Look healthy and hot, increase cognitive performance and feel awesome...

In last week's Synchro Life Design, I tackled the complicated subject of the choices for fuel sources for the human body.  Essentially, the metabolism has the capacity to run on either carbohydrates or fats - but it is somewhat of a choice.  Carb-burning pathways and fat-burning pathways generally run in opposition to each other, with fat-burning pathways taking over when carb-burning pathways are lacking "fuel".  Depending on what you have eaten recently, one of the two pathways will handle the majority of your body's energy-production needs.  For a number of reasons (all in the article!), eating to favor fat-burning pathways is the option that produces the best results in terms of body composition, cognitive performance and sustained vibrant energy.  

Of course, getting great results from a high-fat diet doesn't simply mean eating high-fat foods indiscriminately.  The types of fats you eat are critical to any high-fat diet strategy (also covered in last week's article).  Fats that are digested and used easily by the metabolism are an important part of any such diet.  Medium- and short-chain fats (such as those in coconut oil and butter, for example) fuel the body and brain quite well and promote fat burning metabolism.  These short- and medium-chain fatty acids should account for a large portion of fat-calorie intake.  Longer-chain fatty acid (such as those in most vegetable oils) take longer to digest and turn into energy and are not nearly as supportive as a fuel source or promoter of fat-burning metabolism.

What you're eating is critical, but almost as important in a successful high-fat diet is when you eat.  To be more specific, the relative levels of carbs, protein and fat you're eating at any given point in your day determine what state your metabolism will be in.  With this in mind I've developed the strategy I call Synchro Mini-Fasting.  Synchro Mini-Fasting harnesses the power of a quality high-fat diet and combines it with a bit of elegant strategy to transform your diet an energy-boosting, brain-enhancing, fat-burning machine.

Background On Fasting Techniques

At it's core, Synchro Mini-Fasting draws heavily on a technique known as intermittent fasting that has been rapidly growing in popularity over the past few years.  Intermittent fasting (IF) has been around for decades and has been well-studied both by academics and by communities of people online who share data on techniques and results.  The essence of the technique involves condensing all of your eating into a small window (typically 6-8 hours) during a 24-hour period.  For example, you would eat at 8pm, and then not eat again until noon the following day.  Intermittent fasters typically eat as many or more calories as someone on a conventional diet schedule, it is just all packed into that 6-8 hour window.

The effect of IF on the body is dramatic.  In the second half of a "fasting" period, fat-burning metabolism accelerates and the body is able to pull stored fat out of adipose tissue at a rate way above anything seen when adhering to a more conventional eating schedule.  Additionally, intermittent fasting will increase metabolic factors involved in protein synthesis - meaning that particularly when combined with a strength-training regimen, IF will encourage the formation of lean muscle.  There's good reason a lot of top athletes in natural body fitness competitions are devoted intermittent fasters...

Naturally, tuning your body/mind system to be Synchro is about more than having low body-fat and lean muscle.  While great body composition is certainly a part of being Synchro, we also want stable vibrant energy, high cognitive performance and generally glowing well being.  While some intermittent fasters report feeling and performing well throughout their fasting period, when I've tried conventional IF myself I consistently experienced energy levels and performance below what I was accustomed to.  So I set out to see if I could craft a strategy that would deliver most of the body composition results of IF, without sacrificing the energy and performance.  Interestingly, in my experiments with IF I also noticed that my energy and mental clarity would be great early in the day, but would tail off dramatically towards the end of my fasting period.  So, naturally, I set out to create a protocol that extended this period of high energy and performance deeper into my day.

Synchro Mini-Fasting Protocol

After a lot of experimentation over the course of 6+ months, I've settled on a protocol that incorporates a fast of 13-14 hours, broken by a strategic, exceptionally nutrient-rich (but small-ish) meal, followed by another fasting period of 7-8 hours.  For me, a general day using Synchro Mini-Fasting looks like this:

• Finish Eating Dinner (day 1): 10pm
• Go To Bed: 1am
• Wake: 8am
• Eat Small Meal: 11:30am
• Snack To Break Second Fast: 7pm
• Dinner (day 2): 9:30pm

In your night-time fast period you will get some of the intense fat-burning experienced by conventional intermittent fasters.  However, because fat-burning metabolism accelerates towards the end of a fasting period, you'll also be cutting short some valuable fat-burning.  However, if your experience is like mine, you'll also be missing the hunger, low-energy and diminished cognitive performance that come with traditional IF. 

My primary aim in creating the Synchro Mini-Fasting protocol was to prolong the enhanced energy I experienced in the hours after waking up when I was adhering to conventional IF.  Secondarily, if I could get this without completely disrupting the fat-burning from my night-time fasting period, all the better.  What are the two things I know of that boost energy and performance most powerfully (and generally make me feel awesome)?  Nutrient-dense foods and high-quality short- and medium-chain fats. 

The Power Meal

The content of that initial, small meal is the most critical of anything you'll eat all day.  Eating intelligently with this meal is the difference between a vibrant, high-performing day and an average one.  This meal should be:

1. Rich in high-quality, short- and medium-chain fats.
2. Low-Glycemic Load (i.e. only low glycemic-index carbs and not very much)
3. Rich in nutrient-dense, metabolism supporting foods

The high-quality short- and medium-chain fats will give your body and brain plenty of high-quality fuel for the second fasting period.  Since eating carbs will interrupt the fat-burning, minimizing the glycemic load of meal will reduce the disruption to the fat-burning metabolism - as well as reduce the risk of a dip in energy that typically follows a more carb-rich meal.  The load of nutrient-dense foods will support and supercharge your metabolism (and generally make you feel great).  So what exactly do I eat for this 'power meal'?

A Blender-Full Of Awesome (The 'Powerhouse Shake')

• A (loosely packed) blender-full of washed raw dino (lacinato) kale
• 6 tbsp Synchro Genesis
• 3oz Almond Milk
• 4oz Spring Water
• 1 Piece of Raw Ginger Root (about the size of the last section of your thumb)
• 1 Piece of Raw Turmeric Root (about the size of the last section of your thumb)
•  2-3 Tbsp Coconut Oil (or MCT oil)
  
• 5g Creatine Monohydrate
• 2 Ice Cubes

The shake that results from the recipe above is a serious nutrient powerhouse.  It delivers 675 calories, 18g of high-quality fats, 30g complete protein and 37g of very low-glycemic carbohydrate (subtracting fiber).  The abundance of medium chain fats (from the coconut oil) will provide quality fuel and the protein will support protein synthesis in the body while keeping you satiated.  The carbohydrates in the shake will temporarily partially suppress fat-burning metabolism.  However, because all the carbohydrates are low-glycemic, there will never be a significant insulin response and carb- and fat-burning pathways will run simultaneously for the 2-3 hours after consuming the shake.  After that period, the carbs from the shake will be burned and the remainder of your afternoon fasting period will be entirely in fat-burning metabolism.  

Bottom line regarding this shake recipe: drink it and you'll feel awesome for the duration of your afternoon fasting period.

Other things I consume with this shake during the 'power meal': (1.) Cocotella and (2.) grass-fed ghee - both provide additional short- and medium-chain fatty acids and negligible carbohydrate. (when I eat these, i decrease the coconut oil in the shake proportionately). (3.) Vitamin and mineral supplements (I'll outline these in a future article). (4.) Probiotics and Kombucha

Strategic Snacking

Ideally, you'll try to consume nothing but water or tea during your fating periods.  If you're particularly active (or if you're still getting used to the practice), it's possible you'll get hungry during your fasting periods.  Rather than push through the hunger (and risk energy or performance dropping...), there are ways to satisfy your hunger and re-fuel without completely disrupting a fasting period.  Choosing a snack that is rich in short- or medium-chain fatty acids with extremely low (or zero) glycemic load will fit this function perfectly.  A scoop of coconut oil or MCT oil are both perfect for the application.  Personally I prefer things that are completely delicious, so I keep a jar of Cocotella in my office with me.  It's rich in the MCT's we're after, and the tablespoon serving I eat as my snack has all of 1.5g of low-glycemic carbohydrate, so it won't meaningfully disrupt fat-burning metabolism.  If I'm at home, I eat Synchro Spheres, with similar effect.

And The Rest Of The Day?

After you've concluded your afternoon fasting period, what you're eating becomes a bit less critical to the success of the strategy.  Go ahead and eat all the Synchro-aligned food you feel like you need.  What is a Synchro-aligned food?  If you keep up with the blog you have an idea, but to recap: (1.) Low-Glycemic load (2.) Rich In High-Quality Fats (3.) Minimal Grains - and NO wheat or corn (4.) Low Toxin - removing grains is a part of this (5.) Rich In Nutrient Dense Foods! (6.) Raw/Living Foods When Possible

Since fat-burning particularly ramps-up after carbs from your food have been exhausted, keeping the amount of carbohydrate low in your dinner will intensify the fat-burning that happens during your long pasting period.

It's also very important to drink quite a bit of water in the first 30-60 minutes after waking up in the morning.  We can lose between 1-2 pounds of water via respiration and perspiration during sleep, and replacing that is critical.  Since toxins are stored in fat cells in the body, our night-time fasting period is also a detox period.  Clearing out these toxins first thing in the morning keeps them from being reabsorbed.  Not only will you feel brighter and clearer in the morning when you hydrate properly, it's also one of the best techniques I know of for great skin health. 

I drink between 64 and 96oz of water between the time I wake up and when I eat my 'power meal'.  The first 32oz will be lightly salted with Himlayan Salt to flush the GI tract and re-mineralize my body.  A note: Get serious about the quality of your water!  It matters.  

Synchro Mini-Fasting Protocol (Expanded)

So now that more of the protocol is explained, here is what my eating schedule looks like in more detail:

• 10pm (day 1): Finish Eating Dinner  
• [10pm - 11:30am]: Long Fasting Period
• 1am: Go To Bed
• 8am: Wake
• 8-11am: Drink 64-96oz Spring Water (the 1st 32oz with Himalayan Salt)
• 10am: 45 Minutes Vinyasa Yoga (physical activity during the fasting period will accelerate fat burning)
• 11:30am: Eat 'Synchro Powerhouse' Shake
• [11:30am - 7pm]: Afternoon Fasting Period
• 7pm-9pm: Double Serving of Synchro Genesis with Coconut Oil, more Cocotella, etc 
• 9:30pm: Huge Kale Salad with Hempseed, Sweet Potato, etc...and more Cocotella for desert, or course

If you're curious, this puts me at around 3000-3500 calories for the day.  ~65% from fats, 20% from carbs and 15% from protein.

Why Synchro Fasting Is The Best

The fat-burning, muscle-promoting power of any similar fasting protocol will be significant.  If that's all you're trying to accomplish, traditional intermittent fasting might serve you better.  What makes Synchro Mini-Fasting so great is that it preserves a lot of the power of intermittent fasting, but also gives you exceptional energy levels and cognitive performance.  High/Vibrant energy levels really means consistent/well-supported energy levels - and this is where Synchro Fasting really excels.  Giving your body a consistent supply of high-quality fats as fuel and loads of powerful, nutrient-dense foods is the key to feeling amazing and performing at a high level.

Special Considerations 

If you're training or doing an intense workout, you'll want to eat a bit of low-glycemic carbohydrate beforehand to avoid 'bonking' during your workout.  Fat works great as a fuel source for low-to-moderate intensity workouts, but because it is a slower fuel source, fat-burning pathways can't keep up with the energy needs of an intense workout.  You'll have to feel this one out for yourself, but for me personally I DO eat carbohydrate before and during long bike rides - but I generally do not eat before going into an intense yoga class or a strength training session.  Listen to your body and you'll learn which of your workouts are intense enough to necessitate eating carbohydrate before or during.

Stay Synchro,

     Graham Ryan

Insulin.  Not only does it look cool...it's also the key to understanding how your body stores fat.

If you keep up with the Synchro Life Design System, you'll know by now that I'm a huge advocate of eating a diet that is low-glycemic load and fuels the body primarily with high-quality, easily digested fats.  Switching to this diet was hugely transformative for me, and if you look around a bit online, you'll find it's a rapidly growing movement that has produced similar results for hundreds of thousands of people.  If your goals are stable vibrant energy, high cognitive performance and low body-fat - this diet produces results better than any other I have come across.

This image really says it all.  (Giberella mold on corn, a common source of mycotoxins)

(Again...) Toxins Are Your Enemy

It feels a bit like stating the obvious or an overplayed record, but I really can't emphasize it enough: toxins are the enemy of vibrant health and high performance.  Toxins trigger inflammation, disrupt metabolism and mess with hormonal balance.  Which is a slightly more complicated way of saying toxins make you feel and perform worse than you should.

An unfortunate reality of the hugely complex modern food system is that there are many sources of damaging toxins that slip under most people's radar.  Or even worse, information about the presence of toxins in certain foods is intentionally hidden from consumers.  WIth corn and wheat, the subject of scrutiny of this article, both scenarios play into why so few people are aware of the toxicity of these two (unfortunately) ubiquitous foods.

(Another source that slips under the radar for a lot of people is toxic damaged fats in cooking oils, which I covered in Synchro Life Design #5)

It's All About Mycotoxins

By this point, everyone knows about the problems caused for a lot of people by the gluten protein in wheat.  (I'll cover this later)  For now, we don't even need to mention gluten to find more than enough reason to get wheat out of your diet.  

Mycotoxins are probably the single biggest source of hidden toxins in our foods, and wheat and corn are the biggest sources of mycotoxins in our food supply.  Mycotoxins are the natural byproducts of mold in food.  Molds are very good at pumping toxic chemicals (mycotoxins) out into their environment to ensure that no other strains of mold or bacteria come in and out-compete them for their food source (i.e. whatever they're growing on).  If mycotoxins can stunt the growth or even kill other strains of bacteria and fungus, you'd be right to guess that you really don't want mycotoxins in your body.  Mycotoxins have been connected to hormone disruption, immunosuppression, increased inflammation and even cancer.  Needless to say, all stuff you want to avoid.

Every time you eat food contaminated with mycotoxins, you are essentially exposing yourself to low levels of highly toxic chemicals.  Mycotoxins also tend to be stored in the body, so they accumulate over time and the effects become more pronounced.  If you've been eating wheat and corn for your whole life, you are already experiencing negative effects from mycotoxins.  Wouldn't you like to know how you would feel and perform if you weren't?  ...I did too.  So I pulled mycotoxin sources out of my diet and let my body detox.  Good move, I promise you.

Why Wheat And Corn?

So why single out these two grains?  Let's look at how they are produced.  Wheat and corn are two of the two biggest agricultural products in the US.  It's really hard to fathom the scale that these grains are produced on.  The part of the farming process that's important here is storage, which generally happens in huge grain silos, where harvested grains sometimes sit for months before going to market.  While the grains sit in these silos, they are highly susceptible to mold.  A review of US crops found that 92% of corn tested had some level of mycotoxins present and almost 80% of wheat tested showed mycotoxins.  

(AFM1 through T-2 represent different mycotoxins.  AFM1 and OTA are aflatoxin and ochratoxin, respectively, both highly disruptive toxins.  Really, the important thing to take away form this chart is that wheat and corn suck.)

What To Do?

Unfortunately, cooking does almost nothing to mycotoxins.  If there is any living mold left on the food, cooking will usually kill the mold, but the mycotoxins are very resistant to heat and will not be affected.

There's really no way around it; If you're serious about avoiding mycotoxins, you have to pull wheat and corn out of your diet.  It may sound like a big task at first, but really it's just a switch to grains that don't bring mycotoxins with them.  Rice and quinoa are naturally more resistant to mold and are generally not stored in ways that are vulnerable to mold.  Once you start to look, you'll realize that there are quality alternatives to conventional wheat and corn products (bread, flour, pasta, tortillas, etc).

Another source to be particularly mindful of is beer.  Almost all beer uses wheat and/or corn, and the grains used in beer production is generally lower quality (read: more mycotoxins) than wheat used for food products.  As such, the levels of mycotoxins in beer is often very high.  If you're going to drink, it's best to stick with liquors that don't use grains like vodka, tequila and rum.  Wine is also a way better choice than beer, but wine will occasionally have moderate levels of mycotoxins, so it's not quite as safe as liquors.

Still Not Sold On The "No Gluten" Thing?

This is a topic that's been written about endlessly over the past 5-8 years, so I'll only take a moment to highlight the reasons why wheat sucks so much.

1. It's been repeatedly estimated that 50% of the population in allergic or intolerant to wheat gluten.  Some experts put that number as high as 75%.  Until you get tested to confirm you're not among those with a sensitivity, it's wise to assume you are.
2. When you are intolerant to wheat gluten, it creates an inflammatory response that effects the whole body, the GI tract being the most effected.  When the GI tract is inflamed, it is unable to absorb nutrients effectively and digestive issues are common.
3. The inflammatory effect of gluten can last days, so you can't get away with thinking the effects will only set you back for a few hours. 
4. Wheat is rich in the carbohydrate Amylopectin A.  This specific carbohydrate has a disproportionate effect on insulin levels, causing your body to store more of your meal as fat. Which is another way of saying...
5. Wheat makes you fat.

Between mycotoxins, inflammatory gluten and carbs that make you fat...I hope you now have enough reasons to cut out wheat.  Wheat is unquestionably the first to cut out.  Corn is not far behind, though.  The levels of mycotoxins in corn are dangerously high.  That being said, if you're out at a Mexican restaurant and you must choose between the two, corn is a (marginally) better choice.

There are more choices than ever for wheat- and corn-free options.  If you haven't looked around your grocery store for them before, you'll probably be surprised at how available they are.  The gluten-free movement grows every year as more and more people experience huge gains in well-being and performance from cutting out gluten.  

Stay Synchro,

     Graham Ryan

A Misunderstood Topic

Unchallenged at the top of the list "nutritional elements people are aware of but really know absolutely nothing about" is Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's), their function and how they should be included in the diet.  ...which is a shame, because when EFA's are out of balance the health effects are crushing. 

Chronic heart disease, cardiovascular disease and cognitive disfunction are among the long term effects of EFA deficiency and imbalance. There are plenty of more immediate consequences as well, including systemic inflammation, impaired cognitive function and drained energy levels.  Fortunately, EFA imbalance is one of the easier conditions to fix - and the positive effects on vibrant energy and overall health are remarkable. 

EFA's Explained

First, it's useful to understand a bit about these critical fats.  EFA's are poly-unsaturated fatty acids that the body requires for optimal health, but cannot synthesize on it's own. As such, we have to ensure that we are getting these fatty acids in our diet. EFA's are processed by the body to generate specific molecules that are used for a huge number of metabolic processes in the body and brain. Most of these resulting molecules are "signal molecules" that communicate information between cells.  Without them, these communication pathways in the body sputter to a halt and the body suffers as a result. 

As most people will recognize, EFA's are classified into two primary categories: Omega 3's and Omega 6's. Both are required for complete optimal metabolic function and their function in the body is similar in that they are both used to generate a wide range eicosanoids, the technical term for the aforementioned "signal molecules."  Interestingly though, this doesn't mean that you should just eat all the Omega 3's and Omega 6's you can get indiscriminately.  Omega 3's and Omega 6's compete against each other in the body for the enzymes needed to convert them into eicosanoids.  Since different molecules result from the body's processing of Omega 3's and Omega 6's, respectively, both must be present in appropriate levels.  If one of the two types of EFA's is disproportionately present, the eicosanoids derived from the other EFA will not be sufficiently produced.

3 vs. 6

Historically (i.e. before the last century), fats came primarily from animal fat and most people were eating a relatively balanced Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio.  The advent of vegetable oils (canola, soybean, etc) has changed this dramatically and the average western diet contains Omega 6's to Omega 3's at a ratio of around 15 to 1 and up to 40 to 1.  This is a long way from the ideal ratio most researchers agree on of between 4 to 1 and 1 to 1.

There is a critical difference between Omega 3's and Omega 6's with respect to their effects on the body.  The eicosanoids that are produced from Omega 6's are highly inflammatory. While the eicosanoids produced from Omega 3's are also inflammatory, they are only minimally so, especially compared to those from Omega 6's.  So practically speaking, having an imbalance in dietary EFA's towards Omega 6's is going to create a significant inflammatory response in the body.  Unfortunately, this is a condition that almost everyone in the western world suffers from.

Inflammation: The Enemy

Reducing inflammation is a theme you will encounter over and over here at Synchro. It is an idea that informs all of the products we create here at Synchro and it is an element of all the Synchro Life Design techniques we share through the website.  This is for good reason, too.  Inflammation is connected to a number of chronic diseases including heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.  But even if you're young and these diseases seem a long way off, inflammation is still very much impacting your health performance.  Systemic inflammation saps energy levels, causes your body to store more fat and negatively impacts mental function.  Beyond that, when you're body is inflamed, you simply don't feel as good. More advanced inflammation is experienced as joint or muscle pain, but even low-level inflammation prevents you from feeling as good as you could.  When your body doesn't feel as good to you this naturally has an impact on your emotional state and energy level, creating a two-fold energy-sapping effect.  And to top it all off, inflammation is indistinguishable from fat from the exterior, so you won't look nearly as svelte as you would if you eliminated the inflammation. 

The summary to all this: Reduce inflammation and you'll look and feel better.

Here's the reality: Everybody lives with some level of systemic inflammation.  Everyone.  It's a ubiquitous process in the body and has useful function in the healing process.  Unfortunately, in our modern world, the inflammation system is continually over-triggered, usually by poor diet and other sources of toxins.  Fortunately, there's some simple steps we can take to have a dramatic effect on systemic inflammation.

Reduce Omega 6s = Reduce Inflammation

As I mentioned above, Omega 3's and Omega 6's "compete" in the body for the enzymes that convert them into the signal molecules eicosanoids.  If we can alter our diet to favor Omega 3 metabolism, we will have less eicosanoids from Omega 6's and as a result, lower systemic inflammation. 

But using Omega 3's in a strategy to reduce systemic inflammation is not as simple as adding more Omega 3's to your diet.  As I mentioned above, it is the balance between the two that is critical.  Thus, being aware of sources of Omega 6's and actively reducing them in your diet is equally as important as adding Omega 3's.  Below is a table of the oils that have the highest Omega 6 content:

Anything on this list or any food containing any of these oils should be in the "use sparingly" or "avoid" categories.

Supplementing With Omega 3's

It is a reality of living in the western world that plant oils are everywhere.  Even the most diligent eater will likely have Omega 6 levels that are too high.  You can avoid them entirely at home, but if you go out to eat you can be sure that your food will be prepared with vegetable oils that are high in Omega 6's.  Reducing Omega 6 consumption is critical and necessary, but it is not enough. Supplementing with additional Omega 3's is the only way to have your Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio approach the 4:1 to 1:1 ratio we're looking for.

Plant Sources vs. Fish Oil vs. Krill Oil 

There are many sources of Omega 3's, but they are not created equal.  Choose the wrong source and your body could not be absorbing even close to the amount you need - or even worse, you could be eating a toxic supplement.

There are a number of plant sources of Omega 3's, but all have their own problems.  Hemp oil, walnut oil and several other nut oils are decent sources of Omega 3's, but still have all have far more Omega 6's than 3's.  As such, they won't do much to help bring your EFA's into balance.

Flax Oil and Chia are the only two common plant oils that are legitimate sources of Omega 3's and have lower levels of Omega 6's.  Flax has an Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio of 1:40, so at first glance it looks like an excellent candidate for supplementation.  Unfortunately, first glances are deceiving.  The specific type of Omega 3's found in flax oil and chia (ALA) is not absorbed or used very efficiently by the body.  ALA must be converted by the metabolism into DHA or EPA to be useful to the body, and this is an inefficient process in which a lot of ALA goes to waste.  Because of this inefficiency, you would have to eat 40 GRAMS of flax oil to deliver the same amount of useable Omega 3's that 1 GRAM of krill oil would deliver.  Flax oil is also extremely vulnerable to oxidation, a process in which light or heat ruin the oil and make it toxic.  So while you could technically eat A TON of flax oil to balance your Omega 3's and 6's, this doesn't seem like the best route, especially when there are better options available.  If you're a vegan and absolutely will not consider supplementing with fish or krill oil, eating huge amounts of flax oil is the way to go.  It's worth noting that I had been eating only plant-based foods for the better part of a decade before I got tired of not being able to get Omega 3's from plant sources (eating 40g of flax oil is gross...).  I incorporated krill oil and it is now one of exactly two non-plant-based foods I eat (grass-fed ghee is the other, also for omega 3's and other beneficial fats).   

Fish oil has historically been the go-to source for supplementation.  in it's purest form, it is a great source of highly-useable Omega 3's and has insignificant levels of Omega 6's.  Sounds perfect.  But the key word there is purest.  This critical problem with fish oil has been exposed in the past few years - most fish oil has significant problems with impurities.  The first source of impurities comes from the fact that our oceans (especially in certain regions) are polluted with heavy metals and other chemicals.  Because fish are a couple steps up on the food chain, they take on not only toxins from the water, but from the small animals they eat for food.  This is a process referred to as bioaccumulation, the higher on the food chain you are, the more toxins you will be present in your tissues.  A lot of the toxins are removed in the process of isolating the fish oil, but certain toxins inevitably remain.  The second issue with fish oil is that, like flax, it is somewhat vulnerable to oxidation.  Fish oil is less vulnerable than flax, but if your fish oil supplement was exposed to heat in transit or storage at any point, oils will have oxidized and your supplement will be toxic.  If you can find a source of fish oil that comes from regions known to have clean waters (like the arctic of antarctic) and you are confident it hasn't been exposed to heat or light at any point, fish oill can still be a great choice for Omega 3 supplementation.  Nordic Naturals is one brand that meets all these requirements for me.  But there is an even safer choice out there...

Krill oil has come to popularity lately because of the aforementioned issues with fish oil.  Krill are small, shrimp-like invertebrates that serve as food for all types of aquatic animals ranging from whales to small fish.  They are lower on the food chain than fish are, and naturally have lower toxin levels than fish. Additionally, they are abundant in a form Omega 3's that are both highly useable for your body and very resistant to oxidation.  These Omega 3's, called phosphorylated-EFA and -DHA, are absorbed and used better than even the Omega 3's in fish oil.  Because they are naturally resistant to oxidation, they are far more likely to arrive to your home in their pristine state. 

If you're actively working to cut out Omega 6's from your diet, taking about 1000mg of krill oil will be sufficient to bring your Omega 3 to 6 levels back into balance.  If you are less diligent with watching you Omega 6 consumption, 2-3000mg of Krill Oil is a good idea.  If you're just starting to supplement with Omega 3's, I'd also recommend doing 2000mg/day in the first 2 weeks and then dropping down to 1000mg/day.  This will help to bring your levels into balance more quickly and you'll likely start seeing results in reduced inflammation in that period.

Our favorite brand of Krill Oil is Jarrow.  They are very forthcoming about their Antarctic sourcing and they offer 3rd party testing showing low toxin levels.

So now that you know what's up with your Omega 3's and 6's, start working on this!  You cant get anywhere near optimal health if your body is in a state of constant inflammation, and balancing your 3's and 6's is the number 1 thing you can do to address this.  And as always...

Be Synchro, 

     Graham 

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.