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Subject: creatine

Submitted by: Ben Witmer, Norristown, PA

QUESTION: Prior to embarking on the NHE program I had been using creatine, and I feel that it has helped my intensity in the gym. I was concerned, however, about the compatibility of creatine with the NHE Eating Plan. You are supposed to take creatine with carbs, because supposedly creatine doesn't work without insulin - but this threatens to push me over my carb-limits.

ROB'S ANSWER:

The notion that creatine is worthless unless taken with carbohydrate is categorically false. For hundreds-of-thousands of years "man the hunter" got creatine from meat unaccompanied by a high-sugar drink (however, a quantity of creatine sufficient to promote maximum anaerobic output is not reasonably obtainable through food alone). But now, to secure their market share of creatine sales, some supplement companies have propagated the idea that creatine doesn't work unless you take it with some special concoction of cheap sugars that they sell. Nonsense.

... to allow creatine-loading to dictate your diet, rather than your diet dictate creatine-loading is a case of inverted priorities.

Studies do show that consuming creatine with carbohydrate increases its uptake by the muscles via the action of insulin. However, this does not mean that without an insulin surge creatine cannot be absorbed by the muscles. It simply means you must ingest correspondingly more creatine to get the same absolute amount of creatine absorption since the rate of absorption is lower - in the same way that you must drive for a longer period of time to go a certain distance traveling 50 MPH than if you were traveling 80 MPH. You should weigh the incremental benefit of taking creatine with carbs against the detriment of evoking insulin's other, less desirable, properties.

Having said this, the NHE Eating Plan is actually quite compatible with creatine supplementation. The carb-load meals provide an ideal occasion to load creatine, not only because of the insulin spike it creates but also because of the "glycogen supercompensation effect" discussed in NHE. Although there are no studies on this specific issue, it is reasonable to postulate that creatine uptake by the muscles will be accelerated if creatine is consumed at a time when glucose uptake is accelerated. During the downcycle, when carbs are low, you can enhance creatine absorption and retention by taking it immediately after training. This is when ATP regeneration and phosphate synthesis are at a peak. (This does not mean you shouldn't also take it before training.)

Overall, I believe that the benefits of macronutrient cycling as outlined in Natural Hormonal Enhancement - in terms of health, muscle building, and fat burning - vastly outweigh the modest, and compensable, reduction in creatine absorption resulting from consuming it unaccompanied with carbohydrate. Your overall diet is much more important than creatine and will have a much greater influence on your health and physique. Therefore, to allow creatine-loading to dictate your diet, rather than your diet dictate creatine-loading is a case of inverted priorities.

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Subject: adolescent use of the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan

Submitted By: Names changed at request of sender

QUESTION:

Dear Mr. Faigin,

Both my 16 year old son and I have read your book - it is great and very much needed. I would say more, but I am sure you are a very busy man so I will get to the point. I am writing to ask if the extended use of this diet by an adolescent is okay given an adolescence's rapid growing body. I did not find in the book any reference to age appropriateness and am concerned as my son is adhering to the diet in the VERY strict manner.

I will give you some background: Jeffrey is 16 years old, weighs at present 185, is 5' 10'' tall and has always been very athletic and active. Since football ended in November, he has been working out 5 days a week at the high school weight room and track, (Monday, Wednesday & Friday is upper body- Tuesday & Thursday is lower body) for about two hours each day. He is determined to make 210 lbs. by football season September 2001. He is a very DETERMINED young man as any of his friends, coaches and family could verify. He has been asking to take supplements (specifically creatine) to help him elevate his weight, but as yet we have not permitted it. The "Natural Enhancement" caught his eye, and the book was ordered. He read it in a weekend and started the diet the next Monday. I started it also, but to lose weight, not gain.

Jeffrey is so active with the year round sports and weight lifting, student government and homework studies (no couch potato here) that I am concerned about the restricted carbs, especially as strictly as he insists in limiting them. He will hardly eat one piece of fruit a day (he feels it threatens his carb limit too much) and is maybe eating 2 servings of vegetables per day (primarily broccoli with cheese). For example, his lunch has included 15 rolls of salami with cream cheese, cheddar cheese sticks, two hot dogs (all beef) about 2-3 ozs. of ham and two bottles of water. His between meal "snacks" are a can of tuna with mayo and some cheese, or ham rolls and some sugar free jello with whipped cream. He is eating the five meals a day that is recommended in the weight lifters regime. Is he getting enough vitamins or minerals? (he does take a multivitamin) and is he possibly missing out other nutrients that are beneficial that would not be found in cheese and meat? I'm also concerned about whether he's getting enough calories.

My son is very well known and admired at his high school and I could see him zealously promoting this diet to the coaches and varsity team if it works well for him. I thank you so much for your time, again, we both applaud the ingenuity and resourcefulness of your book.

ROB'S ANSWER:

Dear Elaine,

As an initial matter, my readers are required to call me "Rob" not "Mr. Faigin." I believe that the author-reader bond automatically places us on a first-name basis. Someone who reads my book but never met me knows me much more intimately than most people who meet me but never read my book.

Your Jeffrey seems like a great kid. Let me see if I can help him while addressing your concerns.

All of the literature about NHE published by Extique (press releases, sales letters, website, back of the book, etc.) harps on the theme of "comprehensiveness," and NHE is characterized as a "unified, integrated program." This is neither idle chatter nor groundless sales patter, for a hormonally unsound diet will counteract a hormonally sound exercise program, and vice versa - and the same applies to lifestyle. Those people who view NHE as a "diet book" are undervaluing its contribution and distorting its essence. To his detriment, your son has taken this flawed view of Natural Hormonal Enhancement.

All of the literature about NHE published by Extique. . . harps on the theme of "comprehensiveness," and NHE is characterized as a "unified, integrated program." This is neither idle chatter nor groundless sales patter, for a hormonally unsound diet will counteract a hormonally sound exercise program, and vice versa - and the same applies to lifestyle.

Those people who view NHE as a "diet book" are undervaluing its contribution and distorting its essence.

Specifically, Jeffrey's training program is a woeful departure from the principles of hormonally-intelligent exercise. Not only is excessive volume generally bad for hormonal status and by extension health, but it specifically undermines Jeffrey's objective of building mass, in two ways. For one, he is likely suppressing his growth hormone and testosterone levels to some extent. One needn't be an NHE scholar to appreciate the importance of these notoriously anabolic hormones in the muscle-building process. Furthermore, overtraining burns-up calories that could otherwise be used for growth; and it compounds the possible calorie deficit incurred as a result of improper application of the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan.

You describe Jeffrey as very zealous in pursuing his goals. While this is an admirable trait, it makes him susceptible to overtraining. And, the compulsion to overtrain is magnified where misguided coaches and peers associate dedication with how long and how frequently one trains. When I was 16 years old, I was, like Jeffrey, consumed by the single-minded objective of building muscle for football. My training routine back then was as bad as Jeffrey's is today.

The compulsion to overtrain is magnified where misguided coaches and peers associate dedication with how long and how frequently one trains.

As an adolescent, I was so fanatical about working-out that if Moses had come down from the Mount and pointed to a tablet upon which was inscribed "thou shalt not train 6 days a week," I would have interpreted this to mean I should train every day. Thus, I would be neither offended nor surprised if Jeffrey chooses to disregard my advice, my years of experience and research notwithstanding. For those who are driven, the concept that less can produce more is cosmically disorienting.

Now that Jeffrey has been well chastised, I commend him on following my instructions about eating vegetables. Two servings per day is more than a lot of kids his age consume. Which demonstrates an important point: just because one is consuming a low-carb diet doesn't mean he/she has a lower intake of vitamins and minerals than one who is consuming a high-carb diet. In fact, many people who consume a high-carb diet rarely come within arm's length of a fruit or vegetable.

For those who are driven, the concept that less can produce more is cosmically disorienting.

Granted, it is difficult to eat a substantial amount of fruit during the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan downcycle. But vegetables can largely pinch-hit for fruit provided that one varies them. You said that Jeffrey "primarily" eats broccoli. Broccoli is great, but make sure he eats other low-carb vegetables as well. Diversity of fruit and vegetable consumption is as important as quantity. The more you vary the color of the vegetables you eat, the more nutritional coverage you'll get (i.e., in addition to green, yellow (squash), orange (carrot), white (onion), purple (cabbage) ). This is one instance in which a policy of enforced diversity based on skin color is indisputably beneficial.

Diversity of fruit and vegetable consumption is as important as quantity. The more you vary the color of the vegetables you eat, the more nutritional coverage you'll get. . . This is one instance in which a policy of enforced diversity based on skin color is indisputably beneficial.

Jeffrey can compensate for limitations imposed by the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan by: 1) diligently eating vegetables every day, and 2) employing the diversity strategy explained above. When the upcycle (i.e., carb-load) rolls around, although he'll be eating mostly starchy carbs, he should include some fruit. With respect to the starchy component, potato (skin included, both white and sweet) is an excellent carb-load food, and it is more nutritious than processed carbohydrate sources, such as pasta and most breads.

If Jeffrey follows the recommendations outlined above, not only will the probability of a nutritional shortfall be remote, but his nutritional status will likely be superior to most kids his age. Nonetheless, I strongly advise a daily high-potency multivitamin as insurance (not just for Jeffrey but for everyone, whether following NHE or not). The key words are "high-potency." If the label says 100% RDA or less for most nutrients, then it is not high, but rather low, potency (you absorb only a small percentage of the nutrition contained in a vitamin pill, especially if it is a tablet). High potency multivitamins are marked by nutrient values substantially exceeding the RDA.

Regarding your concern about "the restricted carbs," for most of human existence Homo sapiens consumed much less carbohydrate than do "civilized" individuals living in the modern era; consequently, they were healthier (see NHE Chapter 5). To the extent that meat and vegetables have displaced processed carbohydrate foods in Jeffrey's diet since he began the NHE Eating Plan, he has adopted a diet that better harmonizes with his (and all humans') genetic constitution. The periodic carb-load meals will provide Jeffrey with more carbohydrate than he needs for optimal health and growth.

. . . in America today there is an unprecedented epidemic of Type II diabetes among adolescents. Stated differently, "adult-onset diabetes" is not just for adults anymore; and a high-sugar diet promotes this dreadful condition.

On a related note, I don't know if you are aware, but in America today there is an unprecedented epidemic of Type II diabetes among adolescents. Stated differently, "adult-onset diabetes" is not just for adults anymore; and a high-sugar diet promotes this dreadful condition. In summary, you need not worry about your son's carbohydrate consumption while on the NHE Eating Plan. But if and when he quits the Eating Plan and the sugar shackles come off, you may reasonably feel a jolt of fright at the impending return of the cookie monster.

. . . you need not worry about your son's carbohydrate consumption while on the NHE Eating Plan. But if and when he quits the Eating Plan and the sugar shackles come off, you may reasonably feel a jolt of fright at the impending return of the cookie monster.

While cyclically restricted carbohydrate consumption is not problematic per se, it poses an indirect risk by making it more difficult to consume sufficient calories to support growth. As I state frankly on p. 134 of my book, "consuming enough fat to fill the caloric void left by carbohydrate is not easy." And for an adolescent, the potential consequences of failing to do so are more serious than for an adult. Hence, your stated concern on this point is justified.

With carbohydrate intake tightly restricted most of the time on the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan, and with a per-meal protein moderation requirement further constraining caloric intake, a studious effort to maintain a persistently high intake of fat and to eat frequently is necessary to avert a caloric shortfall. Of course, to support growth merely avoiding a calorie deficiency is not satisfactory. Rather, a calorie surplus is required.

With carbohydrate intake tightly restricted most of the time on the bodybuilders' version of the NHE Eating Plan, and with a per-meal protein moderation requirement further constraining caloric intake, a studious effort to maintain a persistently high intake of fat and to eat frequently is necessary to avert a caloric shortfall. Of course, to support growth merely avoiding a calorie deficiency is not satisfactory. Rather, a calorie surplus is required.

Because of the extraordinary energy needs of an adolescent bodybuilder, I recommend Jeffrey supplement with oil. I find that a swig of flaxseed oil is significantly less likely to make me retch than a swig of olive oil. A more palatable way to increase lipid consumption is to add oil and/or cream to a protein shake. A couple per day of inter-meal high-fat protein shakes can add thousands of calories per week to Jeffrey's diet. Natural nut/seed butter is another option. Tahini (sesame seed butter), which is higher in fat and lower in carbohydrate than peanut butter, is probably your best choice within this category.

Now that I have addressed all of the issues you raise in your letter, permit me to raise one of my own. Although your listing of Jeffrey's foods was intended to be illustrative not comprehensive, the conspicuous absence of "good fats" gives me pause. Specifically, I wonder whether Jeffrey read Chapter 18. If he did read it, then I question the degree to which my painstaking emphasis on the importance of eating healthy fats impressed him. I'll put it bluntly: unless Jeffrey is committed to following the actual bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan with all of its inconvenient nuances, as opposed to a related version invented by him, I do not approve of his being on it.

Even if Jeffrey does adhere to the actual Eating Plan, I am ambivalent with respect to whether he should be on it. This is in contrast to my unequivocal positivity that he should not be on the high-carbohydrate diet that has mightily contributed to the spectacular rise in adolescent diabetes. One reason why I can't heartily endorse the use of the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan by adolescents is because most of the studies cited in Natural Hormonal Enhancement and all of the positive reports from users of the Eating Plan pertain to adults. Secondly, the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan is a difficult and burdensome

. . . the bodybuilders' version of the NHE Eating Plan is a difficult and burdensome diet. And where compliance is lax or even where a determined effort to comply falls short, calorie and nutrient deficiency can result, to the exceptionally heavy detriment of an adolescent.

diet. And, as discussed above, where compliance is lax or even where a determined effort to comply falls short, calorie and nutrient deficiency can result, to the exceptionally heavy detriment of an adolescent. Having said this, if Jeffrey meticulously follows all the instructions and guidelines in Natural Hormonal Enhancement and implements the additional instructions and guidelines embodied in this letter, I cannot articulate a reason why the bodybuilders' NHE Eating Plan would be harmful to him.

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