The Brazilian Approach To Nutrition

I’ve been in Brazil for the last week and I must say, I do love this country – the culture, Brazilians, the history, the scenery, the sunshine, the wind (there’s a reason I love the wind, bear with me), the hidden paradise that is Jericoacoara on the North Coast. This is a secret little gem for windsurfing and kite surfing where I arrived yesterday (maybe not so much anymore, shhhh don’t anyone). This trip is going to be a challenge for a number of reasons – firstly, i need to do some work whilst I’m here and the bath temperature ocean and consistent wind is particularly inviting throughout the day.

Secondly, being passionate about nutrition and fitness, I’m finding it somewhat challenging to find much in the way of truly nutritious and healthy food. I’ve never missed vegetable juice bars and vegetables more! I never thought I’d say those words. And I can feel in after a few days. I feel sluggish, I feel de-energised. This is the polar opposite of my experience, food wise, of the quality of food in Bali, Ubud. So tasty, so nutritious. I lived on mainly a plant-based diet with fish. And eggs. Ok, It wasn’t really a plant-based diet, but I ate a ton of veggies and had 3-4 vegetable juices daily. I was leaner than I’ve been in a while with ease.

My experience in Brazil so far, has made me reflect on how lucky we are in Western world, or indeed, how lucky I have been to be living in LA for the last 1.5 years where decent, wholesome organic food and vegetable juice bars are plentiful.  For the most part, people are health conscious. Isn’t that phrase ridiculous? Being health conscious? I mean, why wouldn’t you be?! Isn’t it funny how alternative health is the natural solution, whereas the norm is drugs? Apologies, I divert…

Here in Jericoacoara and also in Rio, I find it interesting, and almost heart-breaking to wonder around restaurants and see what people are feeding themselves with. (I don’t spend all of my time wondering around restaurants – I mean, I notice, just in case you think that’s a weird way to spend my time.) Most dishes come with french fries and rice and/or potatoes and very few vegetables, if any – accompanying a type of protein, such as meat or fish. Rice and potatoes on the same plate is just ridiculous. No vegetables is really unhealthy. Very few options for salads. Last night I had a delicious tuna steak and it came with rice, potatoes and a token cooked carrot. The fact it’s cooked means most nutrients are stripped of it. That was one of the healthiest options – other than that there was fried food, or pizza or meat and potatoes. In other places people are throwing fried foods down their faces loaded with trans fats. These are some of the most evil things you can put in your body – namely hydrogenated vegetable oils. Anything deep fried can pretty much be considered toxic for your body. It’s the oils that are used that really are harmful. These trans fats (found in most margarines, and tons of packaged foods) are slowly being banned in the US. This is a good thing!

The fact that few dishes contain vegetables is very worrying. Vegetables and fruits contain the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) that our cells require to be healthy. To be optimum, we need 51% of our food daily food intake to be in the form of raw plant-based foods. This is why I tend to vegetable juice daily and eat dons of salads and veggies with my meals. There is a reason why vegans live longer than most other diet practices. This proportion of micronutrients considerably under what most of us are getting, even in the Western world. This is why our immune systems become so suppressed that we get ill all the time and inflammation builds slowly inside our body unnoticed, until something serious like cancer or heart attack or stroke happens in later life. Can you imagine what happens to your hormones when you’re undernourished of micronutrients? They go way out of whack. For example, testosterone levels plummet, and typically, oestrogen levels rise in men. Oestrogen levels rise in men when fat is gained as fat contains the enzyme aromatase, and this converts testosterone into two forms of oestrogen. With all the high GI carbs most are taking 3 times a day, sugar levels spike and insulin levels peak and trough throughout the day sabotaging hormones. When this happens consistently, you become insulin resistant, and then you become diabetic. Type 2 diabetes used to be called Adult Onset Diabetes as it used to occur much later in life. Now kids are getting diagnosed at a very early age due to excess sugar and carbohydrate intake, that the name was changed. True story.

One of the biggest takeaways I’ve had from all of the books I’ve read, the experts I’ve interviewed, the documentaries I’ve been repeatedly and geekily watching (I’ll decide if that’s a word) is that we, in the Western world, are stuffing our faces, yet starving. We are stuffing our faces with things that fill us up (like cereals, bread, pasta, rice and potatoes and chips) and neglecting the micronutrient intake that our bodies require as fuel.

When I went to see Dr Incledon a a few weeks ago in Phoenix, he provided a ton of additional insights as to why men’s testosterone levels drop ‘with age’.  I went to see Dr Incledon as he helps men, well into their nineties, increase testosterone completely naturally. He works with leading athletes, NFL players, golfers, baseball players, basketball players, Hollywood starts, wealthy business men etc.

He treats every person differently and takes a plethora of blood tests. Standard physicians don’t do this. They check your testosterone range and typically tell you you’re in a healthy range. Thanks Doc! You’ll only find out the real truth when you request, and typically pay for, the required blood tests. If you’re in the US though, your health insurance should cover this. What he normally finds is that many men are deficient in many of the micronutrients – vitamins and minerals – that they need for healthy cells and testosterone production and secretion. Put it this way, if you’re not consuming micronutrients, you will be low on testosterone. If you’re eating to fill yourself up, you’ll be low on micronutrients. If you haven’t had a chance to see our interview on inflammation, see it here. If you’re not exercising every day and strength training your hormones will suffer and your testosterone levels will drop. If you’re stressed and not getting decent sleep, your hormones will suffer.

Soon, I will be publishing the interview which was all about testosterone production. It’s great. Stay tuned.