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Boost Your Training with Superfoods!

Wednesday 19 September, 2007 Written by Ben Odell

What's Missing from Lab-Formulated Shakes and Supplements?

If you’re working out, but don’t supplement your diet with superfoods rich in phytonutrients, you're missing out on a higher level of performance and health.

It’s a common mistake for fitness afficianados: they do everything right, take care of their carbs and proteins, maybe pop some vitamins or take “laboratory formulated” shakes… but they’re still not feeding the true dietary demands that exercise creates. For all their healthy living, they may actually be creating oxidative stress and depleting their bodies in the long run.

Not only can a phytonutrient-rich diet help protect us from the oxidative damage of exercise, pollution, and stress, it can also BUILD A BETTER BODY.

Researchers at the Salk Institute recently showed that combining exercise with a diet rich in epicatechin, a natural flavonoid found in cacao, promotes structural and functional changes in the part of the brain involved in forming learning and memory.

Epicatechin has been shown to enhance memory and when combined with regular exercise, its memory-boosting benefits are increased. These results indicate that the combination of natural superfoods with exercise might even protect against age-related cognitive decline. “This finding is an important advance because it identifies a single natural chemical with memory-enhancing effects, suggesting that it may be possible to optimize brain function by combining exercise and dietary supplementation,” says Mark Mattson, PhD, at the National Institute on Aging.

Other studies have been showing the importance of raw, whole foods for health and exercise performance. A recent study on olive oil demonstrated that a meal containing unfiltered olive oil, rich in flavonoids, actually improves vascular function for several hours.

Flavonoid science is still a young, exciting field, but the early research seems to point to the time-tested wisdom of eating a wide variety of minimally- processed fruits, nuts, and vegetables, rich in flavonoids and other subtle phytonutrients.

Unfortunately, mineral-depleted farm soil and the constant barrage of toxins in our environment mean that most of us aren't getting the nutrients we need to maintain optimal health. Not only that, synthetic vitamin supplements are raising some alarm bells, with unreliable, even negative side-effects.

The answer? Superfoods! These nutrient-dense plant foods contain much higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and health-enhancing flavonoids.

Get your dose of superfood nutrients from cacao, goji berries, maca, spirulina, hemp seed, purple corn, camu camu, mangosteen, and raw olive,
and feel the difference as you build a better body with more than just protein.