On May 15, 2022, reigning three-time Classic Physique Olympia Champion (2019-2021), Chris Bumstead, posted a video to his YouTube channel outlining an entire day’s worth of eating. The 5,000-calorie-plus diet is part of Bumstead’s ongoing off-season as he prepares for the 2022 Mr. Olympia on December 15-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV. 

[Related: Here’s How 5-Time CrossFit Games Champion Tia-Clair Toomey Is Eating To Cut Weight]

Bumstead starts the video by saying this is the first time he has shared a “full-day” diet in a while. A quick scan of Bumstead’s YouTube page confirms that assertion, as his last nutritional video was in late February 2022. A new edition came at the continued behest of his 1.75 million-plus subscribers (and counting). 

It’s been a minute, you guys always ask for these, so here we are, doing a full day of eating.

Overall, it’s another detailed insight into partly how the top-notch bodybuilder fuels his performance and builds his muscle.

Meal 1

Like many people worldwide, Bumstead starts his morning with a cup of Joe. Though, this isn’t any ordinary coffee. The coffee has mushrooms (which have adaptogens) and chocolate sea salt (which has electrolytes). The thought process behind the mushroom/adaptogen is that it helps fortify Bumstead’s immune system, which research confirms is one of its main benefits. (1)

After he finishes coffee, Bumstead shifts to a “boring breakfast” — a protein shake. The shake consists of two scoops of his protein isolate brand, a scoop of glutamine for fiber, and he pairs that with two whole toasted bagels. Bumstead says he usually has a couple of eggs on the side, but they started not to sit well with his stomach.

As Bumstead notes, food variety can be integral to maximizing an athlete’s training output. One study maintained that a multi-versed diet is especially beneficial for, say, a bodybuilder who might want to consume more nutrients and calories throughout the day. (2)

Here’s Bumstead’s full breakfast — which comes out to 985 calories and 70 grams of protein — laid out: 

• One cup of coffee (with mushrooms and chocolate sea salt)
• Two scoops of CBUM Itholate Protein and one scoop of glutamine in water 
• Two whole cinnamon raisin bagels (with Ghee butter) 

Before diving into his breakfast, Bumstead notes he’s not eating as much as he normally does. He makes clear it’s part of an experimental  “carb-cycle test” that might let him safely push toward the weight cap he wants and eventually maintain it easier. 

Meal 2

After a short break, Bumstead shows off his mid-morning meal — a solid helping of white rice and ground turkey with olive oil. Bumstead says that he recently started eating as much as 350 grams of rice in one sitting, so he now uses the olive oil for a flavor boost.

Here’s this meal — which consists of 796 calories — as it stands:

• Ground turkey — 185 grams
• Boiled white rice — 300 grams
• Olive oil — 15 grams

Per Bumstead, he usually tries to eat at least three times before he heads to the gym and trains, as he “definitely won’t eat three times” after the fact. That makes it vital to get a good bulk of his calories and nutrition beforehand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Chris Bumstead (@cbum)

[Related: Bodybuilder Shaun Clarida Locks Out 150-Pound Incline Dumbbell Presses For 20 Reps]

Meal 3

As his final meal before heading out to train, Bumstead opts for a 700-calorie helping of MegaFit’s prepackaged steak and sweet potatoes. The bodybuilder says the combo of turkey and white rice, followed by a steak and sweet potatoes, is an absolute “favorite go-to” in his daily schedule. 

Meal 4 (Post-Workout)

Bumstead rolls with a tried-and-true 1,155-calorie pasta favorite to feed himself after his workout. It also contains 145 grams of carbs:

• Brown pasta — 180 grams
• Ground beef — 100 grams
• Ground turkey — 100 grams
• Marinated tomato sauce — 250 milliliters 

This meal is Bumstead’s densest of the day as it’s roughly 40 minutes post-workout and when his appetite is the biggest. Bumstead’s example lines up with research, which concludes that consuming vital nutrients with quality timing is almost as crucial for potential strength and muscle gains as what an athlete actually eats. (3)

Meal 5

With one more meal to squeeze in before he heads to sleep, Bumstead treats himself to a peanut butter protein bar for a snack before chowing down on another helping of white rice with ground turkey:

• Peanut butter protein bar 
• White rice — 270 grams
• Ground turkey — 290 grams
• Olive oil — 15 grams

On the whole, Bumstead surprises himself. His entire day’s worth of nutrition comes out to 5,203 calories, 666 grams of carbs, 290 grams of protein, and 156 grams of fat.

“This is why it’s probably good to track.”

Per the bodybuilder, that is about 300 more calories than he usually eats. It’s also almost double his typical carb intake, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Chris Bumstead (@cbum)

[Related: Bodybuilder Hunter Labrada Powers Through A 495-Pound Banded Squat For 17 Reps]

Mr. Olympia Lies Ahead

Bumstead will undoubtedly continue to use his diet in prep for December’s Mr. Olympia. There he will defend his Classic Physique Olympia title and try to make it four consecutive championships. The 2022 Mr. Olympia will take place on December 15-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

References:

1. Liao et al. (2018). A preliminary review of studies on adaptogens: comparison of their bioactivity in TCM with that of ginseng-like herbs used worldwide. Chinese Medicine. 2018 Nov; 13: 57.
2. Embling et al. (2021). Effect of food variety on intake of a meal: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2021 Mar; 113 (30); 716-741.
3. Aragon A.A., Schoenfeld B.J. (2013). Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2013 Jan; 10: 5.

Featured image: @cbum on Instagram

The post Check Out Bodybuilder Chris Bumstead’s 5,000-Calorie Day of Eating Ahead of the 2022 Mr. Olympia appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Gluten-Free Mexican Scotch Eggs

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Serves: Makes 8 big scotch eggs

Ingredients:

• 10 eggs (2 are for the coating)
• 12 high meat percentage gluten-free sausages
• 1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped into small chunks
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped into small chunks
• ½ cup ground almonds
• 3 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cayenne chili powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add 8 of the eggs, bring to the boil again and cook for 4 minutes. As soon as the 4 minutes are up, remove saucepan from the heat, pour the hot water away, and replace with cold water to prevent the eggs from cooking further.
3. Mix the sausage meat, peppers, herbs, spices, salt, and pepper together thoroughly using your hands.
4. Peel your eggs, spread the ground almonds out on a plate, and then beat the remaining 2 eggs.
5. Carefully wrap the meat mixture around each egg until each egg is completely covered. Have a bowl of water handy and wet your hands a little to prevent the mixture sticking to you.
6. Once each egg is covered, roll each one in the beaten egg and then in the ground almonds. Then place onto a baking tray and into the oven for 25-30 minutes on the top rack.

Note: Some may split but don’t worry, they still taste awesome.

Read More:

• Stuffed and Sexy: 3 Sweet Potato Recipes for Post-Workout Meals
• How to Eat for All-Day Energy and Athletic Performance
• 5 Steps to Easy Weekly Meal Preparation
• New On Breaking Muscle Today

The post Protein Powerhouse: Gluten-Free Mexican Scotch Eggs appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I initially created these Mash for Gainz recipes for myself after being injured for nine months. I figured if I could get my nutrition figured out, it would aid my recovery and prevent any further losses.

How It Works

The following four Mash for Gainz recipes give you a head start on creating your own meals. You need three macronutrients in a main meal:

1. Carbohydrates – Your main source of energy
2. Protein – For growth and repair
3. Fat – For energy

The main macronutrient of the recipes is carbohydrates. We all need carbohydrates to function properly, so why not make this cheap, easy, and tasty?

The recipes are straightforward and can be easily adjusted to anyone – except for the people who hate sweet potato. Experiment with the recipes and throw in different herbs and spices. Making fresh food can be simple, so enjoy it and have fun.

Notes:

• The recipes should take about twenty minutes to prepare and cook.
• The recipes are very easy to follow and the ingredients can be bought at any supermarket.
• Sweet potato is a complex carbohydrate. It releases energy over a long period of time unlike simple carbohydrates (for example potatoes, white bread, and fruit). This steady release of energy will keep you from craving sweets.

Here are three easy steps to create your own meal:

1. Pick a recipe.
2. Pick your protein: chicken breast/leg, sirloin steak, pork loin, turkey breast, canned tuna, or salmon fillet.
3. Pick a mixture of low-carb vegetables: broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, kale, cucumber, peppers, watercress, or arugula.

Example:

Creamy sweet potato mash recipe

+

130g grilled sliced chicken breast

(Marinade: rosemary, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper)

+

100g broccoli and 50g baby plum tomatoes

Creamy Sweet Potato Mash

340kcal – Carbs: 48g Fat: 13g Protein: 6g

Ingredients:

• 200g sweet potato
• 100g spinach
• 100g red onion
• 40ml heavy cream
• 5g coconut oil
• 1 clove of garlic (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Chop sweet potato into small pieces (cm cubes).
2. Add to saucepan then add boiling water from the kettle.
3. Boil sweet potato for up to 10 minutes or until soft.
4. Finely chop red onions and spinach. Once the sweet potato is soft, add the red onions and spinach to the saucepan.
5. Boil for another 2-4 minutes then drain ingredients in a colander.
6. Replace ingredients into saucepan and mash it up.
7. Add heavy cream, coconut oil, 1 finely chopped glove of garlic or ground garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Mix and mash it.
9. Serve with some meat or fish with vegetables.

Sweet Potato and Mushroom Mash

340kcal – Carbs: 52g, Fat: 11g, Protein: 6g

Ingredients:

• 200g sweet potato
• 100g chestnut mushrooms
• 100g red onion
• 10g cashew nuts
• 1 tsp arrowroot (any supermarket sells it in the baking section)
• 20-40ml water
• 5g coconut oil
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Chop sweet potato into small pieces.
2. Add to saucepan then add boiling water from the kettle.
3. Boil Sweet potato for up to 10 minutes or until soft.
4. Preheat frying pan and add coconut oil.
5. Add finely chopped red onions and mushroom to frying pan. Let ingredient sweat and then add 1tsp of arrowroot with a 20-40ml of water.
6. Mix the arrowroot into the red onion and mushroom with a spoon until it starts thickening. Add more water if the sauce is too thick. Then add crushed/ground cashew nuts and finely chopped rosemary to the frying pan.
7. Once the sweet potato is soft, drain it with a colander and replace it back into the saucepan.
8. Add the red onion, mushroom and cashew nut sauce to the saucepan.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Mix and mash it.
11. Serve with some meat or fish with vegetables.

Sweet Potato and Beetroot Mash

395kcal – Carbs: 54g, Fat: 17g, Protein: 5g

Ingredients:

• 200g sweet potato
• 50g cooked beets
• 100g red onion
• 80g avocado
• Small handful of coriander
• ¼ lemon – juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Chop sweet potato into small pieces.
2. Add to saucepan then add boiling water from the kettle.
3. Boil sweet potato for up to 10 minutes or until soft.
4. Finely chop red onions. Once the sweet potato is soft, add the red onions to the saucepan.
5. Boil for another 2-4 minutes then drain ingredients in a colander.
6. Return ingredients to the saucepan and mash it up.
7. Add sliced beets, avocado, finely chopped coriander, lemon juice to the saucepan.
8. Mix and mash it.
9. Serve with some meat or fish with vegetables.

Sweet Potato and Carrot Mash

326kcal – Carbs: 55g, Fat: 9g, Protein: 5g

Ingredients:

• 200g sweet potato
• 100g carrot
• 100g red onion
• 50ml heavy cream
• Handful of chive and basil
• ¼ lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Chop sweet potato into small pieces.
2. Add to saucepan then add boiling water from the kettle.
3. Boil sweet potato for up to 10 minutes or until soft.
4. Finely chop red onions and grate the carrot. Once the sweet potato is soft, add the red onions and grated carrot to the saucepan.
5. Boil for another 2-4 minutes then drain ingredients in a colander.
6. Return ingredients to the saucepan and mash it up.
7. Add heavy cream, ¼ lemon juice, finely chopped chive and basil.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Mix and mash it.
10. Serve with some meat or fish with vegetables.

More Like This:

• Stuffed and Sexy: 3 Sweet Potato Recipes for Post-Workout Meals
• Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of YUM: 2 Paleo Treats for Athletes
• 7 Habits to Success: How to Achieve Your Nutritional Goals
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post Mash for GAINZ: 4 Simple Recipes for Performance appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

CrossFit, the Sport of Fitness, is ever evolving. Competitors are getting fitter, faster, and stronger, and the standards of competition are improving all the time. Because of this, we need a better understanding of how to maximize training potential. As training volume and intensity increase, so does our need to improve our nutrition to fuel and recover from workouts more effectively. This is where supplements play a vital role.

Nutrition for Optimal Performance

There are no truly essential supplements. They are called “supplements” for a reason – in general, they are meant as an addition your diet. They are not meant to replace meals or nutrients that you can get from whole foods or healthy sources.

I find it hard to pinpoint one supplement I would recommend for performance, so instead I think in terms of nutrition for optimal performance. For this, you have three key areas – pre-workout, post-workout, and intra-workout.

“[I]f you take your CrossFit performance seriously, I would strongly consider adding these three key supplements into your nutrition plan.“

Supplementing correctly at these times can have positive effects on performance including:

• Increasing work capacity
• Reducing recovery between rounds, intervals, or sets
• Improving tolerance to volume of training
• Improving recovery between sessions

I’ve put together a list of the three main supplements to take at these key times, and ranked them in terms of:

• How well they work (from both personal experience and performance in studies)
• How well researched they are
• How cost effective they are.

As it turns out, choosing supplements really is as simple as ABC.

A – Amino Acids

This could just as easily have been “P” for protein, but then it wouldn’t have been as catchy as ABC. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and protein intake plays a huge role in both body composition and recovery from exercise.

Supplementing with protein or branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) can help prevent muscle breakdown during exercise and has been shown to improve recovery, decrease muscle soreness, and improve body composition.^1,2

The most commonly supplemented amino acid is leucine (a branched chain amino acid that is prominent in whey protein powders). Leucine plays a significant role in building muscle tissue. It can be found in many food sources, but is generally found in higher concentrations in whey and dairy products, making these ideal to improve muscle growth and repair.

From a performance point of view, supplementing with whey protein or amino acids has been shown to:^3,4,5

• Improve muscular recovery from exercise
• Improve muscle retention during weight loss
• Improve muscle gains when combined with resistance exercise
• Reduce muscle soreness and improved recovery

There have also been studies linked with the use of BCAAs pre-workout to improve workout intensity and lower levels of fatigue induced by exercise.^2,6

“Amid the myriad marketing information and bro-science out there it is hard to grasp which supplements can offer you the most bang for your buck.“

Whey protein is often advised to be taken directly after training to improve recovery from sessions. However, whey protein could be equally advisable pre-training. As it is fast digesting, it allows amino acids to be broken down and released into the blood stream quickly, making the amino acids available for the muscles to use when needed during the session.

BCAA supplementation is equally as versatile, as BCAAs can be beneficial when used pre-training, intra-training, or post-training depending on your goals. BCAA supplementation can prevent muscle breakdown if taken intra-workout and can also prevent catabolism if taken post workout. This can be especially useful if you are on a calorie deficit to lose weight, but do not want to lose muscle mass. 

B – Beta-Alanine

Beta-alanine is referred to as a lactic acid buffer and can prevent the build-up of metabolic by-products that occur at high exercise intensities. Supplementing with beta-alanine can also aid the removal of these by-products from our muscles and the bloodstream when the by-products reach thresholds that start to limit performance.

Beta-alanine works by increasing intramuscular levels of carnosine. Carnosine is released into the bloodstream when our blood levels become more acidic and helps to prevent a build-up of the hydrogen ions (which cause the acidity in the blood) that cause our muscles to burn. So higher levels of carnosine in the blood will prevent, or at least delay the onset of, that burning sensation and allow us to work harder for longer. Beta-alanine has proven to be particularly effective in improving performance and power output in bouts of exercise that last between one and four minutes.^7,8

Beta-alanine is often prescribed as a pre-workout supplement. But the supplementation of beta-alanine is not time dependant, so it could be taken in dosages throughout the day. The main reason it is taken pre-workout is so it can coincide with creatine supplementation (see below) for added synergistic effects on training performance.

In terms of dosage, beta-alanine is most effective in the 2-5g per day range. Larger doses can cause tingling sensations (a harmless side effect). This can be avoided by breaking up the dosage into smaller servings.

C – Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine is one of the most widely researched sports supplements and has a reputation for improving performance in high intensity exercise (especially interval training).^9,10 Creatine can improve performance in any event that requires explosive bursts of power. These short bursts of energy are fueled by our creatine phosphate system, and this energy system is only effective for six to ten seconds of high intensity activity before our creatine stores are depleted. During our recovery periods our creatine stores are replenished.

Supplementing with creatine can help with this process twofold. It can top up our creatine stores, meaning it will take longer for our creatine levels to deplete in the first place, as well as replace the creatine used during the activity more quickly.

“There are no truly essential supplements. They are called ‘supplements’ for a reason – in general, they are meant as an addition your diet.“

From a performance standpoint, supplementing with creatine monohydrate translates to:¹¹

• Improved strength and power
• Improved recovery between rounds and sessions
• Faster sprint times
• Improved hydration levels
• Decreased fatigue in training

Most creatine supplementation protocols promote a loading phase that is used for quicker saturation of the cells. After this saturation period, it is common for a dosage of 5g per day to be employed. This saturation can be achieved more simply by taking a dose of between 2-5g both pre- and post-training consistently. Using this latter strategy allows for the synergistic benefits of supplementing alongside beta-alanine (pre) and whey protein (post) to improve performance and recovery further.

Benefits for Any CrossFitter

This is by no means is not a comprehensive list or what I would recommend to everyone. However, if you take your CrossFit performance seriously, I would strongly consider adding these three key supplements into your nutrition plan.

Check out these related articles:

• The Perfect Supplement Cocktail
• The Greatest Sports Supplements You Should Be Taking
• A Complete Primer on the Benefits of BCAAs
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Bigard AX, Lavier P, Ullmann L, Legrand H, Douce P, Guezennec CY. – Branched-chain amino acid supplementation during repeated prolonged skiing exercises at altitude. Int J Sport Nutr. 1996 Sep;6(3):295-306.

2. Shimizu M, Miyagawa K, Iwashita S, Noda T, Hamada K, Genno H, Nose H. – Energy expenditure during 2-day trail walking in the mountains (2,857 m) and the effects of amino acid supplementation in older men and women. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2012 Mar;112(3):1077-86. doi: 10.1007/s00421-011-2057-2. Epub 2011 Jul 9.

3. Hoffman JR, Ratamess NA, Tranchina CP, Rashti SL, Kang J, Faigenbaum AD. – Effect of protein-supplement timing on strength, power, and body-composition changes in resistance-trained men. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2009 Apr;19(2):172-85.

4. Kerksick CM, Rasmussen CJ, Lancaster SL, Magu B, Smith P, Melton C, Greenwood M, Almada AL, Earnest CP, Kreider RB. – The effects of protein and amino acid supplementation on performance and training adaptations during ten weeks of resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2006 Aug;20(3):643-53.

5. Andersen LL, Tufekovic G, Zebis MK, Crameri RM, Verlaan G, Kjaer M, Suetta C, Magnusson P, Aagaard P. – The effect of resistance training combined with timed ingestion of protein on muscle fiber size and muscle strength. Metabolism. 2005 Feb;54(2):151-6.

6. Blomstrand E, Hassmén P, Ek S, Ekblom B, Newsholme EA. – Influence of ingesting a solution of branched-chain amino acids on perceived exertion during exercise. Acta Physiol Scand. 1997 Jan;159(1):41-9.

7. Zoeller RF, Stout JR, O’kroy JA, Torok DJ, Mielke M. – Effects of 28 days of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on aerobic power, ventilatory and lactate thresholds, and time to exhaustion. Amino Acids. 2007 Sep;33(3):505-10. Epub 2006 Sep 5.

8. Stout JR, Cramer JT, Zoeller RF, Torok D, Costa P, Hoffman JR, Harris RC, O’Kroy J. – Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on the onset of neuromuscular fatigue and ventilatory threshold in women. Amino Acids. 2007;32(3):381-6. Epub 2006 Nov 30.

9. Graef JL, Smith AE, Kendall KL, Fukuda DH, Moon JR, Beck TW, Cramer JT, Stout JR. – The effects of four weeks of creatine supplementation and high-intensity interval training on cardiorespiratory fitness: a randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009 Nov 12;6:18. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-6-18.

10. Juhász I, Györe I, Csende Z, Rácz L, Tihanyi J. – Creatine supplementation improves the anaerobic performance of elite junior fin swimmers. Acta Physiol Hung. 2009 Sep;96(3):325-36. doi: 10.1556/APhysiol.96.2009.3.6.

11. Kendall KL, Smith AE, Graef JL, Fukuda DH, Moon JR, Beck TW, Cramer JT, Stout JR. – Effects of four weeks of high-intensity interval training and creatine supplementation on critical power and anaerobic working capacity in college-aged men. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Sep;23(6):1663-9. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b1fd1f.

Photos 1 and 3 courtesy of CrossFit Los Angeles.

Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post CrossFitters: The 3 Letters You Need to Know in Supplements appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The supplement industry sometimes seems like the wild wild west, where you’re left feeling like there are more questions than answers:

Should I take fish oil? Isn’t it good for reducing inflammation and heart health? What’s better? Pill form or liquid?

Or:

Discover supplements that benefit your specific needs with Supplement Advisor

The supplement industry sometimes seems like the wild wild west, where you’re left feeling like there are more questions than answers:

Should I take fish oil? Isn’t it good for reducing inflammation and heart health? What’s better? Pill form or liquid?

Or:

I have recently started the Ketogenic diet. Is it true I should be taking multivitamins and a folic acid supplement because I’m no longer getting folic acid from grains?

Or:

I’m a menstruating woman who doesn’t eat red meat. Should I be taking an iron supplement? And doesn’t Vitamin B12 play a role in red blood cell health, too, helping fend against becoming anemic? Should I take that, too? Do I need a B12 supplement too?

Enter Supplement Advisor’s free assessment test.

Supplement Advisor is a web-based company designed to empower health-conscious people to improve their cognitive function, as well as emotional and physical potential through simple and personalized supplement guidance designed by their advanced AI, ultimately helping you navigate through the wild wild west of the supplement industry easily and quickly.

One way they do this is through their assessment tool, a tool that lets you to either take a full assessment, or select a particular area to see if you might benefit from taking a supplement. The areas include:

• Memory
• Motivation
• Focus
• Mood
• Energy
• Learning
• Sleep.

How it works:

Let’s say you’re curious if you might benefit from taking a magnesium supplement to help regulate your blood sugar levels and stop you from having energy crashes in the middle of the day. And if so, what products might be best for you.

Giving you these answers is exactly what Supplement Advisor’s tool is designed to do.

All you do is select energy, hit submit and answer a few questions, such as:

• Do you feel fatigued throughout the day?
• Do you need an extra boost to get the most mileage out of your day?
• Does caffeine give you any nervousness or restlessness?

After answering the questions, the AI engine—which will continue to get smarter and smarter as more people take the assessment and the database grows—quickly analyzes your responses and offers various recommendations in terms of what products might be best for your specific needs.

Sleep

Because fifty to seventy million people in the United States suffer from some kind of sleep disorder—from having trouble falling asleep, to insomnia to sleep apnea—one of the most common reasons to take a supplement is for sleep.

On top of the natural products, nine million Americans take prescription drugs to help them sleep.Prescription drugs, however, can come with some side effects, including gastrointestinal problems, prolonged drowsiness during the day, daytime memory and cognitive performance challenges or various allergic reactions.

A better option for many is a melatonin supplement.

Why is it better?

Melatonin is a hormone the body produces naturally. It’s responsible for regulating your body’s internal clock by responding to lightness and darkness.

When it gets dark out, melatonin increases in your body and lets you know it’s bedtime by attaching to receptors in the brain that help you relax and feel tired. During the day, on the other hand, your body makes dopamine, which signals you to release less melatonin, thus helping keep you awake.

When you select sleep on Supplement Advisor’s assessment tool, it once again, puts you through a series of questions, including:

• Does stress cause you mild sleepiness?
• Does it take a long time for you to fall asleep?
• How difficult is it for you to achieve a sufficiently restful sleep routine?
• Do you have trouble falling into a deep sleep?
• Do you experience restless sleep?
• Lucid dreaming in the REM stage has shown to be helpful with reducing stress and dealing with trauma. Would you be interested in lucid dreaming more often?

From there, you’re given a list of options of various products that might help your particular sleep concern or deficiency.

Giving it a try

As a writer, my focus needs to be one point to handle long days staring at a computer. I tend to be really focused and motivated in the morning, but fade after 2 p.m. before I have completed all my work for the day.

I decided to give the tool a try to see if there was something I could take to improve my focus.

The tool asked me:

• Do you experience attention disruption when your brain is stressed and overworked?
• How easy is it to attend to one task or stimuli while ignoring distraction?
• Are you able to maintain your attention on one task for a long time?
• Are you able to attend to more than one task simultaneously?
• Are you able to shift attention from one task to another without losing focus?
• Do you feel able to focus intently enough to create goals and monitor your progress?

I answered no to the first question, as usually being stressed out and overworked lights a fire under my bum. Similarly, I find it easy to ignore distractions and can remain focused on one task for a long time, so I also answered no on the second and third questions, as well. The final question was also a no.

Where I struggle is with focusing on more than one task at a time and definitely with shifting attention from one task to another without losing focus, hence I answered yes on the fourth and fifth questions.

What the tool recommended as the top product: A probiotic-fermented Vitamin B complex for energy, brain and mood support (it also recommended various other Vitamin B complex options).

(Funny enough, my naturopath also recommended I take a B Vitamin supplement. I’ll call that a win).

I decided to take it a step further and also selected the motivation assessment, as sometimes it’s not that I lose focus so much as I lose motivation in the final couple hours of my work day. I was then asked:

• Do you feel like you want to crawl in bed and watch Netflix all day?
• Is your sleep and nutrition regular and adequate?
• Are you a stressful person? If so, does it influence your decisions?
• Is your blood sugar high?

Supplement Advisor’s recommendation: Mane Brain’s brain-boosting power, a supplement is designed to help you feel more energized, alert, focused, and less forgetful.

Take the assessment now.

The post Discover Supplements That Benefit Your Specific Needs With Supplement Advisor appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Food has a social component that is integral to every culture and society on our planet. However, food can be foe as well as friend, food intolerances can negatively impact our quality of life and in the case of food allergies they can even be lethal. If we ask Google, from headaches to acne nearly every single ailment can be attributed to a food or diet and usually the cure is also attributed to a different food or diet.

The “free from” industry is booming, when I first moved to the city I currently live in if I wanted gluten free products I would have had to go to a pharmacy and, with luck, they would be in the corner collecting dust along with those weird herbal sweets your grandmother used to love.

Fast forward two years and now entire sections of supermarkets are dedicated to gluten and lactose free products. This is obviously a great thing, especially for people with genuine diagnosed conditions such as celiac disease. The increased awareness of food related problems has led many of us to question “is this headache/lack of energy/lack of sleep caused by a food intolerance?”

There are plenty of people who will tell you the answer is yes and their advice usually comes with a large price tag. This article will explain to you why the IgG antibody food intolerance test is a waste of both time and money.

I want to make it very clear that although I will be mentioning food allergies this article is not about whether you should or shouldn’t test for a suspected food allergy.

If you suspect that you may have a food allergy then go to your physician, and by that I mean a real doctor that works in a clinic or a hospital, not some charlatan on the internet with MD after their name. What I will be discussing in this article is the food intolerance blood tests that are advertised on the internet and in some pharmacies.

What Is the Test?

The test is pretty straight forward—you order a testing kit online from one of the labs offering the test. Once it arrives you take a blood sample and then send that blood sample back to the lab.

The lab will test your blood for IgG antibodies that are specific to a wide range of foods, usually in the range of 200 different foods. What I mean by specific is that, for example if when they test your blood against a sample of chicken protein some of the IgG antibodies bind to that protein they are “specific” to that protein or food.

Once the lab has tested all the foods they will return a report to you with the results. Different labs may do it differently but the ones I have seen use a traffic light system.

Red for foods with high amounts of IgG binding which should be avoided. Yellow for foods that are “borderline” and should only be eaten in moderation. Finally, green for foods that have little or no IgG which means you can eat them to your heart’s content.

So, what’s the problem?

It all sounds so simple, do the test and then avoid the red foods. However, there are two pretty large problems with this method of food intolerance testing. The first is related to the testing procedure, and the second is with the actual function of the IgG antibody.

True Food Intolerances

We’ll start with the method and we’ll assume that the IgG antibody is involved with food intolerances (that will be tackled in the next section).

When I did my allergy certificate at university we were repeatedly told that the most important part of an allergy diagnosis was the patient history.

Without a detailed patient history, the blood test results are at best unhelpful. The sole presence of antibodies is not sufficient enough to give a diagnosis, there has to be a history of symptoms in order to be certain that you are indeed allergic (or in this case intolerant) to a particular food.

Blood test results without patient history become unhelpful. As I said before both symptoms and the presence of antibodies are needed for a diagnosis. Just the presence of antibodies (with the absence of symptoms) to a particular food protein is known as sensitisation.¹

When it comes to food allergies, if a person is sensitised to a food but does not have any allergic symptoms then the last thing they should do is stop eating that particular food.

By ceasing to eat the food they are sensitized to could actually push the immune system away from tolerance towards allergy and the next time they encounter that food they could have a reaction.²

This is why in immunotherapy it is vitally important that the patient continues to eat the food they were allergic to even if (as is often the case) they do not like it.

Coming back to food intolerance, just receiving a report of hundreds of foods, some of which you now have been told you cannot eat, is likely to lead to you following an unnecessarily restrictive diet resulting in increased risk of nutrient deficiencies and even worse, less gains in the gym.

The IgG Antibody

Before we get too in depth about antibodies I think it’s important to clarify what is allergy and what is intolerance because these words are often used interchangeably and causes confusion.

Both allergy and intolerances are known as hypersensitivities which means they are reactions against something that a “normal” person would not react to. An allergy is a hypersensitive reaction that is driven by the immune system whereas an intolerance does not involve the immune system.³

A good comparison would be lactose intolerance and a true milk allergy. A person who is lactose intolerant does not produce any or insufficient amounts of the enzyme lactase which helps us digest the sugar lactose, so when they consume milk they cannot break down lactose and this causes digestive issues, these issues are not caused by the immune system.

They can however consume lactose free milk. In the case of a milk allergic individual, their immune system has created antibodies against milk proteins so when they consume milk their immune system attacks it and the individual has the classic allergy symptoms, itchy rash, swelling, and difficulty breathing.

A milk allergic individual could not consume lactose free milk because it still contains the milk proteins, however they could consume a hydrolysed or amino acid formula with lactose.

Moving on to antibodies, these are made by the B-cells of our adaptive immune system. Our immune system is made up of two parts, the innate and the adaptive. The innate is pretty basic in that it attacks anything that is not “us.”

On the plus side it is very quick to respond. The adaptive immune system is a bit slower to respond but it has a “memory” so to speak, so the next time it encounters anything nasty it usually deals with it before we even notice we’re sick.

One of the chief weapons in the arsenal of the adaptive immune system is the antibody (or immunoglobulin), the B-cells make several different types of antibody each with a different role in the immune system. The most famous antibody is probably IgE. The original role of IgE was to deal with parasitic infections but it is more widely known as the antibody behind allergic reactions.⁴

When the B-cell makes an antibody they are “specific” to a particular protein (in the case of food allergy a food protein), when the antibody next encounters that protein they attach to it and drive an immune response.

In the case of IgE they sit on top of certain immune cells (mast cells), and when they encounter the specific protein or antigen they bind to it and cause these cells to release histamine. It is this histamine that causes your typical allergic reactions and also why people with allergies usually carry antihistamines with them.

Moving on to the IgG antibody, there are actually four subclasses of IgG antibody, IgG1, IgG2 etc. each with a slightly different function. All the IgG subclasses are very good at enhancing a process called phagocytosis which involves certain cells of the immune system (macrophages) engulfing bacteria and destroying them.

IgG1 for example is very good at a process known as ADCC (Antibody-Dependent Cell-mediated Cytotoxicity), here the IgG1 will attach to a target cell and immune cells will recognise that attachment as a signal that that particular cell needs to be destroyed.⁴

IgG Food Interolence Science

Proponents of the IgG food intolerance tests will point to the antibody’s ability to activate several cells of the immune system as “evidence” that the antibody can and does mediate non-allergic reactions to foods.

However, when we examine the role of IgG4 we see that this is not the case. In 2012 researchers from Norway examined the link between IgG, IgG4 and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). IBS is a condition related to food that has many of the symptoms of food intolerances, bloating, and change in bowel habits so there have been attempts to link the condition to IgG antibodies.⁵

In the Norwegian study they compared IgG and IgG4 food specific antibodies of IBS subjects and healthy symptom free subjects. Not only did the researchers find that the IBS group’s IgG and IgG4 antibodies did not match to their trigger foods (foods they know exacerbate their symptoms), but there were no differences in levels of IgG and IgG4 between the IBS and control group.

What the researchers did find was that the higher levels of the antibodies matched foods that both groups ate regularly, in the case of the IBS group these were their “safe foods” and in the control group merely foods that they ate often.

The researchers concluded that it was unlikely that IgG and IgG4 antibodies played a role in IBS and that the presence of these antibodies merely reflected ones diet.⁶

In other words, the more you eat of something the more IgG specific to that food you have. In recent years it has become apparent that IgG, and in particular IgG4, is not just a reflection of a diet but a marker of tolerance and is protective against allergic reactions.

For non-allergic people we make IgG4 antibodies (as opposed to IgE) against proteins to mark them as “safe” and prevent any chance of an allergic reaction. This has been labeled an IgG4/IgE ratio. Non-allergic bee keepers have been shown to have an IgG4/IgE ratio 1000 times higher than individuals who are allergic to bee venom.⁷

During immunotherapy, allergic individuals gain tolerance not by reducing their numbers of IgE but by increasing their numbers of IgG1 and in particular IgG4. The IgG4 antibodies compete with the IgE antibodies and prevent them attaching to the mast cells and so prevent them from causing reactions.⁸

Proceed with Caution

When it comes to food proteins, the IgG antibody and in particular the IgG4 subclass appear to have anti-inflammatory effects that prevent allergic (and intolerance) reactions in both allergic and non-allergic individuals.

To paraphrase EAACI (the European Academy of Allergy) the testing of IgG for food intolerances is “irrelevant” and should not be performed.⁹

The companies that continue to promote the IgG blood tests either do not fully understand the function of the IgG antibody or worse, they do and are continuing to sell their product anyway. I really hope it isn’t the latter.

References:

1. Van Ree. R et al. 2014. Allergic sensitization: host-immune factors. Clinical and Translational Allergy. 4:12.

2. James. LK et al. 2011. Long-term Tolerance After Allergen Immunotherapy is Accompanied by Selective Persistence of Blocking Antibodies. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 127:509-516.

3. Johansson. SGO et al. 2004. Revised nomenclature for allergy for global use: Report of the Nomenclature Review Committee of the World Allergy Organization, October 2003. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 133 (5): 832-836.

4. Owen. J et al. 2013. Kuby Immunology, 7th Edition. Macmillan.

5. Philpott. H et al. 2013. Alternative Investigations for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Journal of Gastroenterology. 28: 73-77.

6. Ligaarden. S et al. 2012. IgG and IgG4 Antibodies in Subjects with IBS: A Case Control Study in the General Population. BMC Gastroenterology. 12:166.

7. Carballido. JM et al. 1993. T-cell Epitope Specificity in Human Allergic and Non-Allergic Subjects to Bee Venom Phospholipase A2. Journal of Immunology. 150:3582-3591

8. Bischoff SC & Sellge G. 2014. Food Allergy: Adverse Reactions to Foods and Food Additives, Fifth Edition. Chapter 2: The Immunological Basis of IgE-Mediated Reactions. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

9. Stapel. SO et al 2008. Testing for IgG4 Against Foods is Not Recommended as a Diagnostic Tool: EAACI Task Force Report. Allergy. 63: 793-796.

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(To which the answer was a no-brainer for yolk-lovers. We always flock to brown eggs because their yolks just always seem a bit richer, don’t they?)

Egg shopping used to be simple—white eggs or brown eggs. End of story.

(To which the answer was a no-brainer for yolk-lovers. We always flock to brown eggs because their yolks just always seem a bit richer, don’t they?)

Fun fact in case you missed it—the only difference between brown and white eggs are that brown eggs come from chickens with brown feathers and white eggs come from chickens with white feathers. Other than that, their nutritional makeup is identical: 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, 5 percent of your daily vitamin A needs, and 10 percent of your vitamin D needs.

But egg shopping today, however, isn’t so easy or straightforward.

The Trouble With Eggs

You stand at the egg fridge at your grocery and see white eggs, brown eggs, free-range eggs, organic free-range eggs, cage-free eggs, Omega-3 fortified eggs, antibiotic-free eggs, pasture-raised eggs, and on and on—your confusion builds.

Something tells you you should avoid the cheap large, white eggs for $2.99 for a dozen so you go for the middle-priced brown, free-range eggs for $4.50 because they seem to offer something more, you think. You’re not sure why, but you remember hearing brown eggs are healthier than white.

But is this enough?

Should you be spending $7.99 a dozen for the certified organic, cage-free, pasture-raised eggs without antibiotics that have been pumped with Omega-3 fatty acids?

Total. Mind. F**k. Right?

Let’s get to the bottom of all this egg confusion. What do the labels really mean? And do they matter?

You’re going to hate me for this answer: It depends.

It depends on your priorities and it depends on where you live: The US versus Canada, for example.

Let’s consider three priorities below.

Egg Guideline 1: Hen Happiness

In the US, the reality is that the majority of egg-laying hens live in close quarters in cages barely big enough for them to fully stretch their wings.

So, if this tugs at your heartstrings, then cage-free is probably for you because at least it tells you the chickens have enough space to move around. That is, however, pretty much all it tells you. Free-range eggs tell a similar tale. The hens get to go outside and run around and do their natural hen-like activities.

In Canada, on the other hand, there are different housing options for the hens.

1. Conventional housing – Hens live in small groups in cages. Like the US, this is the most common method used by egg farmers. In fact, as many as 90 percent of eggs in Canada are produced this way in cages.
2. “Enriched housing” – Hens live in cages of varying sizes and they’re able to lay their eggs in a nesting area with easy access to food and water.
3. Free-run housing – Hens roam a bit more freely, but are still kept in a barn. They also have bedding areas and nesting areas for egg-laying.
4. Free-range housing – Similar to free-run except the hens also have access to an outside space, depending on the weather.

Egg Guideline 2: Your Own Health

You have been told you need more Omega-3 fatty acids because it helps with recovery, inflammation, reduces heart disease, etc. You don’t eat much fish and you dislike the fishy burps you produce after taking a fish oil supplement. If this is you, then Omega-3 eggs might be the eggs for you, as they have been pumped with Omega-3 (mostly DHA) fatty acids.

If the non-GMO thing is your priority, then organic eggs might be for you—this is exactly what that designation tells you. As for pasture-raised, this tells you the farm has been certified by a third-party, such as the Certified Humane Program (at least this is what it means in the US).

The True Gold Standard

The shortcoming with all of the above labels (cage-free, free-range, free-run, Omega-3, organic, and pasture-raised) is there are still many unknowns, such as what the hens were fed.

Thus, the gold standard, so to speak, if you live in the United States is USDA certified organic—meaning the hens were raised following an agreed-upon standard of practice. The USDA certified organic label also guarantees the eggs were produced without pesticides or fertilizers and that the hens were fed an organic diet free from animal by-products or antibiotics.

In Canada, hens are very rarely fed antibiotics unless they’re sick, so it’s less of a concern than it is in the United States.

The Egg Takeaway

Navigating egg best practices is tricky at the best of times. Some great advice a friend gave me a while back: Get to know a local farmer (I found one at a local farmer’s market) and check out their farm in person.

Even though most hens are housed in cages, there are many that aren’t, and if you’re a 4-eggs-a-day kind of person like me, it’s worth investing the time to find an egg source you’re happy with.

Related: The Great Egg Debate: Why You Should Eat Eggs, Why You Shouldn’t Not Eat Eggs

The post The Athlete’s Friend, Eggs: Best Buying Practices appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As a personal trainer, most of my clients exhibit similar behavior: they train hard, but they don’t give a damn about nutrition. So the time and effort they spend on training is wasted. Why do they sabotage their own success? Because they think nutrition is complicated and want to avoid the topic.

What if I told you that you could retain or even gain more muscle mass and strength with less training? The secret lies in your nutrition.

As a personal trainer, most of my clients exhibit similar behavior: they train hard, but they don’t give a damn about nutrition. So the time and effort they spend on training is wasted. Why do they sabotage their own success? Because they think nutrition is complicated and want to avoid the topic.

But ignoring nutrition isn’t an option. Knowing how nutrition works will help you utilize it for your fitness and strength gains. This works for anyone and everyone, for general fitness maintenance or muscle mass gain.

To get you started, here is my list of the top ten foods to help you gain more muscle mass and strength.

If you’re training your brains out and eating mindlessly, you’re holding yourself back. [Photo courtesy coach Tom MacCormick]

1. Lean Beef

This should be a staple of your diet if you want to gain muscle mass. Lean beef is loaded with all sorts of things conducive to muscle growth, including iron, zinc, and B-vitamins. More importantly, it provides your body with high-quality protein (not all proteins are equal), and a high level of amino acid that works with insulin to promote muscle growth.

For those who are trying to lose weight, this should come as great news – a 3oz serving of lean beef provides roughly the same amount of protein as 1.5 cups of beans but at half the calories.

How about these recipes to help you make the most of your nutrition plans:

• Fast Fuel: Skillet Beef And Vegetables
• Transform Takeout: Homemade Beef And Broccoli For Athletes

2. Skinless Chicken

Like beef, chicken is an excellent source of high-quality protein, which is important for muscle maintenance and repair, bone health, and weight maintenance. And of course, there are so many ways you can cook and prepare chicken.

Go down to the store and you can easily find chicken meat cut into single serving sizes that can be seasoned and quickly cooked.

3. Cottage Cheese

Not many people know this, but cottage cheese is almost entirely pure casein protein.

Casein is a slow-digesting protein, which means it is perfect for muscle maintenance. This is useful especially for people who have no choice but to go long periods without eating. Cottage cheese is also an excellent source of vitamin B12, calcium, and other important nutrients.

4. Eggs

Eggs contain high-quality protein, nine essential amino acids, choline, the right kind of fat, and vitamin D.

They provide the most value for your money. And eggs are not harmful to your health, as numerous studies have already shown.

What was “bad” is good again:

• The Great Egg Debate: 4 Reasons You Need To Stop Eating Eggs
• The Great Egg Debate: Why You Should Eat Eggs, Why You Shouldn’t Not Eat Eggs

5. Whey Protein

There is a reason why whey protein supplements are the most popular supplement in the fitness industry: they provide a fast and convenient source of protein at an affordable price. Bodybuilders normally use them when they wake up, right after their workout, and mixed with some of their meals.

For the rest of us, a scoop in our shakers right after our workouts can be very effective for muscle mass gains. It’s important that you still get high-quality protein from whole foods, and use whey protein as a boost.

6. Tuna and Other Fish

Fish are high in protein, low in fat, and rich in omega-3 fatty acids. The omega-3s are essential because they aid in fat loss and ensure the proper function of your body processes, such as your metabolism.

7. Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a great source of carbohydrates due to both its low glycemic index (GI) value and the fact it is minimally processed. The benefits of a low-GI diet include:

• Better micronutrient profile and more fiber
• Increased satiety
• Decreased hunger
• Lower subsequent energy intake (second meal effect)
• Fat loss

In short, low-GI foods can enhance fat loss for those looking to lose weight, and provide a constant source of carbs for muscle preservation.

Wait, aren’t carbs bad? Not if you do them right:

• Your Complete Carbohydrate Prep Plan
• The Power of Carbs
• Eat What You Want: Your Macros And The Truth About Carbs

8. Whole Grains

Whole grains digest more efficiently and provide more nutrients than refined grains. This promotes sustained energy levels and overall health.

In particular, brown rice can help boost your growth hormone levels, which are critical for encouraging lean muscle growth, fat loss, and strength gains.

9. Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of antioxidants, which are essential for the healthy functioning of your immune system.

They also provide tons of other nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. Finally, your body requires the fiber these fruits and vegetables provide to aid in proper digestion and nutrient uptake.

10. Healthy Fats

I know the thought of consuming fat makes some of you shudder, but good fats are essential for muscle growth.

In fact, they play an essential role in hormone production (testosterone and growth hormones), which helps drive muscle growth and strength gains. In addition, fats are needed for many important maintenance functions.

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good fats. You can find them in salmon, other fishes, nuts, leafy veggies, oils such as flaxseed, avocados, and seeds. They are also all rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

That covers what to eat. What about how to eat and train to gain mass?

Gaining Muscle Mass Best Reads

• 3 Nutritional Strategies Every Athlete Needs
  Simplifying your approach to nutrition is the key to making positive and sustainable changes to your health and performance.
• Do Drop Sets Build Muscles?
  One of the reasons drop sets have been around so long is because they are effective. They can help you to rapidly pack on muscle.
• Fuel To Be Strong: Nutrition For Strength Athletes
  Nutrition plays a huge role in improving body composition. But as a strength athlete, you don’t need to eat for aesthetics.
• Eat Big To Get Big?
  While fat loss or weight gain are both energy-dependent processes, muscle gain is the result of the integration of training and nutritional stimuli—namely, lifting weights and consuming protein.
• Eat For Your Sport: Cutting Calories Is Not The Answer
  Long-term calorie restriction, cutting calories, and skipping meals is not the answer. Tailor your diet to your needs to achieve the outcomes you desire.

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Some like it hot! As your summer heats up, spice up your burger game with these turkey piri piri burgers. Ground turkey is a fairly neutral tasting lean meat that easily takes on the savory profile of the spices you add to it so it’s the perfect base for a spiced burger that brings the heat to your table.

This burger uses the heat of piri piri peppers in combination with cumin, coriander, and garlic to round out the taste profile. Piri piri peppers are a medium hot spiced pepper falling above a jalapeño on the heat scale and just below habanero. If you can’t find piri piri pepper or piri piri hot sauce, use Tabasco or a habanero based hot sauce for heat.

For a healthy and delicious low carb alternative to a bun, grill up some red bell pepper halves until lightly charred but still somewhat firm so they remain hand holdable. Grilling the peppers brings out a sweet smoky flavor that is the perfect complement to the piri piri pepper and spices in the burger. Other non-bun alternatives you could use include lightly grilled slices of summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, sweet potato, tomato ends, or lettuce wraps. Top these off with spicy mayo, cilantro, and red onion for a tasty turkey burger!

Turkey Piri Piri Burgers

Calories 403, Protein 23g, Total Carbs 8g, Fat 31g

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey (or chicken)
• 1 teaspoon minced piri piri peppers, piri piri hot sauce, or hot chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Burger Toppings:

• Spicy mayo (combine ½ cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon hot piri piri pepper sauce or habanero hot sauce)
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ red onion, sliced into rings
• 4-5 red bell peppers cored and cut into large burger size chunks (about half a pepper per each side of the bun) and grilled lightly

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high heat.
2. Combine the ground turkey with the spices until well mixed.
3. Form into 4-5 burgers and grill about 5 minutes per side until cooked through.
4. While burgers are cooking, prepare the toppings and set aside.
5. Grill the red pepper pieces until lightly charred on each side but still firm, about 2-3 minutes per side.
6. Assemble burger with toppings between the grilled pepper pieces.

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Take a summer food vacation to Greece by combining all of the signature flavors in a tasty, grilled burger! These burgers can easily be made with beef, bison, or even lamb for a truly authentic experience. Ground meat is combined with the salty tang of feta cheese and pimientos, which are simply small pieces of red cherry pepper cured in brine. If you can’t find pimientos, you can use roasted red peppers either made fresh or from a jar that are diced into small bits.

Tzatziki sauce is a condiment used often in Greek cuisine. I’ve used many of the same components in the traditional sauce to make a complimentary cucumber yogurt sauce for these burgers that provides a burst of extra creamy deliciousness to highlight the cultural tasting experience.

Zucchini slices are lightly brushed with olive oil and grilled for a healthy low carb alternative to a bun. Other non-bun alternatives you could use include lightly grilled slices of summer squash, eggplant, sweet potato, tomato ends, or lettuce wraps. Finish topping these burgers with the cucumber yogurt sauce, spinach, tomato, and Kalamata olives for a uniquely Greek inspired grill burger.

Greek Pimiento Burgers

Calories 191, Protein 18g, Total Carbs 5g, Fat 11g

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves: 6 as burgers, 12 as sliders

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons pimiento, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce:

• ½ cup plain unsweetened Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup shredded cucumber
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
• Pinch of salt

Burger Toppings:

• Kalamata olives, chopped
• Baby spinach
• Tomato slices
• Zucchini, sliced ¼ inch thick and grilled lightly to use as a “bun”

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
2. Combine the ground beef, feta, pimiento, salt, pepper, and coriander until well mixed.
3. Form into 6 patties or 12 sliders depending on the size of your “buns.”
4. Grill about 4-5 minutes per side until desired doneness.
5. While burgers are cooking, stir together the yogurt sauce ingredients and prepare additional toppings.
6. Grill zucchini about 2-3 minutes per side so they are still firm.
7. Assemble burger with toppings and cucumber yogurt sauce to serve.

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Lighten up your summer eating with this chickpea based vegetarian burger. Mixed up with a compliment of Italian seasonings, these chickpea patties bring a bit of pizzaz to your table while providing protein and fiber. One of the problems I’ve come across when making vegetarian burgers is that they tend to be more of a challenge to hold together because the legume base is a lower fat content than using meat. In order to allow this burger to be pressed together and remain moist, ground flaxseed and olive oil are added. Flax is a great emulsifier and helps to bind the chickpeas together. The olive oil also helps to keep these from feeling too crumbly and gives the burgers a pleasant texture.

Harness the flavor of a Caprese salad by topping the chickpea burger with a slice of fresh mozzarella and pesto. Sandwich this between two ends of a tomato for a unique presentation and a healthy low carb alternative to a bun. Other non-bun alternatives you could use include lightly grilled slices of zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, sweet potato, or lettuce wraps. Any way you wrap it, this easy vegetarian burger leaves you feeling light on your feet and ready to tackle that next workout.

Caprese Chickpea Burgers

Calories 288, Protein 15g, Total Carbs 22g, Fat 17g

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and mashed
• ¼ red onion, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal (ground flax)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
• Pinch of oregano
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Burger Toppings:

• Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Prepared pesto sauce
• 4 tomatoes, sliced and cored to use both ends as a “bun.” Use extra slices for garnish.

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat a sauté pan to medium high heat with a small amount of olive oil.
2. Combine the chickpeas with flax, onion, spices, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil until well mixed. You may need to use your hands to finish mashing the chickpeas completely. Check if the mixture will hold together when squeezed by hand. You may need to add 1 additional tablespoon of oil for patties to hold together properly.
3. Form into 4 patties.
4. Cook about 5-8 minutes per side until lightly browned on both sides.
5. While burgers are cooking prepare toppings.
6. Assemble burger with pesto, mozzarella, and place between the tomato “bun” to serve.

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Summer sun leads to relaxing summer grill-outs with friends and family. Change up your barbequed burger routine with a little something unexpected. Using meats that are not just beef for your patties brings both flavor and variety to your table. Ginger scallion pork burgers combine ground pork with the zestiness of garlic, ginger, and scallions along with the delicious sweet salty tang of soy sauce for a unique Asian flavor.

Cut the carbs and lighten up these burgers by using vegetables instead of the bun. This burger is fantastic wrapped with a few large pieces of butter lettuce. Using a couple of pieces of the lettuce allows you to wrap it burrito style to hold the multiple topping options. If you enjoy sliders, sauté a few rounds of sweet potato to use in place of the bun.

The light sweetness of the sweet potato compliments the ginger soy combo of these burgers quite nicely. Other non-bun alternatives you could use include lightly grilled slices of zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, or tomato ends. Whether you prefer to use a bun or a vegetable alternative, these burgers are a perfect palate pleaser!

Ginger Scallion Pork Burgers

Calories 375, Protein 24g, Total Carbs 24g, Fat 23g

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves: 4 as burgers (or 8 sliders)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
• 2 scallions, sliced
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon red chili flakes

Burger Toppings:

• 4 slices pineapple, grilled slightly
• 1 sliced avocado
• ½ red onion, sliced
• 1 sweet potato, sliced ¼” thick
• Lettuce leaves
• Prepared jalapeño coleslaw, if desired

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
2. Combine the ground pork, garlic, tamari, ginger, scallions, and chili flakes until well mixed.
3. Form into 4 patties or 8 sliders depending on if you’re serving as lettuce wraps or the size of your sweet potato “bun.”
4. Grill burgers and pineapple slices about 4-5 minutes per side until desired doneness.
5. While burgers are cooking, heat a sauté pan with a small amount of oil. Cook the sweet potato slices a few minutes on each side just until they are lightly browned but not soft.
6. Assemble burgers on a plate with toppings.

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