Ways to Naturally increase Testosterone: Vol. 1 =>Garlic

I'll be posting more on the topic of foods that naturally increase testosterone. Here is the first one in the series of how Garlic enhances Testicular Production of Testosterone. Good for burning fat and building lean muscle!

Garlic Supplementation Increases Testicular Testosterone and Decreases Plasma Corticosterone in Rats Fed a High Protein Diet.

Yuriko Oi1, Mika Imafuku, Chiaki Shishido, Yutaka Kominato*, Syoji Nishimura* and Kazuo Iwai 

"The effects of garlic supplementation on protein metabolism were investigated by measuring testis testosterone and plasma corticosterone in rats fed diets with different protein levels. In Experiment 1, rats were fed experimental diets with different protein levels (40, 25 or 10 g/100 g casein) with or without 0.8 g/100 g garlic powder. After 28 d of feeding, testosterone contents in the testis were significantly higher and plasma corticosterone concentrations were significantly lower in rats fed 40 and 25% casein diets with garlic powder than in those fed the same diets without garlic powder. Urinary excretion of 17-ketosteroid (an index of testosterone), nitrogen balance and hepatic arginase activity were significantly higher in rats fed the 40% casein diet with garlic powder than in the 40% casein controls. In Experiment 2, the effect of diallyldisulfide (a major volatile sulfur-containing compound in garlic) on the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland, which regulates testosterone production in the testis, was investigated in anesthetized rats. Plasma LH concentration increased dose dependently after administration of diallyldisulfide. These results suggest that dietary supplementation with 0.8 g/100 g garlic alters hormones associated with protein anabolism by increasing testicular testosterone and decreasing plasma corticosterone in rats fed a high protein diet."

Sources: The Journal of Nutrition- http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/8/2150  

Elements of Greatness

This is a really great video to reflect upon oneself and to start acting upon ones desires in life! Do yourself a favor, stop putting off what you've always dreamed to do, and make an incredible effort to do it!

Motivational Quote of the weekend!

Here is a great quote that fits our realm of struggles; especially our diet. It's short but very sweet!

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands--and then just eat one of the pieces.

- Judith Viorst

I want you to think about how this kind of mindset can help you throughout your daily life and write down 3 of those ideas.

An Injection of Motivation!

WOW! I just watched this movie clip and it sent chills down my spine realizing what this clip projects to the viewer. If any of my clients are reading this, I want you to watch this because it is a perfect visual example of when I say "I Train from the Mind Out" and reflect on that. Let me know what you think. Thanks for taking your time once again!
Yours in Wellness,
Nick Reyes

Sodium Enhances Rehydration, but Not Post-Recovery Performance

Researchers from Loughborough University, England, recently investigated the effects of sports drinks with various sodium concentrations on rehydration after exercise in the heat and on exercise capacity in a subsequent workout. Eight subjects exercised in the heat until they had lost 2 percent of their body mass. They then drank a sports drink contain either no sodium, 31 ml/l sodium, 40 ml/l sodium or 50 ml/l sodium. Urine output was measured to assess fluid retention. After four hours, all of the subjects cycled at 95 percent VO2max to exhaustion. The researchers found that the sports drinks containing 40 and 50 ml/l sodium reduced urine output (hence enhanced rehydration) relative to the other two formulations. However, there were no differences in time to exhaustion.

Caffeine Accelerates Post-Exercise Glycogen Resynthesis

Australian researchers recently investigated the effects of coingesting carbohydrate and caffeine after exhaustive exercise on the rate of muscle glycogen synthesis. Seven subjects consumed a low-carb diet and performed exhaustive exercise to deplete their muscle glycogen stores. After completing their workout they consumed either carbohydrate or carbohydrate plus caffeine during four hours of passive recovery. The researchers found that muscle glycogen was synthesized 66 percent faster with caffeine than without. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Enjoy Your Coffee!

I know it's been a while and I do apologize, but I was just recently doing some research and came across this article that I thought everyone should ponder upon. It is about philosophy and Life following the wellness realm of my blog...enjoy!
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Philosophy

A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING = PHILOSOPHY

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, go together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups.......... Enjoy your coffee!
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and to give credit where it is do, I found this article published on this site: http://www.spiritualize.net/content/category/1/71/58/ : to an unknown author.

Learning Journal #1: Individual and Ecological Approaches to Health

This was just a very interesting topic that I had to write about in one of my classes that many people, as well as fitness professionals, tend to forget. Thanks for taking the time to read.
-Nick Reyes

Learning Journal #1: Individual and Ecological Approaches to Health




       In certain ways people develop subconscious judgments about one another. When someone’s sees another person that is overweight, they almost instinctively think of that person as lazy, unsuccessful, or maybe even that they don’t care about themselves. Leaving out the many factors that play into one life. In this nation we have a tendency to stick to our “Everyman for himself” way of thinking when it comes to individual responsibility. As if it’s a way of being mature. When we are young are parents take care of us, as we grow older we learn to do things on our own. So in a way, we seemingly connect an immature connotation to being unhealthy as said “That person cannot take care of themselves.” Some beliefs and values that I have about individual responsibility of ones health is the seeking of knowledge, or of a professional. If you don’t know anything about your health, then wouldn’t you either read up on it or seek a professional’s advice? I believe that if a person truly wants to do something, then they will do it. However this is not being sensitive to a person’s individual situation. We commonly relate respect to achievement when it is acquired by a person who can do it on their own. Just like in the business world, such as an entrepreneur develops a business and goes from rags to riches, I think the same connotation applies to someone that goes from extremely overweight to a healthier new them that is at or below their suggested normal weight. And in our age today, we are becoming more well off and knowledgeable than our generations before. Information is becoming more readily accessible for people; a great example would be the internet. Anything you would like to learn about most likely one can find it on the internet. So for one not to take advantage of these opportunities can be labeled lazy, but its up to us to put ourselves in their shoes to find the real true reasons individuals continue with unhealthy actions and behaviors, and becoming more knowledgeable about how their social and environmental health is a perfect perspective to acknowledge in order to do so.

      My response to the idea that social conditions and arrangements play a substantial role in individual health choices and status would be that I agree with it totally. If a gym is one mile away or seven, if there are safe streets to get their or are they crowded with gangs. If somebody has enough money to eat organic food, join a gym, have a lot of free time, makes a huge difference rather than someone that can only settle for the dollar menu at McDonalds and maybe do push-ups at their house once a week. As you have stated that we are socially determined, our relationships, environments, and economical status influence the lifestyles that we lead. Such that you have stated on ecological level, that “Unhealthy behaviors are acquired as part of the socialization and cultural forces within groups.”