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Nutrition

7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs

Cut through the confusion plaguing the world of nutrition advice. Sort out the conflicting advice being doled out by the experts. In this article, JB weighs in on what makes nutrition programs effective in the real world, and parses out 7 simple rules you can use today to get the health and body composition you want.

A New View of Energy Balance

The classic view of energy balance (calories in vs. calories out) has been demonstrated to be limited in its utility and application to favorable body composition change. In this article, JB discussed why and presents a new model that has proved supremely useful in clients and athletes around the world.

ACSM 2004 Part 1

Here's a great review of the nutrition and supplement related research presented at the annual ACSM meeting from 2004.

Advanced Workout Nutrition - Are You Still Drinking Gatorade?

New science has conclusively demonstrated that the right workout nutrition can take your training to the next level. Are you taking advantage of this information? Or will my athletes leave you in the dust? Read on to learn how to advanced your workout nutritional intake.

Bedtime Story - Consumer Report

In this article JB discusses what really happens to your muscles overnight and what you can do to save your muscle mass (and your money) while you slumber.

Berardi's Kitchen, Part I -- In My Fridge

If you really want to succeed in eating well over the long term, you need to prepare. A key element of that preparation is your kitchen. Follow JB through his, and make sure that you have everything you need to battle the bulge.

Built Like a Neanderthal - Part 1

The typical neanderthal had a powerful, lean body. The average North American has a weak and soft body. In this article, you'll learn some exercise and nutrition lessons from neanderthals that might just help you make over your body.

Built Like a Neanderthal - Part 2

The typical neanderthal had a powerful, lean body. The average North American has a weak and soft body. In this article, you'll learn some exercise and nutrition lessons from neanderthals that might just help you make over your body.

Covering Nutritional Bases

Acid-base balance is an oft-overlooked aspect of one's nutrition plan. JB discusses the importance of acid-base balance and shows you to achieve it in your diet.

Complete Idiot's Guide to Dieting

Contributor Joel Marion distills the basics of dieting and offers a simple approach to those looking to get started right away. A great article for beginners.

Damage Control

In this article the topic of "cheat meals" is discussed. Nutrition, exercise, and supplement strategies are presented so that you can indulge in the occasional dietary "cheat" (i.e. weekend buffets or family holidays) without looking like you did.

Dear Mom and Dad

Kids, trying to convince your parents that it's okay to be slugging back protein shakes? Parents, concerned with said slugging? In an open letter, JB addresses parental concerns about high protein intake.

Defeating Dietary Displacement - Part 1: The Food

Most North Americans eat bad food predominantly. This is of course no surprise, but did you know that using the correct strategies, you can have some of that bad food without all the negative consequences? In this article, JB discusses the problem of food displacement and offers a simple and sensible solution.

Defeating Dietary Displacement - Part 2: The Debates

While displacement foods are probably at the root of many of our health and body composition crises, "displacement debates" have also become a real problem. A displacement debate is a debate that, rather than helping people move closer toward healthy nutritional choices, simply acts to confuse and paralyze them. In this article, JB goes through some current debates and gives his verdict.

Digging Up Our Nutritional Past

JB.com contributor John K. Williams combines his background in archaelogy and his knowledge of nutrition to draw some lessons from the diet of prehistoric man and determine the merit of the recent "paleo diets"?

Endurance Eating

JB discusses concepts such as fuel utilization, what to do before, during, and after endurance events, as well as carbohydrate loading.

G-Flux: Building The Ultimate Body

G-Flux is the complex interdependency of energy intake and output on one another. While this principle sounds complex - and it is - the application of the principle isn't. Give this article a read to discover how to build the ultimate body using the principles of G-Flux.

It's Not About The Food - Part 1- Day to Day Nutrition Strategies

In this two part article series, I’ll show you how to apply the lessons of
preparation and adaptability in order to win your own nutritional Tour de
France. From the lessons contained herein, you’ll learn that sometimes, good nutrition has very little to do with "the food." It has more to do with how you go about preparing for the nutritional struggles you’ll face and adapting in the face of them.

It's Not About The Food - Part 2 - Nutritional Travel Strategies

In this article, we’ll talk about Lance Armstrong again. And this time, I’ll recount my brush with him during this past year’s Tour de France. Ultimately, I’ll use this example to discuss how you can learn how to prepare and display adaptability with your nutrition, even when you’re on the road.

Lean Eatin' Part I - Choosing The Right Foods To Get Lean and Mean

In this article John describes how all calories and proteins are not created equally, despite the rights granted them by the constitution. The article chronicles the research leading to these conclusions and makes some recommendations for making good food choices.

Lean Eatin' Part II - Choosing The Right Foods To Get Lean and Mean

In this article, part 2, John describes how carbohydrates and fats are not created equally. In addition, it provides lists of good and bad foods to eat if you are interested in increasing athletic performance or minimizing body fat.

Massive Eating Part I - Calorie Calculations

In this article John discusses the fact that most people fail to realize their physique goals as a result of poor dietary planning. It presents calculations for determining your caloric need when attempting to maximize your muscle gain while minimizing your fat gain. This is a must read if you're not seeing the physique results you think you can achieve.

Massive Eating Part II - Meal Combos and Individual Differences

This article is a continuation of the previous Massive Eating article in that it takes you from calorie needs to meal planning. Not only must you get your calorie needs together, you have to eat the right foods at the right times and you have to figure out what macronutrients are best for your body. This article presents a justification for this idea and presents ways to investigate your own nutrient needs.

Massive Eating Reloaded - Part I

After 3 years, JB says its time for some upgrades on his highly effective but controversial diet plan, Massive Eating, which was designed to put on massive amounts of muscle while keeping fat gain minimal. Can he improve on a hit, or should he have taken a cue from the Matrix and stopped after the first one? Decide for yourself.

Massive Eating Reloaded - Part II

In Part II, JB revisits meal combination tips, adds seven rules to which you must adhere, introduces the concept of nutrient timing, and offers a sample meal plan for you perusal.

Massive Eating Calculator
Is your inability to count past 2000 keeping you from the muscle gains you deserve? Has the solar panel on your Casio EasyCalc seen better days? If you're tired of calculating your caloric needs the old-fashioned way, check out Phil's Massive Eating Calculator. It's the coolest application of technology since the electric nose hair trimmer.

Post Workout Nutrition For Girls - Interview With John Berardi

In this interview, conducted by the good folks at www.grrlathlete.com, JB discusses the most common mistakes athletes make during the post workout period. In addition, JB outlines some interesting nutritional strategies for maximizing recovery while reducing body weight. This is a must read for competitive athletes, especially the female kind.

Precision Nutrition for 2002 and Beyond

This article is a synopsis of JB's presentation at the 2001 SWIS symposium in Toronto Ontario Canada. JB discusses how muscle adapts and improves in response to all types of exercise and how nutrition, especially pre and post workout nutrition, plays an integral part in this adaptation.

Protein and Kidney Function

It addresses the erroneous notion that a high protein intake may harm the kidneys. If you need evidence that a high protein intake is relatively safe, look no further!

Protein Prejudice

Despite the prevalent understanding, athletes may actually need less protein than the average population -- but more protein is optimal. Here's why.

Recovery Update

This article discusses the perfect post exercise recovery drink and related topics such as post exercise nutrient intake and the hormonal response to exercise, the ideal amount of protein in such drinks, and how to make your own post-workout blend at home.

School Days Part 1 - Training and Nutrition Guide for College Students

Steve gives college boys a few tips on how to most effectively train while living a distracting University existence. If you want to make progress in the gym while living in the dorms (or you just want a laugh), check this article out.

School Days Part 2 - Training and Nutrition Guide for College Students

Steve gives college boys a few tips on how to most effectively eat while living at University. If you want to look great while living in the dorms, feast your eyes on this article.

Solving The Post Workout Puzzle Part I

In this article, the profound physiological effects of intense exercise are discussed, including glycogen depletion and alterations in protein status. This article will explain why post workout nutrition is so important.

Solving The Post Workout Puzzle Part II

This article gives a recovery plan for refueling the muscle after intense exercise (maximizing post exercise glycogen levels and maximizing post workout protein balance). This plan includes the use of beverages containing specific nutrients including certain carbohydrates, proteins, and amino acids. If you're not consuming such a beverage, you're not doing everything you can to achieve physique or athletic excellence.

Souvenirs or Cellulite: Avoiding Vacation Weight Gain

Your commitment to making physical activity and healthy eating part of your lifestyle can include vacation-time as well. Remember, your commitment to a healthier lifestyle is like taking wedding vows - in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, when in the Bahamas or when back at home. So, to help you keep on track during the vacation season, here are 15 great exercise and nutrition tips.

The Anabolic Power of Insulin - An Interview with John M Berardi

In this interview, JB discusses topics such as the physiological effects of the important muscle building hormone insulin, the meaning of insulin sensitivity and why it matters, supplement and nutritional manipulation of insulin and insulin sensitivity, why the glycemic index may have some serious limitations, the introduction of the insulin index, and much more. Learn how you can harness the power of hormones with food alone.

The Athlete Diet - Making The Transition From The North American Diet

Whether you're a high level competitive athlete or just a recrational exerciser, eating like the typical North American is a big health and body composition mistake. Read this article for a discussion of how to make the dietary transition from North American to Athlete.

The Carb Roundtable - Part I

In this first part of a two part article, John, Lonnie Lowery, Cy Willson, and Jared (of all people) discuss 1/3 of the macronutrient triumvirate, the carbohydrate. In part one, topics such as the glycemic and insulin indices are discussed as are the different carbohydrate classification schemes.

The Carb Roundtable - Part II

n this second part of a two-part article, John, Lonnie Lowery, Cy Willson, and Jared (of all people) discuss 1/3 of the macronutrient triumvirate, the carbohydrate. In part two, the differences between carbohydrate types are discussed, as are our rules for carbohydrate consumption.

The Cheater's Diet - Less Fat, More Muscle

Joel Marion (with the help of Charles Staley) outlines a highly effective diet and exercise strategy that many have used this summer to simultaneously lose fat and gain muscle. The best part of The Cheater's Diet is that you barely feel like you're "dieting"!

The Dave Tate Project - Part 1

Dave Tate is a big, strong, powerlifting champion who loves being big and eating junk food. JB is one of the top nutrition coaches in the world and teaches people how to avoid junk food. Can these two get along? Read part 1 of the Dave Tate Project to find out.

The Dave Tate Project - Part 2

In part 1 of the Dave Tate project, Dave and JB team up to help Dave make some changes. In part 2 we find out if Dave had what it took to change his lifestyle and his body. Prepare to be amazed.

The F-Word - All You Ever Wanted To Know About Dietary Fats

Fish oil, flax oil, saturates, and unsaturates. It's tough keeping track of which fats are good, which are bad, and which are ugly. Check out this great review of dietary fat and figure out, once and for all, just how to balance out your daily fat intake.

The Fat Roundtable - What's New in Fat Science?

This discussion, refereed by JB, also includes fat experts Lonnie Lowery and Eric Noreen. In true roundtable fashion, these three experts discuss the importance of getting the right kind of fat in your diet while eliminating the bad fat. If you're confused about fat intake, this is the article that will set you straight.

The Fat Roundtable II - Getting Even Fatter

The Fat Roundtable returns! Refereed by Lonnie Lowery, the roundtable includes John Berardi, Cy Wilson, and TC Luoma. This time around, the participants discuss the pros and cons of combining carbs and fat.

The First Stop on the Road To Muscle -The Grocery Store

It never ceases to amaze us that those individuals interested in losing or gaining weight will go to great ends to theoretically learn how to do so - yet will totally handicap themselves by not filling up their homes with the right foods to reach their goals. Overcome this obstacle by checking out this very practical guide to grocery shopping for building muscle.

The Hard Body Manifesto - Part 1

Ever wondered how diet and supplementation fit together in a great fat loss program? If so, learn exactly how to manipulate the important variables to achieve consistent fat loss results by checking out part 1 of this article series.

The Hard Body Manifesto - Part 2

Ever wondered how diet and supplementation fit together in a great fat loss program? If so, learn how to plan your diet and supplement routine by checking out part 2 of this article series.

The Importance of Post-Workout Nutrition

Here John briefly discusses post-workout nutrition and why it's so important. Also discussed are the topics of: whole food vs. supplemental nutrition, practical post workout choices, and resources for finding out more information.

The Insulin Sensitivity Index

To assist in the battle against insulin resistance, we decided to publish glucose tolerance charts and an insulin sensitivity calculator to help you figure out whether all those tasty carbohydrates are going to end up in muscle metropolis or adipose alley. Get your doc to perform an OGTT, a fasted blood insulin test, and a fasted blood glucose test. Then plug your numbers in here to see how you rate.

The Protein Debate

Two sports nutrition heavyweights square off and debate the benefits and costs of eating more protein. This is one you're not going to want to miss.

The Protein Roundtable

This discussion, refereed by JB, includes Lonnie Lowery and Cy Willson. Again, in roundtable fashion, everything you've wanted to know about protein need, quality, and supplementation is discussed. Let us clear up your protein questions.

The Science of Nutrient Timing, Part I

JB introduces the concept of nutrient timing, a scientific method of nutritional planning intended to optimize performance and body composition results. In Part I, JB provides an overview as well as an explanation of the Energy and Anabolic Phases.

The Science of Nutrient Timing, Part II

In Part II, JB explains both the Growth Phase and the cleverly named Rest of the Day Phase.

The Taste of Success

In an effort to squash the variety complaint once and for all (yeah, right), or at least buy myself a brief reprieve from the anti-boredom coalition’s email campaign, I wrote this article to show people that healty eating isn't so boring - you can both eat healthy and eat great tasting food. Here's how.

The Trailing-Edge Diet

We often get email from newbies who are utterly overwhelmed and often paralyzed by all the nutrition information out there. Although this article doesn't solve this problem, it does give you a sensible plan that you can build on while you recover from information overload. Required reading for anyone new to the game.

Tailor Made Nutrition - Part I

In this first part of a three part article series, JB discusses the art of individualizing your nutritional intake. Figure out why you should be using a one-size-fits-all nutrition plan when you begin your nutritional transformation.

Tailor Made Nutrition - Part 2

In this second part of a three part article series, JB discusses the art of individualizing your nutritional intake. Figure out what you should measure and why as you follow along with your initial plan.

Tailor Made Nutrition - Part 3

n this last part of a three part article series, JB discusses the art of individualizing your nutritional intake. Figure out how to tailor your intake for your specific physiology.

Water Intake

This article addresses the important topic of water needs in athletes. Since most athletes are chronically dehydrated, getting your water intake on track will immediately lead to improved performance. But how much water is enough?

What I Wish I Knew Then - Confessions of A Former Skinny Guy

This month, Austin Blood takes you under his ultra-lean wing and shares with you the secrets he learned during his lenghty question for the ultimate body.