Category — Doctor's Corner

Check out another great piece in our Doctor’s Corner series by by Dr. Salvatore Tirrito of Pima Heart and XOOD Endurance Drink.

How Healthy is Your Sports Drink?

Remember the old adage: “treat your body well and it will treat you well.”  As an athlete, you should be even more concerned about what goes in your body.  It never ceases to amaze me; many athletes will pound their bodies into the ground day after day, eat highly specialized diets, and abstain from many of the common pleasures of life, all in the hopes of achieving supreme fitness.  However, if it comes in a pill, powder, or gel form, they do not discriminate and will put just about anything in their body.

Since the introduction of Gatorade, the sports drink industry has come a long way.  There is an almost dizzying array of products to choose from, with each one stating to be better than the other.  Although, it appears clear that they can enhance your performance (at least when compared to water), the question is: Are they really healthy? [Read more →]

Check out another great post for our Doctor’s Corner series by Dr. Sal Tirrito  of XOOD and Pima Heart.  As always, thanks to Sal for contributing!

Does it pay to be Vegan?

By Salvatore J. Tirrito M.D., F.A.C.C.

First, let us go over some terminology. A vegetarian diet is one that excludes meat (poultry, pork, beef etc…). A vegan diet is one that, in addition to excluding meat, also excludes dairy (milk, cheese, & eggs). This seems to be the path that most people who identified themselves as vegetarian or vegan tend to follow. However, if you want to be technical about it, a true vegetarian in addition to not eating meat does not eat seafood and a true vegan, in addition to not eating meat and dairy does not eat seafood or honey (Bees are people too). For the purposes of this article we will define a vegetarian as someone who does not eat meat and a vegan as someone who does not eat meat or dairy.

In 21st century America it is easy to be a vegetarian.  There is an abundance of meatless options available that will satisfy just about anyone’s taste buds (perhaps, with the exception of the most devout carnivore). The problem with being a vegetarian is that it may not be as healthy as you think. Many vegetarian diets can be extremely rich in dairy. As a cardiologist this creates a dilemma for me. Do I eat a turkey patty (low fat, low carbohydrate & high protein) or a vegetarian three-cheese lasagna (high fat, high carbohydrate & low protein)? From a moral point of view, I definitely feel better about milking a cow than cutting a turkey’s head off. From a health point of view, the turkey patty is clearly a better choice (sorry turkey). [Read more →]

This piece by Dr. Sal Tirrito speaks to the oft debated issue of using protein during endurance events.  As many of us know, it’s often each to his/ her own on this one, as some people seem to respond better to protein during endurance events than others.

5 minute consult by Dr. Sal Tirrito

Is protein really needed in endurance events?

Although, carbohydrates and fatty acids are the primary fuel sources utilized during endurance events, more recently there has been a lot of data to support supplementation with protein during endurance events. In the past few years, clinical trials have clearly demonstrated that a protein/carbohydrate drink enhances performance when compared to a carbohydrate drink alone.

The reason for this is likely manifold and somewhat elusive.  It is unlikely that the small amount of addition calories gained by drinking a carbohydrate/protein drink plays a significant role.  It is more likely because during prolonged exercise, as glycogen levels become depleted, the body undergoes a process called gluconeogensis.  Gluconeogenesis is a process that results in the generation of glucose from non-carbohydrate substrates such as pyruvate, lactate, glycerol, and amino acids.  Gluconeogensis is an energy intensive process that can lead to accelerated muscle breakdown in order to liberate amino acids to drive the gluconeogenic process.  Ingestion of small amounts of protein may help fuel the gluconeogenic process with enough protein to allow the body to avoid having to breakdown muscle.

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Check out another great article by Dr. Sal Tirrito of Pima Heart and XOOD.

5 minute consult by Dr. Sal Tirrito

Single or multiple carbohydrates sources:
Which is better for performance?

First, let us be clear on one thing.  Peak performance is all about desire. The desire to push your body to the extreme.  However, don’t expect great things from you body unless you treat it well.  That means getting plenty of sleep, eating a healthy diet, and using a sports drink that delivers what you need when you need it.

Every sport drink out there claims to have the “right stuff” in order to improve your performance, but most of them really don’t back up there claims with any real scientific data.  First, let’s understand the difference between improving your performance and peak performance.  I can take a bag of Skittles let them dissolve in my water bottle and all of a sudden I have a drink that will improve my performance (at least when compared to water).  The point I am trying to make is that in any activity (ride, run, swim etc…) over an hour any source of carbohydrate will help improve your performance compared to water.  Therefore, those “scientific” papers that show that “product X” increased their athletes’ performance by some percentage when the control group is water are just stating the obvious.

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This post is the first in the health and wellness section of Women’s Bike Talk.  The following article is written by Dr. Sal Tirrito of Pima Heart in Tucson, AZ.  Sal is the founder of XOOD (one of our proud sponsors).  Enjoy!

Women as endurance athletes: What you need to know

Women are very quickly becoming the fastest growing segment of endurance athletes.   Studies suggest that women utilize less glycogen and more fat than men in long, lower-intensity exercise. This makes female athletes particularly well suited for, and may potentially provide an advantage over men in endurance events. Training and competition in endurance events have obvious health benefits, but there are some short-term and long-term negative health consequences, particularly in women, to avoid.
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