Beetroot Juice - Nature's Humble Energy Drink

There are a plethora of "performance enhancing"drinks and supplements on the market that work on a variety of biological functions. Some are just straight caffeine, others attempt to increase levels of certain hormones, still more pump you full of carbohydrates or proteins and a relatively new group to the mix utilize nitrates to boost muscle endurance.

The specific nitrate at work here is converted to one helpful fellow called nitric oxide, not to be confused with nitrous oxide which is laughing gas. Nitric oxide is a gas that acts in the body as a neurotransmitter, meaning that it carries messages from the brain. In it's messaging work, however NO is directly responsible for controlling the flow of blood and oxygen to certain parts of that body when they need it most.

But there's something special about how NO does it. Think of it this way: You have a narrow tube and you're trying to blow water through it. Give enough time you can move a large amount of water but to increase the flow you have to increase the amount of pressure you put behind it. You'd have to really puff up your cheeks and struggle a bit. Or you could just use a wider tube.

NO opens and relaxes the blood vessels which allows more blood to travel through them while also lowering blood pressure. Nitric oxide supplements have been very popular amongst body builders for years.

So... what's this got to do with beet juice?

Well in addition to the effects of NO, beets have an as-of-yet unexplained ability to reduce the oxygen needs of your muscles.

Since 2009 a host of studies have been released showing exactly how much it can help people, specifically those involved in endurance training. The first of these studies was led by the University of Exeter in the U.K and found that an intake of 500ml (about 16 fluid ounces) increased the subjects' ability to endure exercise substantially. Those that took beetroot juice lasted 92 seconds longer on a bike than the control group for a 16% increase.

Another study showed that these benefits also work for low-intensity activities, like walking. This means that beets have a potential for helping those who struggle with daily activities but more research is still needed.

The most recent study tested these effects directly on endurance athletes and also isolated the active ingredient. The subjects, club-level competitive cyclists were asked to complete time trials at 2.5 and 10 miles. They biked each race twice, once with normal beet juice and again with a juice that had had the nitrates removed. Here are the results: "On average, riders [who had taken normal beet juice] were 11 seconds (2.8%) quicker over the 4km distance and 45 seconds (2.7%) faster over the 16.1km distance."

In all of these studies, the magic number was 500ml (or 16 ounces) of beet juice.

It should be noted that anyone with kidney problems or hypocalcemia (low calcium) should talk it over with their doctor before getting crazy with the beet juice. Also, a harmless but somewhat unnerving side effect of beet consumption is red or pink urine. So don't panic if that happens.

While the function of the nitrates in beet juice do not rival the muscle-increasing effects of some other commercially available NO supplements, the pulpy red juice will like be enough to give everyone from endurance athletes to slightly active people an edge.

And now for something completely different: What's the Deal With Hiccups?

I am, by nature, an obsessively curious person. One night my curiosity got the better of me  when I was being plagued by hiccups so badly that I couldn't sleep and I decided that I had to understand them better. The following are the results of that research:

What causes hiccups?

Hiccups, A.K.A synchronous diaphragmatic flutter and singultus, involve a surprisingly complex mechanism which is not completely understood, despite how common they are.
The short answer is that hiccups are caused by a spasm of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle which sits just under the lungs and helps in both inhalation and exhalation by either pushing or pulling on them. When the diaphragm gets on the fritz it jerks sharply on the lungs, pulling air in. The quick-moving gulp of air slaps the epiglottis closed and makes the classic, irritating, "hic" noise.
But what makes the diaphragm act up? Quite the number of things, actually. The most common causes are overeating or eating too quickly. But hiccups can be, in rare circumstances, symptoms of serious nervous disorders. Other infections can also cause hiccups.

"Cures"

There is an innumerable and absurd amount of hiccup "cures." The vast majority are based on folk medicine and some are just down right funny.
Here's some of the best I've found. Some may work, some may just be entertaining. So that you know that I'm not making these up to mess with you, I've included my sources for some of the truly strange ones.

• Drink a teaspoon of fresh onion juice ("Secret Food Cures" by Joan & Lydia Wilen)
• Hold a mouthful of water and firmly press each of your middle fingers into your ears. Count to 100, then swallow and unplug your ears ("Secret Food Cures" by Joan & Lydia Wilen)
• Sing opera. This one actually makes sense to me since opera requires control of the diaphragm and should whip it back into shape.
• Place a teaspoon of salt on half of a lemon and then suck the juice out of the lemon.
• Visualize a rabbit.
• A classic remedy involves swallowing a teaspoon of granulated sugar. The irritation should interrupt the nerve impulse causing the spasms.
•  Many people have advocated bending forward and drinking a glass of water. You'll have to tip the glass away from you and drink out of the far end.
• Of course, everyone's heard of getting the hiccups scared out of you. Turns out, this could also overload the vagus nerve and stop the spasm.
• Pull hard on the tongue (Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology)
• You know that strange little ball that hangs in the back of your throat? The uvula? Gently lift it with a spoon (Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology)
• Take a deep breath. Sip an entire glass of water while plugging your nose. (I forget where I read this one but it has always worked for me)

Interestingly, there are even hiccup "medications" available.

Could they help you lose weight?

A question I've been asked, and seen asked on various websites, is: How many calories do hiccups burn?
I've done a considerable amount of research and come up with this answer: Not enough to matter. I could find no reliable source which says to me that the people who would be in charge of figuring out that sort of thing don't consider it worth their time. If I had to guess I would say that the number is less than one calorie. The mechanism behind hiccups, even the most painful case, is a short, reflexive spasm which does not require very much energy to accomplish.

Setting Goals and Staying Motivated

According to the American Council on Exercise, 50 percent of the people who begin an exercise program will quit within the first six months. The overwhelming majority of these people use "lack of time" as their excuse.

Well I, for one, refuse to except this excuse. And I will tell you why using simple mathematics, the only type of mathematics I'm capable of. There are 16 waking hours in a day, allowing for 8 hours of sleep, which means that there are about 112 waking hours in a week. The American Heart Association, as well as countless other health authorities, recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week for a total of 1.5 hours of exercise per week. That's only 1.33% of your total week!

So, no, I don't buy it. I think it's more an issue of exercise not being a priority that people want to make time for because they don't enjoy it. So how can you enjoy exercise more?

An extremely important, though oft overlooked, step is one that should be done before and throughout following a workout plan and just about any other endeavor: Goal Setting.

Exercising without a goal is like shooting a gun without aiming; You may accomplish something eventually but you're going to waste a lot of time, energy and resources on guesswork.

Setting appropriate goals means that you have something to strive for, which means that you have a feeling of accomplishment, which builds self-confidence that you can achieve future goals. It also allows you to track your progress so that you feel like you're actually accomplishing something with all that exercise. It attaches something pleasant to something that, for some, is unpleasant. It's a fantastically empowering thing.

But notice that I specified appropriate goals. To explain what "appropriate" means in this context, I'm going to borrow an acronym from the American Council on Exercise. According to them, and me, goals must be S.M.A.R.T.

Specific - Exactly what do you want to accomplish?
Measurable - When your goal is something that you can measure, then you definitely know when you've accomplished it. In the fitness realm, measurable goals include a certain amount of weight lost, a body fat percentage reached or even a race that you want to participate in. This site is a great way to find local races and other activities.
Attainable - This one's tricky and takes some balance. If your goal is too easy or too hard, the boost of motivation won't last. You'll either attain it way too quickly and not have a chance to improve or become frustrated and give up. So make your goal something that's challenging but doable. For example: "I want to run the New York Marathon in a month" is way too difficult for someone who hasn't run before. What classifies as "easy" depends on you and your personal fitness level.
Relevant - Make the goals fit your interest, needs and abilities.
Timebound - Set a specific deadline. Make sure this date is still within the boundaries of attainability.

So, "I want to get in better shape" is an unacceptable goal because its not specific, measurable or timebound. And we don't accept "close enough!" On the other hand, "I want to lose 20 pounds by the end of the year?" Brilliant!

And I can back this all up with a team of scientists. You can read the study here.

Setting a SMART goal gives you something to work for and something to feel good about and helps you find something to enjoy in your workout. Because everybody enjoys winning, even when we're just competing against ourselves.

Question: "Considering the amount of water in our food, how much water do I really need to drink? Should I ever be using sports drinks instead?"

Excellent question! Although it is a bit difficult to give a clean-cut answer. Water needs vary greatly based on your individual diet, environment, illness, age, fitness level and activity.

The traditional wisdom is that you should, on a normal day at a normal activity level, drink an 8 ounce glass of water 8 times a day for a total of 64 ounces. But those hydration recommendations are so 2001. A study in the 2002 American Journal of Physiology advocated a somewhat more liberal "drink when you're thirsty" view. In 2004 the Institute of Medicine agreed, removed the 64oz recommendations and replaced them with general fluid intake recommendations which include fluid derived from food. In addition to water, these guidelines include other fluids, even those containing caffeine. The IOM guidelines for healthy individuals not engaged in strenuous physical activity are now as follows (AI stands for adequate intake):

Life stage group	AI for Total Water, L/day
Infants 0–6 months	0.7
Infants 7–12 months	0.8
Children 1–3 years	1.3
Children 4–8 years	1.7
Boys 9–13 years	2.4
Girls 9–13 years	2.1
Boys 14–18 years	3.3
Girls 14–18 years	2.3
Men 19–70+ years	3.7
Women 19–70+ years	2.7

Again, these numbers represent the total fluid intake, which includes everything you eat and drink throughout the course of a day. So now we have to consider your diet. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you eat a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables. If you do, you probably get about 20% of your daily fluid needs from your food.

For example: Lettuce is around 95% water. So 1.5 cups of lettuce will give you 11.4 ounces of water. Even potatoes are 80% water! For more information about the water content of fruits and vegetables, click here.

So to finally answer your question, the revised fluid intake recommendation through beverages is 9 cups a day for women and 12.5 for men.

Now on to sports drinks. They're a "fluid" so you could toss them into the mix to meet your daily requirements too. But should you?

Probably not.

Sports drinks are based on the idea that your body needs carbohydrates to fuel activity. Carbohydrates are broken down and converted to glucose and then stored in the muscles as glycogen. During exercise that glycogen is the the first thing your body uses for energy. According to J. Anderson, L. Young and S. Prior of Colorado State University, those glycogen stores are enough to sustain you through 90 minutes of exercise and ingesting more carbohydrates won't help. Which means that sports drinks provide calories that will not be used during that activity. Water, on the other hand has no calories.

It is true that the sodium contained in sports drinks aids in hydration and would be helpful in very hot or humid environments. I've used this recipe (courtesy of the good doctors at Colorado State) before to make my own sports drink with limited calories, no artificial coloring or preservatives and enough sodium.

Add 6 tablespoons sugar and 1/3 teaspoon salt to each quart of water. Dissolve sugar and cool.

To review: Drink when you're thirsty, eat you're fill of fruits and vegetables and drink extra before and after any physical activity with small amounts during the exercise. Sports drinks are great for extended activity but the added calories may make it undesirable for the average person.