👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #63 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
🧁 Health or pleasure?
"I think it’s a good rule of thumb that if a food has a health claim anywhere written on it, it’s probably ultra-processed." – Chris van Tulleken
And the science is clear, the more ultra-processed foods we eat, the worse off nearly every part of our health is.
“We have now the accumulated evidence, particularly in the last five years, that people who eat more ultra-processed foods have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression, cancer, renal, and liver diseases.”
– Marion Nestle
This isn’t to hate on any specific product. But to make us aware of what’s actually a health food. And what’s a dessert.
Here are a few claims you’ll see everywhere (according to nutrition wizard Chris van Tulleken):
- 🍯 No Added Sugars: The product can still contain naturally occurring sugars from fruit, fruit juice, honey... And can lead to a massive glucose spike. Remember - the source of the sugar doesn't matter. There is no "good" or "bad" sugar. To your body, it's all the same molecules.
- 🧃 100% Natural: Something can be 100% natural and really bad for your health and full of sugar. For example, table sugar is technically "100% natural".
- 🌱 Vegan: Sugar is vegan, Oreos are vegan, Coca-Cola is vegan... Vegan is not a sign that something is good for you.
- 🧁 Gluten-free: Gluten-free products can still contain a lot of sugar. A gluten-free cake is still a cake – it's there for pleasure, not health.
Unfortunately, this kind of marketing is everywhere...
Making it bloody tough to navigate the supermarket.
But the more we know, the less likely we are to get sold by advertising.
So we can better answer the question...
Is it for health? Or pleasure?
🧠 Article: The Motivational Perks of Cultivating an Underdog Mindset
Christopher Bergland is a former ultramarathon competitor and Guinness World Record Holder (6 marathons in 24 hours, wtf).
In this article, he talks about how he used a mental trick to motivate himself during long, boring training sessions (which is now backed by recent psychology research).
Turns out using our imagination to...
- Amplify the importance of the situation
- Put ourselves into a storyline, or
- Create our own story
…activates the parts of our brain responsible for lighting a fire up our ass to keep going.
Have a read – interesting ideas for when we’re in the grind.
💪 Can contraception affect strength, power & muscle growth?
50% of women will use hormonal contraception (most commonly the pill) at some point.
The problem is, that there’s little scientific research into its effect on athletic performance.
A few weeks ago, Sports Medicine published a review of all the quality research that is out there.
They noted some studies have found a positive effect. Some studies have found a negative effect. And some studies have found a neutral effect.
Hmm...
In the end, they concluded that overall, the pill doesn’t seem to have a significant effect on strength, power or muscle growth.
But it's important to note this review only looked at oral contraceptive pills –there's some evidence that suggests different types of contraception (such as anti-androgenic pills) can negatively influence muscle growth.
So what they really found is that there's such limited research in these areas that you've gotta take things into your own hands.
Which is exactly what the authors of The Female Body Bible suggest doing.
Learning as much as possible about the different contraception options. The problem you're solving. The barriers. The impacts.
And finding what works for you.
Chapter 4: "Your body on birth control" of TFBB is a great place to start.
I find this so interesting because I wanna be able to help female athletes and everyday athletes perform at their best.
And in a world of limited research and confusion, a better understanding of these ideas is a huge lever to pull.
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service and is not a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information given in this email is general in nature, written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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