As part of my ongoing relationship with Naked Juice I am thrilled to write about Protein Zone, the next in the line-up of the Vote Naked Campaign for Goodness.  I was quite interested in the protein boost provided by this smoothie. Frequently we all think that protein is only for the big Popeye-looking body builders we pass in the gym on the way to the treadmill.  The reality is that we all need protein to fuel our bodies and muscles.

Being a runner and usually hitting the road for my long runs on Saturday I usually skip any major breakfast before going out.  Smart? Probably not — which is why what I put in my body just after a run is so important.  I recently turned to Protein Zone as my post workout drink. It has a great combination of carbs and protein to feed my body what it needs to help recover.

The Protein Zone juice smoothies from Naked Juices are an awesomely convenient way for us runners to give our muscles, and taste buds, just what they want following a tough training run.  The protein helps us recover our muscles and the fruit juices jammed into each bottle adds a tremendous tropical taste.

Giveaway Details: Want to try out Protein Zone and fuel post run with a ridiculously good tasting smoothie?  Visit the Naked Juice Facebook page and “Vote Naked” to download a $1 off coupon. I am also offering a chance to win three coupons for a free 15.2 oz bottle of Naked Juice. After voting and downloading the coupon, comment on the Naked Facebook page about how much you love Naked Juices and, for an extra entry, add a picture of your Naked Juices bottle or you sweating post run or race.  Come back and leave a comment that you have done these and I will choose a winner on Feb 29th at 12:00pm EST via random.org.

What are you waiting for, feed your muscles with this power packed protein smoothie and Vote Naked!

What do you like best about Naked Juices? What are your favorite flavors? What do you think of the Naked Juices viral videos?

-Scott

I’ve recently had the opportunity to attend several sports nutrition lectures in the Boston area, and one of the things I’ve noticed is that regardless of the age or sport, one of the most common questions asked is “should I be taking a vitamin supplement?”

This is a difficult question to answer without knowing what an individuals diet looks like, but more often than not the answer will be no. Surprised? Here’s why:

1. Research shows that athletes and non-athletes have similar vitamin status. One exception is iron (see below).
2. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that taking a multivatimin (or another vitamin supplement) or consuming greater amounts than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) improves performance.
3. The more you exercise, the more you eat. If you are choosing vitamin rich foods the majority of the time (i.e. a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and dairy), you should be getting adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals from food.

There are, of course some exceptions:

1. The largest exception is iron. Many athletes (particularly female endurance athletes) experience iron deficiency anemia. The key here though is the word deficiency. While I still recommend attempting to get vitamins from food, sometimes non red-meat eating athletes have low iron levels, particularly vegans and vegetarians. Non-heme iron (the iron found in plant sources like leafy green vegetables and beans), is less bioavailable (readily absorbed by our body) than heme iron (the kind found in red meat). A study among 18 female athletes helps illustrate this.  Half of the women ate red meat, and the other half did not (though they ate chicken, fish, and eggs), but both groups were consuming 15mg/day (slightly under the RDA of 18mg/day for women 18-50). 8 of the 9 non-red meat-eating women were found to have depleted serum ferratin (iron) stores, whereas only 2 of the 9 red-meat eaters were depleted.  That doesn’t mean if you don’t eat red meat, you can’t get enough iron from other foods – you just may need to eat a little more. Good sources of plant-based iron include:  fortified breakfast cereal like Total or Wheaties, beans (soy, lentils, kidney, lima, navy, black, pinto, etc), tofu, and leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach.  Also, watch what you eat with iron-rich foods (or when taking a supplement). Foods with vitamin C enhance the absorption (i.e. citrus fruit or juices), whereas calcium, tannins (found in teas and wine), some phytates (found in whole grains and legumes), and polyphenols can decrease absorption of non-heme iron.

One of the earliest and most obvious signs of iron-depletion or and iron deficiency is fatigue. If you are feeling more tired than usual and it’s not due to lack of sleep, low-calorie intake, or over exercising, you might want to have your iron levels checked by a doctor to see if a supplement is necessary.

1. Vitamin D. Athletes don’t necessarily need anymore vitamin D than non-athletes, but it’s a common vitamin for people to be deficient in. We get the majority of our vitamin D from the sun, so you’re more likely to have lower levels in the winter, particularly if you live in the northern part of the country. It’s also difficult to get through food, as the top sources are fortified milk and juice, and fatty fish like salmon. If you have darker skin and/or don’t spend much time outside (or are wearing sunscreen when you run), you may be deficient. Have your doctor test your levels at your next check-up (preferably in the winter months or early spring), it’s an easy thing to add to a standard blood test when checking cholesterol lipid levels.

In addition, if you are on a calorie-restricted diet and/or entire food groups are missing from your diet a supplement may be beneficial. Not because you require more vitamins, but because you may not be getting enough from food of you are restricting your calories.

There are other special scenarios in which a multivitamin supplement may be beneficial. If you are on a special diet because of allergies or food intolerances, check with your doctor or with a registered dietitian to see if you might need a supplement.  Pregnant women should also talk to their doctors about vitamins.

Isn’t a multivitamin just a good insurance policy?

This is where you’ll find different opinions, even amongst dietitians. Research has not yet shown a clear benefit of taking multivitamins, and the bioavailability (amount your body absorbs) from supplements is, in most cases, less than it is from food and varies greatly from one individual to another. If you’re eating a varied diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and some dairy (or other foods with calcium and vitamin D), you are more than likely getting what you need (and maybe more!). A lot of foods are fortified these days too, adding to your intake.

A multi-vitamin is unlikely to cause any harm, but it’s also probably not doing you much good.  Side note: if you were alarmed by this recent study on multivitamins, don’t be. I won’t get into details, but there are a lot of reasons that you should not take this conclusion to heart (if you want to know more – feel free to ask me). Therefore, I’m in the camp that they are a waste of money because you’re probably excreting most of what you’re consuming in your urine. The same goes for individual vitamins and minerals. Again, if someone has a clear deficiency, that’s another story.

In full disclosure, I take a vitamin D supplement (my levels have been low in blood tests) and calcium because I am fairly certain I don’t consume enough through my diet.

Do you take a multivitamin? If you do, do you think you really need it?

-Sarah

(Sarah is a 2nd year grad student pursuing her MS in Nutrition Communication at Tufts University Friedman School in Boston. She is also completing the requirements to become a registered dietitian and will begin her dietetic internship in 2012. Sarah is a certified spin instructor and an avid runner and regularly participates in road races from 5k to a 1/2 marathons. Follow her on Twitter @SpinnerSarah and at her personal blog Food and Fitness Friend.)

Yesterday I went to see Marisa for some PT, if you have been following my tweets or blog you will know that I have been complaining about hip and lower back pain since my trail race a few weeks ago.  I’ve always had to pay attention to my right hip, constantly getting it worked on during high mileage training.  Usually the pain will go away- it gets better as I go to PT.  This time there is something different going on, the pain is a  sharp jab, more painful and there aren’t signs of it getting better even with a total shutdown.

I haven’t run in two weeks.  The pain is still there.  Acupuncture didn’t help relieve the stress/pain in my lower back and around to my hip.  Marisa at PT this week highly suggested that I go to the doctor and possibly get an MRI for a few possible causes of the pain.  First, with the constant issues I’ve had with my lower back since my mid 20′s, she felt that there could be some bulging disc issues going on which could be causing the pain in my hip.  Second, she felt that with the new type of pain I have been feeling in my hip that there could be the possibility of a hairline fracture in my hip.  I have a pretty high threshold for pain, but it is different feeling now and that is what sorta freaks me out.

Neither of these two things sound very appealing especially since I have two half’s in March and another in April.  My stubborn runners mentality is that I’ll still be fine and I will run with the pain; however  Marisa said something that scared me a bit and had me thinking twice.  She said something along the lines of that this is the type of injury that will affect your quality of life years from now, there will be chronic pain.  That did not sit well with me.  Could I really be heading towards the life of an ex NFL player where I can barely get out of bed in the morning and dealing with constant pain?

So, I’ve made the doctors appointment.  Like last year when dealing with my injury that shut me down for 6 weeks, I am in a place of frustration but the pain is so bad this time that I just want it fixed and felling better.

From the mental hurdles earlier in the year now to this pain and possible injury, this is all not fun anymore. I am questioning why I put my body through this and if it is worth it to continue to train like I do in the future.  I want to remember what it was to run like a kid again with no pain and pure joy.  This is not fun. Things need to change. Decisions need to be made.

Have you ever had back problems from running? Have you ever had hip or pelvic issues? How often are you in pain from running? Do you listen to your body and take the necessary rest or run through it?

- Scott

My wife recently introduced me to Pinterest and I have to admit….I didn’t “get it”.- what the hell is a board! Then again, at first I didn’t get Twitter either, and now look where I am with it.  So me not “getting” Pinterest really doesn’t mean anything other than I will obsess over it until I find out what there is to “get”.

I set up an account under iRunnerBlog and David and I have been talking about setting up one for #RunChat as well since it seems like flavor of the month right now. My first two boards were running related, and there were some pretty cool pictures I found.  One was “Rave Runs” and the other was “Running Shoe Closet”.

I noticed a few things 1) my entire running shoe closet is Brooks, 2) I have way too many pairs of sneakers and 3) Brooks shoes, when put side by side are pretty sick and awesome looking.

I gotta say, I found myself just staring at my shoe closet board, the pictures are pretty awesome and I may of had a women’s “shogasm” moment.  Pretty rare for me to obsess over something like this but for an moment stuck in time I realized that this Pinterest thing was pretty cool.  After I snapped out of my daze I realized that I have a problem with buying running sneakers and I’m kinda hooked to Pinterest.

What is in your shoe closet? How many pairs of sneakers do you rotate through? Do you use Pinterest?

-Scott

Today while you are celebrating Valentines Day (or maybe you are not, whatever I think it is overrated anyway), take a minute to remember why you love running.  Don’t think about the injuries, the pain, the disappointments, the pressure, the stress or anything else.  Just think about what it is you love about running and why you love it.

For me, it is about being free with no restrictions, no judgments, no agenda- it is what it is, just running. I am free. I have nobody to answer to. I can be myself and just go.  This is why I love running.  This is why I love the running community.

So today, take the time to remember why you love running.  Enjoy the video below, I found it on You Tube and it showed all types of runners who all look like they are totally loving their run.

Why do you love running?

It is Monday and just 2 weeks until my next half marathon, the Tampa Gasparilla. I am sitting here with what can only be described as a pinching, severe pain in my hip.  I took the weekend off to rest as I have not felt right recently.  I was hoping that the off time last week coupled with PT this week would put me on track to get a few runs in to be able to run Gasparilla at a slow and fun pace.

On Saturday I went to the gym and figured I would ride the bike and hop in the elliptical for a little.  The bike session went well but 15 minutes into an easy ride on the elliptical I felt a “pop” behind my knee.  What followed was a sharp pain that ran from my knee down to my calf; I stopped and tried to stretch it out.  The pain had lingered and after hours of resting, stretching, icing/heat I still had some sharp pain.  No swelling, which I am taking as a good sign.

So on Wednesday I will go to PT, have my hip worked on and find out if there is something more serious that I need to deal with concerning my knee.  It has been one thing after another- bump after bump after bump.  I have no idea why my body is fighting me and I am so frustrated that I want to hang my running shoes up for the rest of Winter.

But I can’t, or I should say I won’t.  I guess I need a new approach, I mean obviously I do.  I am hurt/injured all the time.  My training sucks.  My race times blow. Bump, bump, bump.  Part of me says “it is what it is”, but then I call BS on myself.  That is not the answer and it is too early in the year to play these mind games.

This week I plan on getting healthy with my PT, getting back to yoga, strength training two nights and seeing how I feel for a run on Saturday.  If I can get in a solid 6-8 mile run this week and 10 next Saturday I will be confident to go run a fun half the first weekend in March with the hopes of turning up my training for the NYC Half mid March.

Lot’s of bumps in the road to navigate, just another adventure and more learning experiences.

Are you facing any bumps in your road now? How do you adjust physically and mentally? Do you listen to your body and take time off? Will you run a race you have registered for even if you lacked training?

- Scott

Here’s to you, the Weekend Warrior. The person that works all week while trying to fit in a training run or workout. The person that on Friday night is in bed early dreaming about your where you will go and how far it will take you. Here’s to the group runners Saturday morning or the solo adventurer. The marathoner and the couch to 5k’er. You are the people that don’t let a weekend pass without a hard workout, good sweat and carbo loading.

Go on, get excited for the weekend that awaits you. It is okay to map your run.  It is okay to lay out your running clothes. You will be doing more before 9 am on a Saturday then your neighbors and friends and that gets you pumped.

Weekend Warrior’s who train, who run and who believe weekends are not for resting, here’s to you.  Get after it this weekend and enjoy your run.

What are your running plans this weekend? Do you consider yourself a weekend warrior? What is your weekend routine for preparing for a run?

- Scott

This morning as I rolled out of bed one day removed from an intense acupuncture sessions I thought to myself “when the hell was the last time I got out of bed and was not sore?”. I think that I take care of myself- I stretch (most of the time), I do yoga (haven’t been in a while), I take a break from running when I feel pains (okay, not all the time), I strength train (when I have time), I go to PT when needed (90% of the time) and I eat well (when football season is over).

What gives? Even last year after I took six weeks off from an injury I came back and after logging miles I had some sort of pain.  It seems that since last year there has always been something that was in pain or hurting.  I am not sure if I changed something in my running form, maybe I have. I haven’t logged any crazy miles or changed my training schedule too much.

The only thing I can think of is that the added few pounds on my frame is causing stresses that I once wasn’t familiar with.  I mean, that totally makes sense and as I type this I am in the middle of shedding some pounds to get to my ideal race weight once again.  Until then I am left with this stupid pain in my right glute.  Literally, my entire hip section back to my glute are in pain.  Acupuncture helped last night free up some of the tension locally and I have a PT session next week with Marisa.  This pain kinda crept up on me quickly and I am sure that running the uneven and hilly trails last weekend didn’t help at all.

With all that is going on I sometimes wonder, when will I ever run pain free again.  The “anti-runner because it is bad for you” group will say “I told you so”- but I still don’t agree that running is bad for you.  I think that if you are not in shape and are not smart then running can be bad for your body.  Maybe that is my problem, maybe I need to totally look at how I approach running and training.

Many things swimming around my head today, but I will continue to find a solution that gets my body prepared for the races I have planned coming up.

Do you usually have some sort of lingering pain? What is the most important part of your training that keeps you healthy? What advice would you share to new runners who don’t want to get hurt? Do you think heavier people have more running injury problems?

- Scott

February is National Heart Month, so we’re going to take a short break from talking about runner specific food to talk about eating to prevent heart disease, the number one killer of Americans. I know, as a runner or endurance athlete – you may think, “I’m healthy, I’ll never have to worry about heart disease.” And hopefully that is the case. But, with stats like “1 of every 3 people in America are affected by heart disease,” it’s likely you at least know someone who is at risk for or is already dealing with the consequences of heart disease. If that’s not enough to convince you,  heart conditions costs Americans an estimated $44 BILLION in health care and  lost economic productivity. That’s a lot of money! By taking part in the fight against heart disease, whether it is changing your habits or encouraging someone else change theirs, you will not only be improving someone’s health and quality of life, but helping to cut unnecessary health care costs that this country faces.

To raise awareness about heart disease and decrease the number of people affected by it, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS) have created the Million Hearts Program, with a goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next 5 years.

While we cannot do anything to control our genetics and some people are more likely to have high cholesterol and blood pressure (2 major risk factors for heart disease), we can control our diet and activity level, both of which play a large role in our risk for heart disease.

The CDC and American Heart Association (AHA) recommend the following 7 steps to reducing your risk for heart disease.

1. Do not smoke and if you do, get help to quit
2. Maintain a healthy weight
3. Eat a healthy diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats (or other protein), low-fat dairy, legumes, and nuts. Limit foods high in saturated and trans fats; cholesterol; added sugars; and sodium.
4. Exercise regularly (minimum of 150 minute of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week)
5. Manage Cholesterol
6. Keep blood pressure in control
7. Maintain healthy blood sugar levels

Did you notice that 6 of the 7 recommendations are related to diet and exercise? As a runner you are already hitting #4 (likely way above it, which is great!). And I hope you are not smoking, but I will leave it at that. If you focus on eating to fuel your body, rather than running to eat whatever you want, you’re probably already eating a relatively heart healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight along with cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar. If not, a few simple ways to reduce your risk for heart disease with diet is to increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains (especially oats), beans, nuts, and seeds. Also, choose low-fat dairy and lean protein (see below for more on this).

Not surprisingly, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the topic of dietary fats and it’s relation to heart health so I thought I’d provide some insight into 2 of the questions that I hear most often.

What’s the story with omega-3 fatty acids and why is everyone talking about them?

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential (meaning our body cannot make them so we need to get them from food) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) . Omega-3s are found in fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, as well as in walnuts, flax seed, and some fortified foods such as eggs. PUFAs may reduce your LDL (bad cholesterol), and therefore reduce your risk of heart disease. It is also thought that Omega-3s can reduce inflammation throughout the body, which can be positive for the heart and blood vessels. They may also improve blood pressure, and some research shows a correlation between Omega-3s and reduced risk of dying from heart disease. Omega-3s also play an important role in brain development and may improve the outcome of other chronic diseases. However, much of the excitement over Omega-3s has stemmed from their relation to heart health.

Another reason they have received so much press is that people who eat Western diet are often deficient in Omega-3s and over consume  Omega-6 fatty acids (another type of essential PUFAs found in vegetable oils like soybean and safflower oil, and nuts), leading to an unbalanced ratio of omega-6’s to omega-3s, which may play a role in the progression of heart disease (among other chronic diseases).

There is good reason to include Omega-3 rich foods in your diet.  Omega-3 and fish oil supplements are available, but I always recommend getting your nutrients from whole food if possible . Click here for a list of foods high in Omega-3s. 

Should I eat a low-fat diet to improve heart health?

The American Heart Association recommends that fat make up about 25-35% of your total caloric intake. If you are eating a 2,000-calorie diet, that means 500-700 of your daily calorie intake should come from fat (or 55-77g of fat per day).

The majority of this fat should be from mono and polyunsaturated fats (from plant sources) such as those from olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, and fatty fish. What you do want to limit is the amount of saturated fat (animal sources) in your diet which is found in meat and dairy products. Thus, the AHA recommends eating low-fat dairy (such as 1% or skim milk, reduced fat cheese and yogurt), and lean protein (fish, chicken, tofu, beans, etc) and limiting full fat dairy (whole milk) and red meats with high saturated fat. It’s also recommended to avoid all trans fats (usually coming from partially hydrogenated oils). Luckily most food companies and restaurants are removing trans fats from their food, if they haven’t already.

Eating a low-fat diet (one in which fewer than 20% of your calories come from fats) can actually lead to negative health effects. This is because carbohydrates often replace the fat, which can cause blood triglyceride levels to increase, a risk factor for heart disease. In addition, many food companies reduce the fat in products by replacing it with sugar (have you ever noticed that low-fat products like cookies and crackers are often not that much lower in calories?), leading to more added refined sugars to your diet, which can increase blood glucose. Unless your on a long run (where you need straight sugar to fuel your muscles), you want to minimize the amount of added sugars in your diet to keep your blood glucose stable and at a healthy range. High triglyceride levels are associated with higher LDL cholesterol as well. Therefore it’s best to just focus on choosing the right the type of fat rather reducing fat overall. If you do choose a low-fat diet, make sure you’re replacing your fat intake with healthy carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains.

In addition, fat is digested more slowly than carbohydrates, which can help with satiety. Therefore eating some fat is helpful for weight management.

Remember though, fat, whether the good or bad kind, is calorie dense (9 calories per gram vs. 4 calories per gram for carbs and protein). Therefore, for the same amount of calories, you need to eat less volume. So, watch portion sizes. If you’re replacing butter with olive oil when cooking (great, easy switch), don’t forget that even though you’re replacing the saturated fat with health monounsaturated fats, portion size and calorie content still count!  Snacking on almonds or other nuts is a great way to up your unsaturated fat intake, but measure out your 1oz portion size before you dig in!

More questions on eating for heart health? Post them in a comment below and I will answer them!

Read more about National Heart Month and the Million Hearts Program sponsored by the CDC and CMMS.

Happy National Heart Month!

What are you doing to keep your heart happy? Do you include healthy fats in your diet? 

-Sarah

(Sarah is a 2nd year grad student pursuing her MS in Nutrition Communication at Tufts University Friedman School in Boston. She is also completing the requirements to become a registered dietitian and will begin her dietetic internship in 2012. Sarah is a certified spin instructor and an avid runner and regularly participates in road races from 5k to a 1/2 marathons. Follow her on Twitter @SpinnerSarah and at her personal blog Food and Fitness Friend.)

2012, the year of the Presidential election, big decisions are to be made.  Keep with the old, bring in the new- what to do? In the spirit of the 2012 election Naked Juice has launched a campaign called Vote Naked.  This campaign speaks to those who love Naked Juice and those who strive to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

Their Mantra: “When you vote Naked, you vote for goodness.  We stand for celebrating fruit, staying true to pure tastiness and nutrition.  We never add sugar or spoil nature’s perfection with preservatives.  And we care about what we put in our bottles as much as you care about what you put in your body.  A vote for Naked is a vote for you.  That’s our Naked Truth”.

I am pretty interested in the The Naked Candidates, as they come in all types. Over the next few months, as part of a sponsorship from Naked, I am going to help support the Vote Naked campaign by championing multiple flavor “candidates”. We all want things that are better, tastier and healthier- this campaign strives to get everyone on board with that mantra and to “Vote Naked”.

Mighty Mango: Here is the deal, when you crack open this bottle of fruity tastiness you are drinking 100% juice smoothies packed with way more goodness than you’d expect to find in a bottle that size. You might be thinking “dude, juice is juice, how great and mighty can it be?” Here is how I break it down and explain that- I am a New Yorker, I don’t want to have to pack in my commuter bag a mango, an orange, an apple and a banana.  I can only imagine sitting on the C train with the dirty homeless guy next to me, digging my fingers into an orange peel or sticking a banana peel back into my bag.  I can’t think of anything worse.  Solution? Hook myself up with a Mighty Mango and get the juice from 1 1/4 mangoes, 1/2 orange, 1 3/4 apples, 1/3 banana and nice hint of lemon.  Way more convenient and one may say quite mighty for its size.

What does this all mean to you? If you love Naked juices, go “Vote Naked”.  If you have not tried Mighty Mango or any of the other products but look for nutritious products to fuel your active lifestyle, then go “Vote Naked”.

Go “Vote Naked” and Giveaway: Go to the Naked Facebook account and Vote Naked to support the mantra, leave a comment on their wall and download a coupon.  Then come back here and leave a comment that you have done so.  I will pick one winner to win three free Naked juice coupons.   

Do you love Naked juices? What is your favorite flavor?

- Scott

update 2/10/12 12:oo pm EST: Congrats to Eliza for winning