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In this week's May 21, 2009 free audio episode:

-A shocking review of an article based on the the book "Bottomfeeder", written by a gentleman named Taras Grescoe. You will not believe the mind-blowing travesties that occur on a fish farm, exactly before that "fresh salmon" ends up on your plate. I'm in contact with Mr. Grescoe's publicity office to try to get him on our show, but listen in to this week's podcast for a sneak peek (the photo above is a tasty salmon covered in sea lice. A single lice can kill a salmon, so the feed is spiked with pesticides to kill off the lice).

-A review of research article: "Acute Effects of a Thermogenic Nutritional Supplement on Energy Expenditure and Cardiovascular Function at Rest, During Low-Intensity Exercise, and Recovery from Exercise". This article looks into whether "metabolism-boosting" supplements, fat loss pills, weight loss capsules and calorie-burning dietary aids are actually effective, and studied blood pressure, oxygen consumption, heart rate, and metabolic response to popular nutritional supplement ingredients. Mentioned in this review was the fat loss nutritional supplement "ThermoFactor".

-Suddenly there's a bunch of research on L-Theanine, and forward-thinking companies are adding it to their energy drinks as a way to stave off depression, produce "happy hormones" in the brain, and develop laser focused energy.  Click here to read the recent story in the LA times. One company was way ahead of the game, and I've been taking their stuff for years, with none of the artificial sweeteners, sugar, or preservatives found in commercial energy drinks. It is called Delta-E, and is a pink-colored, pomegranate flavored powder that dissolves into water, or can just be applied sub-lingually. Highly recommended.

-You still have complete access to the training and nutrition "diaries" and special tactics that I am incorporating with several people who are pursuing healthy and lasting fat loss in 2009. Click here to take a look at one girl from California, a 32 year old stay-at-home mom who has already tried Slimfast, Atkins, Herbalife, Body for Life, interval training, personal training, detox, low-fat diet, horseback riding, Slim in 6, a home treadmill and elliptical, mini-trampoline, gym membership, cleanses, Weight Watchers, hoodia, green tea, calorie counting, walking, hiking, Tai-bo, Wii fit, Denise Austin, bands, exercise balls, yoga and Lean for Life.

Also in this podcast episode:

-"The Skinny Guy Who Needs Muscle" - just released on May 19: Remember that last week I mentioned my friend Jeff Andersen, and his special program for "skinny guys" who want to put on muscle as quickly and safely as possible? The entire package was just released on May 19. I've seen it, and it's pretty incredible. The author, Jeff Andersen, is giving away some unique free tips on the program's website, including a review of the body's 2 most anabolic hormones,  a workout training technique that targets over 300% new muscle tissue, and a  $.08 "Miracle Supplement" that significantly increases muscle-protein uptake. The program is called "Hardgainer X" and you can click here to get it, or just to read his free and unique tips for building muscle quickly.

-Is There Really Any Good Reason to Eat Fat? - You tell us! Give your best healthy reason or answer for consuming fat and win one of the brand new BenGreenfieldFitness "My Personal Trainer Told Me To Eat More Fat" t-shirts! Click here to give us your best healthy reason to eat more fat.

Listener Q&A: I answer the following questions  in the May 21, 2009 free audio episode:

From Listener Chris: "I recently was diagnosed with a stress reaction (essentially mild stress fracture) in the lateral knee.  I was told that I can still swim, but that I should stop biking by my doctor and give it 8 weeks to heal.  8 weeks to me feels like a lifetime.  I tried aqua jogging today as I have had several friends do that as their legs have healed from injury.  I found it to be mildly painful on my knee as I pulled my leg forward. When I am running in the water...as my left leg pushes down and back and my right leg pulls up and forward, I found that I had pain in the outside of my right knee.  Specifically, when my quads are tight, pulling my shin and foot forward in the water.  I wonder whether I should be strengthening my quads and my hip flexors. Similar to the pain I feel when biking and pulling up on the crank with my right leg.  This could be due to poor form in the pool, but I thought you might have some advice regarding how I can reduce this pain.  My doctor has said to avoid activities that cause my knee pain (i.e. biking and running) and, therefore, I had thought that aqua jogging would be perfect, but was disappointed to feel the pain in the knee."

From Listener Scott: "I read in a fitness blog that it is difficult for men to maintain less than 9% body fat if they are eating at their maintenance caloric level.  I'm wondering what you have discovered while working with various people tying to get into shape or maintaining the shape they are in. The blog also stated men need to weigh a certain amount prior to starting a fat loss regime.  For example, a 5' 8" male needs to weigh 160lbs, 5' 9: 165lbs, 5' 10" 170lbs.  What is your opinion of this?"

Do you have a question? Remember, you can now ask your questions via *audio* to me via the free Skype software by simply "Skyping" me at username "pacificfit". You can also call toll free to 1-877-209-9439 and leave a voicemail for Ben Greenfield. The first audioquestion I receive this week (meaning you actually have to call in via Skype or the toll-free number), will receive a FREE 3-Month Premium Subscription to TrainingPeaks, the world's top online fitness software. That's a $49 value!

-The brand-new ultimate audio collection: Ben Greenfield Fitness, Volumes 1 & 2 have been released as a 10 CD multi-disc set:Now you can listen to any of the health, fitness or nutrition audio episodes on the convenience of your home or car CD player. I've only ordered 100 of the sets, but you can get over 1500 minutes of cutting-edge audio today for the web-only special of $47 by clicking here. Only 37 CD sets remaining as of this post (May 21), and a $10 discount is given away in this week's podcast. Just listen in to get your $10 gift!

That's all for this week. Be sure to leave our podcast a rating in iTunes! Just click here to go to our iTunes page and leave feedback!

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