Russ's Grab-Bag Of Assorted PT Forum Goodness

[SunTzu]

My brother was diagnosed with a disorder that causes him most of those same type of fatigue symptoms, Creatine supplementation was one of the things recommended for it. If it remember right it's some kind of slow muscular atrophy that's very rare.

[Robstafarian]

My brother was diagnosed with a disorder that causes him most of those same type of fatigue symptoms, Creatine supplementation was one of the things recommended for it. If it remember right it's some kind of slow muscular atrophy that's very rare.

I would be very interested to know the name of this condition, if it's not too much trouble for you to obtain the information. This creatine revelation has me reconsidering everything I have taken for granted about my disability.

[SunTzu]

Sure, I'll dig it up for you.

[TheRuss]

In short, supplementation of creatine ethyl ester has cured my chronic fatigue.

Nifty. I don't know of any reason to take CEE over creatine monohydrate, but creatine in general makes sense.

Russ: How are the anti-histamines working out? Are you still trying to keep them as emergency only options or have you decided to move to a regular dosing?

Still emergency-only for now. If I could use them to get back in the gym, I would, but I suspect that histamines aren't directly involved in exertion-induced symptoms (blood pressure seems more likely to be the culprit).

[Robstafarian]

Nifty. I don't know of any reason to take CEE over creatine monohydrate, but creatine in general makes sense.

I chose CEE over creatine monohydrate for a few reasons:

• Better Absorbtion: Could just be marketing bullshit, but it made sense to me that such an advance in delivery method could have been made since creatine monohydrate became available at retail.
• Capsule Format: I didn't want to bother with powder.
• Capsule Contents: I determined that 750mg per capsule would allow me a lot of dosing flexibility with few pills.
• Price: I found a great deal on BodyBuilding.com—I even thanked them for sponsoring Bullshido in my order comments.

Thanks, Sun Tzu

[TheRuss]

On the subject of creatine, I remember the article in this thread being pretty good.

Interesting article on vitamin D over on T Nation, probably worth a look...

I assume this is the Vitamin D article you were referring to?

My thoughts on Vitamin D supplementation are covered in (serendipitously) the Paleo Diet thread.

[TheRuss]

Okay, I was hesitant to comment on Paleo Diet because of the risk of re-igniting the flame war, but I found a bit of reading material that I can speak to specifically:

The essential dietary principles for the Paleo Diet for Athletes are straightforward: You can eat as much lean meat, poultry, seafood, fresh fruit, and veggies as you like. Foods that are not part of the modern-day Paleolithic fare include cereal grains, dairy products, high-glycemic fruits and vegetables, legumes, alcohol, salty foods, fatty meats, refined sugars, and nearly all processed foods.

There are a number of crucial exceptions to these fundamental rules that will be completely explained in coming chapters. Case in point: Immediately before, during, and after a workout or competition, certain non-Paleo foods should be eaten to promote a quick recovery. During all other times, meals that closely follow the 21st-century Paleolithic diet, described in Chapter 9, will encourage comprehensive long-term recovery and allow you to attain your maximal performance potential.

-Paleo Diet For Athletes, page 7

Problems I have with this:

1) "fresh fruit, and veggies" are on the yes list. "high-glycemic fruits and vegetables, legumes" are on the no list. That's sloppy.

1a) What's more, any reliance on the glycemic index is pretty close to a deal-breaker unless it comes along with a sound method for measuring it. I've ranted about that elsewhere, though.

2) Prohibiting "fatty meats" is suspect.

3) Prohibiting "dairy products" strikes me as thoroughly absurd (particularly for people who readily express lactase).

4) Prohibiting "salty foods" makes no sense unless you're at risk for hypertension. I'd suspect most people who are exercising for 10+ hours a week (the target audience of the book) are hyponatremic.

(EDIT)

5) I'm not sure about lumping all "cereals" together - putting oats and quinoa in the same category as corn and wheat is questionable, although not necessarily wrong.

[Kintanon]

I think you are over-analyzing the data there. That book is not written for scientific review, but for practical usage. Some of those tips are designed to make it easier for people to construct a paleo diet. I also recall (Though perhaps it was not in that particular book) that the froot/vegetable issue was handled by listing the the fruits/vegetables that are ok to eat.

[SunTzu]

I would be very interested to know the name of this condition, if it's not too much trouble for you to obtain the information. This creatine revelation has me reconsidering everything I have taken for granted about my disability.

It's congenital metabolic myopthy characterized by tubular aggragates. Apparently it's quite rare so the condition doesn't have a specific name.

I found a little bit on it here

[TheRuss]

I think you are over-analyzing the data there. That book is not written for scientific review, but for practical usage.

Yes, but the reason I'm "over-analyzing" is this:

If you really take a long look at what it's stipulating for and against, it's basically saying "you can eat as much as you want of foods that are calorie-sparse". That's the common ground that the yes/no lists have.

I'd bet a few bucks that the veggie/fruit breakdown maps very closely to each food's non-fiber carbohydrate content as a percentage of wet mass - which just so happens to be an approximation of glycemic index.

It's not an incorrect approach, but I find it disingenuous.