult thesescientific references listed in theReferences.

Your individual dietary strategy willdepend upon the length and intensity ofyour race. If ultra-endurance events areyour thing, then you may want to give ahigher-fat diet a try—but make sure itcontains healthy fats, not trans fats that arefound in most processed and fast foods.Shorter, high-intensity races require more

carbs and less fat, but it is still importantthat you try to maximize both IMT andmuscle glycogen stores.

Now let’s tie up the loose ends. Ourancestral dietary patterns couldn’t haveallowed us to restore muscle glycogen dayin and day out. High glycemic load carbson a year-round basis simply did not exist.Additionally, Stone Age people typicallydid not eat three meals a day.Contemporary studies of the Aché hunter-gatherers in Paraguay show that menusually ate only a single large meal in theevening. About 10 days a month they tookbreakfast, but they almost never had amidday meal. Women and children, on theother hand, stayed closer to camp and atefrequently throughout the day. In modernscientific experiments, the conditions the

Ache men experienced (long fastingperiods) have been shown to increaseIMT, as have high-fat diets. Consequently,our Paleolithic relatives were much morereliant upon IMT when it came to runningdown animals or doing long, drawn-out,heavy work. You, on the other hand, havethe luxury of adding performance-enhancing high glycemic load carbs toyour diet whenever you want. Butremember the take-home message that weemphasize throughout this book:moderation and quality. Avoid refinedgrains and sugars and replace them withbetter choices at the right time, as outlinedin Chapters 4 and 9.

Macronutrient Balance:

ProteinOne of the striking differences betweenancestral and modern diets is the proteincontent. Protein makes up about 15percent of the calories in the US diet,whereas in hunter-gatherers’ diets it wasbetween 19 and 35 percent of total energy.Compared with fat and carbohydrate,protein is a relatively negligible fuelsource during rest. Even with moderate tostrenuous exercise lasting up to 2 hours,protein accounts for less than 5 percent ofthe energy cost of the activity. However,during the end stages of prolongedendurance events, protein can contributeup to 15 percent of the total energy cost.

The building blocks of all proteinsare smaller compounds called amino

acids. Before proteins can be used toproduce energy in muscles, they must firstbe broken down into their constituentamino acids. One of these amino acids,alanine, is then released into thebloodstream, where it travels to the liverand can be converted to glucose in aprocess known as gluconeogenesis.However, the conversion of alanine toglucose amounts to only about 4 grams perhour—just a trickle, compared withvalues as high as 3 grams of glucose perminute needed during very high-intensityexercise.

Does this mean that you should forgetabout protein and worry only about carbsand fat when it comes to improvingperformance? Absolutely not. Asexplained in Chapters 1, 2, and 9, upping

your protein intake may positivelyinfluence fatigue, muscle protein synthesisduring recovery, and immune function.Also, don’t forget that meats, fish, andseafood are rich sources of zinc, iron, andvitamin B6—trace nutrients that willalmost certainly be low if you arefollowing a starch and refined carb diet.

FATTY ACID BALANCEWhen you adopt the Paleo Diet forAthletes, you will want to get rid of thebad fats and concentrate on the health-promoting ones. As you have seen,increasing fat in your diet may not be abad thing when it comes to enduranceperformance. Getting the right kinds of fat

into your diet may also improve yourimmune system and help lower the risk ofmany inflammatory diseases, heartdisease, certain autoimmune diseases, andsome cancers.

Chemical Structure of FatsLike any other specialty area, you have totake some time to master the languagebefore you can get a handle on how thingswork. Most athletes are concerned withtheir diet and know a little bit about thethree major types of dietary fats:saturated, monounsaturated, andpolyunsaturated. Let’s get into just a bitmore detail.

Technically, all fats are calledacylglycerols; each is composed of a

glycerol molecule bound to 1, 2, or 3 acylmolecules. A more familiar term for anacyl molecule is “fatty acid.” So if asaturated fatty acid is attached to aglycerol molecule, it can legitimately becalled a fat. If the saturated fatty acid isnot connected to glycerol, then it formallyis not a fat but, rather, a free fatty acid.The same holds for monounsaturated andpolyunsaturated fatty acids: If they arebound to glycerol, they are fats. If not, theyare free fatty acids. All free fatty acidsaren’t really free; they must be linked to aprotein molecule to travel in the blood.

If a single fatty acid is connected to aglycerol molecule, it is called amonoacylglycerol or monoglyceride. Twofatty acids connected to glycerol make adiacylglycerol (or diglyceride), and three

fatty acids attached to glycerol are calleda triacylglycerol or, more commonly, atriglyceride. Virtually all the fats you eatand almost all the fats you store in adipose(fat) tissue are triglycerides. Storagetriglycerides in your fat cells can be usedto fuel your muscles, but the fatty acidshave to be first cleaved from the glycerolmolecule and then bound to a proteinmolecule (albumin) to be transported inthe bloodstream as free fatty acids.

Next, let’s discuss the three majortypes of dietary fats, how they are labeled,how their structures vary, and how theyaffect your health and performance.

Saturated Fatty AcidsFIGURE 5.2

Saturated fatty acids are the simplest ofthe three major families of fatty acidsbecause they contain no double bondsbetween carbon atoms in the backbone ofthe molecule. Consequently, each carbonatom is fully “saturated” with hydrogenatoms. Figure 5.2 is a schematic diagramof a saturated fatty acid called lauric acid,which is given the technical designation of12:0; it contains 12 carbon atoms and 0double bonds between the carbon atoms. Italso has an omega end and a carboxyl end.(You’ll see why knowing which end is

which is important when we talk aboutdifferences between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.)

The other major dietary saturatedfatty acids are 14:0 (myristic acid), 16:0(palmitic acid), and 18:0 (stearic acid).Of all of these, 12:0, 14:0, and 16:0 raiseblood cholesterol levels, whereas 18:0 isneutral. Both 12:0 and 14:0 are found inrelatively small concentrations in fattyfoods, so 16:0 is the primary fatty acid inbutter, cheese, lard, bacon, salami, andother fatty meats responsible for elevatingblood cholesterol. However, because it(16:0) also simultaneously elevates the“good” HDL cholesterol, the most recentmeta-analyses (large population studies)show saturated fats in general to be minorrisk factors for heart disease. I came up to

a similar conclusion in a book chapter Iwrote in 2006 that analyzed the amounts ofdietary saturated fats in 229 hunter-gatherer societies.

Monounsaturated FattyAcids

FIGURE 5.3

Compared with saturated fatty acids,monounsaturated fatty acids lower totalblood cholesterol levels. They are labeled“mono” unsaturated because there is a

single double bond in their carbonbackbone. Figure 5.3 is a diagram of oleicacid, also known as 18:1v9. The “v”symbol stands for “omega.” Again, “18”means that there are 18 carbons in itsbackbone; the “1” means there is onedouble bond, which is located 9 carbonmolecules down from the omega end.Monounsaturated fatty acids are found innuts, avocados, olive oil, and other oilslisted in Chapter 11. These are some ofthe healthful fatty foods you want toinclude in your diet if you decide to upyour fat intake.

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids(Omega-6s)

FIGURE 5.4

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are called“poly,” meaning “many,” because theycontain two or more double bondsbetween the carbon atoms in theirbackbone. Figure 5.4 illustrates linoleicacid, or 18:2v6. By now, you probablyare getting the drift of this naming scheme:Linoleic acid contains 18 carbon atomsand 2 double bonds, and the last doublebond is located 6 carbon atoms downfrom the omega end of the fatty acidbackbone.

Linoleic acid is a member of theomega-6 family of polyunsaturated fatty

acids and is found in high concentrationsin corn oil, safflower oil, and other saladoils and processed foods made withvegetable oils. Excessive intake ofomega-6 polyunsaturated fats maypromote heart disease, inflammation, andcertain cancers; and the typical Americandiet contains way too much of this fat. InChapter 11, you’ll learn how to achievejust the right balance of this fat on yourmenu.

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids(Omega-3s)

FIGURE 5.5

Almost anyone who has an interest in dietand health has heard of omega-3 fattyacids, but most people really don’t knowwhat they are. This will change for you inabout 2 seconds, now that you arebecoming an accomplished lipid chemistwith this tutorial. The simplest omega-3polyunsaturated fatty acid is called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), abbreviated18:3v3. If you have been following along,you know that ALA contains 18 carbonatoms in its backbone and 3 double bonds,the last of which is 3 carbon atoms downfrom the omega end. Figure 5.5 shows a

diagram of this fatty acid. These diagramsare helpful in understanding the structureand names of the various fats, but theydon’t tell you everything. The carbon-to-carbon bonds in their backbones are notstraight (180 degrees) but form a 109-degree angle. Hence, their actual physicalstructures look different from thesediagrammatic representations.

ALA is the simplest omega-3 fattyacid and is found in high concentrations inflaxseed and canola oils. In the body, theliver can turn ALA from flaxseed orcanola oil into longer chain omega-3ssuch as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), or20:5v3, and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA), or 22:6v3. However, this processis quite inefficient, and only less than 1percent of ALA is turned into DHA. Most

of the beneficial biological effects ofomega-3 fatty acids result from the longchain metabolites of ALA, which are EPAand DHA. You’re better off getting youromega-3s from fish and seafood, whichare rich sources of both EPA and DHA.

A few recent human experimentssuggest that omega-3 fatty acids may havefew performance enhancing effects;nevertheless, literally thousands ofscientific experiments have shown thatthese fatty acids promote good health.Omega-3s are potent anti-inflammatoryagents comparable or superior to aspirin.In one study of 10 elite endurance athletes,by Dr. Tim Mickleborough at IndianaUniversity, dietary fish oilsupplementation proved to be highlyeffective in reducing exercise-induced

constriction of the airways leading to thelungs. This isn’t of interest only to eliteathletes: Exercise-induced asthma (EIA)is a real problem that may affect as muchas 10 percent of the general population. Ifthat includes you, then increasing yourdietary intake of omega-3s not only makessense but also may be essential medicine.Even if you don’t suffer symptoms of EIA,your long-term health will benefit in manyways if you get more of these highlytherapeutic fatty acids into your diet.

Trans Fatty AcidsFIGURE 5.6

Trans fatty acids have been in the newsfor decades, so you may know that theyraise your blood cholesterol levels andincrease your risk for heart disease. Transfatty acids most frequently are formedwhen vegetable oils are solidified intomargarine or shortening by a processcalled hydrogenation. Consequently,hydrogenated or partially hydrogenatedvegetable oils contain trans fatty acids.European scientists participating in alarge clinical trial called the TransLinEStudy showed that trans fatty acids canalso be formed when vegetable oils are

deodorized. Careful deodorizing preventsthe formation of trans fatty acids. So,when you buy vegetable oil, make sure thelabel guarantees that the product is transfat-free.

Trans fatty acids are isomers ofnormally occurring fatty acids—meaningthat they have the same molecular weightas a normal fatty acid but a slightlydifferent structure. We’ve already talkedabout oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatlabeled 18:1v9 or, more precisely, 18:1v9cis. That means the hydrogen atomsadjacent to the single double bond are onthe same side (cis). Figure 5.6 shows atrans fatty acid designated 18:1v9 trans. Itis called a “trans” fatty acid because thehydrogen atoms about the double bond areon opposite sides. This specific trans fatty

acid is also known as trans elaidic acidand is the bad guy responsible for thecholesterol-raising and other adversehealth effects of trans fatty acids found inmargarine and shortening. Thedeodorization of vegetable oils producestrans isomers of 18:3v3 (ALA), whichalso negatively affect your blood lipidprofile. Do yourself a favor and keepthese nasty fats out of your diet.

POTASSIUM/SODIUMBALANCE

In the typical US diet, we get almost 10grams of salt per day. Because salt ismade up of sodium and chloride, thistranslates into a daily intake of 3.5 grams

of sodium and 6.5 grams of chloride. Mostpeople know that the sodium part of salt isnot good for health, particularly when weget too much of it. But few people have aclue that the chloride portion is alsoproblematic (more on this later). Considerthe ratio of potassium to sodium in theaverage American diet: Because ouraverage daily potassium intake is a paltry2.6 grams, the ratio (2.6:3.5) is 0.74. Oneof the reasons we have so little potassiumin our diets is that in the United States wesimply eat too few fruits and veggies, therichest sources of this element. Ninety-onepercent of the US population does notmeet the USDA recommendation of two tothree daily servings of fruit and three tofive daily servings of vegetables. In starkcontrast, a modern-day Paleo diet, like

that outlined in Chapter 1, contains 9grams of potassium and 0.7 gram ofsodium, for a ratio of 12.5. From hundredsof computer simulations of modern-dayPaleo diets, we have found the ratio ofpotassium to sodium is always greaterthan 5, whereas in the typical US diet, it isalways less than 1.

This complete inversion of the Paleopotassium/sodium ratio may produce anumber of potential health problems thatmay hurt your race-day performance.Similar to the effects of having too fewomega-3 fatty acids in your diet, excessivesodium also worsens exercise-inducedasthma symptoms. Experiments from ourlaboratory and Dr. Mickleborough’s atIndiana University in both humans andanimals show beyond a shadow of a doubt

that reducing dietary salt for those withEIA is therapeutic. This strategy won’teliminate EIA, but it will vastly improvesymptoms. Similarly, if you suffer fromhypertension or osteoporosis, loweringthe salt and upping the fruit and veggies inyour diet may prove helpful. For athletestraining or racing long distances in heat,we don’t suggest eliminating saltcompletely but, rather, using it moderatelyand following the guidelines establishedin Chapters 2, 3, and 4.

ACID/BASE BALANCEMost athletes and many nutrition expertsalike are unaware of the concept ofdietary acid/base balance and how it may

affect health, well-being, and athleticperformance. All foods after digestionreport to the kidney as either acid or base(see Table 4.4. If the diet produces a netmetabolic acidosis, then the kidney mustbuffer this acid load with stored alkalinebase. Ultimately, alkaline base can comefrom calcium salts in the bones.Alternatively, more acid can be excretedin the urine by the muscles breaking downand releasing more of the amino acidglutamine. Over the long haul, both effectsmay hurt your performance. Acceleratedbone mineral loss increases the likelihoodof stress fractures—clearly a liability inyour training schedule.

Accelerated glutamine loss from anet acid-producing diet may adverselyaffect exercise performance through a

wide variety of mechanisms. Glutaminesupplementation has been shown toincrease growth hormone and help sparemuscle mass in critically ill patients andin some animal experiments. Also, likealanine, glutamine can be converted toglucose in the liver and may provide anadditional carbohydrate source duringprolonged exercise. Finally, depletedblood glutamine levels in enduranceathletes are a symptom of overtraining andincrease the likelihood of infection andupper respiratory illness. Because mostendurance athletes eat a net acid-producing diet similar to the typicalAmerican diet outlined in Table 5.4,chances are good that glutamine reserveswill be compromised. By following thePaleo Diet for Athletes, you will be

getting plenty of glutamine from freshmeats, fish, and seafood.

TABLE 5.4

Acid/Base Balance in Average US Diet

Net Acid-yielding FoodsCereal grains = 23.9% energyMeats, fish = 15.7% energy

Dairy = 10.6% energyNuts, legumes = 3.1% energy

Eggs = 1.4% energySalt = 9.6 g/day

Net Alkaline-yielding FoodsVegetables = 4.8% energy

Fruits = 3.3% energy

Neutral (But Displace Alkaline Foods)Refined sugars = 18.6% energy

Refined oils = 17.9% energy

Values represent percentage of the total daily energyconsumed.

FIBER INTAKEThe average person in the United Statesdoes not get enough fiber. Current intakes(15 grams per day) fall way short ofrecommended levels (about 25 to 35grams per day). When you adopt the PaleoDiet for Athletes, fiber will become anonissue because you will get it almostentirely from fresh fruits and vegetables.A common perception is that whole grainsare excellent sources of fiber. Thinkagain. Figure 5.7 shows this not to be thecase in its depiction of the average totalfiber content in a 1,000-calorie serving of3 refined cereals, 8 whole grain cereals,

20 fresh fruits, and 20 nonstarchyvegetables. When it comes to solublefiber, whole grains are lightweightscompared with fruits and veggies.

Fiber has little influence uponexercise performance, but it helps tonormalize bowel function and preventconstipation, and it may help to avert“runner’s trots,” which can be moreembarrassing than detrimental toperformance. Increased fiber consumptionmay also slightly improve your bloodchemistry and over the course of a lifetimemay prevent varicose veins, hemorrhoids,hiatal hernia, and other illnessesassociated with the gastrointestinal tract.

FIGURE 5.7

TRACE NUTRIENTDENSITY

I n Chapter 1 we showed you what anutritional lightweight the USDA FoodPyramid/MyPlate diet is compared to thePaleo Diet for Athletes, particularly when

we get down to the issue of vitamins andminerals. Most people in the United Stateswould be lucky to eat as well as theUSDA Food Pyramid/MyPlate designerswould like us to eat. In fact, we don’t dovery well at all. Table 5.5 shows thatmore than half of the US population getsinsufficient vitamin B6, vitamin A,magnesium, calcium, and zinc. Theproblem comes not only from ouravoidance of fruits and veggies but alsoour consumption of so many emptycalories in the form of refined sugars andgrains in processed foods. Refined sugarsmake up 18 percent of our daily caloriesyet have absolutely zero vitamins andminerals. Grains compose 24 percent ofour daily food intake, but, unfortunately,85 percent of the grains consumed in the

United States are taken as refined grains.Figures 5.8 and 5.9 show how the refiningprocess strips whole wheat of most of itsvitamins and minerals.

TABLE 5.5

US Individuals Age 2 and OlderMeeting RDAs

NUTRIENT PERCENTAGEVitamin B12 82.8Protein 79.5Vitamin B3 74.1Vitamin B2 70Vitamin B1 69.8Folate 66.8Vitamin C 62Iron 60.9Vitamin B6 46.4Vitamin A 43. 8Magnesium 38.4Calcium 34.9Zinc 26.7

These are the 13 nutrients most lacking in the US diet (1994-

96), according to 1989 RDAs.

FIGURE 5.8

FIGURE 5.9

These figures give you a pretty goodidea that white flour is a nutrient-depletedmess! Even governmental agenciesunderstand that white flour isn’t such agood thing. Starting shortly after World

War II, all white flour was required bylaw to be enriched with vitamins B1, B2,B3, and iron. It’s almost inconceivable tocall this stuff “enriched” when at least 18vitamins and minerals are severelydepleted during the refining process, yetonly 4 are added back. Wait, make that 5.In 1998, legislation by the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) and the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC)mandated further supplementation of whiteflour with folic acid.

Folic acid is an artificial compoundfirst synthesized by scientists at LederleLabs in 1947. After ingestion, it isconverted into the B vitamin folate by theliver. Note that folic acid and folate arenot one and the same compound. Rather,

folic acid is metabolized in a slightlydifferent manner in the body than thenaturally occurring B vitamin folate.Leading up to the 1998 federal legislationmandating folic acid supplementation, anincreasing body of scientific literature hadsuggested that folate deficiencies wereresponsible for the crippling and oftenfatal birth defects known as neural tubedefects. Accordingly, the governmentalrationale for folic acid fortification in theUS food supply was to reduce theincidence of neural tube defects, of whichspina bifida is most well known.

In a 6-year period (1990-1996)before mandatory folic acid fortification,the average number of neural tube defectsper year in the United States was 1,582. Inthe first year (1998-1999) following

fortification, neural tube defects droppedto 1,337, so 245 cases of this diseasewere prevented. The problem withpopulation-wide folic acidsupplementation was that it had neverbeen adequately tested in largerandomized, controlled human trials todetermine if this artificial compound hadany adverse health effects. I would be thefirst person to congratulate governmentalagencies for mandating a national policythat could reduce or eliminate neural tubedefects. Unfortunately, this shotgunapproach put the entire US population(300 million people) at risk for death anddisability from other more seriousdiseases.

In the last decade, an accumulatingbody of scientific evidence now makes it

clear that the FDA’s mandatory folic acidfortification program represents a terribleblunder in US public health policy. Analarming number of human clinical trials,animal experiments, and epidemiologicalstudies show that excess folate via folicacid fortification has resulted inpopulation-wide increases in the risk forbreast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.Although scientists aren’t completely surehow excess folate and folic acid promotecancer, animal experiments indicate thatthese compounds induce a cancer-causingreaction called hypermethylation in theDNA of cancer cells.

Because the Paleo Diet for Athletesrecommends that you should severelyrestrict or eliminate all grains, thenationwide folic acid fortification

program becomes a nonissue for PaleoDieters, providing you do not take folicacid-containing vitamins or supplements.As we have made it clear throughout thisrevision, supplementation (except for fishoil and vitamin D) is unnecessary, andantioxidant supplements may actuallyprevent the health promoting effects ofexercise and hamper training adaptationsin endurance performance.

It would appear that you are a wholelot better off eating whole grains to getcalcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc.Wrong! Whole grains contain numeroussubstances called antinutrients that canimpair nutrient absorption or adverselyaffect health in a wide variety of ways.Phytic acid, otherwise known as phytate,is an antinutrient found in all whole grains

and legumes that binds calcium, iron,magnesium, and zinc and severely inhibitstheir absorption. Whether whole orrefined, grains are an inferior food when itcomes to vitamins and minerals. Doyourself a favor and get the bulk of yourcarbs from fresh fruits and veggies.

CHAPTER 6

FITNESS AND FOOD

There are three factors that contribute tofitness. The first, and most important, is asound training program that focuses on thedemands of high performance. Withoutphysical stress as created by challengingworkouts, your body will not have thestimulus to adapt and grow stronger. Thesecond contributor to performance is rest,especially adequate sleep. It’s duringsleep that your body experiences theprocess of adaptation. Workouts providethe potential for fitness, but it’s realized

while you are resting and sleeping. Duringrest and sleep your body requiresresources to rebuild. These are themacronutrients (protein, fat, andcarbohydrate) and the micronutrients(vitamins and minerals). This is the thirdfactor in fitness. These dietarycontributors make growth and adaptationto the stress of training possible. If thesenutrients are not adequate in your diet,then not only will your athleticperformance suffer, but also your health.There are several other ways that yourdiet affects fitness. We will examine themhere. Let’s start with the most basicquestion.

WHAT IS FITNESS?

Athletes talk about fitness a lot. So what isit? Endurance athletes usually discussfitness in terms of performance. Runnerstalk about their 10-km pace or a recentmarathon time. Cyclists lay claim to high-power outputs. While these are actuallyquite good ways to define fitness, theydon’t tell us anything about themechanisms responsible for it—whichmay provide clues regarding how to goabout improving it. That, of course, is theultimate goal of athletic training.

Exercise physiologists are a bit moreprecise when it comes to “fitness.” Fordecades they have proposed that there areonly three things you can do to becomemore fit for endurance sports. You canincrease your aerobic capacity, elevateyour anaerobic threshold, and become

more economical. That’s it. Nothing else.All of your training comes down to thesethree elements. And they are whatultimately produce your fast 10-km runand high-power output. So what are they,what can you do in training to improvethem, and how are they affected by whatyou eat?

Aerobic CapacityYou probably know this as “max VO2.”It’s a measure of how much oxygen yourbody uses when working at a maximalaerobic effort. Physiologists define it asthe maximal volume of oxygen consumedin milliliters per kilogram of body weightper minute (the formula is ml O2/kg/minute). The higher your max VO2, the

more likely you are to perform at a highlevel in endurance events.

Your aerobic capacity is unique toeach sport. If you have a high max VO2 forswimming it won’t necessarily be high forcycling or running.

To raise your max VO2, do highlyintense intervals. This workout would besomething along the lines of 3-minuteintervals at an intensity you could hold foronly about 5 or 6 minutes. Do four to sixof these intervals in a session with 3minutes of recovery between them at leastonce each week. Doing one to three ofthese sessions weekly in the last 12 weeksbefore a priority A race has been shownin the research to produce significantgains in aerobic capacity.

Aerobic capacity is also raised bylosing excess body weight. In the formulaabove, oxygen consumed is divided bybody weight, so as body weight goesdown, max VO2 rises. This is undoubtedlyobvious to you. At those rare times whenyour body weight has increased, ridingyour bike up a hill or running became a bitharder. Your aerobic capacity haddecreased. Later in the chapter we’ll getinto this issue of body weight andperformance along with the relatedbenefits of eating the Paleo Diet.

Anaerobic Threshold (AT)You may know this as “lactate threshold”or even “ventilatory threshold.” Sportscientists differentiate among these three

thresholds, but for the average athlete thedifferences are not critical to training orperformance. Basically, this is the highestintensity you can maintain for about anhour. Another way of thinking of AT isthat it’s the intensity at which you begin to“redline.” When you cross this thresholdas you speed up, you sense the effortbecoming hard. On a perceived-effortscale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very, veryhard, AT occurs at about 7.

A high AT is very important forendurance performance. Among athleteswith similar aerobic capacities, AT playsa major role in determining the outcome ofa race. Many studies have shown it to bethe better predictor. In other words, youreally can’t predict who will win anendurance race based only on aerobic

capacity (max VO2). But we know thatpeople with a high max VO2 will cross thefinish line first. That person is likely tohave the highest AT among those with highaerobic capacities.

In the lab, AT is measured as apercentage of aerobic capacity. During ahigh-intensity workout or race, a highly fitathlete will experience AT at about 85percent of max VO2. Less fit athletes willhave lower ATs at around 75 to 80percent. The higher the AT as apercentage of max VO2, the faster theathlete will be.

In workouts AT can be gauged usingheart rate, pace, or power. This can bedone using a heart rate monitor, a runner’sGPS device for pace, or a bike power

meter. Your average heart rate, pace, orpower for an all-out 30-minute effort is agood predictor of your AT intensity.

To improve AT do long intervals atyour AT pace, power, or heart rate withshort recoveries between them. The high-intensity interval duration could be 5 to 20minutes long with 20 to 60 minutes ofaccumulated AT time within a session.For example, a common AT workout maybe 5-minute intervals at AT pace, power,or heart rate five times (5 x 5 min @ AT).This workout could be 300-meter swimintervals, 2-mile bike intervals, or 1,200-meter run intervals. The recovery timebetween intervals is about one-fourth theduration of the work interval. So for 5-minute intervals the easy recoverieswould be 75 seconds.

As your AT rises with increasingfitness you will go faster at your AT heartrate or have a lower heart rate at your ATpace or power. You’re becoming more fit.When this change occurs, it’s time toretest your AT.

Training and racing at your AT orslightly below it, as in races lasting aboutan hour or longer, can be improved bybecoming better at burning fat for fuel.We’ll take a closer look at what thatmeans in relation to your diet later in thischapter.

EconomySport scientists understand less abouteconomy than about aerobic capacity andanaerobic threshold. Yet it may be the

most important of the three when it comesto performance in long endurance events.

I’m certain you understand theconcept. Your automobile has an economyrating—how many miles it gets per gallonof gas. Your body also has an economyrating—how far it can go on a givenamount of energy (or oxygen, which is anindirect indicator of energy use). Whileyour car runs on gasoline, for humans theprimary fuels are fat and glycogen (storedcarbohydrate). Highly economicalendurance athletes use their stored energysparingly.

Many variables affect economy.Some of these are the result of genetics—the physical characteristics your parentsgave you. For example, good swimmers

tend to have long arms and big hands.Most of the best cyclists have long femur(thigh) bones relative to the lengths oftheir legs. Economical runners tend tohave long tibias (shin bones). In general,the best endurance athletes have more ofthe slow-twitch muscles than do power-sport athletes, who inherited lots of fast-twitch muscles. The list of such genetictraits common to the best enduranceathletes by sport is quite long.

Economy isn’t just the result of theathlete’s physiological makeup, however.It is also improved by using lightweight,aerodynamic, and hydrodynamicequipment (shoes, bikes, skis, swimsuits),having well-honed skills, and improvingsport-specific strength.

In terms of your diet, the mostimportant component of economy is yourbody’s fuel preference. A body thatprefers to use fat for fuel, as opposed tocarbohydrate, is economical. Even theskinniest athlete has enough fat storedaway to exercise for hour after hour. Butour bodies store relatively littlecarbohydrate. Training the body to burnfat while sparing carbohydrate improveseconomy.

FAT BURNERS AND CARBBURNERS

Are you a fat burner or a carbohydrateburner? Most athletes don’t know, yet thisis valuable information, especially if you

compete in endurance events lastinglonger than about 2 hours. The longer yourevent, the more critical this concept is toperformance.

A limiting factor for such events iscarbohydrate intake. If you don’t take inenough sugar (the common form ofcarbohydrate found in sports drinks, bars,gels, and other sport nutrition products)during the event, you are likely to run low,which ultimately means your name in theresults will be followed by the lettersDNF (did not finish). On the other hand,take in too much sugar and your gut can’tprocess it—possibly resulting in bloatingand nausea.

To further complicate the matter,there is a considerable amount of

individual variation when it comes tousing carbohydrate during such events.Some people’s bodies burn morecarbohydrate as a percentage of totalcalories used. They are “sugar burners”and need to be very concerned withcarbohydrate intake. The “fat burner” hasa body that prefers to use fat for fuel andso spares stored carbs. This person ismetabolically ready for long endurance.That may be the result of fortunategenetics, effective training, wise nutrition,or some combination of these variables.

How do you know if you’re a sugarburner or a fat burner? And how do youdetermine if you are taking in the rightamount of carbohydrate? The answers arefound in your respiratory equivalencyratio (RER), sometimes also called the

respiratory quotient (RQ). They aren’texactly measures of the same factor, butare close. Once you know your RER, youhave a better idea of your fat- versussugar-burning preference and what yourcarb-intake needs are during exercise. Ifyou find you’re a sugar burner, it ispossible to change your body so that itrelies more heavily upon fat. More on thislater.

RER is determined by doing ametabolic assessment or max VO2 test.Until recently you had to go to a medicalclinic or university lab to have such a testdone, but now there are boutique testingcenters popping up around the country inhealth clubs, bike shops, and running andtriathlon stores. A few coaches even offer

this service. You can probably find a testfacility somewhere near where you live.The test generally costs between $150 and$250.

RER testing is most common forcycling and running. There are a fewfacilities that can test rowers, Nordicskiers, and swimmers. If you’re atriathlete and can afford only one test, I’dsuggest doing it on the bike, as yournutrition here generally has a greaterimpact on your race performance thanwhen you are swimming or running, sincehalf of the race is on the bike.

The typical test protocol is simple. Itstarts you out at a very easy effort andincreases the intensity every few minutesuntil you fatigue and can no longer

continue. In order to get good data, youneed to treat the test like a race by restingfor a couple of days before. Doing this testwith accumulated fatigue from severaldays of hard training will muddle theresults and what you learn from them.

There will be several pieces ofinformation resulting from such a test. Oneis the all-important RER. As the intensityof the test increases, you will graduallyburn more carbohydrate (stored asglycogen) for fuel. The RER closelyestimates how much of the energy camefrom carbs and how much from fat. Table6.1 may be used to determine your percentof energy burned from these two nutrientsthroughout the test.

TABLE 6.1

Carbohydrate and Fat Utilization as aPercentage of Total Calories Relative

to Respiratory Equivalency Ratio(RER)

RER CARB % FAT %0.71 0.0 100.00.71 1.1 98.90.72 4.8 95.20.73 8.4 91.60.74 12.0 88.00.75 15.6 84.40.76 19.2 80.80.77 22.8 77.20.78 26.3 73.70.79 29.9 70.10.80 33.4 66.60.81 36.9 63.10.82 40.3 59 .70.83 43.8 56.20.84 47.2 52.8

0.85 50.7 49.30.86 54.1 45.90.87 57.5 42.50.88 60.8 39.20.89 64.2 35.80.90 67.5 32.50.91 70.8 29.20.92 74.1 25.90.93 77.4 22.60.94 80.7 19.30.95 84.0 16.00.96 87.2 12.80.97 90.4 9.60.98 93.6 6.40.99 96.8 3.21.00 100.0 0.0

The fat burner will start the test withan RER of around 0.80, meaning that he orshe is already using about 33 percentcarbohydrate and 67 percent fat for fuel

( s e e Table 6.1). That’s good. Anotherwise similarly fit sugar burner, interms of aerobic capacity, may start thetest at the same low intensity but with anRER of perhaps 0.90 or higher. At thisRER he or she is burning 67 percent carbsand 33 percent fat. That’s not so good.When they reach their anaerobicthresholds, both the fat burner and sugarburner will be at about 1.00 RER, whichmeans 100 percent carbohydrate and zeropercent fat. (Fatigue will typically end thetest at an RER of about 1.1 to 1.2 forboth.)

Notice that the sugar burner has amuch narrower RER range (0.90-1.00)than has the fat burner (0.80-1.00). So atmoderate intensities, as are common inlong-distance events, the sugar burner

needs to be very aware of carbohydrateintake as he or she risks running low onthis precious fuel. If that happens, theathlete bonks. Some athletes are suchgigantic sugar burners that they find itdifficult to take in enough carbohydrateduring the competition. They must go slowto lower their use of stored glycogen.They’re using sugar faster than theirstomachs can process it from sportsdrinks. That often means a gut “shutdown”and nausea.

If you discover from a test that youare a sugar burner, you may be able tomodify this condition somewhat. I say“may” because there is some researchindicating that there is an element ofgenetics involved. This probably has to doat least in part with your muscle makeup,

especially your percentage of slow-twitchor “endurance” muscles. This factor, forthe most part, is an inherited trait overwhich you have no control. But there isalso no way of knowing if your high RERis genetic or the result of something else,such as how you train.

Doing workouts that focus heavily onanaerobic effort trains the body topreferentially use sugar for fuel. Long-duration, low- to moderate-intensityaerobic workouts promote fat burning. Asyou become more aerobically fit, yourRER will drop, and, related to that,research has shown that as trainingvolume increases, RER is also reduced.

The other chief determinant of RERis your usual diet. Simply put, the more

high glycemic load carbohydrate foodsyou eat (starches are the most prevalent inthis category), the more your body willrely on sugar during exercise. Conversely,the more fat and protein in your diet, thelower your RER will be. Eating starch ortaking in glucose in a sports drink beforethe start of the metabolic test, workout, orthe race may also slightly shift your RERto the sugar-burning side. (This is why werecommended in Chapter 2 not consuminganything other than water in the last 2hours prior to starting exercise, with theexception of the last 10 minutes prior toexercise.)

It is even possible to determine howmuch carb you need to take in during arace from an RER test. All you need to dois find your goal race intensity—heart

rate, power, or pace—for your event inthe test’s raw data results and determine,also from the results, how many caloriesyou were burning at that point. Then checkRER at that same intensity (see Table 6.1)to see what percentage of those caloriescame from sugar. You will need toreplace much of this expended, carb-based energy during long events (seeChapter 3 for details). The test techniciancan help you figure this out.

Knowing your RER and, moreimportant, keeping it on the low sidethrough diet and training have the potentialto improve your performance in long-distance endurance events.

Lowering your RER so that you aremore economical is a good starting point

for using food to improve your fitness. Butthere is much more to be gained from whatyou eat and when you eat it. As discussedi n Chapters 2, 3, and 4, this is somethingthat changes throughout the day. But thereare also dietary shifts going on throughoutthe season that have a strong influence onfitness and race performance.

PERIODIZATION OF DIETIn working with athletes from novices toelites, we have found that varying theStage V diet along with training volumeand intensity produces the bestperformances. By varying themacronutrient intake, it is possible toenhance the benefits sought in different

types of training at certain points in theseason. For example, if a purpose of thebase (general preparation) period is totrain the athlete’s body to preferentiallyuse fat for fuel, thus sparing carbohydrate,and we know that eating a diet higher infat and lower in carbohydrate alsopromotes such a metabolic shift, then itseems reasonable to have the athlete eatmore fat and less carbohydrate at this timein the season. We have used this strategywith athletes and observed changes inRER as described above indicating thatglycogen, the muscles’ storage form ofcarbohydrate, was being spared,compared with pretests in whichcarbohydrate was relatively high and fatlow in the diet. There is a growing bodyof research in this area that supports the

notion that aerobic training, along with agreater intake of fat, produces increasedbenefits in the form of glycogen sparing.

In the same way, when the intensityof training increases to become morerace-like while volume stabilizes orperhaps decreases slightly in the build(specific preparation) period, the athleteuses more carbohydrate for fuel. Duringthis period, which occurs about 6 to 12weeks before priority A races, it is wiseto increase the carbohydrate content of thediet slightly, while decreasing fat intake.This means being particularly focused oncarb intake in Stages III and IV followingworkouts and eating plenty of fruits andvegetables in Stage V. Protein stays stablerelative to the total training workloadthroughout the season.

Before going into more detail on thissubject, it is important that we explainsome basic tenets of periodization.Periodization is a system in which theathlete’s training program is modifiedover time so that a high level of fitness istypically achieved two or three times in aseason. This system of training, largelydeveloped by Eastern bloc countries in the1960s, has been prevalent in Westerncountries since the 1970s and is widelyemployed by serious athletes around theworld. In periodization, the season isdivided into periods that may be 1 to 12weeks in duration; each has a purpose anda unique method of training associatedwith it.

In the classic periodization model,the training year begins with general

preparation made up of the “preparation”and “base” periods. The purpose oftraining for endurance athletes at this timeis to produce gains in the areas of generalaerobic endurance, muscular strength, andsport skills. The training at this time in theseason is not specific to the intensity andduration demands of the targeted event,but rather general in nature.

Following this is specificpreparation for competition during the“build” and “peak” periods when trainingbecomes increasingly specific to thedemands of the coming event. This isusually marked by a shift in emphasis fromgeneral endurance to higher-intensitytraining, although this is determined by thetargeted race’s characteristics. Forexample, for very long events, workout

intensity is relatively low, and moderate-intensity endurance training continuesmuch as in general preparation—althoughthere may be race-specific trainingadjustments made relative to terrain,weather conditions, and equipment used.In the 1- to 2-week peak period just priorto the competition, it is common for theathlete to significantly reduce the trainingvolume while completing a “dressrehearsal” workout every 2 or 3 days.During these periods, the gains made inthe general preparation period aremaintained, with reduced frequency oftraining for endurance, strength, and skills.

Next comes the competition or“race” period. This is what you’ve trainedfor. It’s when the all-important priority Araces are scheduled. For most athletes, the

race period is best kept quite short—nomore than 1 week. A few athletes—mostlikely elites, who have greater capacitywhen it comes to devoting themselves toextensive training and limited recovery—may be able to hold a peak of fitness for afew weeks. Attempting to maintain a peaklevel for too long will result in a gradualerosion of fitness due to the emphasis onrest.

The race period is followed by the“transition” period, when physical andmental rejuvenation is the goal. This maylast from a few days at midseason to a fewweeks at the end of the race season.

Just as the duration, frequency, andintensity of training are adjustedthroughout the season, so must the types of

foods and when they are eaten, as well theamount of calories consumed. Table 6.2summarizes these objectives and uniquenutritional requirements. When theworkload is the greatest, in the base andbuild periods, the volume of food eatenand subsequent calories consumed arealso at the highest levels for the year. Withthese as the standard, or 100 percentlevel, the other periods will require fewercalories since the recovery demands arenot as great. As previously explained,there should be a shift betweencarbohydrate and fat according to thedemands of the training sessions andraces. Protein remains about the samethroughout the year. Table 6.3demonstrates these caloric andmacronutrient adjustments.

TABLE 6.2

The Parallel Purposes of Training andNutrition While Following a Classic

Periodization Model PERIOD DURATION WORKLOADPreparation (generalpreparation) 2-6 weeks Moderate

Base (general preparation) 8-12 weeks Increasingly highBuild (specificpreparation) 6-8 weeks High

Peak (specific preparation) 1-2 weeks Moderate anddecreasing

Race (competition) 1 week Low

Transition 3 days-4weeks Very low

PERIOD EXERCISE

EMPHASIS NUTRITION EMPHASIS

Preparation(general

General aerobic,cross-training,general strength

Fat increased,carbohydrate decreased,protein stable, calories

preparation) training low

Base(generalpreparation)

Increasing volume,moderate intensity,usually aerobic,skills emphasis,specific strengthtraining

Fat increased,carbohydrate decreased,protein stable, caloriesincreasing to matchworkload

Build(specificpreparation)

Reduced volume,race-like intensity,base fitnessmaintained

Fat decreased,carbohydrate increased,protein stable, caloriesstable

Peak(specificpreparation)

Tapering volume,race simulationevery 2-3 days, basefitness maintained

Fat, carbohydrate, andprotein stable, caloriesdecreased

Race(competition)

Increasinglyreduced volume,maintenance of race-like intensity, rest,mental preparation

Fat, carbohydrate, andprotein proportionsmaintained as calorieconsumption is reduced inparallel with trainingreduction

TransitionMental and physicalrejuvenation,general aerobic

Fat increased,carbohydrate decreased,protein stable

TABLE 6.3

An Example of Caloric Breakdown byTraining Period

TRAININGPERIOD

CALORIES (% ofPeak Intake)

CARBOHYDRATECALORIES (%)*

Preparation 90 40-50Base 100 40-50Build 100 50-60Peak 90 50-60Race 80 50-60Transition 80 30-50

TRAININGPERIOD

PROTEIN CALORIES(%)

FAT CALORIES(%)

Preparation 20-25 30-40Base 20-25 30-40Build 20-25 20-30Peak 20-25 20-30Race 20-25 20-30Transition 20-25 30-50

* Carbohydrate calories are consumed primarily in Stages I,II, III, and IV.

Now that we’ve laid out the generaloutline for eating relative to exercisethroughout the season, let’s see what themenu might look like for a day in the lifeof a serious athlete. Table 6.4 provides abreakdown of calories by source andrecovery stage. Table 6.5 provides furtherdetail on the athlete’s food choices on thissame day.

TABLE 6.4

An Example of Daily CaloricBreakdown During the Build Period for

a 150-Pound Athlete Doing a 2-HourWorkout While in a 15-Hour Training

Week

RECOVERYSTAGE

CARBOHYDRATECALORIES

PROTEINCALORIES

Stage I 200 0Stage II 300 0Stage III 432 108Stage IV 200 180Stage V 539 311Totals for day 1,671 599% of totalcalories 59 21

RECOVERY STAGE FAT CALORIES TOTAL CALORIESStage I 0 200Stage II 0 300Stage III 0 540Stage IV 13 393Stage V 550 1,400Totals for day 563 2,833% of total calories 20 100

TABLE 6.5

Food Choices Relative to Exercise for aDay in the Build Period for a 150-Pound

Athlete TIME ROUTINE FOOD

CHOICESTOTALCALORIES

Stage I

4:45-5:15 a.m.

Arise, stretch,preworkoutsnack (10minutes prior)

2 gelpackets12 oz water

2000

Stage II

5:15-7:15 a.m. 2-hour workout12 ozsportsdrink

300

Stage III

7:15-7:45 a.m. Stretch, recover Recoverydrink 540

Stage IV 6 oz turkeybreast

7:45-9:00 a.m.Shower, dress,breakfast,commute

1 apple6 oz grapejuice1 cupcoffee

1871001006

Stage V

9:00-11:30 a.m.11:30-12:30 p.m.12:30-5:30 p.m.5:30-9:00 p.m.

Work, snackLunchWork, snackFamily time,supper, bedtimesnack

2 oz driedfruit withnuts4 oz cod1 cup fruitsalad2 carrots1 banana4 ozsalmon1 cupbroccoliSmallspinachsalad w/dressing8 oz herbaltea2 oz driedfruit withnuts

3001111706210020030200230075

3½ oz wine

Total calories 2,833

As can be seen from the examples inthese tables, our hypothetical athletefocuses on appropriate recovery foodsthroughout the day. Before, during, and inthe 30 minutes immediately followingexercise (Stages I, II, and III), his foodchoices are intended to replacecarbohydrate used in exercise and provideprotein to prevent loss of muscle. InStages IV and V he concentrates on eatingfoods that encourage a lower RER andshift blood pH levels toward greateralkalinity to preserve bone and muscletissue. He also includes foods such as nutsand fish that are rich in omega-3 oils toreduce the risk of inflammation and

protein for continuing muscle recovery.

BODY WEIGHT ANDPERFORMANCE

Endurance athletes intuitively understandthat their body weight has an impact onperformance. Some find it necessary toshed excess weight, especially fat, inorder to perform at a higher level. Herewe will examine the known effects ofweight and how the Paleo Diet can help inmanaging yours.

The Effects of Gravity andHeatNearly all endurance sports are affected

by gravity. Any time there is verticalmovement the combined weight of yourbody and equipment detracts fromperformance. Going up a hill whileNordic skiing or on a bike requiresovercoming the force of gravity. Thelighter you and your equipment are, thefaster you will climb it. It’s the same forrunning uphill. But running has the addedburden of dealing with gravity even whenthe course is flat due to the small verticaloscillation associated with runningtechnique.

The sports in which gravity has littleeffect are swimming and any activityinvolving strictly horizontal movement onflat terrain, such as riding a bike, iceskating, or Nordic skiing.

When riding a bike uphill, everyextra pound “costs” about 1.5 watts ofpower whether due to a heavy bike orexcess body weight. An extra pound slowsa runner by about 2 seconds per mile.Even a few ounces can be significant in aclosely contested race. That’s whycompanies that make running shoes,bicycle equipment, skis, and other sportsgear are always seeking to reduce productweight. It’s also a good reason forendurance athletes to maintain their bodyweights at a low yet healthy level.

There’s another downside to carryingexcess body weight. The more weight youcarry, the more likely you are to beaffected by heat and humidity. The biggerthe athlete, the more of a problem heat is.A few years ago Frank Marino and

associates at Charles Sturt University inAustralia had men of different sizes run 8-mile time trials on a treadmill on threeseparate occasions. The only thing thatchanged on the three runs was the roomtemperature, which was either cool(59°F), moderate (77°F), or hot (95°F). Inthe hottest condition the bigger athletesslowed down by about 12 percentcompared with their pace in the coolesttemperature. The smaller runnersexperienced very little change and faroutperformed the bigger ones on thehottest run. Their times were about thesame on the cooler runs. Why is this?More heat is produced by larger athletesand they have a harder time dissipating it,so more is stored. This factor has thepotential to cause overheating and a

slower performance.Reducing excess body weight has the

potential to pay off with better raceperformances. But there’s risk associatedwith such weight reductions. If you losemuscle, especially the muscles that areused to propel you, you are likely toperform slower. And if too much fat islost, your health may well becompromised. The trick here is to avoidbecoming too lean while also maintainingan effective amount of muscle. The PaleoDiet, especially in Stage V of yourtraining day (see Chapter 4), is anexcellent way to accomplish these bodycomposition changes.

Weight Management

In the final analysis, decreased body fat isthe result of both exercise and a targetedeating program. But, of the two, the moreeffective way to lose body fat is bychanging your diet. Training more hoursevery week without replacing all of theexpended calories has a positive resultwhen you step on the scales, but thechanges will be quite small. On the otherhand, changes in your diet are likely toproduce much greater losses of excessweight. When a slight increase in exerciseworkload and dietary change occursimultaneously, the benefits aremultiplied.

Realize, however, that you don’tnecessarily have to change anything aboutyour training. You may be at a highworkload now and so adding more is

likely to be counterproductive due toincreased fatigue and reduced workoutquality. You may not even need to reduceyour caloric intake. Many athletesexperience a change in body weight bymerely adopting a Paleo diet. Others findthat they need to also reduce the amount ofcalories eaten daily, usually by a smallamount, to see a positive change inweight.

When first adopting the Paleo Diet,wait a couple of weeks to see how yourbody responds. If you start with acomplete reversal of your old diet toPaleo, you may well find you arefrequently tired and don’t recover asquickly following hard training sessions.This is a sign that your body is goingthrough some changes. Be patient, as it

takes a couple of weeks to adapt. Ifmaking the change during the last few daysprior to your race, it’s best to make rathersmall dietary adjustments to Paleo overseveral weeks instead of going “coldturkey.” In this case your weight may notchange at all until after your race seasonends. That’s all right, as weight loss andfinal race preparation are not generally agood combination. This is why werecommend making such a change early inthe base (general preparation) period.

When immediately switching from ahigh-carb to a Paleo diet, there may be arather rapid loss of weight, especially ifyou are in the base period of the season,when the emphasis is on dietary fat with areduced carbohydrate intake. The ratherrapid drop in weight at this time is

primarily due to the loss of water, whichis stored along with glycogen. Your bodymay give up some its glycogen storesalong with its stored water in the first fewdays after the dietary change. As yourbody adjusts to the change, your glycogenstores will be replenished and waterweight will return to normal. You can restassured that subsequent reductions inweight will predominantly be the result ofexcess fat losses.

When you are trying to lose weight,energy intake must be adequate to meet thedemands of training in order to continueproducing positive changes in fitness. Thegreatest concern must especially be shownfor the volume and timing of carbohydrateand protein. Glycogen stores must bemaintained and adequate protein provided

for the repair of exercise-damaged tissues.The body also needs a balance of omega-3and omega-6 fatty acids, the “essentialfatty acids,” for long-term health, which isan important component of the Paleo Diet.Each of these demands is met byfollowing the guidelines for eatingrelative to exercise as described inChapters 2, 3, and 4.

Eating a higher-fat and higher-proteindiet than you may normally eat probablyraises two key questions: Will I gainweight? Will I train and race as well?Let’s address these issues.

Will I gain weight? There have beenseveral studies showing that eating a dietrich in both fat and protein produces aboutthe same or increased weight loss over

time as eating a conventional diet.One such study conducted by Brown

and associates at the University of Otago,in Dunedin, New Zealand, fed 30 cyclistseither a diet of high fat (50 percent) orhigh carb (69 percent) for 12 weeks. Theywere training between 6 and 25 hours perweek. The cyclists did not gain weightwhen eating mostly fat. (An interestingside note to this study is that the subjectsincreased their bone density on the high-fat diet.)

The bulk of such studies typicallyshow the same thing: The key element inweight loss is calorie restriction andexpenditure through exercise, not the typeof food eaten. So, no, you won’t gainweight eating a Paleo diet in Stage V

every day unless you eat excessivecalories or exercise less than you didbefore the dietary change.

In fact, many athletes report adecrease in weight when they switch overto Paleo even without changing theircaloric intakes or training routines. Thisprobably has to do, at least in part, withthe insulin response common to high-carbdiets. Eating high glycemic load foodssuch as starches in Stage V releasesinsulin into the bloodstream, which in turncauses the body to store calories as fat.This phenomenon is much less likely tohappen during and immediately afterexercise (Stages II and III), when thebody’s demand for carbohydrate in theform of glycogen is high to fuel exerciseand restock expended glycogen stores. But

by the time this exercise-related demandfor glycogen is reduced in Stage V, sugarspikes in the blood will result in therelease of insulin and the conversion ofthe carbohydrate to stored body fat. Thisfactor is why the timing of your foodintake relative to exercise is so important.

Another reason following a Paleodiet in Stage V may produce a loss ofexcess body weight without your focusingupon calories has to do with satiety.People are simply not as hungry when theyeat “real” foods such as fruits, vegetables,and animal protein instead of highlyprocessed foods made with starch, sugar,and salt. Putting away a dozen cookies iseasy for most people. But how about adozen carrots? A turkey breast is veryfilling, so you stop eating when satisfied.

Can the same be said for pizza? Realfoods are high in fiber and protein. Thesenutritional elements have been shown innumerous research studies to be hungersatisfying. The same can’t be said ofhighly processed foods. You’ll simply eatless without the psychological stress of“dieting” when you focus your Stage Vdiet on real food.

Will I train and race as well? Youmay experience a drop in performance,especially in your rate of recovery, in thefirst 2 or 3 weeks after making a suddenchange in your diet. This change isnormal. You need to hang in there beyondthis initial period to experience a positiveadaptation. If you do that, then yourtraining will return to normal and mayeven exceed your prior levels. Here’s an

example of that.A study conducted at the University

of Copenhagen, as reported in Medicineand Science in Sports and Exercise, had15 men eat either a high-fat or high-carbohydrate diet for 4 weeks. At the endof each 4-week period they were testedwith a run to exhaustion on a treadmill at80 percent of max VO2. The research teamfound that there was no difference in totaltime until they had to stop. Additionally,the improvements in max VO2 were thesame. The only significant difference wasthat the subjects’ RERs were lower on thehigh-fat diet, which is a good thing. Thatmeans their bodies were conservingglycogen and using greater amounts of fatfor fuel. This study is like many others

showing similar results.The downside of most dietary

changes intended to reduce body weight isthe loss of muscle mass along with fatloss. Several studies have shown thatreducing daily calories while eating aconventional, high-carb diet results in asignificant loss of muscle. While there isno research using athletes who lostweight, most studies with nonathleticpopulations have shown that weightreduction on a high-protein diet, similar toPaleo, results in little or no loss of musclecompared with a conventional diet. Thispositive change probably has to do withthe abundance of branched-chain aminoacids in the Paleo Diet.

As discussed in Chapter 4, how much

protein you eat on a daily basis dependson your training load. The more hours youwork out weekly, the more protein isneeded in your diet. If weight loss is anobjective and you find it necessary to cutback on calories, be sure to keep yourprotein intake, especially from animalsources, at the recommended level.

CHAPTER 7

OVERTRAINING ANDDIET

Recovery is one of the keys to highperformance in sports but is littleappreciated by most athletes. Thecommonly accepted road to success ishard workouts, and the more the better.That isn’t entirely wrong, but withoutpaying close attention to the recovery sideof the training equation, hard workoutsspaced closely together are not possible.If you recover quickly and more

completely following hard trainingsessions, then your body is ready to gohard again sooner. That leads ultimately topeak performances.

As a highly motivated athlete whopays only lip service to recovery, you mayexperience a deep and compelling fatiguefollowing a few weeks of high-workloadtraining. You wake up in the morningtired. You are unable to complete even theeasiest workouts. Fatigue haunts yourevery step throughout the day. And thisgoes on relentlessly for days or evenweeks. You’re overtrained.

How could this situation have beenavoided? The answer is recovery.Recovery has several components, the twomost critical being rest and nutrition. What

you eat plays as great a role in your day-to-day performance as anything else inyour training arsenal does, yet manyathletes get it wrong. Let’s take a closerlook at overtraining and how food choicesimpact your capacity for quick recovery.

BEYOND FATIGUEEffective training is more than workouts.It is a carefully balanced state of well-being between stress and rest. When thisbalance is achieved, your fitness improvesat a steady rate. When rest exceeds stress(a rare occasion for serious athletes), thebody quickly achieves a high level ofreadiness to race. This takes only a fewdays and is referred to as tapering or

peaking. The result is what athletes call“form”—a readiness to race at a highlevel of performance due to theelimination of fatigue. Go beyond thesefew days of reduced training stress andfitness quickly erodes. You may haveexperienced the latter situation if youwere injured or sick and couldn’t workout.

When stress only just exceeds restfor a few days, the body adapts andbecomes more fit. This is the purpose oftraining: Overload the body with the rightamount of stress, then allow it to rest.During rest, the body’s adaptive processestake place—muscles grow stronger,enzymes become more abundant, the heartincreases its ability to pump blood, andother seminal physiological and

psychological changes occur. This is theultimate goal of the endurance athlete.

On a more sinister note, when stressgreatly exceeds rest for more than a fewdays, the athlete begins to experienceunrelenting fatigue and exhaustion. Thebody’s capacity to adapt is compromised,and the defense mechanisms intended toprevent death are initiated. This isovertraining.

Overtraining may not result simplyfrom too much exercise and too little rest.The stress component could also berelated to work, school, relationships,finances, relocating, or a myriad of otherstressors that make up your nonathleticlife. Such stress when combined withwhat may otherwise be a perfectly

appropriate level of exercise will produceovertraining if rest is inadequate, just assurely as too much exercise producesovertraining. In this case, you are“overliving” rather than overtraining.Regardless, the body experiences muchthe same negative consequences.

All of this is not to say that youshouldn’t push yourself in training or thatyou should never experience fatigue. Inorder to grow as an athlete, you mustregularly flirt with overtraining. You willhave days when you are tired and evensome when you can’t (or at least know youshouldn’t) complete the workout. Thisstate of fatigue is called “overreaching”and is an early point on the path to bothgreater fitness and, if allowed to continuefor too long, overtraining. Some amount of

overreaching is necessary for the seriousathlete. The difference betweenoverreaching and overtraining is that whenyou are overreached, you quickly recoverwith a day or two of rest. By paying closeattention to the elements of recovery,especially sleep and nutrition, you canavoid overtraining and steadily improveyour fitness.

How long does it take to progressfrom being overreached to overtrained?The answer, as with most such questions,starts with “It depends.” Many variablesmay influence the answer. Studies thathave dramatically increased the trainingvolume for 5, 7, and 10 days were unableto produce a significant decline inperformance, although the athletes showedsigns of overreaching. In other research, it

took 15 days to produce verifiableovertraining in a group of cyclists whoincreased their volume by 50 percent. Andin one study with young, highly fit rowers,it took 3 weeks to fully achieveovertraining. It may well be that youth anda high level of fitness provide someimmunity from overtraining and may delayits onset for up to 3 weeks. On the flipside, older or less fit athletes, includingnovices, may well achieve an overtrainedstate in 2 weeks or even less if the stressof overreaching is great enough.

WHAT IS FATIGUE?Fatigue is a primary limiter standing between you and betterperformance. If you could delay or resist the sensations offatigue, you would go faster and last longer at a given effort

level—the ultimate purpose of training. Yet we never ridourselves of fatigue, which is actually a good thing becausethis prevents us from damaging our bodies or perhapsneedlessly expending physiological resources. Butunderstanding what brings on fatigue during a race or workoutmay point to strategies that could raise your fatigue threshold,allowing you to go faster or farther.

Fatigue seems to vary according to the duration andintensity of exercise. An 800-meter runner and a marathonrunner may both fatigue greatly during their races, slow down,and struggle to the finish lines, but their specific reasons forfatigue aren’t the same. Or are they? What causes theirfatigue? Currently there are three ways of explaining fatigue.

Catastrophe theory. This is the oldest model, having beenaround since the 1920s. It’s the one accepted by most exercisephysiologists. This model proposes that exercise stops whensomething catastrophic occurs in the body, especially in theworking muscles.

Other than overheating and severe dehydration, which canobviously limit performance, the catastrophe model proposesthat there are at least two common physiological reasons forfatigue during endurance events: the accumulation ofmetabolic by-products such as hydrogen ions, especially fromlactic acid release (the 800-meter runner); and the depletion ofenergy stores such as glycogen and glucose (the marathoner).The catastrophe model proposes that when either of these

situations occurs, the body is forced to slow down. It’s muchlike a car running out of gas or the fuel lines becomingclogged. A catastrophe has just happened and the body stopsfunctioning normally.

Central Governor theory. The second way of explainingfatigue originated in the physiology lab at the University ofCape Town in South Africa in the 1990s. Here, noted exercisephysiologist Tim Noakes, PhD, proposed that fatigue occurs inthe brain, not in the muscles.

In this model the body is constantly sending signals to thesubconscious brain regarding the current status of the workingmuscles. For example, fuel levels and metabolic by-productbuildup are being monitored by the brain. This is a bit like theoperation of the thermostat in your home, which gauges thetemperature and turns the heating or air-conditioning systemon or off as needed. At some point the brain may make adecision, again subconsciously and the result of perceivedexertion, to slow down due to the current status of the body.It’s proposed that this central governor for fatigue evolved toprotect the body from damage caused by excessively hardwork.

Psychobiological theory. This theory is a bit like the centralgovernor model, but with a twist. Samuele Marcora, PhD, at theUniversity of Wisconsin proposed in the early 2000s that it isindeed perceived exertion, a subconscious calculation made bythe brain during exercise, that limits performance. He proposed

that exercise stops well before fuel levels and metabolic by-product accumulation suggest it is absolutely necessary.

In a part of the forebrain known as the anterior cingulatecortex (ACC), subconscious decisions are made regardingconflict resolution and response inhibition. Essentially, thismeans that during exercise the ACC is weighing the cost ofcontinuing at a given intensity versus the reward for doing so.Dr. Marcora has shown that “fatigued” athletes are able toovercome the sensation at what appears to be the end ofexercise to failure and produce a greater output if the reward isbig enough.

You have probably experienced this at the end of a race.You may have been slowing down, but when you saw thefinish line, you had the capacity to somehow speed up or evensprint. You were willing to overcome the suffering because thereward, an awe-inspiring finish or perhaps a slightly faster timeor higher finishing place, was great enough to overcome thesuffering you were feeling. He further suggests that thissystem evolved to keep us from needlessly wasting energy inthe pursuit of food when the prospect of success in finding itwas low. But should food appear (perhaps a deer on thehorizon), increasing the likelihood of getting it, then thesuffering becomes tolerable.

IF IT ISN’TOVERTRAINING, WHAT IS

IT?Some common signs of overtraining inendurance athletes are listed in Table 7.1.Note that not all of these signs will bepresent if you allow yourself to becomeovertrained, and some symptoms that youexperience may not even be listed.Overtraining is a condition that is uniqueto individual circumstances, althoughcertain characteristics are common, suchas decreased performance and chronicfatigue.

It’s also quite possible that some ofthese symptoms, including decreasedperformance and chronic fatigue, signal an

illness such as chronic fatigue syndrome,Lyme disease, mononucleosis, or anotherviral infection. Even if you’re certain yoursymptoms are caused by overtraining, it’swise to consult your physician just to besure you don’t have some other healthcondition.

TABLE 7.1

Common Symptoms of Overtraining

PhysiologicalDecreased performanceDecreased strengthDecreased maximum work capacityChanges in heart rate at rest, exercise, and recovery (high orlow)Increased frequency of breathingInsomniaLoss of appetite

Increased aches and painsChronic fatigue

PsychologicalDepressionApathyDecreased self-esteemEmotional instabilityDifficulty concentratingIrritability

ImmunologicalSusceptibility to illnessSlow healing of minor scratchesSwollen lymph nodes

BiochemicalNegative nitrogen balanceFlat glucose tolerance curvesReduced muscle glycogen concentrationDelayed menarcheDecreased hemoglobinDecreased serum iron

Lowered total iron-binding capacityMineral depletionElevated cortisol levelsLow free testosterone

OVERTRAINING ANDDIET

Overreaching that spirals downward toovertraining often starts, in part, with diet.You train hard to achieve very highperformance goals. Knowing that severalhard workouts are needed weekly forsuccess, you repeatedly push yourself tothe limit. The vigorous exercise may resultin a decreased appetite for hoursafterward. Or you restrict calories in anattempt to achieve a predetermined racing

weight. Combined with incompleterecovery, the reduced caloric intake leadsto greater fatigue and lackluster training.Being highly motivated, you continue thispattern of hard workouts, limited food,and inadequate recovery for 2 to 3 weeks—and you’re overtrained. Oneconsequence of the early stages ofovertraining is even less appetite, whichfurther exacerbates the all-too-commonstate of the overtraining syndrome you’vemanaged to create.

This lesson is driven home quiteeffectively in a study conducted by DavidCostill, PhD, and his colleagues at BallState University. The researchers doubledthe training workload of a group ofcompetitive collegiate swimmers for 10

days. After a few days, about 30 percentof the swimmers experienced muchgreater difficulty in maintaining the qualityof the training sessions than did the others.The scientists found that the swimmerswho were merely muddling through withthe high workload were eating almost1,000 calories per day less than those whowere successfully coping. The low-calorie swimmers were well along thepath to excessive overreaching in a matterof days. Had the study continued longer,there is little doubt that those taking in thefewest calories would eventually havewound up overtrained.

Besides intense exercise, othertraining factors that may contribute to areduced appetite are high temperaturesand humidity. Emotions related to stress

and mood may also produce this effect, asmay acute exposure to training at highaltitude. Don’t ignore a poor appetitewhen, following exercise, you experiencefatigue that is not reduced after a day ormore of complete rest or much lighterworkouts. Be cautious with your trainingat this time, and carefully monitor yourfood intake to ensure that you are gettingadequate calories and nutrients.

MACRONUTRIENTS ANDOVERTRAINING

While many studies implicate nutrition inthe process of becoming overtrained, nonespecifically addresses the dietaryrequirements of avoiding this condition.

However, some research does suggestlikely dietary scenarios associated withovertraining.

CarbohydrateDepending on body size, a well-trainedand properly fed endurance athlete mayhave up to about 2,000 calories storedaway as carbohydrate. Most of thisresides in the muscles as glycogen, withsmaller amounts in the liver (glycogen)and blood (glucose). Compared with thepotential energy available from fat andprotein, glycogen and glucose are quitelimited, representing only 1 to 2 percent ofthe body’s total energy stores.Nevertheless, this fuel source is critical tosuccess in endurance activities. As

previously mentioned, there is an oldsaying in exercise physiology thatillustrates this phenomenon: “Fat burns ina carbohydrate flame.” As storedcarbohydrate is depleted, the body can nolonger efficiently use fat, the body’s mostabundant fuel, for energy; it must turn toprotein to keep the fat-burning flameflickering. This is a time-consumingmetabolic process associated with heavyfatigue and rapidly decreasing pacedespite a high effort. Failure to maintainglycogen and glucose stores can easilylead to poor performance and perhaps toovertraining.

During intensive endurance exercise,the body shifts from primarily usingglycogen to keep the flame burning torelying on blood glucose and, finally, on

liver stores of glycogen as fuel slowlydepletes. This process of shifting theenergy source may take 60 to 90 minutes,depending on your fitness level andexercise intensity. The most common formof exhaustion in extensive endurancesports is closely related to this depletionof carbohydrate fuel. Carbohydrate intakeboth during and immediately followingexercise is critical to success inendurance sports.

There is considerable researchshowing that consistently lowcarbohydrate intake during and followingexercise may contribute to overreachingand eventually to overtraining. As thetraining intensity increases, this becomeseven more critical. High glycemic loadfoods are a necessity in Stages II, III, and

IV of recovery, as described in Chapters 3and 4, in order to maintain glycogen andglucose stores and help preventovertraining. Just a few days ofinadequate eating at these critical times,when training intensity increases, caneasily set you up for a disastrous season.

While most athletes have nodifficulty eating carbohydrate, especiallyfrom starchy sources, a few overlyzealous recent adherents to the Paleo Dietdo. It is not unusual for those new to thePaleo concept to overdo it and omit allstarches and sugars from their dietsincluding during Stages II, III, and IV. Forthe athlete exercising less than about anhour a day this is unlikely to result inovertraining. In fact, at this level oftraining volume there is little need for

sugar and starch. A 24-hour adherence tothe Paleo Diet as suggested for Stage Vwill work just fine. As the volume oftraining increases, however, the need forcarbohydrate to replenish fuel stores alsoincreases. For the athlete training 3 ormore hours per day including intensitiesapproaching and exceeding the anaerobicthreshold, consuming adequatecarbohydrate, especially from starchysources, is critical to avoidingovertraining.

FatIf carbohydrate is so important foravoiding overtraining, you might wonderwhy the Paleo Diet for Athletes suggestseating more fat and less carbohydrate

during the base (general preparation)period of training—might not this set youup for overtraining? No, it won’t. Plentyof research indicates that well-trainedendurance athletes actually continue tohave good results on a diet that issomewhat higher in fat and lower incarbohydrate than is typicallyrecommended by nutritionists, especiallywhen intensity is low, as in the baseperiod.

A classic study reported in theprestigious journal Medicine and Sciencein Sports and Exercise used well-trainedrunners as subjects. The runners spent 7days eating each of three diets, then testedat the end of each 7-day period for runningtime to exhaustion at a fixed intensity justbelow anaerobic threshold. On their

“normal” diet, they ate 61 percent of theirdaily calories as carbohydrate and 24percent as fat. Their “fat” diet was madeup of 50 percent carbohydrate and 38percent fat—similar to the dietrecommended here for your base period.The runners’ “carbohydrate” diet included73 percent carbohydrate and 15 percentfat. Protein stayed about the same (12 to14 percent) in all three trials. The testingrevealed that the fat diet produced the bestaverage times to exhaustion (91.2minutes), compared with the carbohydrate(75.8 minutes) and normal (63.7 minutes)diets.

In another, more recent study, 11duathletes ate high-fat (53 percent fat) orhigh-carbohydrate (17 percent fat) dietsfor 5 weeks each. At the end of these

periods, they completed a 20-minute timetrial on a bicycle ergometer and ran a halfmarathon. There were no significantdifferences in performance between thetwo sets of test data, regardless of thediet. On the bikes there was a 1-wattdifference, and for the run there was a 12-second difference in finishing times.

The take-home lesson from thesestudies and others is that substituting fatfor carbohydrate in the base (generalpreparation) period will not harm yourtraining or promote overtraining, so longas you use the postworkout recoverymethods in Chapter 4 to replenishcarbohydrate stores. In fact, a higher-fatdiet proves to be beneficial because thebody becomes more efficient at burning fatfor fuel while sparing glycogen, one of the

same benefits we seek in doing long, low-intensity endurance training in the baseperiod. But as the intensity of trainingrises in the build (specific preparation)period, more carbohydrate is necessary torestock the significantly depleted glycogenstores in the muscles. Shifting your dietbetween carbohydrate and fat in the baseand build periods of the season, withprotein remaining relatively constant, willnot contribute to overtraining and willboost your fitness.

Of course, as described in Chapter 4,the fat you add to the diet in Stage V ofyour daily recovery during the base periodshould be largely monounsaturated andpolyunsaturated, especially omega-3.These fats are found in foods such as fish,avocados, nuts, eggs enriched with

omega-3, leafy green vegetables, meatfrom free-ranging animals, and in oliveand flaxseed oils.

ProteinRecovery following challenging workoutsis essential for avoiding overtraining. Ifnutritional action is not taken after a hardtraining session, the body may not beready to go by the next workout, leading toa gradual decline in performance over thecourse of a few days, followed byoverreaching and, ultimately, overtraining.More and more research suggests that, aswith consuming carbohydrate immediatelyafter such sessions, taking in proteinimproves the recovery process. Thisenhancement is a result of greater

glycogen stores that restock faster, alongwith quicker rebuilding of damagedmuscle tissue. Including protein in yourStage III and IV nutrition, as described inChapter 4, will go a long way inpromoting recovery while helping toavoid overtraining.

In much the same way, taking inadequate protein throughout the day isquite beneficial to your physical well-being and capacity for training. It has beenour experience that most enduranceathletes eat far too little protein; insteadthey concentrate their diets aroundcarbohydrate, especially from starchesand sugars. Such an amino acid-poor dietwill eventually catch up with theseathletes. Protein is necessary to repairmuscle damage, maintain the immune

system, manufacture hormones andenzymes, replace the red blood cells thatcarry oxygen to the muscles, and provideenergy for exercise when carbohydratestores are tapped. The followingindicators of inadequate dietary proteinoverlap considerably with the markers ofovertraining listed in Table 7.1.

Frequent colds and sore throats

Slow recovery from workouts

Irritability

Poor response to training (slowto get in shape)

Chronic fatigue

Poor mental focus

Sugar cravings

Cessation of menstrual periods

The highest-quality protein is thatwhich is most available to the body forabsorption and includes large amounts ofall of the essential amino acids. Animalproducts fit that definition and should beincluded in meals throughout the day. Andthe more you train, the more critical this isfor avoiding overtraining.

Of the essential amino acids, fourstand out as being critical to recovery:leucine, isoleucine, valine, and glutamine.The first three are the branched-chainamino acids (BCAA). During exercise,blood levels of BCAA and glutaminedecline, contributing to a unique type of

weariness called central fatigue—common in events lasting several hours. Atraining program that is challenging willlikely leave you feeling chronicallyfatigued for days and may well be theresult of inadequate protein intake.

WaterInadequate fluid intake during and afterexercise may be a nutritional contributorto overtraining. But it’s unusual forathletes, or nearly anyone for that matter,to fail to replace body water lossesthroughout the day when it’s readilyavailable.

The key to avoiding the overtrainingconsequences of dehydration is quitesimple: Drink according to your thirst. If

thirsty, drink. When no longer thirsty,don’t drink. It’s pretty simple. There is noreason for elaborate drinking schedules ordaily water volume goals. Thirst doesindeed work. For example, a study of 14elite Kenyan runners whose water lossesand rehydration were tracked for 5 dayssupports this notion. No instruction wasgiven on how much to drink. Duringtraining they drank nothing and typicallylost 2.7 percent of body weight daily. Onaverage they took in 4 quarts (3.8 liters)of fluids daily based entirely on thirst. Nochanges were reported in daily hydrationstatus, body weights, or responses totraining over the course of 5 days.

It’s not unusual for athletes to take inexcessive amounts of water the day beforea race to prevent hydration on race day.

There is no reason for this. Your bodydoes not store water like a camel’s does.If you drink an excessive amount, meaningmore than necessary to quench thirst, youwill soon urinate to remove the excess.And by drinking excessively youtemporarily dilute electrolyte stores. Sothere is nothing to be gained by drinkingcopious amounts of fluids the day beforeor the morning of a race. Here again, thirstis the key. Pay attention to your body.

How about the oft-repeatedstipulation that none of the water you takein can come from caffeinated beverages,as they cause a net loss of body fluid?Research contradicts this oft-repeatedbelief. Athletes do not appear to lose anymore body stores of water followingcaffeine ingestion in the hours preceding

exercise than those who did not use acaffeinated drink. And also be aware thatfluid comes not just from drinking but alsofrom the food you eat.

Much of the research seems tosupport the notion that a yellow urinecolor is a good indicator of significantdehydration, but not all of the research isin agreement. More research is needed inthis area. While having yellow urine mayindicate some level of dehydration, such acolor by itself is not proof of dehydration.Metabolites, the end products ofmetabolism such as urea, are oftenexpelled in the urine and provide coloreven though you are well hydrated. Thesame goes for B vitamin supplements.They will provide a bright yellow color toyour urine. The best indicator of

dehydration is thirst. It works. Just payattention.

MICRONUTRIENTS ANDOVERTRAINING

Many studies have reported that athletesmake poor dietary choices, contributing tolow vitamin and mineral status that iscompounded by normal losses duringperiods of increased training. Forexample, a study of Dutch elite athletesshowed that the female swimmers had aninadequate iron intake, while cyclistswere not getting enough vitamins B1 andB6. Similar research on women runnershas shown repeatedly that due torestriction of calories, extremely high

carbohydrate intake, or vegetarian eatingpatterns, these athletes are often low iniron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium.Among both male and female runners,dietary zinc and iron have been shown tob e low. Inadequate iron intake has alsobeen confirmed for a group of cross-country skiers; 50 percent of Nordicwomen skiers in a Winter Olympics hadprelatent iron deficiency, and 7 percentwere anemic. In a study of 1,300 Germanathletes in various sports, 21 percent hadlow levels of serum magnesium, and 14percent lacked iron. There is little doubtthat many athletes do not meet theirnutritional needs when it comes tomicronutrients. Such deficiencies maywell contribute to the onset ofovertraining.

An athlete who is deficient invitamins A, B6, C, or E is at high risk for aweakened immune system and illnessrelated to overreaching. In the samemanner, deficiencies of the minerals zinc,magnesium, copper, and iron may alsoresult in impaired immunity. All of thisonce again underscores the importance ofeating a diet that is rich in micronutrientsonce you are into Stage V of recovery.Macronutrients are no longer the issue.

The most micronutrient-dense foodsare vegetables and meats, including fishand poultry. However, eating a lot ofcereal grains negates the benefits becausethese foods contain high amounts ofphytates, which decrease the body’sabsorption of minerals such as iron and

zinc.Just as eating an inadequate diet can

set you up for overtraining, relying onsupplements instead of nutrient-densefoods to provide vitamins and mineralscan also be detrimental. For example,excessive amounts of vitamin A, vitaminE, and zinc have been shown to weakenthe immune system, thus contributing toovertraining symptoms. An excessiveintake of iron promotes bacterial growthand can induce a zinc deficiency. The bestway to ensure a balanced diet is to eatplenty of vegetables, fruits, and meats—not to take pills or eat lab-designed foodproducts marketed to athletes. Science hasyet to catch up with Mother Nature when itcomes to producing nutritious food.

OVERTRAININGPREVENTION AND

TREATMENTThere are no preliminary symptoms towarn you when you have gone too far withan imbalance between stress and rest. Theprogression from a normal and recurringstate of overreaching to full-blownovertraining is so gradual that you won’trecognize the impending doom. By thetime you realize that you’ve pushed toohard, it’s too late, and your only recourseis loss of fitness by greatly reducing oreven eliminating the training stress.

If you are overreached, as indicatedby an unusually high level of fatigue andsuspect overtraining, take 3 to 5 days of

complete rest, and then do a short, low-intensity workout. If you feel normal, youwere only in an advanced stage ofoverreaching and are free to graduallyreturn to regular training (but do socautiously). But if after several exercise-free days the test workout feels like awearisome burden, you are probablyovertrained or are sick and should seeyour doctor. Take another 3 to 5 days ofcomplete rest before retesting your statusas before. Continue this pattern untilexercise becomes fun again, which maytake weeks or even months. Throughoutthe process, be sure to eat a nutritious dietmade up primarily of fruits, vegetables,and meats, including fish and poultry.

It is far better to prevent overtrainingin the first place than to deal with it after

the fact, especially when you consider thatit can take weeks if not months to recover.So what must you do to avoid it?

At its essence, overtraining resultsfrom training mistakes, and two areparticularly common. The first is animbalance between stress and rest, whichusually occurs when the athlete suddenlyincreases the training workload in eithervolume or intensity—or both. The secondscenario involves cutting back onrecovery by substituting more challengingworkouts for easy ones. Athletes haveeven been known to do both: suddenlyincrease the workload and eliminate restand recovery days. In either situation theincreased stress at first will result inimproving fitness but also in a lot offatigue. A few days of such increased

stress may actually be beneficial. It’swhen the pattern continues for severaldays or weeks, depending on the workcapacity of the individual, that it becomesproblematic. Given the work ethic, themotivation, and, in some seriousendurance athletes, the obsession, such anextended period of high stress probablyseems like a sure route to success. It isnot; it is a sure route to failure.

The best way to avoid this pitfall isto follow a long-term, periodized trainingplan that schedules weekly rest andrecovery days, monthly rest and recoveryweeks, and annual rest and recoverymonths. This plan should also provide fora gradual progression in the trainingworkload and fit your uniquecharacteristics, including sport

experience, age, susceptibility to illnessand injury, and goals.

Nutrition often plays a role in theonset of overtraining. Even a suitablyaggressive training regimen that leads toan acceptable level of overreaching maybe undermined by a diet that does notencourage quick recovery. In ourexperience, such a diet is usually lackingin total calories, protein, ormicronutrients. This is all too common forthe serious endurance athlete whoconcentrates on sugar and starch, eats avegetarian diet, or is concerned aboutbody weight and so reduces caloriesdespite a high workload. Any one of thesescenarios will diminish recovery in whatmight be an otherwise appropriate trainingprogram.

PART III

OUR STONEAGE LEGACY

CHAPTER 8

WHY EAT LIKE ACAVEMAN?

MAKING SENSE OUT OFNUTRITIONAL CHAOS

As an athlete, you probably are aware thateven small variations in your performancecan significantly alter how well you placein any given race. However, you maynever have considered how huge thiseffect can be.

Consider a 1 to 2 percent differencein your time for a 10,000-meter race. Atfirst it sounds fairly insignificant. Whetheryou run 1 to 2 percent faster or slower in a10-K race is immaterial, right? Wrong! Atthe US Outdoor Track and FieldChampionships in 2011, just 14.96seconds (a mere 0.87 percent difference)separated the top 10 finishers in the men’s10-K final. Even more telling were the topthree finishers’ times. The winner, GalenRupp, beat the second-place finisher, MattTegenkamp, by 1.8 seconds—in relativeterms, a minuscule 0.10 percent differencein performance. The third-place finisher,Scott Bauhs, was 2.34 seconds behind thewinner—only 0.14 percent slower thanthe winning time. These numbersgraphically illustrate how very small

differences in performance can have anenormous impact on how well you place.But more important, they emphasize howcrucial it is for you to optimize everyfactor that can possibly influence yourrace-day performance.

Your basic training foundation(intensity, frequency, and duration ofexercise) clearly is of utmost importancein shaping how well you will perform.Over the long haul, how well and how fastyou can recover from each and everyworkout will determine how hard you cantrain over the course of an entire season.Also, there is little doubt that stayinghealthy and free from injury and illnessare essential in permitting you to train athigher intensities for longer periods,which in turn will benefit your race

performance.Now, let’s go back to that crucial 1

to 2 percent difference in performance andhave a look at Rupp’s top three race timesfor the 10-K during the 2010-2011seasons. The slowest of those (27:26.84)is 2.42 percent slower than his top time(26:48.00), whereas his second-bestfinish (27:10.74) is 1.41 percent slowerthan the top time, which set the Americanrecord for the 10-K. You can see that notonly do small performance differencesemerge among athletes, but they alsoappear within individuals. Given similarwind, weather, and altitude conditions,why might your performance vary by 1 to2 percent? What factors might beresponsible for these tiny but importantperformance differences? How about your

muscle glycogen stores—might they beinvolved? Does the ability of yourmuscles to overcome fatigue from aprevious race or workout play a role?What’s the effect of a slight upperrespiratory illness or lingering tendinitis?How about your ability to maintain qualityworkouts between races? Without a doubt,any or all of these issues have thepotential to influence your race-dayperformance by 1 to 2 percent—or evenmore.

Nutritionists, exercise physiologists,and physicians alike agree that athleticperformance can go to hell in a handbasketvery rapidly from a faulty diet. However,they have dogmatically argued for decadesthat a “balanced” diet is all that’s neededto maximize athletic performance,

provided an optimal training schedule isfollowed. But what exactly is a “balanceddiet”? More precisely, what is the startingpoint for any athletic diet? Is it the samediet that optimizes your health and well-being? And what is the best diet tooptimize immune function and preventcolds and upper respiratory illnesses or tospeed recovery from—or even prevent—muscle strains or injuries? All of thosequestions raise a much larger and all-encompassing question, one that, whenanswered correctly, provides us with anelegant, grand organizing template thatallows us to make sense out of all thisnutritional and dietary confusion andchaos.

Nutrition is every bit as contentiousas politics and religion. It seems like

everybody’s got an opinion about properdiet, including health agencies, thegovernment, leading scientists, dietdoctors, and popular nutritionists. Fromthe consumer perspective, the study ofnutrition appears jumbled and chaotic.One day you hear one thing; the next, theexact opposite. Margarine is good foryour health; margarine contains trans fattyacids. Eggs increase your bloodcholesterol; eggs don’t increase yourcholesterol levels. Fiber prevents coloncancer; fiber doesn’t prevent coloncancer. Pizza is a healthful food; pizza isjunk food.

The USDA MyPlate poster,espousing healthful eating, is found inalmost every elementary school andhospital lunchroom in the country. Yet an

article in the prestigious ScientificAmerican magazine, written by scientistsfrom the Harvard School of Public Health,loudly condemned the MyPlate dietaryrecommendations. A decade ago, almost30 million Americans were following Dr.Atkins’s advice to eat more fat, butter, andcheese to lose weight. In utter contrast,Dean Ornish, MD, and T. Colin Campbelltell us fat and meat cause cancer, heartdisease, and obesity and that we would allbe a lot healthier if we were strictvegetarians. Who’s right and who’swrong? How in the world can anyonemake any sense out of this apparentdisarray of conflicting facts, opinions, andideas?

In mature and well-developedscientific disciplines, universal paradigms

guide researchers to fruitful end points asthey design their experiments andhypotheses. For instance, in cosmology(the study of the universe), the guidingparadigm is the big bang theory that theuniverse began with an enormousexplosion and has been expanding eversince. In geology, the continental driftmodel established that all of the currentcontinents at one time formed a continuouslandmass that eventually drifted apart toform the present-day continents. Thesecentral concepts serve as orientationpoints for all other inquiry within eachdiscipline. Scientists do not knoweverything about the nature of theuniverse, but it is unquestionable that ithas been and is expanding. This centralknowledge then serves as a template that

allows scientists to make much moreaccurate and informed hypotheses aboutfactors yet to be discovered.

The study of human nutrition has nosuch guiding template or organizingparadigm. Except for a growing body ofscientists and individuals who are privy toa new way of thinking about diet andnutrition, nutrition remains an immaturediscipline. Most of this field’s leadingscientists and major players are mainlyunaware of a very powerful idea thatcould bring order to the fog of disarrayand chaos. So, you may ask, what is thelarger and all-encompassing question that,when asked and answered correctly, canprovide us with the template, the holygrail, the magical looking glassdesperately needed to fill this void in

nutritional theory?The question is a very simple

question—a child’s question: “Why?”That’s right; the “why” question. Why dowe have nutritional requirements in thefirst place? Humans, most other primates,the guinea pig, and a few species of batsmust obtain vitamin C from their diet,whereas all other mammals can synthesizevitamin C from glucose, a simple sugarfound in the bloodstream of all mammals.Why in the world do humans have adietary requirement for vitamin C whenmost other mammals do not?

For that matter, why do we havedietary requirements for any nutrient?What we are looking for here is not theproximate (nearby) answer but, rather, the

ultimate answer. Every registered dietitianworth his or her degree knows thatwithout vitamin C, we get scurvy. Adietitian who can remember the metabolicpathways well enough may even be ableto tell you why scurvy causes all of itssymptoms. But that is merely theproximate answer to “Why?” Do youknow the ultimate answer to why we havea dietary vitamin C requirement? Byanswering correctly, you will be staringdirectly at the holy grail of nutritionalscience. The correct answer to thisquestion represents the guiding templateand the organizational paradigm thatnutrition is so dearly missing.

THE GIFT FROM THE

PASTThe selection of appropriate food for wildanimals in zoos is no hit-or-miss business.Zookeepers at state-of-the-art facilitieslike the San Diego Zoo’s Wild AnimalPark realized long ago that if they wantedanimals to stay healthy and happy andeven breed in captivity, they needed toreplicate each animal’s naturalenvironment as closely as possible. Thatmeant duplicating diet as well. When lionsor any other purely carnivorous cats werefed only raw muscle meat, their healthrapidly deteriorated, and they developedvitamin A deficiency and bone loss(osteoporosis) and eventually died.Careful observations of wild lions in theirnatural habitat revealed that they ate their

prey’s entire carcass, including theorgans, liver (an excellent source ofvitamin A), and calcium-rich ribs.Accordingly, both vitamin A deficiencyand osteoporosis were averted when thesewild animals ate the diet that they weregenetically adapted to eat. Lions are notonly endowed with sharp fangs and clawsto take down their prey, but their digestivetracts are also much shorter than those ofherbivores (plant eaters), whichaccommodates their calorically densefood. Additionally, lions’ livers and othermetabolic machinery have becomespecifically modified to cope with an all-flesh diet. Pure carnivores like cats areliterally genetically programmed to eat theflesh of other animals—it would makeabout as much sense to feed these animals

cereal grains and berries as it would tofeed them antelope meat.

All species of animals—whethercats, antelope, or tropical fish—occupyand exploit specific ecological niches andare well suited to their place in theenvironment. Their genetic makeupreflects their adaptation to their ecologicalniche, including not only their outwardappearance but also the foods they aregenetically programmed to eat. When newand different foods are fed to theseanimals, it almost invariably results in illhealth or disease. Zookeepers know thatexotic species of South Americanmonkeys can be kept alive on cereal-based chow, but these animals don’t dowell, are prone to disease, and will notreproduce under these conditions. Only

when they are fed their normal diet ofinsects, leaves, and tropical fruit do theythrive and produce offspring in captivity.Similarly, successful tropical fishhobbyists understand the superiority oflive food over dry flaked fish food forgetting certain exotic fish to breed in theiraquariums.

Human nutritional requirements weredetermined in the exact same manner asthose for lions, exotic monkeys, andtropical fish. As a species, we aregenetically well adapted to the foods andfood types that we typically encounteredin our original and natural ecologicalniche. What, then, is the native humanniche, and what foods and food types aretypically encountered?

HOW WE KNOW WHATPALEOLITHIC PEOPLE

ATEYou likely realize by now that the originaland natural human ecological niche wasthat of a hunter-gatherer, and you probablydeduce that hunter-gatherers ate wild plantand animal foods. Well, right you are!However, the essence of the question—what did hunter-gatherers eat?—lies in theprecise details. The Introductiondiscussed the foods and food types thatcouldn’t have been eaten by our Stone Ageancestors, but now let’s talk about whatthey ate—and how we know this.

Except for certain rare bits andpieces of tangible evidence, such as

fossilized human feces (coprolites) and afew isolated cases of mummified bodiesfound with stomach contents intact, almostall estimates of Stone Age diets must beinferred from circumstantial evidence.The four main sources of circumstantialevidence are (1) studies of other primatediets; (2) studies of fossils and theirisotopic element signatures; (3)anthropological accounts of modern-dayhunter-gatherers, called ethnographicstudies; and (4) examination of our own,present-day biochemical and metabolicpathways.

Before we look at these four lines ofcircumstantial evidence, it is important tomake it clear from the outset that therewas no single, standardized Stone Agediet. The Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

began with the manufacture of the firstcrude stone tools, some 2.6 million yearsago in Africa, and ended 10,000 years agowith the development of agriculture in theMiddle East. The Stone Age ended a littlelater (5,000 to 8,000 years ago) for mostEuropeans and Asians, as agriculturespread from its origins in the Middle East.For some isolated hunter-gatherers, theStone Age ended only within the lastcentury. During the Paleolithic Age,perhaps as many as 20 distinctive speciesof the human tribe existed (see Figure8.1). The best available information tellsus that their diets were as varied as theenvironments they inhabited. However, ofutmost importance to us are the universaldietary characteristics that transcend time,geographic locale, and even species.

These worldwide dietary similaritiesestablished the range and limits of foodsthat shaped our modern genome andrepresent the range and limits of foods towhich we are now genetically adapted.

FIGURE 8.1

1. Other Primate DietsBy analyzing a special kind of DNAcalled mitochondrial DNA, found in allliving primates, scientists havedetermined that our closest living relativeis the chimpanzee. Even though ouroutward appearance is quite differentfrom that of chimps, there actually is onlyabout a 1.6 percent difference betweenour genome and theirs. A careful look atFigure 8.1 reveals that the earliestmember of our tribe (Sahelanthropustchadensis) lived between 6 million and 7million years ago in Africa. Scientistsaren’t completely sure if this primate wasan ape or a hominin (a primate that walksupright on two legs). Nevertheless, it wasduring this time or slightly later that the

“last common ancestor” existed before theevolutionary split between chimps andhominins.

From field observations ofchimpanzee eating habits and analysis oftheir feces, anthropologists have a prettygood handle on what they eat. In the wild,a chimp’s diet contains about 93 percentplant food, primarily ripe fruit. However,the wild fruit they eat would gag us. Thesefruits are tough, fibrous, and, by modernstandards, definitely not sweet. Manycontain substances that taste liketurpentine. For wild chimps, a succulentapple or orange would be a candyliketreat and voraciously gobbled up. Youmay be surprised to learn that wild chimpshunt, kill, and eat small monkeys andantelope. During the dry season in Africa,

meat can account for almost 25 percent ofa male chimp’s diet.

If you have seen pictures of wildchimps, you may have noticed their large,protruding guts. A chimp has a big gut notbecause it is fat (like the averageAmerican couch potato) but because itneeds a large, metabolically active gut tohandle all of that tough, fibrous fruit.Chimps are relative geniuses in the animalworld; however, their average brain size(400 cubic centimeters) is about a thirdthe size of ours. The difference betweentheir brains and guts and ours—and thereason for it—forms one of the mosteloquent ideas in all of evolutionaryanthropology. It also gives us a good clueto the kind of diets we modern humans aregenetically programmed to eat. Let’s see

how this works.The brain is the most metabolically

active organ in our bodies. In fact, at restit uses nine times more energy than anyother organ does. So, in order for us tohave evolved a large brain, twopossibilities exist: Either our overallmetabolism increased, or the metabolismand size of another organ decreased.Think about it this way: If your entirebody were made up of brains, it wouldhave an overall metabolic rate nine timeshigher than it actually has. Of course,that’s not the case, but we do have a bodythat contains three times more brainrelative to our body size than a chimpdoes. It seems reasonable to conclude thatthe evolution of our large brains causedour overall metabolic rate to increase.

Right? Wrong! Our net metabolic rate atrest is exactly as predicted for our bodysize. So the first possibility is out, leavingthe second—that another organ gotsmaller. And, indeed, a human’s gut isabout half the size it should be, comparedwith a chimp’s.

Anthropologists call this concept theexpensive tissue hypothesis. Thisevolutionary brain/gut energy trade-offcould have occurred only when thedemands placed upon the gut to digest abulky, fibrous, plant-based diet werereduced by the consumption of moreenergetically dense foods. Slightly beforethe fossil record shows brain sizeincreasing, hominins began to manufacturethe first stone tools that were used tobutcher and dismember animal carcasses.

Taken together, these facts verify thatstarting about 2.6 million years ago,hominins began to eat more and moreanimal food. It was this energeticallydense food (meat, marrow, and organs)that allowed natural selection to relax theformer selective pressure that hadrequired a large, metabolically active gut.Literally, without meat, marrow, andorgans in the diets of our ancientancestors, we would not be here now.And the take-home message for you, theathlete, is that animal food (meat andorgans) has been part of our ancestral dietfrom the get-go.

2. The Fossil RecordOne of the most important clues we have

in trying to piece together what our StoneAge ancestors ate is the fossil record.These are the items our prehistoricrelatives left behind: their garbage,possessions, tools, weapons, and, lessfrequently, bones and teeth. Unfortunately,the fossil record is biased and will neverallow us to peer into archaic diets withexacting precision. You don’t have to bean archaeologist to figure this out. Animalremains such as hard teeth and bonesresist decomposition in the soil and, thus,have a much greater chance of becomingfossilized than do soft plant remains. Sowhen archaeologists dig up the remains ofan ancient campsite, they rarely, if ever,find any evidence that plant foods wereconsumed. What they do find, typically,are bones of prey animals embellished

with stone cut marks and sometimes thestone tools themselves. Does this meanthat our Paleolithic relatives were totalcarnivores? Hardly. Our hunter-gathererancestors were opportunists: If it could beeaten, it probably was. But a fewemerging themes play out in the fossilrecord, even with this preservation biasfavoring animal remains.

The very earliest hominins who madestone tools were small (full-grown adultsweighed 60 to 80 pounds and stood about4½ feet tall) and probably not much moreintelligent than chimps. Consequently, theyprobably weren’t very good hunters oflarge animals. Many anthropologistsbelieve that stone tool marks found onbones of large animals such as the zebra,wildebeest, and hippo came about from

scavenging rather than hunting.By about 1.7 million to 2 million

years ago, hominins had achieved modern-day body proportions from the neck down.A remarkable, nearly complete maleskeleton found in Kenya and dated to 1.6million years ago would have stood 6 feettall as an adult, with a slender body andnarrow hips similar to the bodies ofmodern-day champion runners fromKenya. Slightly later, toolmaking becamea bit more sophisticated, and medium tolarge prey animals became the preferredtarget. At one particularly amazingarchaeological site in Kenya, calledOlorgesailie, 400 stone hand axes werefound along with the butchered remains of65 extinct gorilla-size baboons. At anothersite in Germany, dated to 400,000 years

ago, seven wooden spears werediscovered with the butchered bones ofmore than 10 horses.

Just as in politics, there are smokingguns in the fossil record; these showbeyond a shadow of a doubt what wasgoing on. A few examples: In 1950,German anthropologists found an 8-footthrusting spear, dated to 125,000 yearsago, lodged between the ribs of an extinctstraight-tusked elephant. How do you thinkthat spear got there? A similar find wasmade in August 1951, when summer rainsbrought heavy flooding to the GreenbushCreek a mile northwest of Naco, Arizona.Erosion in the arroyo exposed part of askull with teeth and the tusk of a largemammoth. Further excavation revealedeight razor-sharp stone spear points

embedded between the animal’s ribs.Because there were no stone cut marks onany of the mammoth’s bones,anthropologists deduced that “this one gotaway.”

How incredible would it be if wecould have just a single photograph of ourPaleolithic relatives going about theirhunting and food collecting activities? Wedo have the next best thing—a highlydetailed drawing, “The Shaft of the DeadMan,” which you can see at the Web sitewww.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/This drawing, made 17,000 years ago inthe famous Lascaux Cave in France,depicts a wounded European bison withits entrails spilling out and a spear stuckbetween its ribs. The enraged animal is inthe process of goring a human armed with

a spear-throwing device called an atlatl.Now, why would our ancestors have

risked life and limb to kill large, ferociousbeasts to get meat? Couldn’t they havegone after much less dangerous small preylike rabbits, partridges, clams, and fish?Why would anyone in their right mindlunge a flimsy wooden spear between theribs of a 6- to 8-ton elephant? They did itbecause they had to. At the time, they wereaware of no other alternative solution tosurvive. Why is that?

Believe it or not, you can get toomuch of a good thing, and protein is goodfor you only up to a certain point. You caninclude as much carbohydrate and fat inyour diet as you like with no immediate illeffects, but the same can’t be said for

protein. In the typical US diet, proteinmakes up about 15 percent of our dailycalories, whereas in hunter-gatherer diets,it would have been considerably higher,ranging from 25 to 40 percent of the dailyenergy intake. Laboratory studies inhumans show that the maximum amount ofprotein we can ingest on a regular basis isabout 40 percent of our daily calories.Anything above this and we get sick—alesson our hunter-gatherers knew quitewell. Early frontiersmen and explorersalso knew exactly what happened whenthey were forced to eat only the lean meatof fat-depleted animals. They called thissickness “rabbit starvation.” After eatingenormous quantities of very lean meat,they would become nauseated andirritable, lose weight, develop diarrhea,

and eventually die. They were better offstarving than continuing to eat only leanmeat. The only way around this situation:Get either fat or carbohydrate into the dietto dilute the protein level to below 40percent.

In the modern world, it is easy tochange the fat content of any food. Lobsteris extremely lean (84 percent of its energyis protein) and would quickly causeprotein poisoning if that’s all you ate.Most of us prefer to dip our lobster inmelted butter, which allows us to eat allwe want and never develop symptoms ofprotein excess. Hunter-gatherers weren’tso lucky. Fat and protein came in a singlepacket—the animal’s carcass. Either theanimal had fat or it didn’t. There was nosuch thing as adding fat to a food.

Similarly, if you were to eat acarbohydrate source such as brown rice orpotatoes along with the lobster, you’ddilute the protein below the crucial 40percent protein ceiling and have noproblems whatsoever. However, until thedevelopment of agriculture anddomestication of cereal grains, hunter-gatherers, particularly those living athigher latitudes, had no reliable year-round source of carbohydrate.

Now let’s answer the question ofwhy Stone Age hunters risked life andlimb on a regular basis to kill large,unruly beasts. Large animals are fatanimals. The larger a species, the morebody fat it has. The average body fatcontent of a small animal like a squirrel (1pound) is 5.2 percent by weight, whereas

a large animal such as a musk ox (900pounds) has 20.5 percent body fat byweight. If we look at the squirrel’s bodyfat by total calories rather than weight, it’sclear why the sole consumption ofsquirrels would cause protein poisoning.A squirrel’s entire body is 35 percent fatby energy (calories) and 65 percentprotein—way over the 40 percent ceiling.In contrast, the musk ox’s body is 73percent fat and 27 percent protein. Acarcass containing only 27 percent proteincan easily be consumed in its entiretywithout even coming close to the proteinceiling.

The fossil record unmistakably tellsus that ancestral humans have alwaysincluded meat and animal foods in theirdiets, but there is tantalizingly little

evidence showing how much meat waseaten. And there is even less evidence toreveal how much plant food was typicallyconsumed. Fortunately, anthropologistshave developed a clever procedure thatcan give us a rough approximation of thedietary ratio of animal to plant bymeasuring stable isotopes in the fossilizedbones and teeth of long-dead hominins.Stable isotopes are elements like carbon13 and nitrogen 15 that vary slightly fromthe normal versions. Julia Lee-Thorp,PhD, and her colleagues from theUniversity of Cape Town in South Africahave measured stable isotopes in many ofthe very first hominins who were living inAfrica 1 million to 3 million years ago,and she concluded that all ate significantquantities of both animal and plant foods.

Using stable isotopes to examine the dietsof Neanderthals living in Europe 30,000years ago, Mike Richards, PhD, of theUniversity of British Columbia in Canada,concluded, “The isotope evidenceoverwhelmingly points to theNeanderthals behaving as top-levelcarnivores.” In a similar study of StoneAge people living in England 12,000years ago, he summarized, “We weretesting the hypothesis that these humanshad a mainly hunting economy, andtherefore a diet high in animal protein. Wefound this to be the case.”

Dr. Richards’s isotopic data areinteresting but come from very specializedgroups of our ancestors, whose diets mayhave significantly varied from themainstream. The Neanderthals generally

lived in Europe during the Ice Age, whenvery little plant food would have beenavailable on a year-round basis.Consequently, they may have had nochoice but to eat animal food. Similarly,many anthropologists believe that modernhumans living in Europe 12,000 to 40,000years ago may have developed animal-based diet strategies because of therelative abundance of large game animals.There is another avenue available to usthat can help to solve the riddle of howmuch plant and animal food was typicallyfound in our ancestors’ diets.

3. Ethnographic StudiesHundreds, if not thousands, ofdescriptions of hunter-gatherers and what

they ate have been written throughouthistorical times. These accounts werepenned by explorers, sailors, trappers,frontiersmen, physicians, anthropologists,and others who encountered nativepeoples during their travels. Fortunately,an industrious anthropologist, GeorgeMurdock, PhD, took it upon himself tocompile and organize historical accountsnot only of hunter-gatherers but also of allthe world’s cultures and how they lived.His enormous database included morethan 100 specific data points for eachsociety. In 1967, Dr. Murdock completedhis life’s work with the publication of amassive volume called the EthnographicAtlas, a work that allows anybody toeasily compare and contrast any society orculture on earth.

One year after the publication of Dr.Murdock’s massive volume, a younganthropologist at Harvard, Richard Lee,PhD, utilized some of the hunter-gathererdata from the Ethnographic Atlas toestablish the plant-to-animal compositionin the average hunter-gatherer diet. Dr.Lee concluded that hunted animal foodscomposed 35 percent of the energy in theaverage hunter-gatherer diet and that plantfoods made up the balance (65 percent).For the next 3 decades, Dr. Lee’sconclusion became the unquestioneddogma in anthropological circles.Unfortunately, his analysis was flawed,and it wasn’t corrected until 32 years laterwith our publication of a reanalysis of theEthnographic Atlas’s hunter-gathererdata. Let me show you how I came to this

conclusion.It’s pretty hard to overeat raw carrots

and celery—in fact, most of us have hadenough after one or two carrots or celerystalks. Can you imagine eating 65 percentof your daily calories from celery? Anactive man who takes in 3,000 calories aday would have to eat 27 pounds of celeryto obtain 65 percent of his daily caloriesfrom this plant food. Okay, perhaps celeryis an extreme example. How abouttomatoes? Try 20 pounds! Cantaloupe,maybe? Twelve pounds! Perhaps potatoeswould work: To get 65 percent of 3,000calories (1,950 calories), you would haveto eat 4 pounds. This is a doable situation.But the problem is that most wild tubersand roots bear little resemblance totoday’s thoroughly domesticated potatoes.

Compared with their modern counterparts,wild tubers are smaller, usually morefibrous, less starchy, and, therefore, notnearly as calorically dense.

It became increasingly clear to methat only a very few wild plant foodscould be consumed at quantitiesapproaching 65 percent of the dailycaloric intake. These were oily nuts andseeds, tubers, and cereal grains. Grainswere out of the equation because theywere rarely, if ever, consumed by hunter-gatherers, as explained in the Introduction.Also, when hunter-gatherers forage forfood, they need to make some criticaldecisions. First, they must get more energyfrom the food they are hunting or gatheringthan the energy they expend to obtain it. Itwould be a losing proposition to run

around all day using up 800 calories, onlyto bring back 500 calories. Second,hunter-gatherers prioritize food choicesrelative to their energy return rate. Theseare the foods that give them the most“bang for their foraging buck”—largeanimals are preferred over small, andanimal foods are almost always preferredover plant foods. Anthropologists havedubbed these hunter-gatherer decisions“optimal foraging theory.”

At any rate, all of this informationmade me suspicious. It seemed unlikelythat plant foods could have made up themajority of daily calories in the typicalhunter-gatherer diet. So I went back to theoriginal Ethnographic Atlas, plugged allthe data points for the 229 hunter-gatherersocieties into a spreadsheet, and

reanalyzed the whole kit and caboodle. Icompleted my analysis on Christmas Day1997 and could not believe my eyes. Notonly were the results different fromRichard Lee’s analysis; they were exactlyreversed. Plant foods represented about35 percent of the total calories, whileanimal foods stood out at 65 percent! Howcould this be? I carefully checked all ofthe more than nearly 23,000 data points—no errors there. Hmm! What was goingon?

At last I saw it. Dr. Lee had failed toinclude fished animal foods along withhunted animal foods in determining theoverall animal-to-plant subsistence ratio.

One of the huge problems withethnographic studies is that they are

almost entirely subjective. We went backto some of the original studies that Dr.Murdock had used to estimate thesubsistence ratios and were dumbfoundedat how he did it. There were absolutely noconcrete data in many of these accounts ofhunter-gatherers to show how much meator plant food was consumed. Using someof the accounts as a starting point, myresearch team and I rooted out each andevery quantitative study in which thefoods were weighed and the caloriccontent known. It turned out that 13 reportscould be used. Two of them involvedEskimos, who have no choice but to eatanimal food, so we were down to 11reports. These more robust, quantitativestudies were in agreement with our earlieranalysis and once again demonstrated that

animal foods made up two-thirds of theaverage energy intake in hunter-gathererdiets.

So, three separate lines of evidence(other primate diets, the fossil record, andethnographic studies) now independentlypoint to the notion that meat, organs, andanimal foods have always been asignificant part of the diet to which we aregenetically adapted. But, as you’ll see inChapter 9, wild animals anddomesticated, feedlot-produced animalsare worlds apart nutritionally. A moderndiet with 65 percent of its energy comingfrom processed fatty meats (bologna,salami, hot dogs, sausages, bacon, etc.)produced from grain-fed animals bearslittle resemblance to our ancestral diet.

Let’s take a brief look at anotherpiece of the puzzle that shows the types offoods Mother Nature intended for us.

4. Biochemical andMetabolic PathwaysWithin our own body’s biochemicalmachinery lie clues to the way in whichdiet has changed in the 5 million to 7million years since our evolutionary splitfrom the apes. It may come as a surprise toyou, but we humans have evolved anumber of biochemical adaptations thatare parallel to those found in purecarnivores. Obviously, we are not purecarnivores. We are omnivores who aregenetically adapted to eating a mixed dietof both plant and animal foods. However,

substantial biochemical evidence suggeststhat, during the past 2.6 million years, wehave made a significant evolutionary shiftthat has brought us closer to a meat-baseddiet than to a plant-based diet.

Pure carnivores, such as cats, mustobtain all of their nutrients from the fleshof other animals. Because of thisrequirement they have evolved certainbiochemical adaptations that demonstratetheir total dietary dependence uponanimal-based foods. Most of theseadaptations involve either the loss orreduced activity of certain enzymesrequired to build essential nutrients. Theselosses occurred because the evolutionaryselection pressure to maintain theseenzymes and metabolic pathways was nolonger needed. Let me give you a few

examples and show you how humans havemoved down a similar evolutionarypathway.

Taurine is an amino acid that is notfound in any plant food and is an essentialnutrient in all cells of the body.Herbivores, such as cows, are able tosynthesize taurine from precursor aminoacids found in plants, whereas cats havecompletely lost that ability. Since allanimal foods (except cow’s milk) are richsources of taurine, cats have been able torelax the evolutionary selective pressurerequired for taurine synthesis because theyobtain all they need from their exclusivemeat-based diet.

Humans, unlike cats, still maintainthe ability to synthesize taurine in the liver

from precursor substances. However, thisability is limited and inefficient—so muchso that infant formula must besupplemented with taurine. Withouttaurine supplementation in infant formula,bottle-fed babies are more susceptible tovisual and hearing problems as they grow.Even adults don’t fare much better if theystop eating meat. Studies show that veganvegetarians have low levels of blood andurinary taurine—levels that indicate ourpoor ability to synthesize taurine fromvegetable amino acids. Similar to that ofcats, our inefficiency to build taurine fromplant amino acids occurred because of ourlong reliance upon taurine-rich animalfood.

A second example, similar to thetaurine story, is the situation with long-

chain fatty acids. Cats have almostcompletely lost the ability of the liver toconvert 18-carbon to 20-carbon fattyacids. All cells in the bodies of mammalsrequire 20-carbon fatty acids to makelocalized hormones called eicosanoidsand prostaglandins. Herbivores have nochoice but to synthesize 20-carbon fattyacids in their livers from plant-based 18-carbon fatty acids, since 20-carbon fattyacids occur only in animal food and arenot found in any plant foods. Again, catshave nearly lost the ability to build 20-carbon fatty acids from their 18-carbonprecursors because there was no need forit; they got all the preformed 20-carbonfatty acids they required from the flesh oftheir prey. Similarly, humans maintainvery inefficient pathways to convert 18- to

20-carbon fatty acids because of our morethan 2-million-year history of meatconsumption.

In the Introduction, we discussed thefoods that couldn’t have been consumedby our Stone Age ancestors; in thischapter, we illustrated those that wereeaten. By putting both of these pieces ofthe puzzle together, we get a much clearerpicture of the foods that we are geneticallyprogrammed to eat. These are the foodsthat provide us with optimal health andwell-being. By mimicking the nutritionalcharacteristics of the ancestral human dietwith commonly available modern foods, itis entirely possible to eat a Stone Age dietin the 21st century. In the next chapter, wewill explain how easily this can beaccomplished.

CHAPTER 9

THE 21ST-CENTURYPALEO DIET

SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDSOF MODERN ATHLETES

As a serious athlete, you have a lifestyleand an activity level that are far differentfrom that of the average American.Chances are your training patterns alsovary significantly from the daily activitypatterns of our Paleolithic ancestors. They

were unlikely to ever run 26.2 miles asfast as they could, nonstop. Nor wouldthey work and run at high-intensity levelsday after day, week after week. The onlyreason they would have done so wouldhave been under extreme conditions inwhich their lives were continually at risk,and the only way to survive was to run farand fast every day. Such situations wererare. As you will see in the next chapter,the more typical manner of “exercise” forthe Paleolithic athlete would haveinvolved long, steady hunts and foragingexpeditions conducted at a moderate paceuntil the kill was imminent or the gatheredfoods were hauled back to camp. At thesetimes their effort would increase, but theywould no doubt rest at every opportunity.Ceremonial dance would also provide

nearly continuous “exercise,” but theintensity would be relatively low.

What all of this means for you is thatyour diet must be modified slightly toaccommodate your “unusual” high-leveltraining patterns that are a requisite forpeak performance during competition.These modifications, as you are now wellaware, involve exactly when and what youeat before, during, and immediatelyfollowing exercise. These critical dietarynuances were discussed extensively inChapters 2, 3, and 4.

Now let’s get down to the crux ofthis chapter: What should you eat for theremainder of your day, from the timeshort-term recovery ends until just beforethe next workout begins? During this

period, you should be eating in a mannersimilar to that of your Paleolithicancestors. You’ll quickly discover thatyour day-to-day recovery is greatlyenhanced and, as a result, yourperformance will improve.

21ST-CENTURY DIETARYTWEAKS

Let’s make it clear from the start: It wouldbe nearly impossible for any athlete orfitness enthusiast living in a typicalmodern setting to exactly replicate aPaleolithic hunter-gatherer diet. Many ofthose foods are unavailable commercially,no longer exist, or are totally disgusting tomodern tastes and cultural traditions. Do

brains, marrow, tongue, and liver soundappealing to you? Probably not, but tohunter-gatherers, these organs weremouthwatering treats that were gobbled upevery time an animal was killed. Forhunter-gatherers, the least appetizing partof the carcass was the muscle tissue,which is about the only meat most of usever eat.

Produce for the Paleo AthleteMost of the familiar fruits and veggies thatwe find in the produce section of oursupermarkets bear little resemblance totheir wild counterparts. Large, succulent,orange carrots of today were nothing morethan tiny purple or black fibrous roots1,000 years ago. The numerous varieties

of juicy, sweet apples that we enjoywould have resembled tiny, bitter crabapples a few thousand years ago. Thanksto thousands of years of selectivebreeding, irrigation, and, later, fertilizersand pesticides, we now eat domesticatedfruits and veggies that are larger andsweeter and have less fiber and morecarbohydrate than their wild versions.Figure 9.1 contrasts the fiber content ofwild and cultivated plants in a 100-gramsample, and Table 9.1 compares thevitamin and mineral content of wild plantfoods and their domesticated counterparts.You can see that the B vitamins, iron, andzinc concentrations are comparablebetween the two, whereas wild plantshave more calcium and magnesium, anddomesticated plants are better sources of

vitamin C. Unless you are fortunateenough to live where you can harvestMother Nature’s nuts, berries, or otheruncultivated plant foods, most of us willrarely eat wild plant foods on a regularbasis. Nevertheless, it matters littlebecause the overall nutritional differencesbetween wild and domesticated plants aresmall and generally insignificant.

FIGURE 9.1

TABLE 9.1

Comparison of the Vitamin and MineralContent of Wild and Domesticated

Plants

Fresh produce is an essential elementof contemporary Paleo diets, and Iencourage you to eat as much of thesehealthy foods as you possibly can. Theonly excluded vegetables are potatoes,cassava root, sweet corn, and legumes(peas, green beans, kidney beans, pintobeans, peanuts, etc.). Fruits are MotherNature’s natural sweets, and the onlyfruits you should totally steer clear of are

canned fruits packed in syrups. Driedfruits should be consumed sparingly bymost nonathletes, as they can contain asmuch concentrated sugar as candy does.Nevertheless, most trained enduranceathletes can eat dried fruit with fewadverse health consequences becauseathletes in general maintain sensitiveinsulin metabolisms. If you are obese orhave one or more diseases of themetabolic syndrome (hypertension, type 2diabetes, heart disease, or abnormal bloodlipids), you should sidestep dried fruitaltogether and eat sparing amounts of the“very high” and “high” sugar fruits listedin Table 9.2. Once your weight returns tonormal and disease symptoms fade away,eat as much fresh fruit as you please.

TABLE 9.2

Sugar Content in Dried and Fresh Fruits DRIED FRUITSExtremely high in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsDried mango 73.0Raisins, golden 70.6Zante currants 70.6Raisins 65.0Dates 64.2Dried figs 62.3Dried papaya 53.5Dried pears 49.0Dried peaches 44.6Dried prunes 44.0Dried apricots 38.9FRESH FRUITSVery high in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsGrapes 18.1Banana 15.6

Mango 14.8Cherries, sweet 14.6High in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsApples 13.3Pineapple 11.9Purple passion fruit 11.2Moderate in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsKiwifruit 10.5Pear 10.5Pear, Bosc 10.5Pear, D’Anjou 10.5Pomegranate 10.1Raspberries 9.5Apricots 9.3Orange 9.2Moderate in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsWatermelon 9.0Cantaloupe 8.7Peach 8.7Nectarine 8.5

Jackfruit 8.4Honeydew melon 8.2

Blackberries 8.1Cherries, sour 8.1Tangerine 7.7Plum 7.5Low in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsBlueberries 7.3Star fruit 7.1Elderberries 7.0Figs 6.9Mamey apple 6.5Grapefruit, pink 6.2Grapefruit, white 6.2Guava 6.0Guava, strawberry 6.0Papaya 5.9Strawberries 5.8Casaba melon 4.7Very low in total sugars Total sugars per 100 gramsTomato 2.8Lemon 2.5Avocado, California 0.9Avocado, Florida 0.9Lime 0.4

So you can see there is no need to goout and forage for wild plants and animalsto stock your pantry for this lifetimenutritional plan. Nearly all of theperformance rewards and health benefitsof the Paleo Diet for Athletes can easilybe achieved from modern-day foods andfood groups that had a counterpart inStone Age diets.

The fundamental dietary principle ofthe Paleo Diet for Athletes is simplicityitself: unrestricted consumption of freshmeats, poultry, seafood, fruits, andvegetables. Foods that are not part ofmodern-day Paleolithic fare includecereal grains, dairy products, high-glycemic fruits and vegetables, legumes,alcohol, salty foods, processed meats,

refined sugars, and nearly all processedfoods.

The exceptions to these basic rulesare fully outlined in Chapters 2, 3, and 4.For instance, immediately before, during,and after a workout or competition,certain nonoptimal foods may be eaten toencourage a quick recovery. During allother times, meals that closely follow the21st-century Paleolithic diet describedhere will promote comprehensive long-term recovery and allow you to comewithin reach of your maximumperformance potential.

ANIMAL AND PLANTFOOD BALANCE

A crucial aspect of the 21st-centuryPaleolithic diet is the proper balance ofplant and animal foods. How much plantfood and how much animal food werenormally consumed in the diets of StoneAge hunter-gatherers? There is little doubtthat whenever and wherever it wasecologically possible, hunter-gathererspreferred animal food over plant food. Inour study of 229 hunter-gatherer societies,published in the American Journal ofClinical Nutrition, my research teamshowed that 73 percent of these culturesobtained between 56 and 65 percent oftheir daily subsistence from animal foods.In a follow-up study published in theEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutrition,involving 13 additional hunter-gatherergroups whose diets were more closely

analyzed, we found almost identicalresults. Our colleague, Mike Richards,PhD, of the University of BritishColumbia in Canada, has taken a slightlydifferent approach in determining theplant-to-animal balance in Stone Agediets. He has measured chemicals calledstable isotopes in skeletons of hunter-gatherers that lived during the Paleolithicera. His results dovetailed nicely withours and confirmed that hunter-gatherersliving 12,000 to 28,000 years agoconsumed the majority of their dailycalories from animal sources.

Based upon the best availableevidence, you should try to eat a littlemore than half (50 to 55 percent) of yourdaily calories from fresh meats, fish, andseafood. Avoid fatty processed meats

(bologna, hot dogs, salami, sausages,bacon, etc.), but fatty fish such as salmon,mackerel, and herring are perfectlyacceptable because of their highconcentrations of healthful omega-3 fattyacids.

Meats and Animal Foods forthe Paleo AthleteOne of the crucial ideas woven throughoutThe Paleo Diet for Athletes is that youshould eat animal foods at virtually everymeal. But the important point here is oneof quality and freshness. At all times try toeat your meat, seafood, and poultry asfresh as you can get them. Fresh is alwaysbest, followed by frozen—avoidprocessed, canned, tinned, or salted

animal foods. When it comes to beef,chicken, and pork, grass-fed, free-ranging,or pasture-produced meats are superior,although a bit expensive. Check out yourlocal farmers’ market or visit my friend JoRobinson’s Web site ( http://eatwild.com/)to locate a farmer or rancher in yourlocale who can provide you withuntainted, grass-fed meats.

Feedlot- and Grain-FedMeatsNinety-nine percent of the beef, pork, andchicken consumed in the United States isproduced in colossal feedlots, frequentlycontaining up to 100,000 animals. Themotivating force behind feedlot-producedmeat is purely financial. The singular goal

of these enormous corporateagribusinesses is to produce the largest,heaviest animals possible with thesmallest amount of feed. To accomplishthis objective, the animals are restricted totiny spaces where they get little or noexercise and are fed unlimited quantitiesof grain.

The final outcome is not pretty.Feedlot-produced cattle have a thick fatlayer covering their entire body. Theseartificial creations of modern agricultureare obese and unhealthy and producesecond-rate meat laced with hormones,antibiotics, and other toxic compounds.Their muscles are frequently interspersedwith fat, which we call marbling, a traitthat enhances flavor but makes cattleinsulin-resistant and in poor health, just

like us. Since feedlot-raised animals arefed solely grains (corn and sorghum), theirmeat is concentrated with omega-6 fattyacids at the sacrifice of healthful omega-3fatty acids.

The take-home point is that thenutritional qualities of feedlot-producedmeat are second-rate compared with thoseof meat from grass-fed or free-ranginganimals. Nevertheless, I still believe thatsome, but not all, of these meats can beincorporated into the Paleo Diet forAthletes, especially if you try to eat leanercuts and concurrently eat fatty fish likesalmon, mackerel, herring, or sardines afew times a week. Fattier cuts of feedlot-produced meats are not ideal, becausethey contain not only more omega-6 fats,but also much less protein than leaner cuts

contain. This characteristic in turn lowersyour total intake of vitamins and mineralsbecause the lean (muscle) proteincomponent of meats is a richer source ofvitamins and minerals than is the fatcomponent. In Table 9.3, you can see foryourself the differences in the total proteinand fat content between lean and fatty cutsof meat.

TABLE 9.3

Protein and Fat Content (Percentage ofTotal Calories in Lean and Fatty

Meats) LEAN MEATS % Protein % FatSkinless turkey breasts 94 5Buffalo roast 84 16

Roast venison 81 19Pork tenderloin lean 72 28Beef heart 69 30Veal steak 68 32Sirloin beef steak 65 35Chicken livers 65 32Skinless chicken breasts 63 37Beef liver 63 28Lean beef flank steak 62 38Lean pork chops 62 38

FATTY MEATS % Protein % FatT-bone steak 36 64Chicken thigh/leg 36 63Ground beef (15% fat) 35 63Lamb shoulder roast 32 68Pork ribs 27 73Beef ribs 26 74Fatty lamb chops 25 75Dry salami 23 75Link pork sausage 22 77

Bacon 21 78Bologna 15 81Hot dog 14 83

PROCESSED MEATSIn the first edition of The Paleo Diet forAthletes, I was adamant in myrecommendation that you should avoidfatty processed meats like bologna, bacon,hot dogs, lunch meats, salami, andsausages. That suggestion remains, andfrom Table 9.3 you can see that processedmeats are really more like fat disguised asmeat. Processed meats are man-madeconcoctions of meat and fat syntheticallyblended at the meatpacker or butcher’swhim with no concern for the authenticfatty acid profile or protein content of the

wild animals our Stone Age ancestors ate.In addition to their unnatural fatty acidcompositions (high in omega-6 fatty acids,low in omega-3 fatty acids) and lowprotein content, processed fatty meatscontain preservatives called nitrites andnitrates, which are converted into potentcancer-causing nitrosamines in ourintestinal tracts. Further, these unnaturalmeats are characteristically laced withsalt, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup,grains, and other additives that have manyobjectionable health effects.

With the Paleo Diet for Athletes Iencourage you to consume as much high-quality “real” meat as you can afford.Clearly, the nearer you can get to “wild,”the better off you’ll be when it comes tothe fat, protein, and nutrient profile of your

meats. Game meat is not required for thePaleo Diet for Athletes, but if you arelooking for a culinary adventure, try some.It’s highly nutritious and adds a uniqueflavor to any Paleo meal. Game meat ispricey (unless you hunt or know hunters)and usually is found only at specialtymarkets or butcher stores.

WHAT ABOUT EGGS?Despite being a comparatively high-fatfood (62 percent fat, 34 percent protein)and one of the most concentrated sourcesof cholesterol (212 mg per egg), virtuallyall recent scientific studies conclude thatordinary egg consumption (seven perweek) does not increase the risk for heart

disease. You can now find eggs at yourlocal supermarket that are enriched withthe healthful long-chain omega-3 fattyacids EPA and DHA. Alternatively, seekout local growers whose chickens arecage-free, free-ranging and eat insects,worms, bugs, and wild plants. So please,enjoy this extremely nutritious food.

HOW ABOUT FATTYMEATS?

In the original version of The Paleo Dietfor Athletes, we suggested that you shouldavoid fatty cuts of meat such as T-bonesteaks, spareribs, lamb chops, and porkribs because these cuts of meat containmore saturated fat than leaner cuts do.

Further, it is known beyond a shadow of adoubt that increases in dietary saturatedfat raise total blood cholesterol levels.This information has been known for morethan 50 years from human metabolic wardstudies, in which diet is strictly controlledand subjects are allowed to eat only thefoods provided in the experiment.However, the next supposition, thatincreases in total blood cholesterol levelselevate the risk for heart and blood vesseldisease, has been hotly debated byscientists since the original edition of ourbook was published. The consensus that isemerging from meta-analyses in which theresults of multiple studies are combinedindicates that dietary saturated fats havelittle or no effect upon the risk forcardiovascular disease. I quote Dariush

Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, DrPH, andRenata Micha of the Harvard School ofPublic Health, who published the resultsof their meta-analysis in 2010, “Thesemeta-analyses suggest no overall effectof saturated fatty acid consumption oncoronary heart disease events”

There is absolutely no doubt thathunter-gatherers favored the fattiest partsof animals. There is incredible fossilevidence from Africa, dating back to 2.5million years ago, showing this scenarioto be true. Stone-tool cut marks on theinner jawbone of antelope reveal that ourancient ancestors removed the tongue andalmost certainly ate it. Other fossils showthat Stone Age hunter-gatherers smashedopen long bones and skulls of their preyand ate the contents. Not surprisingly,

these organs are all relatively high in fat.Analyses from our laboratories showedthe types of fat in the tongue, brain, andmarrow are healthful. Brain is extremelyhigh in polyunsaturated fats, including thehealth-promoting omega-3 fatty acids,whereas the dominant fats in tongue andmarrow are the cholesterol-loweringmonounsaturated fats.

Most of us would not savor thethought of eating brains, marrow, tongue,liver, or any other organ meat on a regularbasis; therefore, a few 21st-centurymodifications of the original Paleolithicdiet are necessary to get the fatty acidbalance right. First, we suggest you limityour choice of meats to fresh,nonprocessed types, preferably grass-fed,and try to eat fatty fish a few times a week

—it’s good for you, just like the organmeats our ancestors preferred. Second, werecommend that you add healthfulvegetable oils to your diet. If you followthese simple steps, together with the othernuts and bolts of this plan, the fatty acidbalance in your diet will approximatewhat our Stone Age ancestors got.

From our analyses of 229 hunter-gatherer diets and the nutrient content ofwild plants and animals, our researchteam has demonstrated that the mostrepresentative fat intake would havevaried from 28 to 57 percent of totalcalories. To reduce risk of heart disease,the American Heart Association and theUSDA MyPlate recommend limiting totalfat to 30 percent or less of daily calories.On the surface, it would appear that,

except for the extreme lower range, therewould be too much fat in the typicalhunter-gatherer diet—at least according towhat we (the American public) haveheard for decades: Get the fat out of yourdiet! The USDA’s MyPlate cautions us tocut out as much saturated fat as possibleand replace it with grains andcarbohydrate. Not only is this messagemisguided; it is flat-out wrong. Recentmeta-analyses have shown that when usedto replace saturated fats, carbs increasedthe risk for heart disease by elevatingblood triglycerides and lowering HDLcholesterol levels. More important, thesemeta-analyses demonstrated that,compared with carbs, saturated fats wereneutral and neither increased nordecreased the risk for heart disease.

Now let’s get back to the fat contentof our ancestral hunter-gatherers’ diet.They frequently ate more fat than we do,but they also ate lots of healthy fats. Usingcomputerized dietary analyses of the wildplant and animal foods, our research teamhas shown that the usual fat breakdown inhunter-gatherer diets was 55 to 65 percentmonounsaturated fat, 20 to 25 percentpolyunsaturated fat (with an omega-6-to-omega-3 ratio of 2:1), and 10 to 15percent saturated fat (about half being theneutral stearic acid). This balance of fatsis exactly what you will get when youfollow our dietary recommendations.

FOODS NOT ON THE

PALEOLITHIC MENULet’s get down to the specifics of the diet.Table 9.4 includes an inventory of modernfoods that should be avoided. Theserecommendations might at first seem like ahuge laundry list, with seemingly needlesselimination of entire food groups. Mostdyed-in-the-wool nutritionists wouldn’tobject to our advice to cut down oreliminate sugars and highly refined,processed foods. They would have noproblem with our suggestions to reducetrans fats and salt, and they would beecstatic about our recommendations toboost fresh fruit and vegetableconsumption. But they would, guaranteed,react violently to the mere thought ofeliminating “sacred” whole grains from

your diet. If they heard we also advocatereducing or eliminating dairy products,they almost certainly would brand this dietunhealthful, if not outright dangerous. Youmay wonder why, just because hunter-gatherers did not regularly eat grains ordairy products, you should follow suit.After all, aren’t whole grains healthful,and isn’t milk good for everybody? Howcan you get calcium without dairy? Andwon’t eating a lot of meat increase bloodcholesterol levels?

In science, decisions should be madebased upon what the data tell us and notupon human bias and prejudice. Withthese ground rules in mind, let’s take alook at the reasons for and potentialbenefits of eliminating or severelyrestricting entire food groups with the

Paleo Diet for Athletes. One of the majorgoals of any diet, for both athletes andnonathletes alike, is to supply you, theconsumer, with a diet rich in nutrients(vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals)that promote good health, which in turnpromotes good performance. Table 9.5shows the nutrient density of seven foodgroups.

TABLE 9.4

Modern Foods to Avoid

DAIRY FOODS

MilkCheeseButterCreamYogurt

Ice creamIce milkFrozen yogurtPowdered milkNonfat creamerDairy spreadsAll processed foods made with dairy products

CEREAL GRAINS

Wheat (bread, rolls, muffins, noodles, crackers, cookies, cake,doughnuts, pancakes, waffles, pasta, tortillas, pizza, pitabread, flat bread, and all processed foods made with wheator wheat flour)

Rye (bread, crackers, and all processed foods made with rye)Barley (soup, bread, and all processed foods made with barley)Oats (instant oatmeal, rolled oats, and all processed foods

made with oats)Corn (corn on the cob, corn tortillas, cornstarch, corn syrup)Rice (including brown, white, wild, and basmati; ramen and rice

noodles; rice cakes; rice flour; and all processed foodsmade with rice)

MilletSorghum

CEREAL GRAINS-LIKE SEEDS

AmaranthChia seedsQuinoaBuckwheat

LEGUMES

All beans (kidney, pinto, navy, white, lima, black, and broadbeans) including string beans

LentilsPeas, snow peasPeanuts (peanuts are legumes, not nuts)Soybeans and all soybean productsChickpeas and garbanzo beans

STARCHY TUBERS

PotatoesCassava roots

YEAST-CONTAINING FOODS

Breads, doughnuts, rolls, muffinsAll fermented foods (beer, wine, pickled foods, foods

containing vinegar, and tofu)

PROCESSED AND CANNED MEATS ANDFISH

Sausages, baconProcessed meats (lunch meats, deli meats, preserved or smoked

meats such as ham and turkey, and smoked or dried andsalted fish)

Canned or pickled meats and fish (tuna, sardines, herrings,smoked oysters and clams, canned salmon and mackerel,chicken, and beef)

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

All alcoholic beverages (permitted in moderation; see Chapter11)

SWEETS

All candyHoneyDried fruit (permitted in moderation; see Chapter 11)

Note that these foods are not forever banned from your diet,but are to be regularly avoided; see Chapter 11.

From top to bottom, here’s theranking of the most nutritious food groups:fresh vegetables, seafood, lean meats,fresh fruits, whole grains and milk (tiedfor second to last), and nuts and seeds.Why in the world would the USDAinclude grains in MyPlate if the goal is anadequate intake of vitamins and minerals?This strategy makes no sense for theaverage American, much less for athleteslike you. Had we included refined grainsin the list, they would have ended up deadlast because the refining process stripsthis nutrient-poor food group even furtherof vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, inthe United States, 85 percent of the grainswe eat are highly refined, and grains

typically make up 24 percent of our dailycalories.

Grains and dairy foods are not onlypoor sources of vitamins and minerals;they also retain nutritional characteristicsthat clearly are not in your best interest,whether you’re an athlete or not. FromChapter 5, you now know all about theglycemic index and acid-base balance infoods, along with how they impact yourperformance. Virtually all refined grainsand grain products yield high glycemicloads. Further, all grains, whether wholeor refined, are net acid-producing. Dairyproducts are one of the greatest riskfactors for heart disease in the Americandiet, and cheeses produce the highestacidic loads of any foods. If that’s not badenough, recent studies have found that

dairy products, despite having lowglycemic indices, spike blood insulinlevels similar to the way white bread doesand cause insulin resistance in children.Do yourself a favor—get the grains anddairy out of your diet and replace themwith more healthful fruits, veggies, leanmeats, and seafood.

If you, like most Americans, havebeen swayed by those milk mustache ads,you probably are part of the mass hysteria,largely generated by the dairy industry,suggesting there is a nationwide calciumshortage that underlies osteoporosis. Nottrue! Calcium intake from dairy, or anyother food, is only part of the story behindbone mineral health. More important iscalcium balance, the difference betweenhow much calcium goes into your body

from diet and how much leaves in urine.You will be out of balance if morecalcium leaves than what comes in, nomatter how much milk you drink. What wereally need to pay attention to is the otherside of the equation—the calcium leavingour bodies. Dietary acid-base balance isthe single most important factorinfluencing calcium loss in the urine. Netacid-producing diets overloaded withgrains, cheeses, and salty processed foodsincrease urinary calcium losses, whereasthe Paleo Diet for Athletes is rich inalkaline-yielding fruit and vegetables thatbring us back into calcium balance andpromote bone mineral health.

TABLE 9.5

Nutrient Density for Various FoodGroups (100 kilocalorie samples)

Superscripts represent relative ranking per nutrient (7 =highest; 1 = lowest).

Nutrient values represent average of food types within eachfood group: 8 whole grains, 20 fruits, 18 vegetables, 20 typesof seafood, 4 lean meats, 10 seeds and nuts. Food types withinfood groups were based upon the most commonly consumedfoods in the US diet for the 13 vitamins and minerals mostfrequently lacking or deficient in the US diet.

DIETARY STAPLES:MEATS

With the Paleo Diet for Athletes, you’ll beeating fresh meat and seafood, and lots ofit, at almost every meal. Consequently,your protein intake will rise significantly.This is a good thing.

Experiments by Bernard Wolfe, MD,at the University of Western Ontario, have

decisively shown that when animalprotein replaces dietary saturated fat, it ismore effective in lowering bloodcholesterol and improving bloodchemistry than are carbohydrates. Innutritional interventions such as Dr.Wolfe’s, the key to scientific credibility isreplication—replication, replication,replication! It is absolutely essential thatother scientists get similar results fromcomparable experiments. To the surpriseof some party-line nutritionists, a series ofpapers from independent researchersaround the world confirmed Dr. Wolfe’searlier work.

Is there a limit to a good thing? Younow know that lean animal protein lowersyour blood LDL (bad) cholesterol levels,increases HDL (good), and provides

muscle-building branched-chain aminoacids. How much protein should—or can—you eat?

There is a limit to the amount ofprotein you can physiologically tolerate.Nineteenth- and 20th-century explorers,frontiersmen, and trappers who wereforced to eat nothing but the fat-drainedflesh of wild game in late winter or earlyspring developed nausea, diarrhea, andlethargy and eventually died. Studiesconducted in the laboratory of DanielRudman, MD, at Emory University, haveexamined the causal mechanismsunderlying the protein ceiling and foundthat toxicity occurs when the liver can’teliminate nitrogen from the ingestedprotein fast enough. Nitrogen is normallyexcreted as urea in the urine and feces, but

with protein toxicity, ammonia andexcessive amino acids from proteindegradation build up in the bloodstreamand produce adverse symptoms.

For most people, the maximumdietary protein limit is between 200 and300 grams per day, or about 30 to 40percent of the normal daily caloric intake.On the Paleo Diet for Athletes, you willnever have to worry about proteintoxicity, as you will eat unlimited amountsof carbohydrates in the form of fruits andvegetables. Further, in the postexercisewindow, as fully explained in Chapters 2,3, and 4, you will be encouraged toconsume high glycemic, alkaline-yieldingcarbohydrates to fully replenish yourglycogen stores.

From our analyses of hunter-gathererdiets and the nutrient content of wildplants and animals, our research team hasshown that the protein intake in theaverage hunter-gatherer diet would haveranged from 19 to 35 percent of dailycalories. Since the protein intake in thenormal US diet is about 15 percent ofdaily energy, we recommend that for peakperformance during Stage V of recovery(the period following short-term recovery,lasting until your next preexercisefeeding), you boost your protein intake tobetween 25 and 30 percent of dailycalories. At values higher than 30 percentof energy, some people may begin toexperience symptoms indicative of thephysiologic protein ceiling.

MACRONUTRIENTBALANCE

We’ve already mentioned that the fatcontent in Paleolithic diets (28 to 57percent total calories) was quite a bithigher than values (30 percent or less)recommended by the American HeartAssociation and the USDA’s MyPlate. Wesuggest consuming between 30 and 40percent of your Stage V energy as fat.How about carbohydrate? In hunter-gatherer diets, carbohydrate normallyranged from 22 to 40 percent of total dailyenergy. Because of your special need asan athlete to restore muscle glycogen on adaily basis, you should boost these valuesa bit higher. We suggest that Stage Vcarbohydrate intake should typically range

from 35 to 45 percent of calories. As youpersonalize the Paleo Diet for Athletes toyour specific training schedule and bodyneeds, you will be able to fine-tune yourdaily intake of carbohydrate, fat, andprotein.

NUTRITIONALADEQUACY

Regardless of your final ratio of protein tofat to carbohydrate, you will be eating anenormously enriched and nutrient-densediet, compared with what you wereprobably eating before. We’ve partiallyaddressed this concept in Chapter 1,where we compared the Paleo Diet forAthletes with the recommended USDA

Food Pyramid/MyPlate diet, and also inTable 9.5. An even better way toappreciate how much more nutritious yourdiet will become when you adopt thePaleo Diet for Athletes is by looking atwhat the average American eats. Figure9.2 shows the breakdown by food group inthe typical US diet. Notice that grains arethe highest contributor to total calories(23.9 percent), followed by refined sugars(18.6 percent) and refined vegetable oils(17.8 percent). When you add in dairyproducts (10.6 percent of total energy) tograins, refined sugars, and refined oils, thetotal is 70.9 percent of daily calories.None of these foods would have been onthe menu for our Paleolithic ancestors, asfully discussed in Chapter 8.

Refined sugars are devoid of any

vitamins or minerals, and except forvitamins E and K, refined vegetable oilsare in the same boat. Think of it: Morethan a third of your daily calories comefrom foods that lack virtually any vitaminsand minerals. When you add in the nutrientlightweights we call cereals and dairyproducts (check out Table 9.5, you can seejust how bad the modern diet really is.The staple foods (grains, dairy, refinedsugars, and oils) introduced during theagricultural and industrial revolutionshave displaced more healthful andnutrient-dense lean meats, seafood, andfresh fruits and vegetables. Once youbegin to get these delicious foods backinto your diet, not only will your vitamin,mineral, and phytochemical intakeimprove, but so will your performance.

FIGURE 9.2

CHAPTER 10

THE PALEOLITHICATHLETE: THE

ORIGINAL CROSS-TRAINER

Ten thousand years sounds like a long,long time ago. But if you think about it interms of how long the human genus(Homo) has existed (2.3 million years),10,000 years is a mere blink of the eye onan evolutionary time scale. Somewhere in

the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, atiny band of people threw in the towel andabandoned their hunter-gatherer lifestyle.These early renegades became the veryfirst farmers. They forsook a mode of lifethat had sustained each and everyindividual within the human genus for theprevious 77,000 generations. In contrast,only a paltry 333 human generations havecome and gone since the first seeds ofagriculture were sown. What started off asa renegade way of making a living becamea revolution that would guarantee thecomplete and absolute eradication ofevery remaining hunter-gatherer on theplanet. At the dawn of the 21st century, weare at the bitter end. Except for perhaps ahalf dozen uncontacted tribes in SouthAmerica and a few others on the Andaman

Islands in the Bay of Bengal, pure hunter-gatherers have vanished from the face ofthe earth.

So what difference does that make?Why should 21st-century enduranceathletes care one iota about whether or notthere are any hunter-gatherers left?Because once these people are gone, wewill no longer be able to examine theirlifestyle for invaluable clues to theexercise and dietary patterns that are builtinto our genes. When I was a track athletein the late 1960s and early ‘70s, runnersrarely or never lifted weights, and norunners worth their Adidas or Puma flatswould even think about swimming. Fast-forward 40 years. What progressive coachnow doesn’t know the value of cross-training? Those benefits might have been

figured out much earlier had we only takennotice of clues from our hunter-gathererancestors.

Very few modern people have everexperienced what it is like to “run with thehunt.” One of the notable exceptions isKim Hill, PhD, an anthropologist atArizona State University who has spentthe last 30 years living with and studyingthe Ache hunter-gatherers of Paraguay andthe Hiwi foragers of southwesternVenezuela. His description of theseamazing hunts represents a rare glimpseinto the activity patterns that would havebeen required of us all, were it not for theagricultural revolution.

I have only spent a long timehunting with two groups, the

Ache and the Hiwi. They werevery different. The Ache huntedevery day of the year if it didn’train. Recent GPS data Icollected with them suggeststhat about 10 km per day isprobably closer to their averagedistance covered during search.They might cover another 1-2km per day in very rapidpursuit. Sometimes pursuits canbe extremely strenuous and lastmore than an hour. Ache huntersoften take an easy day after anyparticularly difficult day, andrainfall forces them to take aday or two a week with only anhour or two of exercise.Basically they do moderate days

most of the time, and sometimesreally hard days usuallyfollowed by a very easy day.The difficulty of the terrain isreally what killed me (duckingunder low branches and vinesabout once every 20 seconds allday long, and climbing overfallen trees, moving throughtangled thorns, etc.). I was oftendrenched in sweat within anhour of leaving camp, andusually didn’t return for 7-9hours with not more than 30minutes rest during the day. TheAche seemed to have an easiertime because they “walk better”in the forest than me (meaningthe vines and branches don’t

bother them as much). Thereally hard days when theyliterally ran me into the groundwere long distance pursuits ofpeccary herds when the Achehunters move at a fast trotthrough thick forest for about 2hours before they catch up withthe herd. None of our other gradstudents could ever keep upwith these hunts, and I only keptup because I was in very goodshape back in the 1980s when Idid this.

The Hiwi on the other handonly hunted about 2-3 days aweek and often told me theywouldn’t go out on a particular

day because they were “tired.”They would stay home and workon tools, etc. Their travel wasnot as strenuous as among theAche (they often canoed to thehunt site), and their pursuitswere usually shorter. But theHiwi sometimes did amazinglong distance walks that wouldhave really hurt the Ache. Theywould walk to visit anothervillage maybe 80-100 km awayand then stay for only an hour ortwo before returning. This oftenincluded walking all night longas well as during the day. WhenI hunted with Machiguenga,Yora, Yanomamo Indians in the1980s, my focal man days were

much much easier than with theAche. And virtually all thesegroups take an easy day after aparticularly difficult one.

By the way, the Ache doconverse and even sing duringsome of their search, but longdistance peccary pursuits aretoo difficult for any talking.Basically men talk to each otheruntil the speed gets up around 3km/hour which is a very toughpace in thick jungle. Normalsearch is more like about 1.5km/hour, a pretty leisurely pace.Monkey hunts can also be verystrenuous because they consistof bursts of sprints every 20-30

seconds (as the monkeys areflushed and flee to new cover),over a period of an hour or twowithout a rest. This feels a lotlike doing a very long session ofwind sprints.

Both my graduate student RobWalker and Richard Bribiescasof Harvard were veryimpressed by Ache performanceon the step test. Many of theguys in their mid 30s to mid 50sshowed great aerobicconditioning compared toAmericans of that age. (V02max/kg body weight is verygood.) While hunter-gatherersare generally in good physical

condition if they haven’t yetbeen exposed to moderndiseases and diets that comesoon after permanent outsidecontact, I would not want toexaggerate their abilities. Theyare what you would expect ifyou took a genetic cross sectionof humans and put them inlifetime physical training atmoderate to hard levels. Mosthunting is search time notpursuit, thus a good deal ofaerobic long distance travel isoften involved (over roughterrain and carrying loads if thehunt is successful). I used totrain for marathons as a gradstudent and could run at a 6:00

per mile pace for 10 miles, butthe Ache would run me into theground following peccary tracksthrough dense bush for a coupleof hours. I did the 100 yd in10.2 in high school (I was a fastpass catcher on my footballteam), and some Ache men cansprint as fast as me.

But hunter-gatherers do notgenerally compare to worldclass athletes, who are probablygenetically very gifted and thenundergo even more rigorous andspecialized training than anyforager. So the bottom line isforagers are often in good shapeand they look it. They sprint,

jog, climb, carry, jump, etc., allday long but are not specialistsand do not compare to Olympicathletes in modern societies.

Dr. Hill’s wonderful imagery andinsight tell us part of the story, but noteverything. In this day and age of genderequality, women are just as likely as men,if not more so, to be found at the gym,lifting weights, or out on the trails, runningor riding a bike.

In stark contrast, hunter-gathererwomen almost never participated inhunting large game animals. Nearlywithout exception, ethnographic accountsof hunter-gatherers agree on this point.Does this mean that women did no hardaerobic work? Absolutely not! Women

routinely gathered food every 2 or 3 days.The fruits of their labors included not onlyplant foods but also small animals such astortoises, small reptiles, shellfish, insects,bird eggs, and small mammals. They spentmany hours walking to sources of food,water, and wood. Sometimes they wouldhelp carry butchered game back to camp.Their foraging often involved strenuousdigging, climbing, and then hauling heavyloads back to camp, often while carryinginfants and young children. Other commonactivities, some physically taxing,included tool making, shelter construction,childcare, butchering, food preparation,and visiting. Dances were a majorrecreation for hunter-gatherers and couldtake place several nights a week and oftenlast for hours. Table 10.1 shows the

caloric costs of typical hunter-gathereractivities and their modern counterparts.

The overall activity pattern ofwomen, like men’s, was cyclic, with daysof intense physical exertion (both aerobicand resistive) alternating with days of restand light activity. What hunter-gatherersdid in their day-to-day lives appears to begood medicine for modern-day athletes.When Bill Bowerman, a well-known trackcoach at the University of Oregon,advocated the easy/hard concept back inthe ‘60s, it was thought to be both brilliantand revolutionary. Using his system ofeasy/hard, athletes recovered more easilyfrom hard workouts and reduced their riskof injury. Ironically, Coach Bowerman’s“revolutionary” training strategy was asold as humanity itself. Similarly, during

the same decade, weight trainingcombined with swimming was a stunninginnovation at Doc Counsilman’s world-famous swim program at IndianaUniversity. Now it is the rare world-classendurance coach who doesn’t advocatecross-training to improve performance,increase strength, and help prevent injury.Once again the rationale behind thesuccess of cross-training can be found inthe hunter-gatherer genes in all of us.

TABLE 10.1

Calories Burned per Hour in Hunter-Gatherer and Modern Activities

HUNTER-GATHERER

Activity CaloriesBurned

Carrying logs 893Running (cross-country) 782Carrying meat (20 kg) back to camp 706Carrying a young child 672Hunting, stalking prey (carrying bows andspears) 619

Digging (in a field) 605Dancing (ceremonial) 494Stacking firewood 422Butchering large animal 408Walking (normal pace in fields and hills) 394Gathering plant foods 346Archery 312Scraping a hide 302Shelter construction 250Flint knapping 216

MODERN HUMANActivity Calories BurnedCarrying logs 670Running (cross-country) 587Climbing hills (20 kg load) 529

Climbing hills (10 kg load) 504Climbing hills (5 kg load) 464Digging (in the garden) 454Dancing (aerobic) 371Stacking firewood 317Chopping slowly with ax 306Walking (normal pace in fields and hills) 295Weeding garden 259Archery 234Scraping paint 227Carpentry 187Shoe repair 162

Calorie burn (kilocalories per hour) is based on a 176-pound man or 132-pound woman.

WHY WE ARE DESIGNEDTO EXERCISE

It may seem obvious, but sometimes the

obvious is rarely considered. Do youknow why the Ache and, for that matter,all hunter-gatherers exercise? Before wego down this road, let’s clarify the word“exercise.” No adult hunter-gatherers intheir right minds would have ever set offon a run or repeatedly lifted a heavy stonesimply to expend energy and “getexercise.” Virtually all of their movementresulted from the day’s mandatoryactivities: food and water procurement,shelter building, journeys, tool making,wood gathering, escape from dangers,child rearing, and social activities.Hunter-gatherers had no choice but to dophysical labor of all kinds, big and small,day in and day out, for their entire lives.There were no retirements, vacations,layoffs, career changes, or labor-saving

devices. Except for the very young or thevery old, everyone did labor of one formor another on a regular basis.

Let’s get back to the obvious that youmay never have considered. Hunter-gatherers “exercised” because they had to.They had no other choice—period! For allhumans living before the agriculturalrevolution, energy input (food) and energyexpenditure (exercise) were directlylinked. If Stone Age people wanted to eat,they had to hunt, gather, forage, or fish.Now you can see what may havemotivated the Ache hunters as theyfuriously chased that herd of peccarieshour after hour through the tropical forestin Paraguay. Whether you do a long, hardworkout or none at all, food is alwaysthere for you at the end of the day.

Wouldn’t it be disappointing to do yourlong, hard workout and come home to anempty fridge? Would an empty bellymotivate you even more on the nextworkout (hunt) if the intensity of theexercise were directly related to theamount of food in the refrigerator?

In the modern world, we have totallyobliterated the ancient evolutionary linkbetween energy expenditure and foodintake. As you lazily stroll down thegrocery aisle and throw one item afteranother into the cart, you don’t give asingle thought to “search time” or“pursuit” of your prey, as Dr. Hillgraphically portrayed for us with hisdescription of the Ache hunters. In asupermarket, the search and pursuit timesare identical whether you toss a smoked

ham or a head of lettuce into your cart.The consequences of severing this

primeval evolutionary connection betweenenergy expenditure and intake are notpretty. When we eat more energy than weexpend, we gain weight. And when wegain weight, our health suffers. Unless youpay no attention to printed or online news,you know that we are in the midst of anobesity epidemic in the United States.Two-thirds of all Americans are eitheroverweight or obese, 40 million have type2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease isthe leading cause of death in this country.There is little doubt in my mind that noneof this would be possible without theuncoupling of energy intake andexpenditure that was handed to us whenwe deserted our ancestral hunter-gatherer

way of life.

COMPARING THELIFESTYLES OF HUNTER-

GATHERERS ANDMODERN ATHLETES

After reading Dr. Hill’s description of theAche hunters, you probably have a prettygood feel for how their daily workoutcompares with yours, whether you’re arecreational athlete, an accomplishedlocal and regional endurance athlete, or anelite athlete of national or internationalcaliber. How would the average hunter-gatherer stack up when it comes to high-level endurance performance on race day?

First, let’s take a look at theadvantages on the hunter-gatherer’s side.From the time of weaning until very oldage, hunter-gatherer athletes would havedone moderate to hard aerobic activity,month in and month out, for their entirelives. They would have regularly rotatedhard days with easy ones, and strengthactivities would have commonlyaccompanied aerobic work. This patternof movement would have diminished theirchance of injury, so they could get upmorning after morning to hunt and gatheragain and again.

In exercise physiology there is awell-known law stating that aerobiccapacity (max VO2) within an individualmay increase based upon exercise

frequency, intensity, and duration. Of thesethree factors, intensity is the mostimportant feature in squeezing out the lastbit of aerobic capacity from alreadytrained subjects. The problem is that asintensity increases, the chances of injuryand illness also increase. Hunter gathererswere in it for the long haul. Theirobjectives were to obtain food day in andday out, year in and year out. Regularhigh-intensity exercise would have been aliability because injury and illness meantless food. On the other hand, today’sendurance athletes don’t have to worryabout injuries or illness getting in the wayof eating; food is always available, nomatter what your condition. Accordingly,endurance athletes can take their chanceswith high-intensity training. As a matter of

fact, high-intensity workouts (>85 percentmax VO2) are not an anomaly but rather arequisite to perform at the highest levelsupon the world’s stage.

As we previously outlined, it isvirtually impossible to exercise at >85percent max VO2 for extended periodsunless muscle glycogen stores are fullytopped off. Without daily consumption ofhigh glycemic load carbs, regular high-intensity workouts simply are not feasible.Since high glycemic load carbs were noton the hunter-gatherers’ menus, they couldnot have eked out the last 2 to 5 percent oftheir genetic aerobic potential by doinghigh-intensity workouts, as can modernathletes. On the other hand, because theyate more fat and fewer daily meals than

we do, their intramuscular triglyceridestores would have been much higher,thereby allowing them to do aerobic workat moderate intensity for extended periods—just what the doctor ordered if you needto go hunting daily and high glycemiccarbs don’t exist. For the modern-dayendurance athlete who is solely interestedin maximum performance, an alternativeexists: Both can be done. You canmaximize muscle glycogen andtriglyceride stores by following the dietwe have summarized in Chapters 2, 3, and4 and 9.

Because the protein content of theirdiet was higher than ours, theconcentration of the anabolic branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine,and valine) would have been much higher.

As pointed out previously, these dietaryamino acids promote muscle resynthesisfollowing exercise and may also delay theonset of fatigue. Unless you are eating lotsof lean meats and fish, hunter-gathererswould have had the advantage here. Thehigh protein content of our ancestral dietmeant that another amino acid, glutamine,would also have been higher than whatyou get in a vegetarian diet of beans andbrown rice, or simply the standardAmerican junk-food diet. A classicsymptom of overtraining in enduranceathletes is low blood levels of glutamine.

The trick with glutamine is not justhow much you are getting but also howmuch you are losing. Losing excessglutamine is just like not getting enough. Ifyou are eating a high-carb, low-fat diet—

pretty much the standard endurance-athletefare—it is almost certain that your bodywill be in a slight state of net metabolicacidosis. As we have previously shown, anet acid-producing diet causes your bodyto excrete more and more of the muscles’glutamine in an attempt to restore acid-base balance. The loss of muscleglutamine from an acid-yielding diet andfrom insufficient intake of glutamine-richfoods (lean meats, fish, and seafood) mayadversely affect performance. Chalk upanother advantage to hunter-gatherers.

One of the most important variablesleading to athletic success is stayinghealthy and free of illness and colds.There is little doubt that proper nutritionis absolutely essential for optimizing yourimmune system. Because hunter-gatherers

ate no processed foods, cereal grains, orrefined sugars or oils, their intake of tracenutrients (vitamins, minerals, andphytochemicals) was way higher thanwhat the average US citizen gets. Also,they consumed more healthful omega-3fatty acids than most of us now do. Thesedietary advantages would have againallowed our hunter-gatherer ancestors togo out day after day to hunt and foragewithout interruption from illness. For ourspecies, natural selection had no interestin winning a 10-K or marathon; the nameof the evolutionary game was adequatecalories, not maximum exerciseperformance.

So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.Was there ever a hunter-gatherer whocould have taken home the Olympic gold

in any endurance event in the last 30years? The answer is no. The averagehunter-gatherer was clearly more fit thanthe average American couch potato, as wepointed out in the Introduction. Mostforagers, both men and women, couldhave run any recreational runner into theground. At the local and regional levels,their best athletes would have beencompetitive. But there is no comparisonbetween them and elite national andinternational athletes for two basicreasons.

First are the numbers. The primarydeterminant of aerobic capacity ismaximum oxygen consumption, or maxVO2. If you want to be a world-classendurance athlete, you better choose your

parents well, because max VO2 is almostentirely determined by genetics. One ofthe highest max VO2 values ever reliablyrecorded for an elite male athlete in theUnited States is about 84 milliliters perkilogram per minute (ml/kg/ min).Contrast this value to about 40 ml/kg/minfor the average American male. So whathappens if the 40 ml/kg/min guy wants tobecome world class and sets off upon anincredibly intense training program foryears and years? Does he have a chance ofgetting to 84 ml/kg/min? Not even close!Max VO2 can increase by about 10 to 15percent in the best of all worlds, but nomore. In the United States, we now havemore than 300 million residents. Comparethis with the fewer than 1,000 Achehunter-gatherers that Dr. Hill

accompanied. If only one person out of1,000 has a genetically determined maxVO2 of greater than 70 ml/kg/ min, then inthe US population, there will be 30,000people who have the genetic potential toperform at extremely high aerobiccapacities. Among the Ache hunter-gatherers, only one person in their entirepopulation will have this genetic capacity.

Hunter-gatherers wouldn’t stand achance against Olympian enduranceathletes, not only because of the numbersgame but also because they were limitedto low-octane fuel. Intramusculartriglyceride is a great energy source formoderate to hard exercise lasting forhours, but it can’t hold a candle toglycogen when it comes to high-level

exertion at 85 percent or greater of theVO2 required to make Olympicchampions. Because hunter-gatherers ateless carbohydrate and more fat, along withfewer daily meals, their intramusculartriglyceride stores would have beenhigher than ours. But they also ate no highglycemic load carbs (except foroccasional honey), so their muscleglycogen reserves would have alwaysbeen lower than ours. They simply lackedthe fuel injection of high glycemic loadcarbs to restore muscle glycogenconcentrations following hard exercise.You now have this option. Not only cany o u increase muscle glycogenconcentrations via careful dietarymanipulation but, by following ournutritional plan, you can also increase

intramuscular triglycerides.You, as a 21st-century endurance

athlete, are no longer reliant upon thecurrent scientific status quo relating diet toperformance—you have the addedadvantage of knowing how the wisdom ofyour ancestral dietary background canimprove performance. When you combinethe best of their world with the best ofours, your performance will soar.

PART IV

PUTTING ITINTO

PRACTICE

CHAPTER 11

THE TRAININGTABLE

You won’t need to buy any exotic foods toproperly follow the Paleo Diet forAthletes. No matter if you live in a bigcity or in the country, the diet’s mainstays(fresh meats, fish, and fruits andvegetables) are almost always on hand atyour local grocery store or supermarket.In Chapter 9 we laid out a comprehensivelist of the foods you should limit orexclude from your diet. In this chapter,

we’ll show you all the delicious, health-giving choices you have the luxury to eat.We’ll also give you some practicalpointers on how to pull off a Stone Agediet in the 21st century.

YOUR PRIORITY: FRESHFOODS

When you’re hungry in the United States,getting something to eat is as easy as thenearest vending machine, fast-foodrestaurant, or convenience store. But youknow what? You have to look long andhard to find “real” food—food that is notadulterated with sugar, salt, refinedgrains, and trans fats—at any of theseplaces. The incredible overabundance and

easy access to processed foods in thiscountry make it easy to derail your plansto improve your diet—particularly whenyou’re famished and need food now.

One of the keys to the Paleo Diet forAthletes is fresh foods. I repeat—freshfoods! They really are so much better foryou than their canned, processed, frozen,and prepackaged counterparts that there isno comparison. Canned, sugar-lacedpeaches don’t hold a candle to freshpeaches, either in taste or nutrition. A fattyhot dog with its added salt, sugar, andpreservatives, whether it’s ground fromleftover pork or beef, bears littlenutritional resemblance to fresh pork loinor beef flank steak.

As an athlete, you know that small

but perceptible extra efforts duringtraining, day in and day out, season in andseason out, will pay off over the long haul.Pushing that last interval to the max hurts,but by doing so regularly, you willbecome fitter and stronger and yourperformance will improve—maybe byonly 1 to 2 percent, but, as we pointed outi n Chapter 8, that seemingly minusculedifference can be huge when it comes toracing. This same principle holds truewith the foods you eat. By methodicallyeating fresh, wholesome foods wheneverand wherever you can, the overall tracenutrient (vitamins, minerals, andphytochemicals) density of your diet willultimately improve. And, as we havepreviously pointed out, there is a mountainof scientific evidence to show that your

immune system functions better whenproperly nourished. A healthy immunesystem can more effectively ward offillness and help you to recover morerapidly from injuries, thereby allowingyou to train at higher levels. Do yourself afavor—get fresh fruits, veggies, leanmeats, and seafood into your dietwhenever you can.

If you’re like most Americans, freshfruits and veggies occupy a small drawerin your fridge, where they get wilted, soft,and brown, and they end up thrown outmore often than eaten. This will changewith your new diet, and here are somepractical pointers to help you get morefresh produce into your meal plans.

1. Thoroughly wash your fresh veggiesand put them in storage bags orcontainers before you put them inyour refrigerator. These simple stepswill prevent wilting, increase storagelife, and reduce contaminants.

2. Buy enough produce to last for nomore than 5 to 7 days. It’s better toget fresh supplies at least once aweek.

3. If food preparation time is an issue,you can purchase a lot of producethat’s packaged and ready to go withlittle or no prep. Examples includeshredded lettuce and salad mixes;precut broccoli florets; baby spinachleaves; washed and peeled babycarrots; precut chunks of melon,

pineapple, and other fruit; andshelled nuts. But remember, you’llpay a bit more for the convenience.

4. Make a very large mixed salad at thebeginning of the week and put it in alarge, sealed container; dish outportions as needed throughout theweek.

Organic ProduceHow about organic produce—anyadvantages to it? Should you pay thehigher price? Table 11.1 is adapted fromthe results of a study that compilednumerous publications comparing thenutrient content of organic versusconventionally produced plant foods. Datafrom this study as well as other

comprehensive reviews of the literaturegenerally conclude that, except for aslightly higher vitamin C content andpossibly protein in organically producedvegetables (but not fruits), no differencesexist for any other vitamins or minerals.So, if you’re contemplating buying organicproduce for its greater nutritional value,it’s simply not worth it.

However, do note that the levels ofnitrate in organically produced fruits andveggies are consistently lower than inconventional produce. Both the WorldHealth Organization and theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)in the United States have set limits fordaily nitrate intake (1.6milligrams/nitrate/kilogram body weight).Generally, both conventional and organic

fruits and vegetables fall belowacceptable limits. Similarly, some studieshave demonstrated reduced amounts ofpesticides in organic produce. Elevatedenvironmental and dietary exposure toboth nitrates and pesticides is associatedwith an elevated risk for developingcertain cancers. If either of these issues isof concern to you, then go with organicproduce.

TABLE 11.1

Comparison of Organic versusConventionally Grown Plant Foods.

Percentage of Studies in Which OrganicCrops Have Increased, Remained theSame, or Decreased Compared with

Conventionally Grown Crops.

NUTRIENT %INCREASED

%REMAINEDSAME

%DECREASED

NO. OFSTUDIES

Vitamin C 58.3 33.3 8.3 36Beta-carotene 38.5 38.5 23.0 13

Zinc 25.0 56.3 18.7 16B vitamins 12.5 75.0 12.5 16Calcium 44.7 42.5 12.8 47Protein 100 0 0 3Magnesium 37.7 53.3 8.0 45Nitrate 12.5 25.0 62.5 40Iron 42.9 40.0 17.1 35

Acceptable Fresh VegetablesPotatoes maintain high glycemic loads andshould be eaten only during thepostexercise window, as explained inChapter 4. If you have an autoimmunedisease, you should proceed cautiously

with potatoes, as they contain antinutrientsthat increase intestinal permeability, asignificant step toward autoimmunity.Corn on the cob is a cereal grain andshould therefore be excluded. Most of ushave never tasted cassava roots, but theyalso should be avoided because of theirhigh glycemic loads. Otherwise, virtuallyall fresh vegetables are perfectlyacceptable: asparagus, parsnip, radish,broccoli, lettuce, mushrooms, dandeliongreens, mustard greens, watercress,purslane, onions, green onions, carrots,parsley, squash of all varieties, allpeppers, artichokes, tomatoes,cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts,celery, cucumbers, tomatillos, collards,Swiss chard, endive, beets, beet greens,rutabaga, kohlrabi, kale, eggplant,

pumpkin, sweet potatoes, turnips, turnipgreens, spinach, seaweed, yams.

Acceptable Fresh FruitsAs with vegetables, any fresh fruits youcan get your hands on are fair game,except for people who are overweight orhave one or more symptoms of metabolicsyndrome (type 2 diabetes, high bloodpressure, high cholesterol, or heartdisease). In this case, you should followthe recommendations we have made forfruit in Chapter 9. For athletes, the onlyexceptions are dried fruits (such asraisins, dates, and figs), which, likepotatoes, have high glycemic loads andshould be limited to the postexercisewindow. Reach for these and other fruits

anytime: apples, oranges, pears, peaches,plums, kiwifruit, pomegranates, grapes,watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon,cassava melon, pineapple, guava,nectarines, apricots, strawberries,blackberries, blueberries, raspberries,avocado, carambola, cherimoya, cherries,grapefruit, lemon, lime, lychee, mango,papaya, passion fruit, persimmon,tangerine, star fruit, gooseberries,boysenberries, cranberries, rhubarb.

GETTING THE FATTYACID BALANCE RIGHT

As you know by now, getting the fatty acidbalance right is essential in replicatinghunter-gatherer diets with modern foods.

For our Stone Age ancestors, this problemwas a no-brainer. Because their only foodchoices were wild plants and animals, thefatty acid balance always fell withinhealthful limits. By following our simpleadvice of eating fresh meats, seafood, andfatty fish along with healthful oils, youwon’t have to give a second thought to thecorrect balance, either.

Acceptable Domestic AnimalProductsAlways choose fresh meat, preferably freerange or grass-fed. Almost all cuts ofbeef, pork, and poultry are good choices,and as we have outlined i n Chapter 9,fattier cuts of meat can be included in yourdiet without increasing your risk for heart

disease. Nevertheless, know that fattymeat contains less protein than leaner cutsdo and hence is not as nutritionally denseas lean meat. A good financial strategy isto look for sales and buy your meat in bulkand then freeze it.

Eggs are high in protein, vitamins,and minerals and should be regularlyincluded in your diet. Look for eggsproduced by free-ranging chickens or foromega-3-enriched eggs. Virtually allrecent human studies confirm that eggconsumption will not increase your riskfor cardiovascular disease.

Organ meats, except for marrow andbrains, of commercially produced animalsare quite lean. However, the liver andkidneys, which cleanse and detoxify the

animal’s body, frequently contain highconcentrations of environmentalcontaminants. We recommend eating onlycalves’ liver because virtually all calvesslaughtered in the United States haven’tfound their way to the toxic feedlotenvironment; all are pasture fed. Brainscontain high concentrations of omega-3fatty acids and were relished by ourhunter-gatherer ancestors. However,because of the small risk of developingprion disease (mad cow disease), we donot advise eating the brains of any animal,domestic or wild. Cholesterol-loweringmonounsaturated fatty acids are thedominant (about 65 percent) fatty acids inmarrow and tongue, both of which arequite healthful and tasty. Beef, lamb, andpork sweetbreads are infrequently eaten,

but contain healthful fatty acids.

Grass-Fed or Free-RangingMeatsIf you can find it, grass-fed (or free-ranging) meat will always be a betterchoice than domestic beef, pork, orpoultry because it is richer in healthfulomega-3 fatty acids, higher in protein (likewild game), and less likely to be taintedwith hormones and pesticides. Figure 11.1contrasts the total fat percentage amongwild game, grass-fed beef, and feedlot-produced beef, while Table 11.2compares the differences in fatty acidcontent.

FIGURE 11.1

Jo Robinson’s Web site,http://eatwild.com/, is the best and mostcomprehensive resource for locating

farmers and ranchers in your locale thatproduce grass-fed meats.

You can often find organicallyproduced beef and other meat items inhealth food stores or at farmers’ markets.However, organic meat and grass-fedmeat are not always one and the same.Frequently, organic beef or buffalo isfattened with “organically produced”grains, yielding the same poor ratio ofomega-6 to omega-3 found in feedlotanimals.

TABLE 11.2

Comparison of Animals’ Muscle FattyAcid Concentrations (mg fatty

acids/100 g sample)

FATTY ACID ELK MULE DEER ANTELOPESAT 610 989 895MUFA 507 612 610PUFA 625 746 754Omega-3 PUFA 178 225 216Omega-6 PUFA 448 524 536

FATTY ACID PASTURE-FED STEER GRAIN-FED STEERSAT 910 1,909MUFA 793 1,856PUFA 262 341Omega-3 PUFA 61 46Omega-6 PUFA 138 243

SAT = total saturated fatty acids; MUFA = totalmonounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA = total polyunsaturatedfatty acids

Commercially AvailableGame Meat and Other ExoticMeats

In the United States, the commercial saleof hunted wild game is prohibited. So,unless you are a hunter, the only way toobtain game meat is to purchase meat thathas been produced on game farms orranches—but even that, except for buffalo,is difficult to find. (One of the largestmail-order suppliers of game meat thatcan be found in the United States is GameSales International.) Generally, this meatis superior to feedlot products, but it maynot be as lean or as healthful as wildgame. It is not an uncommon practice tofeed grain to elk and buffalo to fatten thembefore slaughter.

Exotic meats you may want to tryinclude kangaroo, venison, elk, alligator,reindeer, pheasant, quail, Muscovy duck,goose, wild boar, ostrich, rattlesnake,

emu, turtle, African springbok antelope,New Zealand Cervena deer, squab, wildturkey, caribou, bear, buffalo, rabbit, andgoat.

Fish, Seafood, and ShellfishWe no longer live in a healthy, pristine,unpolluted environment; pesticides, heavymetals, chemicals, and other toxiccompounds frequently make their way intoour food chain. No one knows preciselyhow low-level exposure to these toxinsaffects health over the course of a lifetime.It is prudent to try to reduce our exposureto toxic compounds whenever possible,but it is virtually impossible to eliminateexposure to environmental toxins becausethey now permeate even such places as the

Antarctic. Fish frequently contain highconcentrations of mercury and pesticides.To minimize your risk of eatingcontaminated fish, avoid eating freshwaterfish from lakes and rivers, particularly theGreat Lakes and other industrializedareas. Also avoid large, long-lived fishsuch as swordfish, tuna, and shark becausethey tend to concentrate mercury in theirflesh.

Fish, seafood, and shellfish are a fewof the most healthful animal foods you canconsume and represent a foundation of thePaleo Diet for Athletes because they areenriched sources of the therapeutic, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids known as EPAand DHA. Fatty fish such as salmon,mackerel, sardines, and herring areparticularly concentrated in both of these

long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Try totake in fish at least three times per week.

About 20 years ago, people withheart disease were advised to steer clearof shellfish, which was believed to havetoo much cholesterol. It’s true thatshellfish is high in cholesterol—but thegood news is that we don’t have to avoidit. It turns out that dietary cholesterol has avery small effect upon blood cholesterolwhen the food’s total saturated fat contentis low. Table 11.3 shows that all shellfishare quite low in both saturated and totalfat, despite having relatively highcholesterol concentrations. We encourageyou to eat as much shellfish as you enjoy.

TABLE 11.3

Cholesterol and Fat Content in Shellfish(100 g portions)

FOOD CHOLESTEROL

(mg)SATURATEDFAT (g)

TOTAL FAT (%total energy)

Shrimp 200 0.4 15Crayfish 114 0.2 11Lobster 95 0.2 9Abalone 85 0.2 7Whelk 65 0.03 3Crab 59 1 10Oysters 50 0.5 26Clams 34 1 12Scallops 33 0.1 8Mussels 28 0.4 23

Here’s a list of fish and shellfish thatare important components in any modern-day variety of the Stone Age diet:

FISH

BassBluefishCodDrumEelFlatfishGrouperHaddockHalibutHerringMackerelMonkfishMulletNorthern pike

Orange roughyPerchRed snapperRockfishSalmonScrodSharkStriped bassSunfishTilapiaTroutTunaTurbotWalleye

Any commercially available fish

SHELLFISHAbaloneCalamari (squid)CrabCrayfishLobsterMusselsOctopusOystersScallopsShrimp

Besides being rich sources of EPA

and DHA, fish and seafood representsome of our best high-protein foods. Thehigh protein content of the Paleo Diet forAthletes is central to many of itsperformance benefits. Protein helps youlose weight more rapidly by raising yourmetabolism while concurrently curbingyour appetite. Additionally, proteinlowers your total blood cholesterol as itsimultaneously increases the good HDLmolecules that rid your body of excessivecholesterol. Protein also stabilizes bloodsugar and reduces the risk of high bloodpressure, stroke, heart disease, and certaincancers.

Healthful Oils, Nuts, andSeeds

Table 11.4 provides you with all theinformation you need to pick out the mosthealthful oils. Oils you use for cookingneed to be stable and more resistant to theoxidizing effects of heat, whereas thoseyou use in your salads don’t. Saturatedfatty acids (SAT) are the most stable andheat resistant, followed bymonounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), thenpolyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Yourchoice of cooking oils should be high inMUFA and relatively low in PUFA. Forthe price, olive oil is the best oil forcooking. All oils, regardless of their fatty-acid makeup, oxidize during cooking.Consequently, you should not fry at high orsearing heats; instead, sauté at low tomedium temperatures and cook for shorterperiods.

The stability of oil is determined notonly by its relative ratio of SAT to MUFAto PUFA but also by the type of PUFA.Omega-3 PUFA are more fragile thanomega-6 PUFA because of the locationand number of the double bonds in thefatty acid molecule. Consequently,flaxseed and walnut oils should not beused for cooking because of their highconcentrations of total PUFA and omega-3PUFA. However, both oils are goodchoices for dressing salads. Flaxseed oilis the richest vegetable source of omega-3fatty acids. Pour it over steamed veggiesor incorporate it into a marinade added tomeat and seafood after cooking. Bothstrategies are great ways to get moreomega-3 fatty acids into your diet.

Because of their high MUFA and low

PUFA contents, olive, macadamia andavocado oils are good choices for cookingand add a wonderful flavor to any dish.However, macadamia and avocado oilsare pricey and difficult to find. Notice thatcoconut oil also can be used for cookingbecause of its high SAT and low PUFAcontent. It is also a highly concentratedsource of a fatty acid called lauric acid,which has therapeutic effects upon gutbacterial flora. Numerous studies ofindigenous traditional Pacific Islandsocieties prior to westernization verifythat coconut consumption has no adverseeffects upon cardiovascular disease.

The oils we recommend are flaxseed,walnut, avocado, macadamia, coconut,and olive. Although soybean and wheat

germ oils appear on paper to haveacceptable fatty acid balances, both areconcentrated sources of antinutrientsknown as lectins. Wheat germ oil is thehighest dietary source of the lectin wheatgerm agglutinin (WGA), and soybean oilcontains soybean agglutinin (SBA). Inanimal models, both of those lectins havebeen shown to adversely influencegastrointestinal and immune function.Similarly, peanuts are not nuts butlegumes. Peanut oil, just like soybean oil,is a concentrated source of the lectinpeanut agglutinin (PNA).

TABLE 11.4

Fatty Acid Composition of Salad andCooking Oils

TYPE OF OIL OMEGA-6: OMEGA-3 RATIO % MUFAFlaxseed 0.24 20.2Canola 2.00 58.9Walnut 5.08 22.8Macadamia 6.29 77.7Soybean 7.5 23.3Wheat germ 7.9 15.1Avocado 13.0 67.9Olive 13.1 22.5Rice bran 20.9 39.3Oat 21.9 35.1Tomato seed 22.1 22.8Corn 83.0 24.2Sesame 137.2 39.7Cottonseed 258 15.8Sunflower 472.9 19.5Grape seed 696 16.1Poppy seed extremely high (no omega-3s) 19.7Hazelnut extremely high (no omega-3s) 78.0Peanut extremely high (no omega-3s) 46.2Coconut extremely high (no omega-3s) 5.8

Palm extremely high (no omega-3s) 11.4Almond extremely high (no omega-3s) 70.0Apricot kernel extremely high (no omega-3s) 60.0Safflower extremely high (no omega-3s) 14.4

TYPE OF OIL % PUFA % SATFlaxseed 66.0 9.4Canola 29.6 7.1Walnut 63.3 9.1Macadamia 2.0 15.9Soybean 57.9 14.4Wheat germ 61.7 18.8Avocado 13.5 11.6Olive 8.4 13.5Rice bran 35.0 19.7Oat 40.9 19.6Tomato seed 53.1 19.7Corn 58.7 12.7Sesame 41.7 14.2Cottonseed 51.9 25.9Sunflower 65.7 10.3Grape seed 69.9 9.6

Poppy seed 62.4 13.5Hazelnut 10.2 7.4Peanut 32.0 16.9Coconut 1.8 86.5Palm 1.6 81.5Almond 17.4 8.2Apricot kernel 29.3 6.3Safflower 74.6 6.2

MUFA=monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA =polyunsaturated fatty acids; SAT = saturated fatty acids

What’s Wrong with PeanutOil and Peanuts?If you look at peanut oil fatty acidcomposition in Table 11.4 , you’ll see thatalmost 80 percent is made up ofcholesterol-lowering monounsaturated andpolyunsaturated fats. Hence, on thesurface, you might think that peanut oil

would be helpful in preventing the artery-clogging process (atherosclerosis) thatunderlies coronary heart disease. Well,your idea is not a whole lot different fromwhat nutritional scientists believed—thatis, until they got around to actually testingpeanut oil in laboratory animals. Startingin the 1960s and continuing into the 1980s,scientists found peanut oil to beunexpectedly atherogenic, causing arterialplaques to form in rabbits, rats, andprimates—only a single study showedotherwise. In fact, peanut oil is soatherogenic that it continues to beroutinely fed to rabbits to stimulateatherosclerosis to study the disease itself.

At first, it was not clear how aseemingly healthful oil could be so toxicin such a wide variety of animals. Then, in

a series of experiments, DavidKritchevsky, PhD, and colleagues at theWistar Institute in Philadelphia showedthat peanut oil lectin (PNA) was mostlikely responsible for the artery-cloggingproperties. A lectin is a fairly largeprotein molecule, and most nutritionalscientists had assumed that digestiveenzymes in the gut would degrade it intoits component amino acids, so the intactlectin molecule would not be able to getinto the bloodstream to do its dirty work.But they were wrong. It turned out thatlectins were highly resistant to the gut’sprotein-shearing enzymes. An experimentconducted by Dr. Wang and colleaguesand published in the prestigious medicaljournal Lancet revealed that PNA getsinto the bloodstream intact in as little as 1

to 4 hours after participants ate a handfulof roasted, salted peanuts. Even though theconcentrations of PNA in the blood werequite low, they were still at amountsknown to cause atherosclerosis in animalexperiments. Lectins are a lot like super-glue—it doesn’t take much. Because theseproteins contain carbohydrates, they canbind to a wide variety of cells in the body,including the cells lining the arteries. Andindeed, it was found that PNA did itsdamage to the arteries by binding to aspecific sugar receptor. So, the practicalpoint here is to stay away from bothpeanuts and peanut oil. There are betterchoices.

How about Canola Oil?

Since the publication of The Paleo Dietfor Athletes in 2005, I have now reversedmy position on canola oil and can nolonger support its consumption or use. Letme explain why. Cano la oil is extractedfrom the seeds of the rape plant (Brassicarapa or Brassica campestris), which is amember of the broccoli, cabbage,Brussels sprouts, and kale family.Unquestionably, humans have eatencabbage and its botanical relatives beforehistorical times, and I still solidly supportconsumption of these healthy veggies.However, the concentrated oil fromBrassica seeds is an entirely differentproposition.

Before genetic modification byagronomists, rape plants produced a seedoil that maintained high levels (20-50

percent) of erucic acid (amonounsaturated fatty acid; lipid name:22:1v9), which is toxic and causes tissueinjury in many organs of experimentalanimals. In the 1970s, Canadian plantscientists developed a strain of rape plantthat produced a seed with less than 2percent erucic acid (hence the namecanola oil). The erucic acid concentrationof store-bought canola oil averages 0.6percent. Nevertheless, severalexperiments in the 1970s demonstratedthat even at low concentrations (2.0percent and 0.88 percent), canola oil fedto rats could still cause small heartscarring that was deemed “pathological.”A succession of current rat studies of lowerucic canola oil performed by Dr. NaokiOhara and colleagues at the Hatano

Research Institute in Japan reportedkidney injuries, elevations in bloodsodium concentrations, and irregularalterations to a hormone (aldosterone) thatcontrols blood pressure. Other adverseeffects of canola oil consumption inanimals at 10 percent of calories includedecreased litter sizes, behavioral changes,and liver damage. A number of currenthuman studies of canola/rapeseed oil bySanna Poikonen, MD, and coworkers atthe University of Tampere in Finlandindicated it to be a potent allergen inadults and children that causes allergiccross-reactions from other environmentalallergens. Based upon these brand-newfindings in both humans and animals, Ifavor to err on the safe side, and can nolonger recommend canola oil as a part of

contemporary Paleo diets.

Nuts and SeedsExcept for peanuts, we recommend allnuts and seeds as healthful components ofthe Paleo Diet for Athletes. Many peoplehave food allergies, and nuts are one ofthe more common ones. Always listen toyour body; if you know or suspect that nutsdo not agree with you, then don’t eat them.This advice holds for all foods, includingshellfish, which also frequently causesallergies. In Table 11.5 , you can see thefatty acid balance for commonly availablenuts. Notice that except for walnuts andmacadamia nuts, all other nuts maintainhigh ratios of omega-6 to omega-3. Theideal ratio in your diet should be about

2:1 or slightly lower. Because nuts are socalorically dense, they can very easilyderail the best-laid dietary plans. If youuse nuts as staples—rather than leanmeats, seafood, and fresh fruits andveggies—chances are that you will not getsufficient omega-3 fatty acids in your diet.Enjoy nuts, but use them carefully.

Table 11. 5

Fatty Acid Composition of Nuts andSeeds

NUTOMEGA-6:OMEGA-3RATIO

% MUFA

Walnuts 4.2 23.6Macadamia nuts 6.3 81.6Pecans 20.9 59.5Pine nuts 31.6 39.7

Cashews 47.6 61.6Pistachios 519. 55.5Sesame seeds 58.2 39.5Hazelnuts (filberts) 90.9 78.7Pumpkin seeds 114.4 32.5Brazil nuts 377.9 36.2Sunflower seeds 472.0 9.2Almonds Extremely high (no omega-3s) 66.6Coconut Extremely high (no omega-3s) 4.4Peanuts Extremely high (no omega-3s) 52.1

NUT % PUFA % SATWalnuts 69.7 6.7Macadamia nuts 1.9 16.5Pecans 31.5 9.0Pine nuts 44.3 16.0Cashews 17.6 20.8Pistachios 31.8 12.7Sesame seeds 45.9 14.6Hazelnuts (filberts) 13.6 7.7Pumpkin seeds 47.6 19.9Brazil nuts 38.3 25.5

Sunflower seeds 69.0 11.0Almonds 25.3 8.1Coconut 1.3 94.3Peanuts 33.3 14.6

MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA =polyunsaturated fatty acids; SAT = saturated fatty acids

CHEATINGThe Paleo Diet for Athletes is actually nota diet at all but, rather, a lifelong patternof eating that, besides improving athleticperformance, will normalize body weightand reduce the risk for heart disease,cancer, and osteoporosis. It also plays asignificant role in treating diabetes,hypertension, high blood cholesterol,inflammatory gut conditions, and certain

autoimmune diseases. The positive healtheffects are thoroughly explained in TheRevised Paleo Diet (2010, John Wiley &Sons) and in The Paleo Answer (2012,John Wiley & Sons).

In order for most people to makelifelong dietary changes, a number ofbehavioral techniques seem to be helpful.When giving up certain foods, mostpeople do better psychologically whenthey know that they do not have tocompletely and forever ditch some of theirfavorites. The Paleo Diet for Athletesallows for what we call the 85:5 rule,which means that what you do infrequentlywill have little negative impact on thefavorable effects of what you do most ofthe time.

Most people consume about 21 mealsper week, plus snacks. It’s perfectlyacceptable and pleasurable if two or threeof those meals include any food you want,as long as fresh meats, seafood, fruits,vegetables, healthful oils, and nuts andseeds make up roughly 85 percent of thebalance of your weekly calories. ThePaleo Diet for Athletes allows moderatealcohol and coffee consumption oroccasional chocolates, bagels, orwhatever your favorite food may be.Cheating and digressions now and then areof great emotional benefit, and—so longas they make up 15 percent or less of theoverall diet—will have little impact onathletic performance and health effects.This recommendation, of course, does notinclude the non-Paleo foods that may be

eaten immediately before, during, andafter some workouts, as described inChapters 2, 3, and 4.

EATING OUT AND ON THEROAD

Many restaurants cater to vegetarians andincreasingly more are offering menus forlow-carb dieters. But, to date, very fewoffer Paleo meals. However, by orderingcarefully, you can usually approximate thePaleo Diet for Athletes. The best strategyfor breakfast is to order either an egg dishor some kind of fresh meat along with abowl of fresh fruit. Poached eggs are agood bet because they will not beprepared with the wrong kinds of fat,

which invariably accompany omelets andfried eggs. Also, poached or hard-boiledeggs are less likely to contain oxidizedcholesterol, a by-product of fried eggs thatespecially promotes atherosclerosis inlaboratory animals.

Lunch and dinner are usually noproblem; most restaurants offer some kindof fish, seafood, or lean-meat entrée forthese meals. Remember, the key is to get abig piece of animal protein as your maindish. Strive for simplicity: Forsake fancyentrées made with complicated sauces forsimpler versions. To even out the acidload, order a salad (hold the croutons) andrequest steamed veggies instead of thecompulsory bread or potatoes. For thesalad dressing, vinegar and oil—particularly olive oil—are fine in a pinch.

See if you can get fresh fruit for dessert.For road trips, pack a cooler with

fruits, veggies, salads, and leftover meatsand seafood. A good strategy atdinnertime is to cook about two or threetimes as much meat or seafood as you willeat, and keep the rest for breakfast andlunch the next few days. For example,barbecue a big chunk of London broil fordinner one evening, refrigerate theleftovers, and the next day slice the beefinto a mixed salad and toss with flaxseedoil and lemon juice. Voilà—an instantPaleo picnic lunch! If you don’t have acooler, check out the deli or seafoodsection of a supermarket to get cookedmeat or shrimp. Proceed to the producesection and grab some fresh fruit,avocados, and crisp veggies. Always keep

a sharp knife and some utensils in your carso that you don’t have to deal with cuttingup meat with a plastic knife.

CHAPTER 12

PALEO RECIPES

The bottom line in creating Paleo Diet forAthletes recipes with modern foods is tokeep it simple. Our Stone Age ancestorsate virtually all of their foods fresh andminimally processed. If you do likewise,your health and performance will soar.Whenever possible, choose your foods inthis order: (1) fresh, (2) frozen, (3)canned. When you prepare Stone Agerecipes with contemporary foods, bear inmind that you want to make sure theingredients are free of grains, dairy

products, salt, refined sugars, legumes(including peanuts), and yeast-containingfoods such as baked goods, pickled foods,vinegar, and fermented foods andbeverages. Be sure your food choicescontain only permitted oils, and rememberto select fresh meat, preferably grass fed.Keep in mind the foundation of the PaleoDiet for Athletes: fresh meats, seafood,and fruits and veggies!

PALEO FOODREPLACEMENTS

Our modern palettes have become jadedwith the never-ending onslaught of salt,starch, sugar, and fat laced everywhereinto processed foods. After a few weeks

of Paleo dieting, you will notice awonderful change emerging in your tastebuds.

Subtle flavors that you never knewexisted will materialize. You won’t needto add sugar to your fresh strawberries—they will taste delightfully sweet all bythemselves. Avocados will have aluscious, creamy flavor that needs noadded salt or anything else. Once you havegiven up sweet, sticky doughnuts, a freshnectarine will never have tasted so good.Spices you never knew existed willenliven your steaks and roasts, and youwill be able to discern these subtle yetincredible flavors because you will nolonger be drowning your taste buds in saltand refined sugars.

Vinegar: Vinegar contains aceticacid in a 5 percent solution andconsequently contributes to the netmetabolic acidosis that plagues the typicalAmerican diet. Additionally, unless thevinegar is distilled, it will contain smallquantities of yeast—another non-Paleofood substance that should be avoided.We recommend you replace vinegar inyour recipes with either lemon or limejuice.

Salt: One of the toughest moderndietary routines to kick is the salt habit.Salt is added to almost everything. In fact,most of us take in an appalling 10 gramsper day! These salt substitutes will notonly help you get the salt out but will alsoenliven your recipes: lemon crystals,

lemon pepper devoid of salt, powderedgarlic, powdered onion, ground redpepper, chili powder, black pepper,cumin, turmeric, celery seeds, corianderseeds, and any commercially availablesalt-free spice mixtures.

Sugars: There is absolutely no doubtthat our Stone Age ancestors had a sweettooth. Field studies of hunter-gatherersshow that they would endure enormousnumbers of bee stings to get hold of honey.During certain times of the year, theywould gorge themselves with a pound ormore of honey a day. However, theycouldn’t eat it day in and day out, all yearlong, because it simply wasn’t available.Similarly, other naturally occurringsweets such as dates, figs, or maple sugarwould have been available seasonally for

only a few short weeks during the entireyear. We should follow the hunter-gatherer example and get refined sugarsout of our diets. That doesn’t mean youhave to ban sweets entirely—you can eatall of the fresh fruit that you like (unlessyou are overweight or have one or moresymptoms of metabolic syndrome (type 2diabetes, high blood pressure, highcholesterol, obesity, and gout)), and youcan add certain spices such as vanilla,ginger, mint leaves, cinnamon, and nutmegto recipes. Also, it is entirely permissibleto add fruit purees sweetened with lemonor lime juice to your recipes.

Fat: Replace the “bad” fats (transfats, margarine, and shortening) with theseoils: olive, flaxseed, walnut, macadamia,

coconut, and avocado. Remember thatflaxseed and walnut oils are delicate andsusceptible to breakdown by heat andtherefore should be used after, not during,cooking.

Alcohol: Perhaps the most importantcomponent of any dietary plan is gettingpeople to stick with it. The best way tomake you instantly give up on the PaleoDiet for Athletes—or any diet, for thatmatter—is to make “Thou Shalt Nots.”You will notice from Chapter 9 that thereare no—repeat, no—absoluterequirements in The Paleo Diet forAthletes. We have deliberatelyincorporated this strategy into ournutritional plan to help you withcompliance. If you enjoy an occasionalglass of wine with your dinner, have it!

Realize that you have a certain number ofopen meals during the week (as fullyoutlined in Chapter 11), which allow youto enjoy any food you like. However, bearin mind that the further you deviate fromthe basic plan, the less likely you are toachieve your health and performancegoals. Obviously, alcohol was not part ofany hunter-gatherer diet, and we do notrecommend regular consumption ofalcohol for athletes, either. However, it’sperfectly acceptable to use certainalcoholic beverages such as wine to addflavor to marinades and sauces. Much ofthe alcohol is vaporized during cooking.

RECIPES

Meat DishesPORK

Barcelona Pork Loin1⁄3 cup chili powder

1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme

1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

1⁄8 teaspoon cloves

1⁄8 teaspoon allspice

1-2 tablespoons chicken stock

2 pounds boneless pork loin

½ cup water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix togetherthe chili powder, thyme, oregano, cloves, allspice, andstock to form a paste. Thoroughly rub the paste over allsides of the pork loin. Put the pork loin in a small liddedroasting pan. Add the water to the pan. Cover the panand place in the oven for 2 hours, until tender. Removethe pork from the oven and let stand, covered, for 30minutes before slicing.

Serves 4

Barbecued Lemon-PepperPork Steaks

1 onion, minced

2 teaspoons thyme

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup olive oil

6 pork steaks, each 1″ thick

1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice

1½ teaspoons grated lemon peel

Warm up your grill. Combine the onion, thyme, and

ground peppers in a small bowl. Add the garlic and oil,and thoroughly blend the ingredients with a whisk. Mopthe steaks with a paper towel, and then smother with thelemon juice. Brush both sides of the steaks with some ofthe sauce. Briefly flame the steaks over high heat andsprinkle with the lemon peel. Put the steaks on a coolside of the grill and baste liberally with the remainingsauce. Cook about 10 minutes per side under a closedgrill.

Serves 6

Oven-Baked Pecan PorkChops

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon dry sherry or water

Ground ginger and garlic powder

4 lean pork chops

¼ cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a shallow bowl, beattogether the egg, oil, and sherry. Add ginger and garlicpowder to taste. Dip the chops in the mixture, and thencoat evenly with the pecans. Arrange the pork chops in asingle layer in a glass baking dish coated with additionaloil. Bake for 30 minutes, turn, and bake until tender,about 20 minutes longer.

Serves 4

Mexico City 1968 Pork LoinAppetizer

½ pound pork tenderloin

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small carrot, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

4 bay leaves

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 stems fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons lime juice

In a large skillet, brown the pork loin in the oil, and thenbrown the carrot and onion. Place in a 4- to 6-quart potlightly coated with olive oil, and add the bay leaves,garlic, tomatoes, peppercorns, and rosemary. Add waterto cover, and simmer for 1½ hours, adding the lime juiceduring the last few minutes. Remove the pork loin andthinly slice it. Place in a dish and cover with thevegetables and sauce. Discard the bay leaves beforeserving.

Serves 6

CHICKEN AND POULTRY

Ankara Chicken4 whole skinless chicken breasts

1 large carrot, cut into 1″ pieces

1 large rib celery, cut into 1″ pieces

½ onion, sliced

2 bay leaves

6 peppercorns

½ teaspoon cumin

½ pound shelled walnuts

3 cloves garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

Place the chicken breasts, carrot, celery, onion, bayleaves, and peppercorns in a large Dutch oven. Add coldwater to cover the chicken by 1½”. Heat to a boil, andskim off all froth and solids that rise to the top. Reduceheat to low. Simmer gently until the chicken is tender, 20to 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and allow to cool,then debone it. Set aside the cooking liquid, discarding thebay leaves. In a blender or food processor, combine thecumin, walnuts, garlic, and ground pepper. Blend well,and then pour in 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Continueblending until smooth. Cut the chicken breasts in halfcrosswise, and shred the meat. Mix with the sauce andadd ground pepper as needed. Arrange the meat on aplatter. Blend the oil and paprika together, and drizzleover the chicken.

Serves 6

Lebanese Walnut Chicken1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 or 3 cloves

1⁄3 pound seedless grapes

1½ cups dry white wine

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons chicken stock

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons walnut meal

Freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon chili powder

2¼ pounds skinless chicken breasts

2 large tomatoes, sliced

1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Pour the oil in a skillet overmedium heat. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.Sear for a few seconds, then take out the cloves. Addthe whole grapes and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine,lemon juice, and stock, and cook to reduce the mixture byhalf (roughly 8 minutes). When the sauce has reduced toa syrupy consistency, remove from the heat and let cool.Mix the onion, walnut meal, pepper, thyme, and chilipowder together in a bowl, and pat onto each chickenbreast. Place the chicken breasts in a flat glass bakingdish lightly coated with olive oil, and bake for 35 to 40minutes, or until done. Place on a bed of sliced tomatoes,pour the sauce over them, and sprinkle with the choppedwalnuts.

Serves 2

Chicken à la Madrid4 large skinless chicken breasts

2 red bell peppers, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

6 plum tomatoes, peeled

2 onions, finely chopped

½ teaspoon crushed Anaheim chilies

1 small sprig fresh rosemary

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 pint reconstituted lime juice

1 pint boiling water

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients into a large saucepan. Bring to aboil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes,until the chicken is tender.

Serves 4

Zesty Grilled Turkey Breast5 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon white pepper

1½ pounds turkey breast slices, pounded ¼”thick

1 tablespoon olive oil (for basting)

Mix all sauce ingredients together in a blender. Grill orbroil the turkey breasts while brushing with the oil tokeep them moist. Grill on each side for about 5 minutes.Top each slice with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of thesauce.

Serves 4

Roasted Cornish Game Hens3 Cornish hens (1½ pounds each)

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon rubbed sage

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the skins from thehens and cut the hens in half lengthwise. Place in ashallow glass roasting pan lightly coated with olive oil.Combine the applesauce and remaining ingredients.Brush half over the hens, and set aside the remainingmixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Baste the hens with thereserved applesauce mixture, and bake for 15 to 30

minutes longer, or until done.

Serves 6

BEEF

Sirloin Tips and TomatoSauce

1½ pounds tomatoes, peeled

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ pounds sirloin tips, cubed

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Freshly ground black pepper

Puree the tomatoes in a blender along with the lemonjuice. In a large skillet, brown the onion in the oil. Addthe sirloin and cook until brown, stirring frequently. Addthe pureed tomato sauce and spices, and simmer for 1hour.

Serves 4 to 6

Braised Beef with Walnuts,Prunes, and Peaches

3 pounds lean beef

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 stems fresh thyme

7 ounces white wine

1 large tomato, chopped

3 ounces walnuts, chopped

10 dried prunes, chopped (nonsulfured;available at health food stores)

10 dried peaches, chopped (nonsulfured;available at health food stores)

Cover the beef with the garlic and parsley. Heat the oil ina large casserole dish and brown the beef. Mix in theonion, thyme, and wine, and cook over medium heat for10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomato andwalnuts. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 90minutes. Stir in the prunes and peaches, and cook for 15minutes longer, covered, until the beef is tender and thesauce is thickened.

Serves 6

Isola Pot Roast3-4 pounds lean pot roast

2 tablespoons olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound tomatoes, peeled

1 cup dry red wine

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

1 tablespoon minced parsley

2 teaspoons oregano

1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat the oven to 300°F. In a Dutch oven, brown the

roast in the oil. Add pepper to taste. Puree the tomatoesin a blender and pour over the meat. Stir in the remainingingredients. Cover and bake for 3 to 4 hours, checkingoccasionally. If pan liquid seems low, add a small amountof water while roasting.

Serves 6 to 8

Beef Kebabs1 pound top sirloin steak

1 small onion, finely chopped

½ cup Pinot Noir red wine

8 cubes (1″ x 1”) fresh pineapple

8 cherry tomatoes

1 can (8 ounces) salt-free water chestnuts,drained

Cut the steak into ¼”-thick strips. Combine the onion andwine in a bowl with the beef strips. Marinate for 4 hours.Alternately thread beef strips, pineapple cubes, cherrytomatoes, and water chestnuts onto metal skewers.Place kebabs on grill over medium coals. Grill 4 minutes,turning once.

Serves 4

Grilled London Broil1½ pounds London broil steaks, each 1½”thick

5 large cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon powdered onion

¼ cup dry red wine

¼ cup lime juice

Place all the ingredients in a shallow dish and marinate inthe refrigerator for at least 4 and up to 24 hours. Removethe steaks from the marinade and grill for 12 to 16minutes for medium-rare, turning once. Place on acutting board and, holding a sharp knife at a 45-degreeangle, cut the steak across the grain into thin slices.

Serves 2 to 4

ORGAN MEATS

Apricot-Raisin Tongue1 beef tongue

1 tablespoon garlic powder

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon marjoram

1 pound dried apricots (nonsulfured;available at health food stores)

1 pound tomatoes, peeled

½ cup lime juice

½ cup lemon juice

¼ teaspoon basil

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

1 tablespoon mustard powder

½ cup raisins

Put the tongue in a large pot, cover completely withwater, and bring to a rapid boil. Replace the water andbring to a second boil. Replace the water again and bringto a slow, easy boil. Add the garlic powder, bay leaves,and marjoram, and cook until done, about 2 hours.Discard the water and bay leaves. Skin the tongue andlet it cool. Cut into thin slices. Preheat the oven to 350°F.Place the apricots in a saucepan. Puree the tomatoes in ablender. Add the tomato sauce and the remainingingredients to the apricots, and bring to a boil. Continue tosimmer until the mixture thickens. Layer the slicedtongue in a flat casserole dish and pour the sauce over it.Bake for about 20 minutes.

Serves 4

Basque Beef Heart½ pound beef heart

½ white onion, chopped

4 peppercorns

2 whole cloves

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 cup chopped red onion

1 cup diced tomatoes

½ teaspoon rosemary

½ teaspoon thyme

Put the beef heart in a large pot filled with cold waterand add the white onion, peppercorns, cloves, and garlicpowder. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat,cover, and cook until the beef heart is fork-tender. Cool,then cut off the surface covering of the heart and slice itinto cubes. Mix together the remaining ingredients andladle over the beef cubes prior to serving.

Serves 2

Beef Liver in Lime Sauce1 pound beef liver, sliced 3⁄8” thick

1 clove garlic, slivered

½ teaspoon cumin

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons salt-free tomato sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lime juice

1½ tablespoons pecan nut flour

2 tablespoons water

Broil the liver on both sides until lightly browned but notfully cooked. Cut into 1″ squares. Place the liver, garlic,cumin, and pepper to taste in a shallow skillet over low

heat. Add the tomato sauce and oil and cover withwater. Bring to a boil and simmer. In a bowl, mix thelime juice, nut flour, and water until the mixture is thetexture of soft custard. Pour into the center of a pan andstir until smooth. Fold into the cooking liver and simmer 5minutes longer. Serve hot over steamed fresh vegetables.

Serves 4 to 6

Hungarian Chicken Liverswith Mushrooms

1 onion, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

7 tablespoons olive oil

½ pound mushrooms, sliced

1½ pounds chicken livers, cut into bite-sizepieces

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon nut flour

½ cup chicken stock

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons dry red wine

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

In a large skillet, cook the onion and green pepper in 5tablespoons of the oil for 3 to 5 minutes or until soft,stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 to5 minutes longer. Put in a bowl and add the remaining 2tablespoons of oil. Add the chicken livers to the skilletand cook for 5 minutes. Return the vegetables to theskillet. Add the paprika and nut flour and stir until theliver and vegetables are evenly coated. Add the stockand simmer until the livers are cooked to the desiredstate. Season with pepper and reduce the heat. Pour inthe wine and reheat, but do not boil. Serve the chickenlivers garnished with parsley.

Serves 6

Rocky Mountain Oysters2 pounds beef testicles

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon basil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup nut flour

Garlic powder

Turmeric

1 cup red wine

Ground red pepper

Olive oil

With a sharp knife, cut and remove the sturdy membrane

that covers each testicle and discard. Place the testiclesin a large pot filled with water and add the bay leavesand basil. Bring to a slow boil and simmer until done. Letcool and slice each testicle into “-thick ovals. Sprinklewith black pepper to taste. Mix the nut flour, garlicpowder, and turmeric to taste in a bowl. In a separatebowl, season the wine with red pepper to taste. Roll eachslice in the dry mixture, then dip into the seasoned wine.Sauté in olive oil until slightly browned or tender. Drainon paper towels.

Serves 4 to 6

GAME MEATS

Rooke’s Roast Venison2 yellow onions, sliced

3 carrots, sliced diagonally

1 rib celery, finely chopped

¼ cup olive oil

3 cups red wine

½ cup lemon juice

¼ cup Grand Marnier

1 quart water

1 branch fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

5 pounds venison roast

2 cups beef stock

3 tablespoons flaxseed oil

Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium-size pot, cook the onions, carrots, and celeryin the olive oil about 5 minutes, until soft, stirringfrequently. Add the wine, lemon juice, Grand Marnier,water, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a boiland simmer for 20 minutes. Cool, then pour over thevenison and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days, stirringoccasionally. Remove the venison from the marinade 2hours prior to cooking. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Placethe venison in a roasting pan and roast for 10 minutes,then reduce the heat to 350°F and roast for ½ to 2 hourslonger, until done. In the meantime, bring the marinade toa boil over medium heat and reduce to 2 cups, about 45minutes. Add the stock and simmer to reduce the

marinade until it starts to thicken, about 12 minutes. Turnoff the heat, cool the marinade to lukewarm, pour in theflaxseed oil, and season to taste with ground pepper.Discard the bay leaf. Cool the venison, slice into servingportions, and cover with the sauce.

Serves 5 or more

Moose Rump Roast5 to 6 pounds moose rump roast Olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons lime juice

½ cup red Zinfandel wine

1 cup water

Cumin

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Rub the roast completelywith oil. Sprinkle on the garlic powder and pepper totaste. Put the onion into the bottom of a roasting pan.

Pour 1 tablespoon each of the lemon and lime juices overthe onions. Place the roast on the onion slices. Pour therest of the juices over the meat. Add the wine and water.Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 3½ to 4hours, adding more water as necessary to keep moist.Add cumin and more pepper to taste.

Serves 8 to 10

Buffalo Steaks withMushroom Sauce

1½ pounds buffalo steak

3 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons + 4 tablespoons olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1½ cups red wine

1 cup beef stock

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chives

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

Cut the steak into 4 pieces and cover with the thyme,garlic powder, and pepper. Cook on both sides in 2teaspoons of the olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until thecenters are still pink, stirring frequently. Remove to aplatter and keep warm. Cook the shallots and mushroomsin the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil, turningfrequently. Add the wine and cook to reduce until onlyabout one-fourth is left. Add the stock and reduce untilabout one-half is left. Season with more pepper to tasteand cool. Add the parsley, chives, and flaxseed oil. Pourover the steaks before serving.

Serves 2 to 3

Tarragon Rabbit4 rabbit legs (boned)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup dry sherry

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 tablespoons dried tarragon

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large pan, cook the rabbit slowly in the oil, stirringfrequently, but do not brown. Add the sherry, tomatopuree, and garlic and onion powders. Stir in 1 tablespoonof the tarragon and season to taste with pepper. Coverand simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes. Just before

serving, turn off the heat and stir in the remainingtablespoon of tarragon.

Serves 4

Barbecued OstrichMedallions

8 ounces Cabernet Sauvignon wine

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 Jerusalem artichoke, finely chopped

1 green onion, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh or frozen (thawed)mashed blueberries

2 stems fresh thyme

2 stems fresh basil

Juice and chopped rind of 1 lemon

Juice and chopped rind of 1 lime

1 pound ostrich medallions

Combine all the ingredients except the ostrich into amarinade in a large bowl. Add the ostrich and refrigeratefor 12 hours. Remove the medallions and save themarinade. Grill the meat until it is cooked to taste.Reduce the marinade until it turns into a thick sauce.Pour over the ostrich.

Serves 4

Seafood

SHELLFISH

Peloponnesian Shrimp1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups tomatoes, diced

½ cup dry white wine

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Freshly ground black pepper

1½ pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

1⁄8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Briefly cook the garlic in 1 tablespoon of the oil, stirringfrequently. Add the tomatoes and cook for about aminute. Add the wine, basil, oregano, and black pepper totaste. Cook over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Heatthe remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet and addthe shrimp. Cook rapidly, 1 to 2 minutes, or until theshrimp turn pink. Dust with the red pepper. Pour thetomato sauce over the shrimp.

Serves 4

Cancún Zesty Mussels5 pounds mussels

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup water

2 cups white wine

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

3 to 4 large red onions, cut in rings

Freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch parsley

Lemon slices

Rinse and clean the mussels. In a 1-gallon pot, combinethe oil, water, wine, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper,onions, and black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Add thedrained mussels and return to a boil for 15 to 20 minutes.When all of the mussel shells have opened, they aredone. Garnish with parsley and serve with lemon slices.

Serves 2 to 4

Tillamook Steamed Clams6 ounces clams (if open, tap on shell; if itdoes not close, discard)

Chopped parsley

Olive oil (for serving)

Under cold running water, scrub the sand from the clamswith a stiff brush. Place the clams on a rack in asteamer. Fill with enough water to just cover the bottomof the rack. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover thesteamer, and steam the clams until they just open, 5 to 10minutes. Drain and sprinkle with parsley. Serve in soupbowls with oil on the side. To eat the clams, pull themfrom their shells by their necks and dip in olive oil.

Serves 1

Omega-3 Stuffed Crab1 pound shredded crabmeat (6 crabs)

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

Turmeric

Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

1 clove garlic

Olive oil

Cucumber slices

Combine the crabmeat with the pepper, paprika, andturmeric to taste. Add sufficient Flaxseed OilMayonnaise to moisten. Rub six crab shells with thegarlic and oil. Pile the crab mixture in the shells. Coverwith foil and place in a large baking dish. Bake at 400°F

for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done. Garnish withcucumber slices.

Serves 6

Lemon Dill Shrimp3 cloves garlic, minced

1⁄3 cup olive oil

1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1⁄3 cup fresh dill, minced

In a large skillet, cook the garlic in the oil until soft,stirring frequently. Stir in the shrimp and cook until justpink. Add the lemon juice and dill and blend well.

Serves 4

FISH

Cordain’s Fennel Salmon3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small bulb fresh fennel, cored and slivered

1½ pounds salmon fillets

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 teaspoon dried basil

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat the bottom and sides ofa glass baking dish with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Spreadthe fennel over the bottom of the dish. Carefully placethe salmon on top of the fennel and drizzle the remaining1 tablespoon of oil over it. Sprinkle with the dill and basil.Cover with foil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve withsteamed broccoli and sliced raw cucumbers.

Serves 4 to 6

Sautérne Squid1 pound squid, each about 2″ long

Pecan nut flour

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup Sautérne wine

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

Parsley sprigs

Wash the squid completely, remove the ink sack and softbackbone from each head, and strip off the blackmembrane covering the squid. Coat the squid with thenut flour and sprinkle with the garlic powder. Heat the oilin a heavy skillet and cook the squid until brown, stirring

frequently. Turn off the heat. Pour the wine over thesquid and add the lemon juice. Let stand for 5 to 10minutes, then drain. Garnish with tomato wedges andparsley sprigs.

Serves 4

Orange Poached Fish4 medium fillets of any whitefish

¼ cup dry white wine

6 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, sliced

1 medium orange, quartered

Dried dill weed

In a large skillet, place the fish in a single layer. Add thewine, peppercorns, bay leaf, onion, and enough water tojust cover the fish. Poach over medium heat until tender,then remove the fish from the pan and drain on papertowels. Squeeze the juice from the orange over the fish,and dust with dill before serving.

Serves 4

Little Valley Stuffed Trout½ teaspoon dried dill weed

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow onion

¼ cup slivered almonds

1 pound trout (brook trout if you can get one;rainbow trout will do)

Lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, mix the dill,parsley, onion, and almonds. Fill the cavity of the troutwith this mixture. Place the fish on foil and liberallysqueeze lemon juice over the fish. Add pepper to taste.Seal the foil and bake for about 25 minutes, until the fishflakes easily with a fork.

Serves 2 to 4

Reese River BarbecuedCatfish with Peach Salsa

4 catfish fillets

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground red pepper

Peach Salsa

Oil and preheat the grill. Sprinkle the catfish fillets withpepper, garlic powder, and red pepper. Place the grillabout 4″ from the heat source. Cook for about 5 minuteson each side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.Serve with Peach Salsa spooned over the fillets.

Serves 2 to 4

CONDIMENTS

Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon mustard powder

1 cup flaxseed oil

In a blender, combine the egg, lemon juice, and mustardpowder and blend for 3 to 5 seconds. Continue blendingand slowly add the oil. Blend until thick. Put into a tightlysealed plastic container and refrigerate. The mayonnaiseshould keep for 5 to 7 days.

Makes 1½ cups

All-Natural Catsup4 cups vine-ripened fresh tomatoes, diced

1 small sweet onion, diced

¼ teaspoon crushed garlic

½ sweet red bell pepper, diced

1 whole bay leaf

½ Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, anddiced

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground mace

½ cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

½ teaspoon celery seed

½ cup lemon juice

1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Into a 4-quart saucepan, place the tomatoes, onion, garlic,pepper, bay leaf, and apple. In a small cloth spice bag,put the allspice, mace, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, andcelery seed, and place into the tomato mixture. Bring to aboil, and cook until reduced by half, stirring frequently.Remove spice bag and bay leaf. Puree in a foodprocessor until well blended. Return to the saucepan andadd lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Continue cookinguntil catsup reaches a thick, spreadable consistency. Stirfrequently, and watch for sticking and scorching as itthickens. Refrigerate or freeze in a well-sealedcontainer.

Makes about 2 cups

Tartar Sauce1 cup Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon dried dill weed

Mix all the ingredients together. Chill before serving.

Makes 1 cup

Colorado Ranch Dressing1 cup Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried basil

Freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Refrigerate at least 1hour before serving.

Makes 13⁄4cups

Russian Flaxseed SaladDressing

1 cup fresh tomatoes

½ cup flaxseed oil

½ cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend untilsmooth. Refrigerate.

Makes 1½ cups

Tomato Flaxseed Dressing1⁄3 cup tomato puree

½ cup flaxseed oil

1⁄3 cup lime juice

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon honey

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend untilsmooth. Refrigerate.

Makes 1¼ cups

Garden-Fresh Salsa2 cloves garlic

1 large yellow onion, quartered

1 green bell pepper, quartered and seeded

2 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, andchopped

6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 cup fresh cilantro

Freshly ground black pepper

Mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the onion, bellpepper, and jalapeño peppers, and pulse until barelychopped. Add the tomatoes and cilantro, and processuntil combined but slightly chunky. Add pepper to taste.Refrigerate before using.

Makes 6 to 8 cups

Peach Salsa1 cup peeled and finely chopped freshpeaches

¼ cup chopped red onion

¼ cup chopped Anaheim chile peppers

½ tablespoon lime juice

½ tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon honey

Cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover andchill up to 6 hours.

Makes 1½ cups

Sacramento Guacamole3 ripe avocados

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded, andfinely diced

Mash the avocados with a fork or potato masher untilsmooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients until well mixed.Refrigerate if not eaten immediately.

Makes 3 cups

Coronado Barbecue Sauce2 teaspoons olive oil

¼ cup minced onion

1 tablespoon minced, seeded jalapeñopepper

¼ cup All-Natural Catsup

1 tablespoon honey

¼ teaspoon mustard powder

Dash of ground red pepper

2 cups diced tomatoes

Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a stainless steel saucepan. Add the onionand jalapeño pepper and cook over moderate heat,

stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the All-NaturalCatsup, honey, mustard, and red pepper and bring to asimmer. Add the tomatoes and simmer over low heat,stirring until thickened, about 10 minutes. Puree thesauce in a blender or food processor until smooth. Passthrough a strainer and season with black pepper to taste.Serve at room temperature.

Makes 2 cups

VEGETABLE DISHES

Stir-Fried Garlic Asparagus1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound fresh asparagus spears

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cook the garlic in the oil until soft, stirring frequently.Add the asparagus spears. Cook until tender, 3 to 5minutes. Pour the lemon juice over the asparagus.

Serves 4

Spicy Lemon Broccoli4 cups small broccoli florets

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel

Crushed red pepper

Place a vegetable steamer in a medium saucepan and fillwith water to the bottom of the steamer. Place thebroccoli in the steamer and bring to a boil. Cover andcook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the broccoli. Heat theoil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the lemon peel andcrushed red pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently,until the peel begins to brown, about 1 minute. Add thebroccoli and stir until hot, about 1 minute.

Serves 4

Crunchy Garlic Broccoli1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups broccoli florets

2 cloves garlic, run through a press

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the broccoli, cover, andcook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat tolow and cook for 2 minutes, or until just tender. Add thegarlic, and cook for 1 minute.

Serves 4

Marinated Broccoli Stalks2 pounds fresh broccoli

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon dried dill weed

1 clove garlic, minced

Red cabbage leaves

Detach broccoli florets from the stalks, leaving only thesecondary stalks attached to the main stalk. (Reserveflorets for another use.) Cut off and discard the toughbottom end of the main stalk. Cut the remaining stalksdiagonally into ½” slices. (You should have about 2cups.) Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, dill, and garlicin a medium bowl. Add the sliced stalks and stir to coatevenly. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours. Serve oncabbage leaves.

Serves 4

Baked Walnut-StuffedCarrots

4 large carrots, washed and pared

1 medium onion, chopped

¼ cup chopped walnuts

½ green bell pepper, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Boil the carrots for 30 minutes, then cut in halflengthwise. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Hollow out thecenters and puree the extracted portions. Combine theonion, walnuts, and bell pepper with 1 tablespoon of theoil. Add ground pepper to taste. Mix in the pureedcarrots, and stuff the eight carrot halves with themixture. Bake in a dish coated with the remaining 2

tablespoons of oil. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Serves 8

Steamed Baby Carrots withBasil

20 small carrots, washed and trimmed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dried basil

Put a vegetable steamer in the bottom of a mediumsaucepan, and fill with water to the bottom of thesteamer. Bring to a boil, place the carrots in the steamer,cover, and reduce the heat. Steam until tender, 5 to 10minutes. Pour the lemon juice over the carrots andsprinkle with basil to taste.

Serves 4

Lemon-Vinaigrette Carrots1 pound carrots, peeled

½ cup olive oil

1⁄3 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cut the carrots into very thin diagonal slices. Place in alarge skillet, cover with water, and boil until tender, 3 to 5minutes. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in asmall bowl. Drain the carrots and toss with the lemonvinaigrette.

Serves 4

Tomato-Pecan Zucchini2 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise

1 small red onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted tomato sauce

½ teaspoon dried parsley

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Hollow out the zucchinihalves. In a saucepan, heat the pulp with the onion,tomato sauce, parsley, garlic, and pecans for 5 minutes.Stuff the zucchini shells with the mixture. Place in abaking dish with a little water on the bottom. Bake for 30minutes, until the zucchini is soft.

Serves 2

Sautéed Cauliflower andZucchini

1 head cauliflower

½ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon lime juice

1½ teaspoons cumin

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon chopped yellow onion

3 zucchini, cut into ½” slices

Detach the florets from the cauliflower and place in a

large skillet with boiling water. Cook until just tender,about 5 minutes. Pour out the water and remove theflorets. Pour the oil into the skillet and stir in the limejuice, cumin, pepper, basil, oregano, and onion. Add thezucchini and cauliflower. Cover and cook over low heatfor 10 to 15 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender.

Serves 6

Livorno Eggplant2 eggplants, peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon cumin

3 medium tomatoes, diced

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Add the eggplant to boilingwater and boil for 1 minute. Remove and drain theeggplant. Place the eggplant in a bowl and set aside.Cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil about 5 minutesor until soft, stirring frequently. Add the onion, garlic,

basil, oregano, and cumin to the eggplant; blend well. Putthe mixture into a well-oiled glass baking dish. Layer withthe diced tomatoes and bake uncovered for 25 to 30minutes.

Serves 4

SALADS

Colorado Coleslaw2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced

3 cups shredded cabbage

1 rib celery, chopped

1 carrot, grated

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

½ cup Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

In a large bowl, pour the lemon juice over the apple slices

and add the cabbage, celery, carrot, and onion. Mixtogether the garlic powder and Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise,and combine with the cabbage mixture.

Serves 4

Basil Tomatoes4 medium tomatoes, sliced

¼ cup flaxseed oil

1½ tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon dried basil

1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

Place the tomatoes in a shallow dish. Combine theremaining ingredients and pour the dressing over thetomatoes. Cover and refrigerate before serving.

Serves 4

Omega-3 Spinach Salad1 pound fresh spinach

2 tablespoons lime juice

¼ cup flaxseed oil

1 tablespoon honey

Freshly ground black pepper

1 avocado, diced

8 ounces pork loin (precooked, cooled, anddiced)

2 omega-3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped

Wash the spinach and dry with paper towels. Mixtogether the lime juice, oil, honey, and pepper to taste in alarge bowl. Fold the avocado cubes into the dressing.Toss the spinach, pork loin, and chopped eggs with the

avocado and dressing.

Serves 4

Greek Cucumber-TomatoSalad

1 large cucumber, cut into ½” slices, thenquartered

2 medium tomatoes, cut into eighths

¼ red onion, very thinly sliced

½ green bell pepper, very thinly sliced

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper in abowl. Toss with the lemon juice and oil. Add blackpepper to taste.

Serves 2

Avocado-Cucumber Salad1 medium unwaxed cucumber, peeled andvery thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 teaspoon minced onion

Lettuce

1 avocado, sliced

Fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine the cucumber slices with the bellpepper, lime juice, jalapeño pepper, and onion. Arrangelettuce leaves on six serving plates. Pile the cucumbermixture in the center of each plate. Add avocado slices

and garnish with parsley.

Serves 6

Bombay Chicken Salad2 whole skinless chicken breasts, visible fatremoved

1 tablespoon curry

4 tablespoons Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

1 tablespoon garam masala spice mixture

4 fresh pineapple slices, diced

1 tablespoon raisins

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 cucumber, peeled and finely chopped

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

Place the chicken breasts and curry in a pot filled withwater. Simmer slowly until completely cooked; drain and

cool. Cut the chicken into ½” cubes or smaller. In amedium serving dish, combine the Flaxseed OilMayonnaise with the remaining ingredients. Add thechicken and mix well.

Serves 4

Guacamole Salad4 avocados

2½ tablespoons lime juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Anaheim chile pepper with seeds, finelychopped

1 teaspoon onion powder

Butter lettuce leaves

1 tomato, diced

Mash the avocados into a chunky paste and add the limejuice, garlic, chile pepper, and onion powder. Stir well andspoon onto the lettuce leaves. Cover with diced tomato.

Serves 2

Omega-3 Crab Salad2 cups cooked crabmeat, cooled and flaked

1 cup diced celery

¼ cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

Mixed salad greens

6 avocado wedges

Mix the crabmeat with the celery, bell pepper, onionpowder, black pepper, lemon juice, and Flaxseed OilMayonnaise. Serve over mixed greens with avocado.

Serves 2

Salsa Shrimp Salad2 cups boiled shrimp

½ cup diced celery

1 teaspoon finely chopped onion

3 omega-3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped

1⁄3 cup Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise

¼ cup Garden-Fresh Salsa

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Butter lettuce leaves

Combine the shrimp, celery, onion, and eggs. Mixtogether the Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise, Garden-FreshSalsa, and lemon juice. Toss together all the ingredientsand spoon onto lettuce leaves. Chill before serving.

Serves 4

Lean Beef Salad½ cup All-Natural Catsup

1⁄3 cup flaxseed oil

¼ up lemon juice

½ teaspoon ground ginger

3 cups cooked lean beef, cut into strips

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cup sliced celery

½ cup green or sweet onion, thinly sliced

4 cups salad greens (romaine lettuce,Chinese cabbage, spinach)

Mix the All-Natural Catsup, oil, lemon juice, and gingertogether to make a marinade. Combine the beef,tomatoes, bell pepper, mushrooms, celery, and onion andcover with the marinade. Chill for 2 hours. Put the saladgreens into a serving bowl. Drain the marinade from thebeef and vegetable mixture; reserve the marinade. Spoonthe beef and vegetables onto the greens and toss. Servewith the extra marinade for dressing.

Serves 4

SOUPS

Acapulco Avocado Soup2 avocados, diced

1 tablespoon chopped green onions

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups chicken stock

Freshly ground black pepper

Ground cumin

1 sprig cilantro

1 tomato, diced

Place the avocados in a blender or food processor andpuree until smooth. Cook the onions and jalapeño pepperin the oil until tender, stirring frequently. In a large bowl,combine the avocado with the stock and the onions andjalapeño pepper, mixing until smooth. Add black pepperand cumin to taste. Chill for 60 minutes prior to serving.Garnish with cilantro and diced tomato.

Serves 4

Broccoli Soup1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1½ pounds broccoli florets

3 cups chicken stock

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in the oiluntil tender, stirring frequently. Add the broccoli andstock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 10to 15 minutes, until the broccoli is tender. Put the mixturein a blender and puree until smooth, return it to thesaucepan, and heat slowly. Season with the nutmeg andpepper to taste.

Serves 4 to 6

Karachi Carrot Soup1 butternut squash, cut in half, seedsremoved

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups water

1 pound carrots, peeled and diced

1½” fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Freshly ground black pepper

1 sprig parsley

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the squash, cut sidedown, onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 35 to 40minutes, or until softened. Cool, then spoon the flesh outof the skin. Cook the onion and garlic in a large saucepanwith the oil until soft but not browned, stirring frequently.Pour in the water and add the squash flesh, carrots, andginger. Bring to a boil and cook for at least 20 minutes, oruntil the carrots and ginger are tender. Put the mixture ina blender and puree. Return the soup to the saucepanand reheat. Add the cinnamon, season to taste withpepper, and garnish with parsley.

Serves 4

Fresh Tomato-Basil Soup2 large yellow onions, diced

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled

1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh basil leaves

In a large saucepan, cook the onions in the oil untiltranslucent, stirring frequently. Put the tomatoes in ablender and puree. Add the orange peel, lemon juice, andpureed tomatoes to the saucepan, and cook overmedium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20minutes. Season to taste with pepper and garnish withbasil.

Serves 4 to 6

Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup2 large skinless chicken breasts

½ teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon marjoram

1 bunch celery, chopped

1 medium head cabbage, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

6 onions, chopped

8 tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 whole peppercorns

1 bay leaf

In a large pot filled with water, simmer the chickenbreasts with the thyme and marjoram for 15 to 20minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove thechicken and debone. Chop the chicken into ½” or smallercubes, discard the bones, and put the chicken back intothe pot. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil,then reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, untilthe vegetables are tender and the flavors are wellblended. Discard the bay leaf before serving.

Serves 12

FRUITS AND DESSERTS

Granny’s Applesauce8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, andcut into eighths

½ cup water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Combine the apples and water in a large saucepan andcook over low heat until the apples are tender. Add thelemon juice and cook until the apples are easily mashedwith a fork. Remove from the heat and add the lemonpeel. Mash with the tines of a fork or a potato masher,leaving a bit of coarse texture. Serve warm.

Serves 4

Baked Cinnamon-AppleRings

4 Rome baking apples

½ teaspoon powdered cloves

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon honey

½ cup water

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Core the apples and slice into½′ rings. Place into a shallow baking dish lightly greasedor coated with cooking spray. Mix the remainingingredients and pour over the apples. Bake for 15minutes, or until tender.

Serves 4

Baked Bananas4 bananas

¼ cup olive oil

Juice and grated rind of 2 lemons

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the bananas in halflengthwise and place cut side down in a baking dishgreased with the oil. Drizzle the bananas with the lemonjuice and vanilla and sprinkle with the grated lemon rindand cinnamon. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serves 4

Cantaloupe-PineappleAmbrosia

2 cantaloupes

1 pineapple

1 large Granny Smith apple

1 cup raisins

1 cup fresh shredded coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts

Juice of 1 orange

Remove the skins, seeds, and cores from thecantaloupes, pineapple, and apple and cut the fruit intosmall chunks. In a large salad bowl, mix the fruit with theraisins, coconut, and walnuts and sprinkle with the orangejuice.

Serves 4

Walnut-Crusted StrawberriesFresh strawberries, sliced lengthwise

Honey

Lemon juice

Finely diced walnuts

Wash the strawberries, remove the stems, and cut in thinlengthwise sections. Mix together equal parts honey andlemon juice. Dip the strawberries into the mixture.Arrange on a serving tray and sprinkle with the walnuts.

Servings vary with quantity

STAGE IV RECOVERYRECIPES

The following recipes are intendedonly for Stage IV recovery and are basedon potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams.Many of these include small amounts ofsalt as recovery therapy.

Electrolytes are the salts sodium,chloride, potassium, calcium, andmagnesium, which occur naturally eitherwithin the body’s cells or in theextracellular fluids surrounding them.Dissolved in the body fluids as ions, theyconduct electric currents and are thereforecritical for muscle contraction andrelaxation and also for maintaining fluidlevels. The body loses a small portion of

these salts during exercise, primarilythrough sweat. The loss is typically notcritical in events shorter than 4 hours or incool-weather events, when the sweat rateis low. But after longer events andexercise in extreme heat, replacement is ofgreater significance, especially for sodiumand possibly for potassium.

There is no doubt that you are losingsodium during extensive exercise. Thewhite blotches on your skin and clothesare visible signs of this. The problem withthis is that the excessive loss of sodiumduring exercise can result in hyponatremia—levels of sodium so low that your healthand well-being are at risk. The key topreventing hyponatremia is balancing fluidand sodium intake during long exercisesessions.

In the postexercise recovery period,replacing lost electrolytes will help speedrecovery. Most of the electrolytes arefound in abundance in natural foods,which makes their replacement fairlyeasy. Drinking any juices or eating fruitswill easily replace nearly all of theelectrolytes lost—except sodium, which isalso the one most likely to needreplenishment. This electrolyte must beadded to postexercise recovery drinks andfood by adding a bit of table salt. Onceyou are beyond Stages III and IV, saltshould be restricted in your diet.

Marinated Mushrooms1 pound button mushrooms

¼ cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons Johannisberg Riesling orother quality Riesling wine

3 cloves garlic, mashed

½ teaspoon mustard powder

¼ teaspoon paprika

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large glass bowl, toss the mushrooms with all theother ingredients except salt and pepper and marinate forat least 20 minutes. Cook the mushrooms in a dry skilletover high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until just tender, stirringfrequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serveover baked Idaho potatoes, sweet potatoes, or yams. Canbe made ahead and refrigerated for quick use.

Serves 4

Herbed New Potatoes8 small new red potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender, about 12 minutes. Drainand place on a plate or in a bowl. Drizzle with the oil andtoss with the herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Makeahead and microwave for quick use.

Serves 2

Herb-Pepper-Almond PotatoToppers

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups whole almonds

4 teaspoons herb-pepper seasoning (or makeyour own mixture of parsley, lemon pepper,black pepper, and garlic powder)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spread the oil on a jelly rollpan or flat baking sheet. Stir the nuts and seasoningstogether and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 20minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slottedspoon and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle on potatoes orsalad.

Serves 8

Mexican Pecan PotatoToppers

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups pecan halves

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spread the oil on a jelly rollpan or flat baking sheet. Stir the nuts and seasoningstogether and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 20minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slottedspoon and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle on potatoes orsalad.

Serves 16

Horseradish-Garlic Sauce2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon white wine

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon honey

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2⁄3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons prepared horseradish, or totaste

3 cloves garlic, smashed

Place the egg yolks, wine, salt, honey, and pepper in afood processor or blender and mix lightly. With themachine running, add the oil in a thin stream tothoroughly mix. Add half the horseradish and half the

garlic, taste, and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Chilland serve as a topping for potatoes, vegetables, or meat.Keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 cup

Braised Onion Sauce1½ pounds sweet onions (about 6 medium),sliced

½ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

¼ cup Madeira wine

Freshly ground nutmeg

Cook the onions in the oil until they’re soft andtransparent, stirring frequently. Drizzle in the honey,reduce the heat, and simmer slowly for 1 hour. Stir in thewine and cook briefly. Serve as is or puree for a smoothsauce. Sprinkle with nutmeg before serving. Great onpotatoes or as a side vegetable.

Makes 4 cups

Fresh Tomato Sauce1 medium onion, sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil

2½ pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded, andchopped (or equivalent amount of cannedunsalted tomatoes)

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried)

Cook the onion in the oil until soft and transparent,stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and seasonings.Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Pour over potatoes oryams.

Variation: Sauté ½ pound thinly sliced mushrooms withthe onion.

Makes 4 cups

Almond-Avocado Spread1 large ripe avocado, seeded, peeled, andmashed

1 tablespoon lime juice

¼ teaspoon chili powder

Pinch of salt

¼ cup toasted chopped almonds

2 tablespoons diced green chile pepper(Anaheim or other mild variety)

Mix together the avocado, lime juice, chili powder, andsalt. Stir in the almonds and pepper. Cover with plasticwrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. Put on baked potatoes,sweet potatoes, or yams.

Makes 1½ cups

Tomato-Ginger Sauce1½ cups chopped onion

4 thin slices fresh ginger, cut diagonallyabout 2″ long

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon turmeric

1⁄3 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground fennel

1 tablespoon minced garlic

½ cup water

1½ pounds crushed tomatoes (if canned, use

unsalted tomatoes)

Cook the onion and ginger in the oil, stirring frequently.Add the spices and garlic, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stirin the water and tomatoes. Cook over medium heat for10 minutes. Spoon over baked potatoes, sweet potatoes,or yams.

Makes 4 cups

Spiced Orange Sauce3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups chopped onions

3 tablespoons allspice

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons minced garlic

Juice of 3 oranges

1 cup pitted, chopped plums, prunes, orother dried fruit

Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the onions,allspice, and salt, and cook over medium heat, stirringfrequently, for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and orangejuice. Simmer for 5 minutes longer. Add the fruit andsimmer for another 5 minutes. Serve hot over potatoes oryams.

Makes 4 cups

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INDEXUnderscored references indicate tables orboxed text.

AAché hunter-gatherers, 180–82Acid/base balance, 95–96, 95, 175Acidity, body fluid, 6, 40–41, 57–58, 69–70, 95–96Acid values of foods, 59Aerobic capacity (max VO2), 30, 83–84, 103–4, 187, 189Alcohol, 213Alkaline (base) values of foods, 59Alkaline-enhancing foods, glycemic load of, 63Alkalinity, body fluid, 6, 40–41, 57–58, 69–70, 95–96AlmondsAlmond-Avocado Spread, 271Herb-Pepper-Almond Potato Toppers, 268Little Valley Stuffed Trout, 240Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), 91–92, 93Amino acids, 73–75, 74, 87, 157–58. See also Branched-

chain amino acids (BCAA)Anaerobic threshold, 104–5Antinutrients, 101Apples

All-Natural Catsup, 242Baked Cinnamon-Apple Rings, 263Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264Colorado Coleslaw, 253Applesauce, 26Granny’s Applesauce, 263Roasted Cornish Game Hens, 220ApricotsApricot-Raisin Tongue, 225AsparagusStir-Fried Garlic Asparagus, 247

AvocadosAcapulco Avocado Soup, 259Almond-Avocado Spread, 271Avocado-Cucumber Salad, 255Guacamole Salad, 256Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Sacramento Guacamole, 245

BBaby food, 26Baegert, Jacob, xiiiBalance

acid/base, 95–96, 95, 175animal and plant food, 165“balanced” diet, 142–43fatty acid, 88–93, 170–71, 197–203, 204, 205–7,208macronutrients, 80–81, 87potassium/sodium, 94stress/rest, 123, 136–37

BananasBaked Bananas, 264

Base period diet, 112, 130BCAA. See branched-chain amino acids Beef, 68, 72,

166–67, 198–200Apricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Basque Beef Heart, 226Beef Kebabs, 223Beef Liver in Lime Sauce, 227Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,222Grilled London Broil, 224

Isola Pot Roast, 223Lean Beef Salad, 258Rocky Mountain Oysters, 229Sirloin Tips and Tomato Sauce, 221

Bell peppersAll-Natural Catsup, 242Avocado-Cucumber Salad, 255Baked Walnut-Stuffed Carrots, 249Chicken a la Madrid, 219Garden-Fresh Salsa, 244Greek Cucumber-Tomato Salad, 254Hungarian Chicken Livers with Mushrooms, 228Lean Beef Salad, 258Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup, 262Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256

Berning, Jacqueline, viiBiochemical pathways, 156–58Blood sugar levels, 83, 83Body weight. See Weight, bodyBone mineral loss, 95Bonking, 21, 37, 43, 109Borono Indians (Amazon), xiii–xivBowerman, Bill, 183Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA)

content of selected foods, 55during 18+ hour events, 49fatigue and, 133in muscle growth and repair, 5, 68for Paleo athletes, 5–6performance enhanced by, 24recommended sources of, 68–69in Stage I, 24, 26, 27in Stage III, 54in Stage V, 68

BroccoliBroccoli Soup, 260Crunchy Garlic Broccoli, 248Marinated Broccoli Stalks, 248Spicy Lemon Broccoli, 247

BuffaloBuffalo Steaks with Mushroom Sauce, 232

Build period diet, 112–14, 114, 115Burke, Edmund, vii

CCabbage

Colorado Coleslaw, 253

Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup, 262Marinated Broccoli Stalks, 248

Cabeza de Vaca, xiiCaffeine, 27, 42, 134Calcium, 58, 70, 95, 175California Native Americans, xiiiCalories

breakdown by training period, 114burned during exercise, 43, 71–72burned during sleep, 22burned per hour, 184density in fats and carbohydrates, 84in homemade recovery drink, 56intake during exercise, 38, 39, 43, 48, 50percentage from fat, 171, 177percentage from protein, 165, 176–77protein sources and, 75relative to RER, 108in Stage I, 22, 23, 28stomach’s processing of, 31weight loss and, 119

Campbell, T. Colin, 143Cancer, 100Canola oil, 206–7

CantaloupeCantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264Carbohydrates

depleted overnight, 22, 23determining amount needed, 110endurance training and need for, 18glycogen stores and, 6–7in homemade recovery drink, 54, 56loading, by athletes, vii–viiilow-carbohydrate diets, 102as muscle fuel sources, 83–84need for, 42–43, 130overtraining and, 129–130in Paleolithic diets, 83in Stage I, 17, 22, 23–24, 27–28in Stage II, 38–39, 42–43, 47, 48in Stage III, 52–53, 54in Stage IV, 62–63in Stage V, 71–72stores in nontrained person, 85sugar burners and, 106–7, 109–10timing for eating, 7utilization relative to RER, 108

Carnivores, diet of, 157–58

CarrotsAnkara Chicken, 217Baked Walnut-Stuffed Carrots, 249Colorado Coleslaw, 253Karachi Carrot Soup, 260–61Lemon-Vinaigrette Carrots, 250Mexico City 1968 Pork Loin Appetizer, 216Rooke’s Roast Venison, 230Steamed Baby Carrots with Basil, 249

CatfishReese River Barbecued Catfish with Peach Salsa,240

Cats, diet of, 157–58Cauliflower

Sautéed Cauliflower and Zucchini, 251Central fatigue, 133Central nervous system fatigue, 49Cheating on the diet, 208–9Chicken and poultry

Ankara Chicken, 217Barbecued Ostrich Medallions, 234Bombay Chicken Salad, 255Chicken a la Madrid, 219Hungarian Chicken Livers with Mushrooms, 228

Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup, 262Lebanese Walnut Chicken, 218Roasted Cornish Game Hens, 220Zesty Grilled Turkey Breast, 220

Cholesterol, 76, 92, 175–76, 201Clams

Tillamook Steamed Clams, 237Coconut and coconut milk

Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264Colorado Ranch Dressing, 243

Cook, James (Captain), xivCordain, Loren, 3Cornish hens. See Chicken and poultryCostill, David, 128Crab

Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256Omega-3 Stuffed Crab, 237

Cramps, muscle, 44–45Cucumber

Avocado-Cucumber Salad, 255Bombay Chicken Salad, 255Greek Cucumber-Tomato Salad, 254

DDairy products, xiv–xv, 83, 174–75Dehydration

gauging by thirst, 33 -34indicators of, 134during multi-hour events, 46, 48–49muscle cramps and, 44–45nausea due to, 31rehydration in Stage III, 53–54

Diet. See Hunter-gatherer diet; Paleo Diet for Athletes;Training diet

Docosahexanoic acid (DHA), 92

EEating out, 209–10Economy and fitness, 105–6Eggplant

Livorno Eggplant, 252Eggs, 26, 168–69, 198

Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise, 241Horseradish-Garlic Sauce, 269Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Oven-Baked Pecan Pork Chops, 216

Salsa Shrimp Salad, 257Eicosapentanoic acid (EPA), 92Electrolyte replacement, 44–45, 55–56, 57, 64, 266Endurance training, 18–19Ensure High Protein liquid meal, 26–27Ethnographic studies, 154–56Exercise. See also Training

acidity of body fluids and, 57–58bonking during, 21, 37, 43, 109calories burned during, 43, 71–72eating during

18+ hour events, 47–50food tolerance and, 29–324- to 12-hour events, 42–43, 4690-minute to 4-hour events, 38–3912- to 18-hour events, 46–472- to 90-minute events, 37–38, 42evolution and, 184–86hydration during, 32–33sodium and, 34–35weight loss and, 117–18

Exercise-induced asthma (EIA), 92Exotic meats, 200Expensive tissue hypothesis, 149

FFatigue

BCAA blood level drop and, 133bonking, 21, 37, 43, 109central nervous system, 49overreaching and, 126as overtraining sign, 122, 123, 136theories of, 124–25

Fats, dietary. See also specific kindsbalancing, 88–93, 170–71, 197–203, 204, 205–7,208chemical structure of, 88–89comparison of animal meats, 199in eggs, 168fat burners and, 106–7, 109, 110in hunter-gatherer diet, 152–53, 170–71in lean vs. fatty meats, 167long-chain fatty acids, 158monounsaturated, 76, 90, 170, 171, 203as muscle fuel sources, 83–86in nuts and seeds, 208oils, 203, 204, 205–7omega-3s, 10–11, 70, 91–92, 203omega-6s, 10–11, 70, 76, 90–91, 203

in organ meats, 169–170overtraining and, 130–31percentage of calories from, 171, 177polyunsaturated, 90–92, 170, 171, 203during race week, 20replacements, 213saturated, 89–90, 169, 171, 203in shellfish, 201in Stage II, 48, 49–50in Stage V, 76to avoid, 76trans fatty acids, 76, 92–93utilization relative to RER, 108weight loss and, 119–120

FFA, 83Fiber, 20, 24, 96, 147–49, 160–61Fish, 69, 200–203

Cordain’s Fennel Salmon, 238Little Valley Stuffed Trout, 240Orange Poached Fish, 239recommendations, 202Reese River Barbecued Catfish withPeach Salsa, 240Sautérne Squid, 239

Fitnessaerobic capacity, 103–4anaerobic threshold, 104–5economy and, 105–6factors contributing to, 102, 103health vs., viii–ixof hunter-gatherers, x–xiv

Flaxseed oilBasil Tomatoes, 253Bombay Chicken Salad, 255Colorado Coleslaw, 253Colorado Ranch Dressing, 243Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise, 241Lean Beef Salad, 258Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256as omega-3 source, 203Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Omega-3 Stuffed Crab, 237Russian Flaxseed Salad Dressing, 243Salsa Shrimp Salad, 257Tartar Sauce, 242Tomato Flaxseed Dressing, 244

Folic acid fortification, 99–100Food Pyramid. See USDA Food

Pyramid/MyPlateFoods. See also specific stages

acid/base values of selected, 59amino acid content of common, 74BCAA content of selected, 55build period choices, 115electrolytes in, 57fresh, 193–97glycemic load and index of, 63, 82nutrient density of, 66–67, 172, 174nutritional adequacy of, 177–78organic, 195–96, 195protein content of common, 74replacements in Paleo diet, 211–13Stage I choices, 25–27Stage V choices, 65to avoid, 8, 76, 167–68, 171–75, 172–73tolerance during exercise, 29–32vitamin density in selected, 66–67

Fossil record, 150–54Free fatty acids (FFA), 83Fresh foods, 193–97Friel, Joe, 2–4Fructose, 53

Fruitsalkaline-enhancing effect of, 58, 70fresh, 194–95, 197organic, 195–96, 195during race week, 20recipes

All-Natural Catsup, 242Apricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Baked Bananas, 264Baked Cinnamon-Apple Rings, 263Beef Kebabs, 223Bombay Chicken Salad, 255Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes,and Peaches, 222Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia,264Colorado Coleslaw, 253Granny’s Applesauce, 263Orange Poached Fish, 239Peach Salsa, 245Reese River Barbecued Catfish withPeach Salsa, 240Roasted Cornish Game Hens, 220Spiced Orange Sauce, 272

Walnut-Crusted Strawberries, 265in Stage I, 26, 27sugars in dried vs. fresh, 162–63, 164wild vs. domesticated, 160–61, 161

GGame meats, 68–69, 199, 200

Barbecued Ostrich Medallions, 234Buffalo Steaks with Mushroom Sauce, 232Moose Rump Roast, 231Rooke’s Roast Venison, 230Tarragon Rabbit, 233

GarlicCrunchy Garlic Broccoli, 248Horseradish-Garlic Sauce, 269Stir-Fried Garlic Asparagus, 247

Glucose, 53, 87, 129. See also Blood sugar levelsGlutamine, 95–96, 188Glycemic index (GI), 23–24, 62, 63, 81, 82, 83Glycemic load, 12, 53, 62, 63, 81, 82Glycogen

acidity from metabolizing, 41depleted during exercise, 37, 38, 129

maintaining stores of, 65, 68muscle stores of, 6–7, 20, 84–85restoring in Stage III, 52–53

Grains and grain productsantinutrients in, 101hunter-gatherer diet and, 155not in hunter-gatherer diet, xvinutritional characteristics, 172–74protein from legumes and, 73–75, 74refined white flour, 97–100

Gravity, effects of, 116–17

HHarvard School of Public Health, 143HDL (“good” cholesterol), 76Health

enhancement for athletes, viii–ixfitness vs., viii–ixof hunter-gatherers, x–xiv

Heat, body weight and effects of, 117Hill, Archibald V., 40Hill, Kim, 180–82, 185, 189Hiwi hunter-gatherers, 181

Honeman, Willie, viiHorseradish

Horseradish-Garlic Sauce, 269Hunger, preventing, 21–22, 49Hunter-gatherer diet

biochemical and metabolic pathways and, 156–58ethnographic studies and, 154–56fats in, 152–53, 170–71fossil record of, 150–54macronutrient balance of, 80–81modern athletes’ diet and, 187–88other primate diets and, 147–49protein in, 176reasoning about, xiv–xvitypical US diet compared to, 80–81variations in, 79, 146–47

Hunter-gathererscalories burned per hour, 184disappearance of, 179–180exercise required for, 184–85health and fitness of, x–xivhunts by, 180–82life span of, ix–ximodern athletes compared to, 159–160, 186–190

women’s activity pattern, 183Hydration

caffeine and, 134during exercise, 30, 32–33, 38fluids depleted overnight, 22hyponatremia and, 35–37, 46, 48overdrinking, 30, 36overtraining and, 133–34before a race, 133–34in Stage I, 22, 25, 27in Stage II, 30, 31, 32–33, 37–38, 39, 42, 46, 48–49in Stage IV, 64

Hyponatremia, 35–37, 46, 48, 266Inflammation, preventing or reducing, 70Insulin levels, 83, 83International Olympic Committee (IOC), 27Interval training, 103Intramuscular triglyceride (IMT) stores, 84, 85–86

JJenkins, David, 81

K

Kritchevsky, David, 205

LLactate threshold, 104–5Lactic acid, 40–41Landor, Henry Savage, xiii–xivLaudonniere, Rene de, xiiiLauric acid, 89LDL (“bad” cholesterol), 76Lectins, 205–6Lee, Richard, 154, 155, 156Lee-Thorp, Julia, 153Legumes, 73–75, 74Lemon juice and lemon peel

All-Natural Catsup, 242Apricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Baked Bananas, 264Barbecued Lemon-Pepper Pork Steaks, 215Barbecued Ostrich Medallions, 234Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise, 241Granny’s Applesauce, 263Lemon Dill Shrimp, 238Lemon-Vinaigrette Carrots, 250

Marinated Mushrooms, 267Rooke’s Roast Venison, 230Russian Flaxseed Salad Dressing, 243Tartar Sauce, 242

Life spanaverage, inaccuracy of, ix–xof hunter-gatherers, ix–xi

Lime juiceApricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Barbecued Ostrich Medallions, 234Chicken a la Madrid, 219Tomato Flaxseed Dressing, 244

Linoleic acid, 90–91Liquid meals, 26–27Lobster, 152Long-chain fatty acids, 158Low-carbohydrate diets, 1–2

MMacronutrient balance, 80–81, 87Macronutrients

balancing, 80–81, 87overtraining and, 128–134

periodization of diet and, 111Maori (New Zealand), xivMarcora, Samuel, 125Marino, Frank, 117Max VO2, 30, 83–84, 103–4, 187, 189Meats. See also specific kinds

exotic, 200fatty acid concentrations, 199feedlot-raised animals, 68, 72, 166–67game, 68–69, 199, 200, 230–34grass-fed or free-ranging, 198–200in hominin diet, 149lean vs. fatty, 167organ, 169–170, 198, 225–29organic, 199–200for Paleo athletes, 165–67, 167, 169–171, 175–77processed, avoiding, 165, 167–68

Metabolic pathways, 156–58Metabolic rate, diet and, 149Micha, Renata, 169Micronutrients, overtraining and, 134–35Minerals

density of selected foods, 66–67loss in refined flour, 97–99

in organic produce, 195overtraining and, 134–35percentage in US meeting RDAs, 97, 97supplements, 135in wild produce, 161, 161

Moffat, Don, 4–5Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), 76, 90, 170, 171,

203MooseMoose Rump Roast, 231Mozaffarian, Dariush, 169Murdock, George, 154, 156Muscles

cramps in, 44–45fuel sources for, 83–87glycogen stores in, 6–7, 20, 84–85loss with acidosis, 58, 95preventing wasting of, 49rebuilding tissues, 68–69weight loss and, 121

MushroomsBuffalo Steaks with Mushroom Sauce, 232Hungarian Chicken Livers with Mushrooms, 228Lean Beef Salad, 258

Marinated Mushrooms, 267Mussels

Cancun Zesty Mussels, 236MyPlate. See USDA Food Pyramid/ MyPlate

NNausea during events, 30–32Neural tube defects, 100Noakes, Tim, 124Nutrition. See also specific nutrientscontentiousness about, 143density in foods, 66–67, 172, 174excessive, during exercise, 31guiding template lacking for, 143–44loss in refined flour, 97–99in organic produce, 195for Paleo athletes, 8–13in wild produce, 160–61, 161Nuts, 205–8, 208Almond-Avocado Spread, 271Ankara Chicken, 217Baked Walnut-Stuffed Carrots, 249Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,

222Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264Herb-Pepper-Almond Potato Toppers, 268Little Valley Stuffed Trout, 240Mexican Pecan Potato Toppers, 269Oven-Baked Pecan Pork Chops, 216Rocky Mountain Oysters, 229Tomato-Pecan Zucchini, 250Walnut-Crusted Strawberries, 265

OOils, 203, 204, 205–7Oleic acid, 90, 93Olive oil

Baked Bananas, 264Fresh Tomato-Basil Soup, 261Horseradish-Garlic Sauce, 269Lemon Dill Shrimp, 238Lemon-Vinaigrette Carrots, 250Marinated Mushrooms, 267Rooke’s Roast Venison, 230Sautéed Cauliflower and Zucchini, 251

Omega-3 fatty acids

inflammation reduced by, 70in oils, 203Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Omega-3 Stuffed Crab, 237ratio to omega-6s, 10–11, 70structure and effects of, 91–92

Omega-6 fatty acids, 10–11, 70, 76, 90–91, 203Orange

Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264Fresh Tomato-Basil Soup, 261Orange Poached Fish, 239Spiced Orange Sauce, 272

Organic meats, 199–200Organic produce, 195–96, 195Organ meats, 169–170, 198

Apricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Basque Beef Heart, 226Beef Liver in Lime Sauce, 227Hungarian Chicken Livers withMushrooms, 228Rocky Mountain Oysters, 229

Ornish, Dean, 143Ostrich

Barbecued Ostrich Medallions, 234Overdrinking, 30, 36Overreaching, 126, 127, 128, 129, 136Overtraining

diet and, 127–28illness and signs of, 126–27macronutrients and, 128–134micronutrients and, 134–35overreaching vs., 126, 127, 136preventing, 136–37recovery neglected in, 122signs of, 122, 123, 126–27, 127, 136treatment of, 136

Oxygen and muscle fuel sources, 84

PPacing, poor, 30Paleo Diet for Athletes

animal and plant food balance, 165athletic world and, 7–8cheating, 208–9counterarguments against, ix–xvidevelopment of, 2–4

eggs in, 168–69Food Pyramid/MyPlate compared to, 10–13, 11,12, 170, 177–78food replacements for, 211–13foods not part of, 8, 167–68, 171–75, 172–73macronutrient balance, 177meats in, 165–67, 167, 169–171, 175–77modification for recovery, 18nutritional adequacy, 177–78nutritional characteristics, 8, 10–13performance enhanced by, 5–7principles of, 8, 164produce for, 160–61, 161, 162–63, 164race week, 19–20sample 1-day menu, 9sports nutrition trends compared to, viiistages of, 19weight loss and, 118–121

PeachesBraised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,222Peach Salsa, 245Reese River Barbecued Catfish withPeach Salsa, 240

Peak period diet, 112Peanut oil and peanuts, 205–6Pecans

Mexican Pecan Potato Toppers, 269Oven-Baked Pecan Pork Chops, 216Tomato-Pecan Zucchini, 250

Periodization of diet in Stage V, 110–16, 113, 114, 115Pineapple

Beef Kebabs, 223Bombay Chicken Salad, 255Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), 90–92, 170, 171,203. See also

Omega-3 fatty acids; Omega-6fatty acids

PorkBarbecued Lemon-Pepper PorkSteaks, 215Barcelona Pork Loin, 214Mexico City 1968 Pork LoinAppetizer, 216–17Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Oven-Baked Pecan Pork Chops, 216

Potassium/sodium balance, 94

PotatoesHerbed New Potatoes, 268

Poultry. See Chicken and poultryPrimates, diet of, 147–49Prioritizing races, 19Processed foods, xvi, 81, 82, 97–100, 165, 167–68Protein. See also Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA)

content of common foods, 74cramps from burning, 45daily intake per pound of body weight, 69in homemade recovery drink, 54, 56in hunter-gatherer diet, 176inadequate, signs of, 132, 133in lean vs. fatty meats, 167macronutrient balance and, 87overtraining and, 132–33percentage of calories from, 165, 176–77from plants vs. animals, 73–75, 74poisoning or toxicity, 151–52, 176in Stage I, 24–25, 26, 27in Stage II, 43, 46, 48, 49–50in Stage III, 54–55, 55, 56in Stage IV, 63–64in Stage V, 68–69, 69, 72–75, 74

weight loss and, 119–120, 121Prunes

Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,222Spiced Orange Sauce, 272

PUFA. See polyunsaturated fatty acids

RRabbit

Tarragon Rabbit, 233Rabbit starvation, 152Race period diet, 112Raisins

Apricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Bombay Chicken Salad, 255Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264

Rape plants, 206–7Recipes

condiments, 241–46desserts, 263–65fish, 238–240fruits, 263–65meat dishes

beef, 221–24, 258chicken and poultry, 217–220, 255,262game meats, 230–34organ meats, 225–29pork, 214–17, 254

recovery drink, 53, 58, 60–61salads, 253–58shellfish, 235–38, 256–57soups, 259–262Stage IV recovery, 266–272vegetable dishes, 247–252Recovery. See also specific stagesguidelines, long-term, 65, 68–71guidelines, short-term, 62–64homebrew, 53, 54–55, 56, 58, 60–61importance for training, 141–42overtraining and neglect of, 122Paleo Diet modification for, 18recipes (Stage IV), 266–272Stage I as preparation for, 22–23, 24in Stage III, 52–61in Stage IV, 61–64in Stage V, 64–76

Red wineBarbecued Ostrich Medallions, 234Beef Kebabs, 223Braised Onion Sauce, 270Buffalo Steaks with Mushroom Sauce, 232Grilled London Broil, 224Isola Pot Roast, 223Moose Rump Roast, 231Rocky Mountain Oysters, 229Rooke’s Roast Venison, 230

Respiratory equivalency ratio (RER), 107, 108, 109–10,120

Rest. See also Overtrainingneeded for fitness, 102stress/rest balance, 123, 136–37

Restaurants, 209–10Richards, Mike, 153, 165Road trips, 210Robinson, Jo, 199Rudman, Daniel, 176

SSalmon

Cordain’s Fennel Salmon, 238Salt and sodium

exercise and, 34–35hyponatremia, 35–37, 46, 48, 266potassium/sodium balance, 94replacements, 212replenishing, 34–35, 56, 266salt water ingestion, 31Stage IV recovery recipes, 266

Satiety, 120Saturated fatty acids (SAT), 89–90, 169, 171, 203Seafood. See Fish; ShellfishSeawater poisoning, 31Shellfish, 201–3, 201

Cancun Zesty Mussels, 236Lemon Dill Shrimp, 238Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256Omega-3 Stuffed Crab, 237Peloponnesian Shrimp, 235Salsa Shrimp Salad, 257Tillamook Steamed Clams, 237

SherryTarragon Rabbit, 233

Shrimp

Lemon Dill Shrimp, 238Peloponnesian Shrimp, 235Salsa Shrimp Salad, 257

Sleep, 102Sodium. See Salt and sodiumSpinach

Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Sports bars, 27Sports drinks and gels, 34, 38, 39, 42Squash

Karachi Carrot Soup, 260–61Squid

Sautérne Squid, 239Stage I (eating before exercise)

calories consumed in, 22, 23, 28carbohydrates in, 17, 22, 23–24, 27–28food choices in, 25–27hydration in, 22, 25, 27importance for performance, 20–21nutritional goals, 21–23nutritional guidelines, 23–25protein in, 24–25, 26, 2710 minutes before start, 27–28

Stage II (eating during exercise)

carbohydrates in, 38–39, 42–43, 47, 4818+ hour events, 47–50fats in, 48, 49–50food tolerance and, 29–324- to 12-hour events, 42–43, 46hydration in, 30, 31, 32–33, 37–38, 39, 42, 46, 48–49hyponatremia in, 35–37, 46, 4890-minute to 4-hour events, 38–39protein in, 43, 46, 48, 49sodium, 34–3512- to 18-hour events, 46–472- to 90-minute events, 37–38, 42

Stage III (eating 30 minutes postexercise)carbohydrates in, 52–53, 54electrolyte replacement in, 55–56, 57homebrew recovery drink for, 53, 54–55, 56, 58,60–61nutritional goals, 52–58protein in, 54–55, 55, 56reducing body fluid acidity in, 56–58rehydration in, 53–54

Stage IV (short-term postexercise)carbohydrates in, 62–63

as critical stage, 61–62electrolyte replacement in, 64, 266hydration in, 64protein in, 63–64recovery guidelines, 62–64recovery recipesAlmond-Avocado Spread, 271Braised Onion Sauce, 270Fresh Tomato Sauce, 270Herbed New Potatoes, 268Herb-Pepper-Almond PotatoToppers, 268Horseradish-Garlic Sauce, 269Marinated Mushrooms, 267Mexican Pecan Potato Toppers, 269Spiced Orange Sauce, 272Tomato-Ginger Sauce, 271

Stage V (long-term postexercise)carbohydrates in, 71–72fats in, 76food choices in, 65periodization of diet in, 110–16, 113, 114, 115protein in, 68–69, 69, 72–75, 74recovery guidelines, 65, 68–71

weight management in, 119–120Strawberries

Walnut-Crusted Strawberries, 265Stress/rest balance, 123, 136–37Stretching cramped muscles, 45Sugars, xv, 7, 162–63, 164, 178, 212–13

TTaurine, 157–58Thirst, satisfying, 25, 33–34, 38, 39, 42, 54, 64, 133Tomatoes

Acapulco Avocado Soup, 259All-Natural Catsup, 242Apricot-Raisin Tongue, 225Basil Tomatoes, 253Basque Beef Heart, 226Beef Kebabs, 223Beef Liver in Lime Sauce, 227Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,222Chicken a la Madrid, 219Coronado Barbecue Sauce, 246Fresh Tomato-Basil Soup, 261

Fresh Tomato Sauce, 270Garden-Fresh Salsa, 244Greek Cucumber-Tomato Salad, 254Guacamole Salad, 256Isola Pot Roast, 223Lean Beef Salad, 258Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup, 262Lebanese Walnut Chicken, 218Livorno Eggplant, 252Mexico City 1968 Pork LoinAppetizer, 216Russian Flaxseed Salad Dressing, 243Sirloin Tips and Tomato Sauce, 221Tomato Flaxseed Dressing, 244Tomato-Ginger Sauce, 271Tomato-Pecan Zucchini, 250

Trace nutrients, 6Training. See also Exercise;

Overtraining; Training dietcaffeine experimentation during, 42diet change and, 120effect of small performance variations and, 141,142elements increasing fitness, 103

endurance, 18–19intervals, 103periodization of diet and, 110–16, 113, 114, 115recovery’s importance for, 141–42stress/rest balance in, 123, 136–37weight loss and, 118

Training dietcheating, 208–9eating out, 209–10fish and shellfish, 200–203, 201fresh foods, 193–97meats, 197–200, 199nuts and seeds, 207–8, 208oils, 203, 204, 205–7produce, 194–97

Trans fatty acids, 76, 92–93Triglycerides, 88–89Trout

Little Valley Stuffed Trout, 240Turkey. See Chicken and poultry

UUSDA Food Pyramid/MyPlate, 7–8, 10–13, 11, 12, 143,

170, 177–78

VVegetables

alkaline-enhancing effect of, 58, 70fresh, 194–95, 196juices in Stage I, 27organic, 195–96, 195recipes

Avocado-Cucumber Salad, 255Baked Walnut-Stuffed Carrots, 249Basil Tomatoes, 253Colorado Coleslaw, 253Crunchy Garlic Broccoli, 248Greek Cucumber-Tomato Salad, 254Guacamole Salad, 256Herbed New Potatoes, 268Lean Beef Salad, 258Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup, 262Lemon-Vinaigrette Carrots, 250Livorno Eggplant, 252Marinated Broccoli Stalks, 248Omega-3 Crab Salad, 256

Omega-3 Spinach Salad, 254Sautéed Cauliflower and Zucchini,251Spicy Lemon Broccoli, 247Steamed Baby Carrots with Basil,249Stir-Fried Garlic Asparagus, 247Tomato-Pecan Zucchini, 250

Salsa Shrimp Salad, 257wild vs. domesticated, 160–61, 161

VenisonRooke’s Roast Venison, 230

Ventilatory threshold, 104–5Vinegar, 212Vitamins

density in selected foods, 66–67loss in refined flour, 97–99in organic produce, 195overreaching and deficiency in, 135overtraining and, 134, 135percentage in US meeting RDAs, 97, 97supplements, 100, 135in wild produce, 161, 161

WWalnuts

Ankara Chicken, 217Baked Walnut-Stuffed Carrots, 249Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,222Cantaloupe-Pineapple Ambrosia, 264Lebanese Walnut Chicken, 218Walnut-Crusted Strawberries, 265

Wang, Q., 206Water. See also Hydration

glycogen stores and, 20loss during exercise, 34, 53–54overtraining and, 133–34salt water ingestion, 31weight loss and, 118

Water chestnutsBeef Kebabs, 223

Weight, bodyloss during exercise, 32–33, 49managing, 117–121optimizing in Stage V, 70–71performance and, 116–17protein intake per pound of, 69

risks of reducing, 117Whitefish

Orange Poached Fish, 239White wine

Braised Beef with Walnuts, Prunes, and Peaches,222Cancun Zesty Mussels, 236Lebanese Walnut Chicken, 218Orange Poached Fish, 239Peloponnesian Shrimp, 235Sautérne Squid, 239

Wine. See Red wine; Sherry; White wineWolfe, Bernard, 175, 176World Anti-Doping Association(WADA), 27

YYanomamo Indians (South America), xi–xii

ZZoo animals’ diet, 145–46Zucchini

Lean Chicken-Veggie Soup, 262

Sautéed Cauliflower and Zucchini, 251Tomato-Pecan Zucchini, 250

ABOUT THEAUTHORS

Loren Cordain, PhD, is a professor in theDepartment of Health & Exercise Scienceat Colorado State University in FortCollins, Colorado. His research emphasisis in evolutionary medicine, and he isnationally and internationally recognizedfor his expertise in the study of Paleolithic(Stone Age) diets and how they relate tothe health and well-being of modernhumans. He has contributed more than 120publications to the medical, nutritional,and scientific literature in the past 30years, and he is the author of these populardiet books: The Paleo Diet, The Paleo

Diet Cookbook, The Paleo Answer, andThe Dietary Cure for Acne. He is amember of the American Institute ofNutrition and the American Society forClinical Nutrition. Dr. Cordain’s researchis pushing the envelope regarding the roleof diet and disease. He has received theScholarly Excellence award at ColoradoState University for his contributions tounderstanding optimal human nutrition. Hehas lectured extensively on the Paleolithicnutrition concept worldwide. For moreinformation, visit Dr. Cordain’s Web site:www.thepaleodiet.com.Joe Friel has coached endurance athletessince 1980, including runners, triathletes,duathletes, road cyclists, mountain bikers,swimmers, rowers, Nordic skiers, andendurance horse racers. These men and

women ranged from novice to Olympianand included national champions, world-championship competitors, elite age-groupathletes, and those who simply wanted tobe in better shape, and have includedteens, students, senior citizens, businessowners, lawyers, doctors, line workers,and professional athletes. He has amaster’s degree in exercise science and isa recognized authority on training forendurance sports, having written nineother books on the subject and serving asa columnist for two national sportspublications for a decade. He is a widelysought-after speaker on the subject oftraining and consults with national sportsgoverning bodies on the preparation ofathletes for world competitions and theOlympics. Friel is also the founder and

president of two successful businesses:TrainingBible Coaching, a sports trainingcompany with coaches in three countries;and TrainingPeaks.com, a World WideWeb-based business that provides trainingtools for athletes and coaches. His blog(www.joefrielsblog.com) is one of themost widely read by endurance athletesaround the world.

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as amedical manual. The information given here is designed to help

you make informed decisions about your health. It is notintended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been

prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have amedical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help. Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in

this book does not imply endorsement by the author orpublisher, nor does mention of specific companies,

organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book,its author, or the publisher. Internet addresses and telephone

numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went topress.

Revised edition published by Rodale Inc. in September 2012.

© 2005, 2012 by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,or any other information storage and retrieval system, without

the written permission of the publisher.

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Book design by Chris Rhoads

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eISBN: 978-1-60961-918-3

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