Exercise Can Make You Smarter?

 by Patrick Vaughan

Evidence has arisen that Exercise and physical activity does indeed make you smarter! Here is the proof to back it up.

Study 1.)

In terms of achieving better retention in graduation rates here at MSU, graduate student Samantha Danbert, under the direction of Dr. Jim Pivarnik has undertaken a study based upon Academic Success and the Role of Recreational Sports Fitness Facilities. The study was split into two groups; those with a Campus Recreational Fitness Facilities [CRFF] membership, and those without one. The findings from this study were highly significant [p<0.05].

Results:

•  Those who had memberships had higher GPA’s, completed more credits, and were more likely to be retained as MSU students than those who did not have memberships.  (Danbert)

• There tends to be a strong correlation between those with fitness memberships and their level of academic achievement. (Danbert)

• This research helps to support the notion that providing students with better access to fitness facilities, could potentially aid in fostering the retention rate of students as proposed (Danbert)

Study 2.) 

Other studies have indicated that submaximal aerobic exercise performed for durations between 20-60 minutes, facilitates multiple cognitive processes critical to optimum performance and adaptive behavior. 

In a study by Tenenbaum et al., 8 team handball players decision-making abilities were evaluated while walking/running on a treadmill. Pictures of game-like situations were flashed for a period of two seconds, followed by a verbal response to the situation.

Results:

• Following exercise, people are better able to engage in action, concentrate, and solve problems than they are prior to exercise (Tomporowski).

•  Regardless of skill-level or experience, decisions were significantly better at higher intensities than at lower levels of exercise [Running vs. Walking] (Tomporowski).

• The consensus is that exercise does indeed influence the speed of decision-making once the information has been coded (Tomporowski).

Supporting Evidence/Additional Studies:

1. Learning complex movement sequences and utilizing problem-solving during athletics/exercise can stimulate the prefrontal cortex, which aids in carrying out executive functioning (Sallis)
2. Release of neurohormones during exercise, can help to improve classroom attentiveness (Sallis)
3. Continual exercise is associated with advantages in cognitive functioning, math, acuity, and reaction time (Sallis) 
4. Studies provided by SPARK [Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids], demonstrate that more active and physically fit students could indeed be better learners as well.           

a.   They increased the amount of Physical Activity within the scheduled day of 1^st-6^th graders, and decreased their time for instruction. Despite14-26% reduction in instruction time for subjects other than PE, there was an overall increase in fitness, psychomotor abilities, and class grades.

                                                              i.      Most notably is that there was no difference from the SPARK schools in standardized testing as opposed to other schools [Despite the 14-26% reduction time in instruction], and in addition the students in the SPARK program also scored higher than the control schools in terms of standardized mathematics testing. (Sallis)

To get a fresh start on working out for your brain, check out these home workout videos for exercises you can do during your down time at home, new ones will be posted every week! 

http://nutritionnatural.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html  

 -Click on this link here, OR on the Home Workouts link in the right column of this page- 


To learn more about how nutrition effects the brain, check out this link below!
http://nutritionnatural.blogspot.com/2013/08/nutrition-and-exercise-what-load-of.html
 

 

Works Cited

Danbert, Samantha J., James M. Pivarnik, Richard N. McNeil, and Ira J. Washington. "Academic Success: The Role of Campus Recreation Fitness Facilities." (Not Published): n. pag. Web.

Sallis, James F`. "Effects of Health-Related Physical Education on Academic Achievement: Project SPARK." Taylor and Francis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2013.

Tomporowski, Phillip D. "Effects of Acute Bouts of Exercise on Cognition." Effects of Acute Bouts of Exercise on Cognition. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2013.

Home Workouts Session 1 (HW S1) - Push-ups

Check out the Home Workouts link in the right-hand column  

 

The Workout:

1.) 1,2,3 = ten diamonds, ten regular, ten wide-spread push-ups and bring it back in; 10 regular, ten diamond for a total of 50 push-ups in this set

2.) Staggered Push-ups = alternate every two push-ups, repeating it five times for a total of ten push-ups in this set

3.) Wrestlers; do 10-20

4.) 3-Hop push-ups = every 3 hops counts as one; do ten of these

5.) Lateral Plank Walk = This one is time-based, go side-to-side over a distance of at least ten feet for 45 seconds

6.) Rocky's "clap push-ups"; do ten of these

7.) Tabletop punches; do ten on each side

8.) Hand-walking - forwards and backwards; do this one until exhaustion! 

Break = 2 minutes after completing this set; during the workout the only "break" is during transition time

REPEAT 2X - for a total of 3 sets each

**If following the minimum recommendations, you will have done 330 push-ups! excluding the supplemental hand-walking, lateral plank walk, and tabletop punches!**

SS: What Can Brown Do For You?

Written By Sam

White rice is a staple food in almost every Asian culture, so if you are Asian and you're reading this, this post should be right up your alley! As noted in my previous post "My Story: From fat to Fit" http://nutritionnatural.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-story-from-fat-to-fit.html, white rice was one of the leading contributors to my weight gain - it was eaten at least one meal a day, and the results were bad. There's something about eating Asian food that is kind of frustrating - you never stay full for a long time! I haven't been able to figure out why this is until recently; This is because the meals, especially in Chinese culture, are heavily driven by white rice consumption. I would have to eat several bowls of white rice to remain full, and the pounds really added on quickly. Because of this, I have stopped eating white rice at home and have been cooking brown rice, and the benefits have been pretty substantial. In this post, I will get into the pros and cons of white and brown rice and show you why brown rice is the way to go.

White Rice: 

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White rice is when the grain of rice is milled and has its husk, bran, and germ removed. It is then polished to make the seed brighter and white. Because of these processes, a lot of the important nutrients are removed, such as vitamin B and Dietary Fiber (In 1 cup of white rice, there is 5% daily value of vitamin B-6 and .6g dietary fiber). Vitamin B is crucial for converting carbohydrates into glucose in the body, which is just a fancy way of saying energy production. It also helps maintain a healthy nervous and digestive system, along with healthy hair, nails and skin. Dietary fiber is important to ensure smooth function of the digestive system and it normalizes bowel movements. On top of that, it helps to maintain a healthy weight, lower risk of diabetes and heart disease, and lowers cholesterol. The benefits of white rice are that it has a long shelf life (10 years), it's fairly inexpensive ($2.50 for a 32 oz bag of white rice), and calorie wise isn't too bad (206 calories/cup).

Brown Rice:

Brown rice is whole grain rice, which means that just the husk is removed while the bran and germ are still intact. The bran and germ give the rice it's brown color and also a unique chewiness. It's a taste that may take a little bit getting used to because it doesn't go down as smoothly as white rice, but it really isn't a big deal. Because the bran and germ are there, the rice offers a lot more nutrition compared to white rice. Brown rice is rich in vitamin B and dietary fiber, and the effects of those two nutrients are vital to good health and maintaining a healthy weight, as mentioned earlier. (In 1 cup of brown rice, there is 15% daily value of vitamin B-6 and 3.5g dietary fiber). The only downsides I really found were that brown rice has a shorter shelf life (6 years), has more calories/cup (216), and is a bit more expensive ($2.75 for a 16 oz bag) compared to white rice.

Conclusion:

I definitely recommend making the switch to brown rice if at all possible. Although it costs more money and doesn't last as long, the nutritional benefits are worth the few extra dollars it would cost to make this change. Also, White rice may have fewer calories, but you have to eat more of it to feel full compared to if you just ate brown rice. The general rule of thumb is, if you can find the whole grain alternative, ALWAYS choose that one because of the nutritional benefits it offers. Brown rice is sold in pretty much all grocery stores so there shouldn't be a problem in finding it. Since the brown rice has more fiber, it will require more water to cook it and the cooking directions will be different compared to white rice. To learn how to make brown rice, use this link here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/03/how-to-cook-brown-rice/. Just by making this small change, you will have a lot more energy and will feel more satisfied after your meal.

Sources:
https://www.google.com/#bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=56c151f7a86970d2&q=white+rice+nutrition
https://www.google.com/#bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=56c151f7a86970d2&q=white+rice+brown+rice+nutrition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_rice

Pictures:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/blog/Image/white_rice_diabetes.jpg
http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2009_4_15-massa-rice1.jpg

Supplementation: Tart Cherry Juice

by Patrick Vaughan

            Personally I am a strong believer in the fact that one doesn’t need supplementation, and that they can get all of the nutrients that they need through a proper and well-thought out diet. However I am a strong believer in supplementation for any areas that one can be seen to have a deficit in nutrients/vitamins. 

In my quest to become fit, I began to deplete my internal nutrient stores which caused my bones to become brittle and weak. Well low and behold, one soccer game and an unfortunate collision later, I had broken my femur – the biggest/strongest bone in the body. As I came back to health after that incident, I took fish oil supplementation, a multivitamin supplement, and a calcium/magnesium/zinc pill and I attribute much of my rapid healing to this regiment. Now that I have fully recovered from breaking my leg, I no longer take these supplements.  

Recovering from an injury isn’t the only time that I would promote supplementation, especially natural forms of supplementation. During a workout you produce micro-tears in the muscles (which is how you build bigger and stronger muscles as your body repairs itself post-workout) and micro-fractures from the pounding done on the bones from heavy weight-lifting or running during a workout. While showing ones productivity for the day, these "gains" are what one associates with the soreness and aches that may come following a good workout. 

This brings me to the topic of today, which is Tart Cherry Juice Supplementation. I currently work in a Tart Cherry Genomics lab under the Breeder/Cultivar Amy Iezzoni. While she is not directly involved in any studies on the matter, she is the leading producer of Tart Cherries in the United States with cultivars from all over the world. On the subject she stated that, “The darker the skin pigmentation of the Tart Cherry, the greater the levels of anthocyanins”. The interest in the anthocyanin pigment revolves around the possible health benefits as dietary antioxidants. Some have even come to hail the tart cherry as a Super-Antioxidant. 

                Numerous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents have been identified in the tart cherry (Connolly). The benefits provided by such agents include mediating stresses that the body encounters daily such as efficiently breaking down food, protecting the body from environmental hazards such as UV radiation, and most interestingly may aid in preventing the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage. This means that for every cherry you pop, you could be reducing the muscular damage and fatigue from your previous workout, enabling you to maximize your gains from that last workout. 

                In a study by D A J Connolly, 14 male college students drank 12 fl oz of tart cherry juice twice a day for eight consecutive days prior to and after weight-lifting sessions. Post-lifting, it was noted that strength losses were only at about 4% in the Tart Cherry Juice group, as opposed to the control group which experienced a 22% loss in their average strength following the session. This evidence supported the hypothesis that strength loss and overall levels of pain were diminished in the tart cherry juice supplementation trials. 

                In another study by G. Howatson, twenty recreational marathon runners were assigned to consume either tart cherry juice or a placebo 5 days before a race, and for the 48 hours following a marathon run. For those of us who are crazy enough to run long-distance recreationally, or what others may call “for fun”, we are opening up our bodies to muscle damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress which occurs in response to our “fun” habits. From this study, the recovery time was significantly quicker over the first 48 hours after the race, than in the control group. However despite this elevated recovery rate in strength, there was no other significant difference between the two groups other than the increased antioxidant capacity noted in the tart cherry juice group, which was identified by measuring plasma/serum levels and by the blunting of uric acid levels. 

                So we’ve heard a lot about oxidative damage so far, but what exactly is it? Oxidative stress is the result of an imbalance within the body’s natural biological systems. Most commonly, peroxides or oxygen free radicals are released as highly reactive molecules, meaning that they will usually react with the first thing that they come into contact with. This can disrupt the flow of other chemical messages traveling throughout the body, or just simply damage the surrounding tissues. Now as you age, your body’s natural buffering capacity begins to weaken, which is one of the current health theories as to why we physically grow older [because of this oxidative stress]. Therefore in the elderly health study populations of Tinna Traustadottir, she has experimented with tart cherry juice supplementation in older adults, in order to reduce the effects of oxidative damage. The results of her study indicated that a dietary intervention using a commercial tart cherry juice was able improve antioxidant defenses in older adults as shown by an increased capacity to constrain an oxidative challenge [blood cuff constriction] and reduced the overall oxidative damage to nucleic acids.

So in a quick recap on Tart Cherry Juice Supplementation:

    1.) Has demonstrated an increased muscular recovery rate after heavy lifting/running

    2.) Significantly reduces losses in strength following an eccentric work-out

    3.) Works as an antioxidant to lower overall oxidative stress in the body
             a.) Reduces potentially damaging effects of exercise
             b.) Reduces overall oxidative damage to nucleic acids (giving you that "healthy" look)


Conclusion:
             The research on Tart Cherry Juice supplementation is young. However the results/impact of this form of supplementation look promising in terms of muscular recovery, in the potential to see muscular gains at a faster rate, and of course in the knowledge that you may be holding onto that youthful appearance just that much longer. So ultimately it may be tart, but hey, it’s not going to kill you to try it.

Sources:

Connolly, D A J. "Efficacy of a Tart Cherry Juice Blend in Preventing the Symptoms of Muscle Damage * Commentary 1 * Commentary 2." British Journal of Sports Medicine 40.8 (2006): 679-83. Print.

Howatson, G., M. P. McHugh, J. A. Hill, J. Brouner, A. P. Jewell, K. A. Van Someren, R. E. Shave, and S. A. Howatson. "Influence of Tart Cherry Juice on Indices of Recovery following Marathon Running." Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports (2009): n. pag. Print.

Traustadottir, T., S. S. Davies, A. A. Stock, Y. Su, C. B. Heward, L. J. Roberts, and S. M. Harman. "Tart Cherry Juice Decreases Oxidative Stress in Healthy Older Men and Women." Journal of Nutrition 139.10 (2009): 1896-900. Print.

SS: Cheese Alternative

Veggie Slices

By Tim Cullen

Sandwiches are a common food that our society has adopted over the years. You have fast food joints that make sandwiches, delis, soup and sandwich restaurants and lunch meat easily accessible. Obviously most of us don't eat a sandwich with just bread and meat, although there may be some out there that do, and that means that there is going to be more ingredients. One of the most common ingredients on a sandwich is cheese. Now, it is only a slice of cheese and you may ask, "How bad can that honestly be?" I will highlight the cons of adding cheese on sandwiches and offer a healthy alternative that tastes similar to our unhealthy counterpart.

The alternative to cheese would be veggie slices by Galaxy Nutritional Foods. Galaxy Nutritional Foods have been established for over 30 years and have been dedicated to providing nutritional food and to give healthy eaters a wide variety of options to satisfy their appetite. Veggie slices look just like cheese slices and they taste very similar to that of cheese slices. However, they are a much healthier option for you to add to sandwiches, grilled cheese, quesadillas and more foods you normally use cheese slices for.

What is so different between cheese and veggie slices? In fact, there are many differences between them. Below is the comparison between the two foods.

Nutrient	Veggie Slices	Cheese Slices
Calories per serving	40	71
Total fat (g)	2.5	4.6
Saturated fat (g)	0	3
Cholesterol (mg)	0	15
Sodium (mg)	220	223
Carbohydrates (g)	0	2
Protein (g)	3	4.1
Vitamin A	10%	4%
Vitamin C	2%	0%
Calcium	20%	25%
Iron	4%	0%

You can see the differences in the table above. You are not losing much in the energy department (cal) but you are gaining in many of the other areas! Calcium and protein may be higher in cheese than veggie slices, but it is not so much of a difference to make you afraid to make the switch. Along with the vitamins at the bottom, veggie slices are also a good source of Vitamin B6, B12, E. It also contains a high amount of riboflavin, which is an essential component in FAD, a cofactor that is integral to many important metabolic processes producing flavoproteins in the human body. There is one negative about veggie slices, along with cheese, and that is it contains a high amount of sodium, but I truly believe that the pros outweigh the cons significantly in this situation.

Veggie slices can be found in the produce sections of markets or grocery stores. They are harder to find than cheese, but if you try you can definitely find them. They are a good option for lactose intolerant eaters out there allowing an alternative to enjoy. If you are doing this solely to go the vegan route, then before you purchase any of these products you need to look closely if it includes casein. Those are often added to them to supply amino acids to the food, but also disqualify it from being vegan, so be careful!

  

My view on cheese on sandwiches is that if you put enough on the sandwich itself, do you really taste the cheese all that much? I feel that you can add this as an alternative and not lose anything when it comes to the composition to your sandwich but you are making it healthier for you. I personally do not add any type of cheese on my sandwich, because I feel that it is unnecessary and you can get a great tasting sandwich by adding a variety of vegetables to it! I know there are many people out there in love with their cheese, so I thought I would write this up for all of you out there if you simply cannot go without cheese!  

For more information on veggie slices and the other products offered by Galaxy Nutritional Foods, Visit their official website at this link: http://www.galaxyfoods.com/

Sources:

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-galaxy-nutritional-veggie-slices-i237966

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-kraft-foods-american-cheese-singles-i99794

http://themindofmelivinglife.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/veggie-slices.gif