bridgeman said:
Funny thing about nuts. I love cashews, but always feel lethargic after eating them. So last night I got the wild idea to look into peoples reactions to them and nuts in general. Sure enough, lots of people have the same reaction as me. Some even have other nasty reactions to them, so be watchful.
As for the carb and protein routine I have,... it works really well. Oats a few hours before, with carb powder 1 hour before I go out. Protein as soon as I get home. Then about a half and hour later I'll have a turkey sandwitch or something similar.
I've tried a lot of different methods of intake and this has worked very well for me. Keeps the fatigue away, even after 5 hour hard rides.
But again, I worry about the quality of these powder products and wonder where they are manufactured.
Nuts are a high fat food and require a lot of energy to digest em. Still if we compare them calorie to calorie with animal flesh, nuts take a lot less digestive energy as they have no cholesterol,uric acids, adrenaline, benzo pyrines, hetrocyclic amines, metabolic waste products etc and actually contain fiber, antioxidants, plant sterols, phytonutrients and more vitamins and minerals per calorie. Thats the main problem being an athlete and consuming flesh foods as our endocrine system then has to work harder to process the extra metabolic waste products that are naturally found in flesh foods. Not good if you want better recovery. All plant foods contain all 8 essential amino acids minus the nasties mentioned above.
It takes the body days to digest, store and uptake nutrients from animal products vs under 24hrs for most plant foods. Sweet fruit being the quickest food from mouth to cells. The amino acid and glucose/fructose profiles in fruit being the most biologically efficient for human athletic performance. Hence why all the gell companies are adding amino acids and certain glucose/fructose ratios to their products lately. Hence why instinctively humans go to the mango tree vs the corpse buzzing with flies.
Mother nature got it right from the get go but charging 4$ for a banana with a powerbar sticker on it just aint proper marketing.

Lots of the products are made using GMO maltodextrins etc. I personally do not use any sports drinks, gels etc and have riden further in a day than anyone I personally know. That indicates good nutrition doesnt come from a bottle, jar, packet or can but rather from mother natures garden itself. I rode 225km on Saturday on water, dried papaya and bananas. Didnt bonk and still had enough kick at the end to crank out the watts to 'win' the final KOM with my mates.
To have concern where our food comes from these days, I feel thats a virtue. Too few people question what is encouraged and just say 'Oh DDT is fine! Monsanto is a great company! GMO foods are helping feed the world and sure there has never been any studies supporting them but hey, powerbar choc chip cookie bar tastes good..'
