In this episode of the Podcast It's a long road, we will talk in general about nutrition, how it affects us in our daily lives, about the globalization of the food chain and food safety, about nutritional supplements and how beneficial and necessary they are for our health.
Hello my friends!
Before we get into today's episode, I'd like to thank once again all the friends of the show for the many messages you've been sending me and I'm really glad to have this interaction through Social and now the running community around this here. podcast every day grows even more.
As I see through Social media, the competition obligations of most have now started, some in small and others in bigger competitions, both in Greece and abroad, but the common denominator of all of us is that we are in motion, we run, we play sports, we do good to our health and mind. That is where we should all focus on the well-being we create for ourselves and those around us. One of the greatest benefits that our occupation with run it is our socialization through the matches but also through Social and our common groups. In fact, most of you will have noticed the fantastic fact that there are many runners that you have seen through social media and you may even talk to them and at some point you see them in front of you in races and now you know them in person. Isn't this all fantastic?
So since I mentioned the races last Sunday we had a very beautiful race in Katerini and this Sunday on March 10th we have another very beautiful race, perhaps the most beautiful half marathon, in Trikala. Unfortunately due to family obligations I was not able to attend either of these 2 races, of course I have run them in the past, but logically I will include them in my racing calendar next year.
As for the matches and those you have on the back of your mind Ultra and you're thinking of trying something different and seeing where you can get, it's worth a try at the race at highway of Serres on April 6 to 7, on a safe route and in a really different race where your opponent is not kilometers but time, where you will see how many kilometers you can do. If I'm not mistaken the registrations will be for another week or so, so think about it and I'll be happy to see you there in person, where I'll be participating in the 6 hour race, as well as the 12, 24 and 48 hour races. .
Personally, although I don't want to expand too much in this Podcast, in the previous days, and more specifically from February 10 to 23, I had another incredible experience, after traveling to India and Nepal. I have mentioned in an earlier Podcast that another life project that I intend to complete at some point or at least to continue as long as I can is me and my son-in-law Stelios on a very low-cost budget to travel to 4-5 distant destinations. and to meet other strange and at the same time interesting cultures and people. We did our first trip 4 years ago in Vietnam and Cambodia where we still have fantastic stories to tell and the second one was now in India and Nepal. The two of us make these trips with a backpack each, without any prior planning, with a specific low budget which of course we have collected over the previous 2 to 3 years. In total in 12 days we used 7 flights, 5 hotels and as a base we stayed in 4 cities.
I'm making this report because many friends of the show who follow me on my personal profile on Facebook and Instagram who asked me to even make a Podcast about this whole trip. Of course, a whole episode could easily have been made, but I preferred to simply describe my whole experience epigrammatically.
As for my running experience from these parts, in Delhi I saw only one runner running every day, no one walking around with a pet while I did one workout on a treadmill, since running outside is incredibly dangerous in many ways. In Nepal and in the capital, Kathmandu, I found a beautiful route around a temple, where I even managed to find many runners running there and doing general exercise, but none of them, I was impressed, were wearing shorts, but all of them were wearing long overalls, while in Mumbai, India, formerly Mumbai, there because it was a coastal city it had a very large and wide beach front where I enjoyed running and observing the other runners and cyclists who were there. The only negative was the 36 degrees temperature and the incredible humidity.
We said about this trip I can talk for hours and especially with my son-in-law Stelios where we lived incredible moments and experiences, but because I promised it to some friends I just briefly mentioned some of my impressions.
In closing, let me remind you about a race with a special purpose that I will run in a few days and I will be happy to see you all there and it is in beautiful Cyprus. That's where I'll be on March 31st and we'll be running together for a good cause, since we'll be running for autism, in a race where all proceeds will go to children with autism. The charity race is organized by the Famagusta Autism Support Center and the "Run for Autism Famagusta" volunteer runners.
The proceeds will be allocated to support the important role played by the Famagusta Autism Support Center and the "Smile Project" which is housed in Sotira and which hosts and employs people who are on the autism spectrum.
The race takes place in Ayia Napa and is the largest road race in the province of Famagusta. There is the 21km race of 10, 5, but also children's races. I will be very happy to see most of you, because we said it is for a good cause and it is worth all of us trying for it. Every step we take for autism is a step towards solidarity and compassion.
I especially thank my friend Thanasis and Louis from Cyprus for the challenge they gave me and I am especially happy to be there and even more so for the purpose of the race. The children and their entire team are role models and are to be congratulated for the passion and love they put into a purely charitable race.
One last thing and save the date. On Thursday March 21st I have the honor of having the Greek-American long distance legend, the one and only Dean Karnazis, as a guest on this Podcast. Don't miss that episode, which we have already written, because a lot of interesting things will be said and heard,
Let's go to the main topic of our today's episode.
Life has ups and downs with good and bad moments, it has joy and sadness together, but if we consider that it is natural for man to seek happy moments and those that bring him ephemeral pleasure, again these habits or moments, unfortunately, need moderation and prudence . If one of the pleasures of life is food, then unfortunately this also requires attention to quantity, but also to quality. The ideal would be to eat and drink as much as we wanted and not have any problems.
All kinds of food are good, it's just that every food after being processed by humans could be divided into two categories. In "good" and "bad" foods, but both again need attention and especially in quantity. If, for example, we consider that boiled potatoes are "good" food, we still cannot eat large quantities, since we will exceed the required daily calories that our body needs. The same of course applies to the "bad" French fries. If you eat little and once in a while nothing happened, but if you eat enough and often, then there is a problem. Sugar is also not considered a "good" food. If you consume it often you will even have serious health problems, but if you eat even one candy once in a while nothing happened. Sugar may be "bad," but it's "perfect" for runners on periods carbohydrate or long ones during matches, but again we said in moderation.
What I want to emphasize is that, as with all things in life, the same and even more so with food, the secret is moderation and purpose. "Metron ariston" as they said since ancient times and personally it is one of the sayings that I especially love in my life and I try to have it as a basis in most things that I do. Basically we could say that all the foods it's always good on occasion. For example if I asked you what is more important or what you would like right now, a gold bar or a glass of water, then I am sure you would all ignore the water and want the gold bar, but if I ask you the same question if you were in the desert for days without food or water, what would you choose? Gold or water? At the given moment and on the verge of losing your life, gold has no value, while pure gold is a glass of water. So everything has value but different in every situation and need.
As for her diet neither I nor anyone else will give you the magic recipe for eating well and being healthy. More or less we all know what is good and what is not. Just focus on high-quality foods from natural sources such as legumes, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, raw nuts, preferably whole grains, eggs and low-fat yogurt. As my father used to say and I also follow it in my life, it is that "when you get up from the table after eating, you should still have the feeling that you are hungry". This is done for two reasons. Firstly, because the amount of food that the human body needs as fuel is very small and secondly, that when you get up from the table you may still have the feeling of hunger, but after 15 minutes this feeling will be gone. Because that is more or less what the brain needs to receive the corresponding signals from the stomach. Think about it, do it and you will change your life.
What we eat every day has an effect on the potential and state of our health, but also on our memory. Quite simply we are what we eat and our body will respond according to what we give it. If we feed it with fat and junk food, that's exactly what it will be. If we read maths all day long and bombard our brains with it then we will inevitably become good or even improve significantly at maths. If we constantly have negative thoughts and dwell only on the negative then we will be grumpy and negative about everything. If we only feed our bodies with pizzas and burgers then we will inevitably make a mess of it. It doesn't need much explanation and it's not that hard to understand.
It is no coincidence what Hippocrates said in the 4th BC. how "let your medicine become the food you and let your food be the medicine". A saying that I personally believe has even more value in our time, because the foods we are inundated with are mostly of dubious quality and this is because the global need for food is extremely great while at the same time production cannot meet the demand. So more and more processing methods food come to the fore, new chemicals are discovered, new technologies for rapid food production make their appearance.
Globalization may have enabled people to have access to a wider variety of foods from different regions and cultures, but on the other hand food often travels long distances before reaching consumers. This can lead to issues such as reduced freshness, degradation of nutritional value and increased reliance on preservatives.
To meet the demands of a global market, some food production processes prioritize quantity over quality. Mass production methods may involve the use of additives, pesticides and antibiotics, which can negatively affect food quality and safety. The global supply chain can make it difficult to trace the source of foodborne illnesses and outbreaks, potentially jeopardizing food safety.
The availability of a wide variety of foods can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. While it offers dietary variety, it can also lead to overconsumption of processed and unhealthy foods, contributing to issues such as obesity and diet-related diseases. As I work professionally as a quality assurance assessor in the food industry, I can assure you that a food can travel around the world and end up back where it started. Globalization of food has the potential to provide diverse and nutritious options (e.g. the banana travels around the world), but it also presents challenges that must be addressed to ensure the quality and safety of the global food supply and to protect human health.
Our body is a factory that processes our food, absorbs beneficial nutrients, suffers the consequences of harmful substances and finally cleanses our body of residual elements. Nowadays there is an oversupply of food so that we are in a constant resistance not to eat something or not to order something. It's hard, I don't mind. But have you thought before entering into a temptation, how you will feel afterwards? Therefore, in this great supply of food that we have, children also come who are also the biggest victims of obesity which, not by chance, has been characterized by the World Health Organization as the "epidemic of the third millennium". I have a friend of mine whose 13-year-old reached 93 kg. Whose fault do you think it is? Of the child and his or the parent's "bad" metabolism? Get rid of extra pounds in yourself and in your children. Obesity sickens and kills.
Some try to improve their soul with meditation and yoga, others with psychologists and psychiatrists, some with self-improvement courses. It is not, however, paradoxical and futile to try to save your soul, but to do nothing for your body and health you? And I'm not saying under any circumstances to go on consecutive diets and efforts. I am personally against them, unless of course there is a special reason or if you have to start somewhere to change your eating habits. If this is the reason and you need an expert to show you what the right way of eating is and according to your own daily needs, then contact a nutritionist and in this case the Maria Kanaki and Niko Gudzourela from Fitme Nutirme to have a proper diet based on your own needs and requirements
Get into a general eating pattern and try to stick to it. We all have our nutritional weaknesses and we all make our mistakes and especially I would say in the summer. But everything is on schedule and everything in moderation. Keep your calories in balance and follow the rule that says "Let diet become nutrition and nutrition become lifestyle".
It's all about calories. You can easily find the calories you should consume on a daily basis through the internet or at least contact an expert. It is the so-called energy-calorie balance. If you take in more than what you expend then the balance is positive and you will put on weight, while if you take in fewer calories than the body needs then the balance will be negative and you will lose weight. It's that simple after all!
However, you should keep in mind and pay close attention to the hidden calories, which are often the ones that do the damage. So if for example we have set a goal of 2000 daily calories and you drink 2 medium coffees (120 calories from sugar), eat 1 fruit (80 calories) and snack on something else before eating (200 calories), then the total for the day goes to 2400 calories, 400 more than they should, so the weight will not drop. Look at it with simple math. 1 kg of fat in our body has about 8000 calories. If we take 200-400 extra calories (extra than what our diet has), in 30 days we will have taken a total of 6000-12000 calories, which corresponds to 1-1.5 kilos of body fat that we could have lost.
Of course, great attention is needed in all advertised "healthy" products, from oats for example or dark chocolate, or from cereals, or the various "innocent" bars or anything else that is considered "healthy", since you will be surprised if, for example, in a " healthy" cookie, see on its tab how many calories it has and how many other products make up the final product.
Of course, it is not only about what we eat, but also about the way our body uses what we eat. There are other factors that affect the digestion and absorption of nutrients in the body such as sleep quality, relationships, stress and physical activity.
Stress, for example, does not go hand in hand with longevity, while on the other hand, running activates the metabolism. During exercise we create an oxidative stress in our body and it makes sense to give it the best that mother nature has to offer. Our body is like a good car. Is it possible that someone who has a good car does not take care of it by putting good gas in it, good parts and keeping it clean? Of course, he will take care of it and give him the best he can and according to his financial capabilities. Both our bodies and our brains need a constant supply of good quality 'fuel' because fuel provides the energy needed and it is the superior quality that makes all the difference. In short, food directly affects the structure and function of our body and brain and ultimately our health and mood.
However, if you are in a dilemma whether to lose weight through exercise or through nutrition and diet, the answer is that only with a combination of both will you be able to get the best results. What do I do if I'm training extra hard but then fueling myself with questionable quality and large amounts of food? It is a free gift. For me, everything is nutrition and exercise is supplementary-complementary. The right weight loss is the one that does not disturb the metabolism. Research has shown that if we try to lose weight only through diet it will happen faster but muscle tissue will also be lost. If we focus only on gymnastics again, it will happen much more slowly, maybe not at all, but we will increase our muscle mass. However, a combination of diet and exercise is the most ideal, since we will lose weight, but also build and show off our body. More correctly, the combination of moderate food intake and increased physical activity.
It is a big mistake to think that running alone can make us slim. Anyway, if this is not done correctly, for someone who has a lot of weight, it can have opposite results. In a sense, it is good to include some exercise in our daily habits that will make us burn even more calories, but this alone is not enough, since it must be combined with a proper and balanced diet. What do I do with going for an hour run and burning 700 calories, when I'm going to gorge myself on sandwiches and pizzas? I will only do harm and nothing else. You need to improve the quality and quantity of your diet and combined with running you will get the best benefits.
You mean that all foods are good and play their own role in our health, just as we said their processing by humans makes them "good" or "bad". The truth is that we need it all. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, antioxidants. Deprivation diets with exclusions of entire food categories are completely useless. Everything in proportion must be present in our diet. For example, a reduced intake of proteins and carbohydrates results in a decrease in muscle mass, while a reduced intake of vitamins can increase the possibility of injuries and also cause a malfunction in the metabolism. Their adequate intake is essential for health and athletic performance, and although the amounts required to meet the body's needs for them are very small, they can sometimes be insufficient, a phenomenon somewhat rarer in Western societies. The vitamins they are an integral part of every metabolic function of the body, thus highlighting their importance as nutrients for the smooth execution of biological processes.
The extra consumption of chemical preparations of vitamins or multivitamins, for an average person and especially if he does not exercise, is unnecessary, not to say useless. We don't need anything more and almost no vitamins through them nutritional supplements. Any vitamin deficiencies can only be diagnosed after special medical tests and not based on our own will and belief. Imagine taking synthetic vitamin preparations, while your body is full of them. Isn't it useless and meaningless? So taking various nutritional supplements believing that they help us is just wasting our money, just as the ingredients contained in natural foods can in no way be replaced by pills.
Some exceptions can only be made if we do intense exercise, combined with an intense and strenuous daily life and eating large amounts of food to get the necessary nutrients we need is not economically viable, it takes cooking time, the daily calories go up a lot , but we may also take other food elements that we do not need at that moment. Also, if the athlete is in periods of a hypocaloric diet, he either avoids certain foods or food groups, either because he is sick, or because he is recovering from an injury, or because he suffers from a deficiency. Taking a multivitamin supplement or individual nutritional supplements can have a beneficial effect on both health and performance. A balanced Mediterranean diet that stands out for its variety and is rich in all kinds of vitamins is the best we can follow if we don't have any issues or if we have a "calm" daily life. Chemical preparations of superfoods and antioxidants are completely useless since they are found in abundance in natural foods, but also some are produced by our own body.
Of course, nutrition in a sense is subjective and has 100% to do with the needs of each one of us, especially those who do sports. Another diet and based on other data makes a runner, another football player, another bodybuilder and so on. Different needs, different diets, different workouts.
My diet is usually simple and what is required by my intense daily needs. I haven't cut anything I like. And I will drink my tsipouraki and my wine and my favorite whiskey too, but as always everything in moderation. That is where we have to find the balance and do everything but not repeated abuses. If I know I'm going to go out in the evening to a restaurant, for example, I'll try to eat very little at lunchtime so that I'm on par with my evening calories. We have one life and with the appropriate measure and attention we can enjoy everything.
Before the races I hardly change anything of my habits, I just adjust the diet a bit in the sense of increasing carbohydrates. Early as always to bed and early to wake up. In general, before the games I will avoid foods that will occupy my digestive system for a long time, since the burden, especially on the heart, is great. Before the race, I do a carbohydrate overload for the last three days which means that somewhere in the 70% of the daily caloric intake are carbohydrates which amounts to somewhere up to 8g. per kilogram of body weight. Also, if it suits me depending on the time of the race and especially the long distances, I will have a meal of 300 grams of pasta 3 hours before the race. Half a liter of water with electrolytes is also necessary an hour before the race.
Personally, multivitamin preparations I don't use it, but due to my intense training and professional daily life I have added Omega 3 fats, while in my long runs and long-distance races I consume royal dates for which I have a special "weakness". A large amount of Omega 3 is present in the phytoplankton which is the food of the zooplankton, which in turn are the food of small fish such as sardines, anchovies, etc.. and that is why they have more Omega 3 than other fish. Our body cannot synthesize them, so their intake from food becomes necessary.
Royal dates are delicious and nutritious, as they consist of approximately 70% of natural sugars, mainly fructose and glucose in equal proportion, which makes them a rich source of energy that instantly revitalizes the body and satisfies hunger (60% carbohydrates). It is no coincidence, after all, that they are the basic food of the Bedouins, who travel for days in the desert and need foods with a high energy content. They are rich in potassium (they contain 3 times more potassium than bananas), an excellent source of vitamin B, calcium, iron, magnesium and copper and, in addition, they help the bowel function a lot (they are rich in soluble fiber), so they seem perfect and for those suffering from constipation.
Nutritional supplements are particularly popular, as a result of which they are sometimes considered normal and replace normal conventional foods. In any case, however, the origin of these supplements must be checked and whether they have the required marketing approvals. Also the recommended dosages should be followed carefully and of course differ from sport to sport. For example, long-distance athletes who also have intense weekly training sessions, if they often do not have the proper nutrition (mainly vegetarians) may need extra "energy" and show a deficiency in some vitamins, especially of the B complex, but also in general protein powder solution is an advantageous, smart and safe use of a food supplement, but as I said before the origin must be controlled.
Of course, at younger ages, the obsession for a nice, firm body, resulting in an increase in muscle mass, has led many young people to recklessly use preparations of dubious quality such as anabolic steroids, growth hormones, various supplements for slimming and fat reduction. In the short term, many of them may not show their "dirty" side, but in the long run and based on research, this has bad consequences for the functioning of the organs.
Many amateur and non-professional athletes tend to believe that the supplements they are necessary aids for their effort, as they "strengthen" them and ensure better performance and success. As a result, many seem to be led to overconsumption of supplements, which in some cases poses health risks. In recent years these preparations have been marketed more and more, creating the impression that they are "necessary" for distinction and success. In some competitions, in their efforts to achieve the ideal weight, the athletes follow exhausting diets as a result of which deficiencies in various vitamins are often observed. Accordingly, there are athletes who follow diets poor in nutrients, so if a deficiency in vitamins is observed, it would be good to take the corresponding supplement, in order to prevent negative consequences and not affect the performance of the athlete. In particular, the lack of water-soluble vitamins can appear in a short period of time and their daily replenishment is recommended. These are vitamins that are not stored in the body in significant quantities (with a few exceptions).
However, it is important to understand that the amateur athlete who practices a balanced diet, rich in nutrients, does not need to take vitamin supplements in order to improve his performance and it is worth mentioning here the great rule of toxicology, where it reminds us that " the dose makes the poison', which practically means that everything in nature is poison when the dose becomes greater than some limit.
Thank you so much for listening to me!
Until next time, Be well be healthy and always do what we love and what makes us feel good.
#################################
You can find the Podcast t-shirts through the site www.olaeinaidromos.gr or from the following link:
T-shirt – Everything Is Road
Sleeveless Road T-Shirt – Everything is Road
T-shirts are All Over Print, you will each be able to have your own name on the back, while the material used will be the best for runners, with technology Dry-Fit and Cool Max.
Also using the code oladromos23 you have a discount 10% on all other Athlon products.
————————-
Everything is a road:
Facebook Page
Instagram
website: https://olaeinaidromos.gr