TIP 03

tip of the month archive

TIP # 03

Jeez . . . a month isn't a very long time when you have to come up with some snappy words of wisdom every 30 days or so!

This is only our 3rd month on the web and I'm already thinking, "maybe I should've made it the 'Tip Of The Year' instead of the 'Tip Of The Month'". At least I was smart enough not to make it the 'Tip Of The Week', or worse yet, the 'Tip Of The Day'!

Anyway, as I tried to drift off to sleep last night, I thought it might be a good idea to do a tip on nutrition for June.

Summer is upon us, and if you're anything like me, that means cooking out! My schedule doesn't permit attending many social cookouts per say, but since slapping some beef on the grill can be one of the quickest ways, (as well as one of the tastiest ways), to grab some protein, I hit the grill whenever possible!

I'm sure you've read that charred meats aren't very good for you. That crispy part on the edges of grilled meats, (beef in particular as I understand it), may be a serious carcinogen.

Well, even if this was not true, there is another very good reason not to over cook your meats when cooking out . . . or any other time, for that matter.

When you cook meats too much, (my apologies to you 'well-done' meat lovers), the protein in the meat changes. The process of this change is called 'cross-linking'.

I don't pretend to understand what happens on a cellular level. All I know is that the protein isn't near as potent after cross-linking takes place. That means that the quality of the protein suffers, or that somehow less protein is available for building and repairing tissues.

So, to get the most muscle building bang for your meat grilling buck, grill your protein of choice over a very hot, low flame and don't allow it to char.

And remember whenever you cook, medium/rare is better for you than well done. (I like my beef very rare which is a whole other health issue, so we ain't gonna go there!)

Until next time . . . train hard, but train smart!

Try this month's tip for 30 days. Then [ E-mail ] me and tell me about your progress.

- Poppa