Back To The Basics: Detoxing

There's a hundred ways to say it: You can't performance tune a broken engine.  You can only run so fast with an injured back.  No sense trying to crank up the volume on your sweet stereo if it's going to blow a fuse because your power supply isn't robust enough.

We spend a lot of time here at Synchro focusing on pushing boundaries; using innovative nutrition and practices to reach for new levels of mental and athletic performance, new levels of vibrant energy and optimal well-being.  Sometimes it's good to return to the basics, to make sure there's nothing fundamental in your diet that is acting as a silent drain on your health, keeping you from getting the most out of the work you're putting in in other areas of your fitness and nutrition practice.

One of the most common areas that even very healthy people overlook is the presence of toxins in their diet.  Most healthy eaters will diligently wash their produce to remove pesticides, or intentionally avoid processed foods with ingredients with complicated names.  These are great steps to take, but there are other less obvious toxin sources that can be even more dangerous if unchecked.  

For example, did you know foods as healthy as olive oil, flax seeds or almonds can be turned toxic depending on how you cook them?    

The threat we're talking about is from oxidized fats.  We're big advocates of a high healthy fat diet at Synchro and this is something we write about often in our blog. But there is a flip side to fats that make some fats not only unhealthy but potentially toxic.  With a bit of knowledge and mindfulness while cooking, it is easy to avoid this dangerous side of fats.

A Bit Of Background On Fats

There are countless types of fats out there, but a convenient way to subdivide them is saturated and unsaturated fats.  There are fats in both categories that are essential for optimal health.  When using oils for cooking, however, it is critical to know what types of fats are in your cooking oil and at what temperatures to use them.

The danger with cooking oils comes from the fact that unsaturated fats can be oxidized at temperatures commonly used in cooking.  When a fat is oxidized, it breaks down into unstable molecules that are toxic and disruptive in the body.  These damaged fats are highly oxidative and can wreak havoc in the body.  They disrupt metabolic processes, damage cells and cause inflammation, and in the process drain energy levels and pull you further from optimal vibrant living.   

Unfortunately, almost all vegetable oils are rich in these easily-oxidized unsaturated fats and should be used for cooking only at very low temperatures.  Olive oil is one that healthy people commonly use for cooking applications, but in reality it is very prone to being damaged by even low heat and making your meal into a toxic one.  The table below shows common oils and their relative percentages of saturated fats (safe) to unsaturated fats (unsafe).  In general, the oils furthest to the left are the safest to cook with.

(PUFA=polyunsaturated fatty acid, MUFA=monounsaturated fatty acid, SA=saturated fatty acid, ...Coconut Oil is the safest to cook with, followed by ghee and butter)

The Wonder Of Coconut Oil

Saturated fats on the other hand, are very heat-stable and are resistant to oxidation at the temperatures used in normal cooking.  Coconut oil, butter and ghee are all comprised largely of saturated fats, with coconut oil topping the charts.  These are the only oils that we consider safe to cook with.  

Coconut oil is a legitimate superfood and in addition to being the only oil we use in cooking, it has numerous other powerful energizing, performance enhancing effects in the body.  The specific type of saturated fats in coconut oil are referred to as Medium Chain Tryglycerides (MCT's).  These fats are converted very efficiently into energy and are rarely stored in fat cells in the body.  MCT's are also a fuel source used preferentially by the brain, and it is common to experience improved cognitive performance when consuming high levels of MCT's.  Because of this brain-fueling characteristic, MCT's and coconut oil have even been used successfully to treat degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.

An important side note: There is a TON of misinformation about saturated fats and heart disease that was perpetuated in the late 80's to early 90's.  These studies have since been repeatedly disproven and shown to be based on intentionally misleading data. The culprit in this misinformation? The commercial grain industry yet again! In an attempt to see more widespread use of vegetable oils, including corn oil, they funded studies that were designed to be intentionally misleading in incorrectly correlating saturated fat with heart disease. Recent research on the subject confirms that not only are saturated fats safe to eat, but they are in fact essential and healthy even at relatively high levels of consumption.  

A Polarizing Subject

This latest in the series of Synchro Life Design practices is unquestionably the one that I have had the most conflict with over the years.  This practice is among the most powerful nutritional practices I know of (and one that I've used with great success for the better part of a decade) - yet, it is one that I've held close to the chest and been very careful about who I share it with to avoid getting into difficult opinion-fueled discussions and confusing people about what it is we're about at Synchro.  

The practice is strategic daily supplementation with creatine monohydrate.  Creatine is perhaps better known for its use by athletes trying to add muscle than by people using nutrient-dense superfoods in search of vibrant energy and optimal health.  Because of this association, creatine is greatly misunderstood as a supplement and tends to draw strong reactions from those who don't understand what it's actually doing in the body.  Most people think of it alongside questionable GNC-esque muscle-building supplements and its very hard to convince them that it may have a role to play for those looking to optimize health, energy and overall performance.  If you fall into this camp and you're ready to move on without getting to the meat of this article, stick with me one more sentence…

Creatine supplementation had been shown to increase IQ an average of 21 percent in controlled studies.

Still reading?  Yeah, I thought so. ;)  Let me first take a minute to explain what creatine monohydrate is and what its function is in the body.  Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid that your body produces and is present in every cell in your body.  Creatine plays a critical role in the metabolism and you would be dead quickly without it.  

To explain the precise role creatine serves in the metabolism, you first need to understand the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).  If there is one compound that most directly can be equated with "energy" in the human body, it's unquestionably ATP.  It is the catalyst for thousands on thousands of metabolic process, giving enzymes the "power" they need to perform their function.  ATP does this by giving up a phosphate ion to the enzyme, upon which it is degraded into inactive adenosine diphosphate (ADP).  ADP is essentially useless until it is rephosphorylated, meaning it reacquires a phosphate enzyme and thus becomes ATP again.  The compound responsible for the rephosporylation of inactive ADP back into active ATP?  You guessed it, creatine.  Once in the body, creatine is converted into creatine phosphate.  Creatine phosphate is able to donate a phosphate ion to ADP, transforming it back into ATP.  So in summary, no creatine means no ATP which means enzymes (and life) crawls to a halt.   

Why Creatine Supplementation Is Essential For Optimal Health

Creatine is useful for athletes trying to build muscle simply because it gives their muscles more energy to use during a workout. Controlled studies consistently show that you can do more repetitions of a given exercise when supplementing with creatine than not. More repetitions means that you can push your body harder before fatigue and it will recover to be stronger as a result. This doesn't apply just to weight lifting, though.  Your running, cycling, swimming, dancing, etc, etc all stand to benefit if you have the extra "cell energy" to push yourself a bit further in your workout. 

But what about the IQ gains?  Like any other organ in your body, your brain needs quite a bit of ATP and creatine, especially in times of intense cognitive demand, focus or stress.  A 2006 study took two groups of vegetarians and vegans (who do not get the dietary creatine omnivores get form eating meat). One group was given low/moderate levels of creatine supplementation over a 6-week period, while the second group received placebos.  Both groups were given IQ tests at the beginning and completion of the 6-week study.  The group supplementing with creatine saw their IQ's go up an average of 20% over the 6-week period while the group receiving placebos saw no significant change. [1] 

While everyone will benefit from including creatine supplementation in their diet, it is particularly crucial for vegetarians and vegans in my opinion. Are you really willing to sacrifice 20% IQ (and athletic performance and overall health) because you choose not to eat meat? I certainly am not. There are a TON of good reasons to eat a plant-based diet.  My lifetime of research and experimentation continually returns me to the same conclusion: the performance potential for the human body is highest when eating a highly-supplemented, high-fat, high-protein plant-based diet.  With that said, it is hard to be a truly healthy vegan.  It is way easier to be adequately nourished and healthy while eating meat, as it contains most of the micro- and macronutrients the human metabolism needs to function. As vegans, we have to be far more mindful of what our body requires to function at a high level - and in my eyes, creatine is high on that list.

Possible Concerns?

For those of you who have concerns about potential adverse effects of adding creatine to your diet, its pretty simple but I'll spend a few sentences covering this none the less.  

Creatine monohydrate you buy for supplementation is synthesized in a commercial laboratory, but it is 100% identical to the naturally occurring compound your body produces naturally. Countless studies have been done and the consensus is that supplementation with creatine monohydrate is completely non-toxic and has no observable adverse effects, even when consumed at high doses (10 times higher than what I consume myself) and for long periods of time. [2] As with most things, people with kidney or liver disease should use caution, but for everyone else creatine is impressively risk-free.

Daily creatine supplementation is a practice I've had for almost 8 years now and I hope my enthusiasm for this practice has come across here.  Every system of your body - skeletal muscles, smooth muscles, nervous system, endocrine system, etc - they all require ATP and creatine to operate.  The effects of daily supplementation are undeniable.  You will feel stronger, sharper and more energized in times of intensity, whether physical or mental. Your rides and runs will feel better, you'll feel stronger in the gym, your yoga practice will feel stronger and more vibrant, you'll feel sharper in times of intense thinking or processing, etc, etc.  All of these things lead to you feeling more energized and more vibrant in every moment of your life. Seems like reason enough to at least try it for a month or so, no?

Synchro Life Design : Recommended Creatine Supplementation

Personally I mix creatine monohydrate powder into my Synchro Genesis (creatine is almost tasteless) such that I get about 2g of creatine in each of the 4-6 servings of Synchro Genesis I consume in a day.  This equates to 8-12g of creatine per day, which is on the upper end of what will be useful to someone who is not intensely training in some discipline several times a week.  For most people, I recommend starting with 1g creatine per 15kg of bodyweight per day.  (For someone weighing 130 pounds, this would be 4g per day, for someone at 180 pounds this would be about 6g per day).  If this is working for you, by all means increase the dose - as I said earlier, you can consume huge amounts without seeing any negative effects.

If you are an athlete, you can cycle up your creatine supplementation during times of intense training.  I will increase my daily consumption by about 50% by taking an extra dose before a workout.  I'll do this before every workout for 3 weeks before returning to normal levels for a 2 week period, then beginning another 3 week cycle.

Our favorite brand of creatine is called Creapure and is made in Germany  You can find it here.

Stay Synchro, 

     Graham Ryan

Sources

1. Rae C, Digney AL, McEwan SR, Bates TC (October 2003). "Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial".Proceedings. Biological Sciences / the Royal Society 270 (1529): 2147–50.

2. Persky, A. M.; Rawson, E. S. (2007). "Safety of creatine supplementation". Sub-cellular biochemistry. Subcellular Biochemistry 46: 275–289. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6486-9_14. ISBN 978-1-4020-6485-2. PMID 18652082

Heal Your Adrenals And Feel Awesome - A Technique Using Himalayan Salt

There is no single factor limiting the average person's energy level more than adrenal disfunction.  Environmental toxins, lack of dietary nutrients and stress all take a toll on our adrenal health and thus, the ability of our adrenals to produce critical, energy and metabolism supporting hormones such as adrenaline and aldosterone.  You just simply cannot feel vibrant and energized when those hormones are not present in proper levels.  The Synchro Diet and Synchro Lifestyle are deeply adrenal-supporting, but we don't know of any single thing that will improve adrenal health more rapidly and completely than this regimen we've put together with himilayan rock salt.

The first part of the regimen is the morning salt flushes.  This is something I do literally the moment I get out of bed.  I do 2oz of Himalayan salt brine (see recipe below) in ~32oz of water and drink until I finish it.  I follow this with another 16-32 oz of water with about 1/2 the amount of salt by volume.  This may seem like a lot to do, especially first thing in the morning, but trust me - it is worth it and soon you won't be able to think of starting your morning without it.  

This morning salt flush does 2 really powerful things in the body.  First, it reduces demand on the adrenals first thing in the morning.  When we wake up in the morning our body naturally wants to raise our blood pressure. First - to supply adequate blood to our brain when we transition from laying down to standing (so we don't black out) and more generally start all of the body's systems that are relatively stagnant when we're sleeping.  To raise blood pressure, the brain calls on the adrenals to pump out adrenaline.  Drinking salt water first thing in the morning subverts this system by slightly raising your blood pressure for a short period of time. This minimizes adrenal usage first thing in the morning saves them for use in the rest of your day.  This technique produces some pretty amazing results - you will notice your energy levels staying higher throughout the rest of your day if you do this.

The second thing the salt flush does is provide your GI system with a powerful detox first thing in the morning.  Clearing out stagnant matter from your GI tract allows your digestive system to function more efficiently - absorbing more nutrition while requiring less of your body's energy resources. I'll say to be prepared, as this is definitely a cleanse of sorts and you will clear some material out, especially in the first week or so.  But in reality you'll feel so amazing doing this regimen, I don't think you'll really mind the cleanse.

In addition to these more immediate benefits, there is also a  more cumulative effect of using Himalayan salt.  A healthy adrenal system requires proper dietary levels of several minerals, the most significant being sodium.  A lot of people, especially health-conscious people are actually chronically deficient in sodium and these other critical trace minerals.  As such, almost everyone has adrenals operating well below full potential capacity.  Himilayan salt is an almost perfect way to replenish your body's levels of these minerals and begin to allow the adrenals to heal themselves and ramp up their potential output of several critically important hormones.  

So in addition to the salt flush i do first thing every morning, I also drink lightly salted water several times throughout the day, especially mid-day when energy levels can tend to drop as well as before and after any time I will be sweating and thus needing to replace sodium.

A Himalayan Salt Mine

Brine Recipe 

We throw around the phrase "Be Synchro" often. To us it means something powerful, something true, it is something we feel as much as it is something we think.   There is a host of other adjectives we've used to approximate "Synchro" to communicate it to the uninitiated...

Be Vibrant.  Be Strong.  Be Brilliant.  Be Amazing, Etc.

But there is always something lost in trying to approximate Synchro with other adjectives, because the most significant thing about Synchro is that it is not something we ourselves have created, but rather a 'current' in the unfolding of the cosmos that we have recognized and simply put a name to.  This planet and our species, as a reflection of the cosmos are continually moving towards greater and greater levels of complexity, elegance, interconnection and above all else, beauty.  Synchro is simply the name we've given to this current manifesting in the human species. 

Of course, this current would continue to manifest independently of any of us, as it is far larger and more multidimensional than we could ever hope to conceive of.  But at the same time, there is a choice we can make: To either be participants in this current, or sit idly while we are generally floated in the direction of this current, but always a bit behind and never really grasping the magnificence and beauty of this moment in time.  In other words, to cultivate the life practices that keep us at the forefront of this evolution of the human species or to hold on to comfort and the status quo despite knowing that our world is changing at a faster rate than ever before. 

I know the choice I've made, and the challenge is to continue to think/act/live in alignment with this choice every moment of every day.

So call it what you want, but this new year, resolve to do the only thing that actually matters: resolve to *Be Synchro*.  You deserve it, the world needs it.

                   our water jugs and wall shrine

     Part two of this series requires a sort of prerequisite disclaimer: what became most clear over the course of the 10 days was less any discreet effects of consuming exclusively spring water, and more that we knew the conclusion of the experiment before it even started. Of course drinking exclusively water collected from the side of a mountain would feel amazing.  Of course drinking mineral-rich, free-running water is Synchro.  This was somewhat obvious from the conception of the experiment, and is even more so now.  If our own intuitive understanding wasn't enough, there are plenty of data-informed experts in the superfood and nutrition worlds who will quickly confirm this.

     Still, there is something to be learned here.  For me personally, spring water is not something I notice in the body/mind in the same way I notice the high from a good dose of raw cacao or maca.  The effect is more subtle, yet more pervasive.  It is certainly stating the obvious to say, but water is so fundamental to the functioning of the body, knowing that you're getting clear, clean, energetically vibrant water all day is psychologically powerful.  Compared to being aware that your drinking water has been sitting in concrete, PVC or metal pipes for the past few hours, it is a huge shift.  I'm thinking about water as nourishing when I'm drinking it and my body seems to intuitively know the same.  The water is nutritionally superior by conventional measures, sure - but it is this psychological effect that is the most powerful.  This feels like a lifehack of sorts, and a powerful one at that.  The substance you consume more than any other becomes associated with building, growing, healing, vibrancy.  There is no question this is Synchro.

This is obviously something we are totally committed to now.  The idea of returning to drinking tap water is non-negotiable.  Not going to happen.  We made another trek to Marin last weekend to collect again and we have another trip planned for Saturday.  Its time intensive, sure, but damn is it worth it. 

If you're not doing this already, get on it.  You'll "get it" pretty quickly and thank yourself later.  Find a spring here. 

(a note: credit for the above photo and wall shrine goes to the resident Synchro Chaos Magic Sorceress, Ariana Campellone.  Stating the obvious, her shrines are powerful, stunning works of art.  If you are in the sf bay area, she does captivating custom shrines using collected organic artifacts. Your wall, your home and your family, your intent...her magic.  aricampy@gmail.com)   

     Our good friends and resident Synchro backcountry fanatics Erik and Kelly are setting off on a pretty epic trek tomorrow morning.  John Muir Trail, end-to-end.  211 miles, 34 days, from the Tuolumne Meadows in the Yosemite Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney.  Gawd damn we're inspired.  We're stoked for them, obviously because such complete immersion in some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet can only do good things for the body/mind system and the soul...but also because Synchro Genesis will be with them every step of the way as a primary means of bringing super nutrient-dense fuel into their physically demanding days.

Synchro Genesis in the re-supply box (mailed to Bishop, CA) and the bear can, respectively.

We'll be doing periodic updates as we get reports and photos from them as they pop into cell reception along the way.  Stay tuned. 

The importance of water quality has been written about more times than necessary and doesn't need re-hashing here.  Still, there are many different ways to approach water quality.  Purity is obvious.  Chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals and who knows what else are commonly found in the substance coming out of our taps that we expect to be only H20.  Mineral content is less obvious but still widely considered. This is what largely determines the taste and mouth-feel of water and is why people (like me) happily pay $3 a bottle for water flown in from springs in Germany or France.

     But beyond the absence of any impurities or presence of minerals, there is another quality to water that is simultaneously more subtle and potentially more powerful.  At risk of venturing too far into the new-age here, I'm going to stay on the conservative side when talking about what is best described as the energetic state of the water we drink.  The science to support any musings on the energetic state of water is ambiguous at best, so I'll stay on the side of the anecdotal and experiential here.  Drink water straight from the headwaters of the Sacramento River in Mt. Shasta, CA, for example and its clear there's something different going on here.  The water not only tastes amazing, it feels amazing.  

We're now doing an experiment here at Synchro HQ to make ourselves the test subjects to see the potential benefits of drinking only high-quality fresh spring water. Inspired by a recent move across the SF Bay from San Francisco (great water - from Hetch Hetchy) to Oakland (*amazing* city, bad water), we went yesterday to collect spring water from Red Rock Beach Spring near Mt. Tamalpais in Marin, CA.  We definitely have been drinking at least some tap water here in Oakland, so I think we make pretty good test subjects.

Already in day one, the effects are noticeable.  The water tastes great, of course, which has its own psychologically-derived health benefits - but beyond that there is definitely a powerful feeling to drinking fresh spring water all day.  I'll reserve further comment for now until we've run the "experiment" for a week or so.  I'll report back.