👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #134 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
💊 "Natural ozempic" claims
GLP-1 is a hormone your body makes after eating. It controls blood sugar and tells your brain you're full.
You’ve likely heard of Ozempic — a drug that acts like GLP-1. But lasts much longer. It's popular for type 2 diabetes and weight management.
Some people and brands claim their products to be "natural Ozempic." One says lemon extract boosts GLP-1 by 22% 👇
Here's why that's misleading:
Your natural GLP-1 only lasts 1-2 minutes in your blood. An enzyme called DPP-4 quickly destroys it.
So even with 22% more GLP-1!!! 😮 ... it's gone in minutes...
See, ozempic is designed to avoid breakdown. It stays active for days, not minutes. And is why it actually works for weight loss.
Some plant extracts, foods and supplements might help gut health or offer antioxidant effects. But comparing them to ozempic is like comparing a match to a bonfire.
I promise lemon extract is not the magic bullet... A case of marketers using buzzwords to sell their sh*t and increase their views.
📱 App: Yuka
Yuka is an app that indicates the quality of everyday food and cosmetic products.
Scan a product's barcode with your phone, and it shows you a simple "health rating".
While I'm usually pretty sceptical of tools that use formulas to rate foods, Yuka is pretty good at quickly IDing the quality of packaged foods.
While the ideal diet should mostly come from whole foods, packaged foods are also part of life.
For example, protein bars can be a convenient snack option. But jesus do they vary widely in quality... A quick Yuka scan at the supermarket will help you compare your options (True protein bars seem to take the cake in the Aussie supermarkets).
A couple of things to note:
- 🧼 For cosmetics: the effectiveness of products isn't rated (which is kinda the whole point of using a product, isn't it?)
- 🥑 For food: (1) glycemic index isn't considered, and (2) it's difficult to properly rank certain nutrients like sodium (as some people are deficient while others consume too much)
Great free tool though. Check it out here.
(thanks to WG for the rec)
🍯 Delay carbs, delay recovery
It appears the longer we delay carbs after intense training, the longer we delay recovery (at least for guys anyway).
New research found male athletes who delayed carbs by just 3 hours after training saw a drop in next-day cycling performance by 30% (their next-day sessions also felt harder).
Here's what happened:
Two groups of dudes had the same total daily carbs, but one group waited to eat them. Despite identical 24-hour nutrition, the delayed group didn't perform as well.
So don't wait to refuel carbs. Aim for about 1g of carbs per kg of body weight within the hour after training.
Your post-session feed isn't just a reward—it's setting you up for tomorrow's success.
P.s. For the girls: Dan Garner (wizard) said: "I don't think a study of this exact design has been done on women yet -- but similar physiological principles apply. For what it's worth, I absolutely use this methodology when working with women -- yet still eager for future research to be done."
P.p.s. here's how that fits into a complete physical recovery protocol...
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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