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Yes, we know this episode is 2.5 hours long. Feel free to split it up as you please because we can't promise next week there will be a podcast...

In this Episode #220 (Our Biggest Fitness Q&A Ever - Featuring A Very Special Guest Podcast Sidekick): Natural ways to protect yourself from radiation, is adrenal fatigue a myth, do elevation training masks work, what is the difference between sprouting and soaking, how to recover from meniscus removal, do vibration plates work for performance, how to build muscle fast, what are Ben's recommended RSS feeds for fitness, how to overcome sugar in coffee addiction, how to learn from your training logs, how to keep your run cadence high, does covering your hands and feet in the cold burn more calories, what should kids eat before soccer games, and should you be concerned if your body temperature is low?

Have a podcast question for Ben? Click the tab on the right side of this page, call 1-877-209-9439, Skype “pacificfit” or scroll down to the “Ask Ben” form. Please don't forget to leave the podcast a ranking in iTunes - it only takes a minute of your time and it helps grow our healthy community! -----------------------------------------------------

News Flashes:

To get these and other interesting news flashes every week, follow Ben on Twitter and Google+.

• Careful if you're using HIGH DOSE Branched Chain Amino Acids, esp. when combined with low carb diet: www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/4/11/1767/pdf
• Probiotics are just one (of many things) that can decrease your intestinal permeability & help with gut during exercise in HOT weather: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22992437
• If you've heard of "Grounding" or "Earthing", pulsed electromagnetic fields like this are like those things on STEROIDS: http://goo.gl/NTsKE

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Special Announcements:

1. New camps announced.

-February 22 to 28, 2013:  Winter Triathlon Camp in Austin - details at http://pacificfit.net/resources/calendar/

-March 2-8: Winter Triathlon Camp in Florida - details at http://pacificfit.net/resources/calendar

-Week of March 17: Wildflower camp - details TBA

-Vietnam Trip: April 14 - details TBA - "The Laguna Lang Co Triathlon aims to build on the success of its sister event, the legendary Laguna Phuket Triathlon. The triathlon will be comprised of a 1.8k Swim, 62k Bike and 12k Run. A triathlon Team Relay, a Duathlon and a Fun Run will round off the event program." Register for race at http://www.lagunalangcotriathlon.com/

-Ben's Annual Trip to Thailand: Nov-Dec 2013 - details TBA, but e-mail ben@bengreenfieldfitness.com if you want in because it will fill fast.

2. Ben's brand new Low Carbohydrate Diet For Athletes package is officially released and available for download! Get it here now.

3. Want to get featured on an exclusive 15 minute feature in the next BenGreenfieldFitness podcast?That's right - I'll personally call you and interview you to tell YOUR story for the podcast. Here's how:

Step 1: Create your own "MyList" list that targets your passion in health, fitness or nutrition,

Step 2: Share your MyList right here by leaving a link to it in the comments,

Step 3: I'll choose the best list, and get you on for an interview about why you chose the items on your list - from gear to tools to supplements to anything else!

OK, get MyListing away! Here's the link to add MyList to your page or profile (did I mention - it's free).

4. “Become Superhuman” Live Event With Ben Greenfield Coming To Spokane, WA, March 8 & 9, 2013 - early deadline is December 1! Click here to get in now.   -----------------------------------------------------

Listener Q&A:

Keith asks: Should he be worried about the fall-out related to the radiation from the incident in Fukishima, Japan, and wants to know whether he needs to be concerned about health and radiation, and what can do about it - especially for his children. Should he avoid mushrooms and other fungi? What else should he avoid? What supplements might help? In my response to Keith, I recommend: -Metal Free Heavy Metal Detoxification Formula combined with Body Detox - follow use instructions for these exactly as on bottles. Dr. David Minkoff recommends to take Metal Free in the morning and Body Detox before bed. -6mg of iodine per day -1-2 servings edible clay per day (i.e. Edible Earth) -Oral magnesium in supplemental form (around 400-600mg/day, or until you get loose stool) -A high quality greens supplement -Full spectrum antioxidant -High quality omega 3 + Vitamin D ad Vitamin A supplementation (i.e. cod liver oil). Recommend SuperEssentials and TwinLab Cod Liver Oil.

Finally, I highly recommend Dr. Mark Sircus's book: "Nuclear Toxicity Syndrome".

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Toni asks: Husband is an endurance bike racer who is not sleeping well and is constantly fatigued, but doctors won't acknowledge it as real. What can help? In my response to Toni, I reference this article I did on adrenal fatigue: What To Do When You're Overtrained, including this anecdote:

1. Frequent Cold Exposure – Cold immersion can lower inflammation, and markers of inflammatory damage such as CRP or interleukin – which allows the body to bounce back faster from an overreached state. In my case, I have access to a very cold river that currently runs at about 40-45 degrees Farenheit, so when I saw those HRV scores begin to drop, I began full body immersion for 20-30 minutes a day, 1-2x/day (you can also achieve this in an ice bath if you live in a warmer climate without access to a cold body of water). I combined with wearing 110% compression tights and shirt filled with ice sleeves while I was sitting at home working.

2. Adaptogenic Herbs – I use a Chinese Adaptogenic Herb complex called Tian Chi, and I began to double dose on an empty stomach 1-2x/day, in mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon. The ingredients of Tian Chi include compounds that help to relieve adrenal gland stress and support proper adrenal function, including ashwaganda, eleuthero, epemedium and gotu kola. These type of compounds are incredibly effective at restoring function to your adrenal glands when you’ve been asking yourself to churn out adrenaline, epinephrine, norepinephrine, etc. with day after day of hard training.

3. Deep Sleep – During deep sleep, your body releases large amounts of growth hormone for repair and recovery, and initiates cellular turnover that can speed up removal of “junk” from a taxed musculoskeletal system. Once I saw my HRV score drop, my goal was to get myself into a deep sleep phase as quickly as possible, and I did this by using an Earthpulse Sleep Machine device to activate my “deep sleep” Delta brain waves, along with sleeping in a very dark room, using 500mg magnesium before bed, and making sure to use my blue-light blocking glasses at any point after 4pm in the afternoon.

4. Anti-Inflammatory Diet – Because they result in a net acidic load when you metabolize them, pro-inflammatory foods will increase inflammation and increase your pain from the inflammation. These include processed meats, foods high in omega 6 fatty acids like roasted seeds and nuts, pastries and cereals, starches, and even nightshade plants like regular potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant. When you’re injured or overtrained and looking for every available advantage, you should instead prioritize foods with natural anti-inflammatory properties, like dark-skinned fruits and vegetables (pomegranates, cherries, blueberries, plums, artichokes, spinach and broccoli are excellent), high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids (cold-water fish, cod liver oil, fish oil, etc.) and natural herbal anti-inflammatories like turmeric, curcumin, garlic and ginger, or something like Capraflex, which has all that.

Jeff asks: How can you recover from a lateral meniscus removal? He has some hyaluronic acid and capraflex. In my response to Jeff, I mention this free meniscus repair rehab program pdf.

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Jenna asks: Are there any athletic or performance benefits from vibration plates? Can you lose weight from just standing on it? In my response, I mention Power Plate vibration platforms.

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Michael asks: What does Ben think of the "Elevation Training Mask", specifically the 2.0 version? In my response, I mention the Elevation Training Mask. Bree asks: What is the difference between sprouting and soaking?

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Augie asks: What are your top RSS feeds for exercise, performance, fitness, diet, etc?

-Fitness.AllTop.com (varies)

-StoneHearthNewsletters.com (varies)

-TheEatingAcademy.com (Peter Attia)

-PerfectHealthDiet.com (Paul Jaminet)

-Cholesterol-and-health.com (Chris Masterjohn)

-International Medical Veritas Association (Mark Sircus)

-LifeHacker.com (varies)

-TrackYourPlaque  (Dr. William Davis)

-Everymantri.com (Roman Mica)

-EndurancePlanet.com

-BenGreenfieldFitness.com

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Deb asks: What to do about sugar with coffee addiction?In my response to Deb, I recommend:

-VIDEO: 5 Powerful Calorie Control Tricks To Help You Eat Less Food: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2011/10/appetitecontrol/

-VIDEO: 5 Ways To Suppress Your Appetite Without Taking Any Special Pills or Capsules: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2011/05/5-ways-to-suppress-your-appetite-without-taking-any-special-pills-or-capsules/

-PODCAST: How To Stop Carbohydrate Cravings In Their Tracks: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2011/08/episode-160-how-to-stop-carbohydrate-cravings-in-their-tracks/

-PODCAST: Inner Circle Free Episode: How To Stop Sugar & Carbohydrate Cravings In Their Tracks: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2010/10/inner-circle-podcast-3-how-to-stop-sugar-carbohydrate-cravings-in-their-tracks/

-ARTICLE: A Simple Six-Step System for Eliminating Food Cravings: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2010/05/a-simple-six-step-system-for-eliminating-food-cravings/

-ARTICLE: How To Fight Candy Cravings: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2012/10/how-to-fight-candy-cravings/

Finally, I recommend Deb check out The Diet Dominator at http://www.thedietdominator.com

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Panka says: I want to increase my body weight, am super-skinny, and want to become a mesomorph from an ectomorph. What would be a good diet and exercise plan? In my response to Panka, I mention my book "Get Fit Guy's Guide To Achieving Your Ideal Body" at http://www.GetFitGuy.com

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Seth asks: How to interpret your training logs and use them to get better? In my response to Seth, I mention Sami Inkinen's "Incurable Data Geek" and Joe Friel's Training blog. Mention things like cardiac drift, average power/speed, RPE, recovery time what I personally do: heart rate variability, how fast I ride to the YMCA, how fast I can do 10x30s sprint on treadmill, how fast I can swim 10x100

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Craig wants to know how to maintain a high run cadence.

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Thomas wants to know if you could increase your risk of heart attack from cold exposure since when you train in the cold the cold weather on your torso speeds your heart rate up but cold on your face slows your heart rate down. He wants to know if he should cover his hands and feet.

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7 year old Lucas wants to know what he should eat before his hockey games. In my response, I mention my article: 5 Ways That Workout Nutrition Should be Different For Young People and Children

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Joe wants to know why his body temperature is down to 92.6 degrees. Also, if you're in the first two weeks of your cycle your temperature will be about 1/2 degree lower than the second half. Even malnutrition and starvation can cause your body temperature to be low, but it's probably because the body down regulates the thyroid so you'll live longer. In my response to Joe, I mention WellnessFX or DirectLabs for getting these kind of tests done, and also recommend a Spectracell analysis.

Prior to asking your question, do a search in upper right hand corner of this website for the keywords associated with your question. Many of the questions we receive have already been answered here at Ben Greenfield Fitness!

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