What do you crave at the Movies? Are you a Salty Popcorn lover or a Sweet Candy person? For me, its all Popcorn. The sweet nature of anything but Chocolate or raw honey is quite distasteful to me. But why is this? What makes my brain go for one thing over the other? Well, It turns out that ‘TASTE’ is both premeditated and genetic. Where some of our taste is learned through exposure and through the make up of our GUT, there is also some imprinted tastes that are bestowed on us while we were in the womb!
The Physiology of Taste.
You have nearly 10,000 Taste Buds. The technical term for Taste buds are Gustory Receptor Cells and they do not all reside on the tongue. You have receptors on the roof of the mouth as well as in the throat. These receptor cells are able to differentiate Sweet, Sour, Salty and Bitter. These receptors have a direct line to the brain which also has specific sites that recognize those particular Tastes.
In many people, our distinct recognition of one or two of these tastes drives our desire, but for a select few; All four tastes are peaking with each bite or swallow. This select group of humans are Called SuperTasters!
During Gestation in our mothers, Amniotic Fluid delivers not only nutrients but also flavors to the fetus. This means that whatever your mother may have been accustomed to eating (or Craving) during pregnancy are what you probably have a tendency to enjoy. Going even further, there is new science which is showing that this transfer of flavors can actually affect the coding of your DNA! So when you are born, your fate of food preference has been set!
A cool fact is that just like receptors that sense taste, you also have PRESSURE Receptors in your mouth and throat as well which can determine wether you like crunchy, smooth, fibrous, and liquid. Which pretty much makes sense in the great debate over why some people love crunchy peanut butter and others like smooth.
Habit and the psychology of food can also sway your love for Salty or sweet. I know that growing up, my dad always had a canister of salted peanuts or almonds on the bar. Being constantly scrounging for food as a teenager, this was a go to snack for me. My tendency during my youth has lead to my kids now snacking in the same way as I did. Habit and Nutrition, as noted many times over, go hand in hand.
We can also associate pleasurable memories with a desire for sweet or salty. My grandmother always made homemade bread with honey for me. This has lead me to absolutely love raw honey and warm homemade bread. Can you relate some of your tastes to memories? Or childhood habits?
The GUT has a lot to do with what you love as well. Our bacteria are considered the REAL BRAIN in our body. If you have an overgrowth of candida from poor nutrition then it is no surprise that this sugar consuming bacteria is going to drive you towards processed foods and sugars. Bitter tasting foods like sauerkraut and Kimchi are desired if you have another type of bacteria. So treat your GUT right and watch your Tastes change???
Of course, there is also slow exposure to a certain food that can help with changes in taste. Slow dripping Brussel sprouts in your diet can have long lasting effects on your health and overall cravings. This may not be the easiest thing to do but it may be for the best.
I will provide two caveats;
1. There is no science that says there are health differences between those that crave sweet VS. salty. it is all a matter of preference as I have laid out above.
2. Everything in moderation. If we only ate what we crave with abandon…. this may not be so good for our health. It is best to moderately intake what we crave and stick to a healthy macro-nutrient balance in our diet.
Developing greater consciousness of our food, eating habits and nutrition is to develop a greater understanding and control over ourselves. Keep your eyes open, Taste Buds ON and your heart open. Ill be here to support you the entire way!
Love,
Eric
Programming Notes 6/17-6/21 *** The idea of Super setting is meant to stress antagonistic muscles and overcome fatigue during anaerobic metabolic output. This week I have placed super sets in with the strength training to assist in driving the stimulus and adaptation. I will be keeping to this over the coming weeks as an experiment.
6/17
Baseline:
500m Row
3X
10 Lateral Lunges
10 Single Leg Toe Touches
10 Deadbug Ipsa lateral Reaches
8 Burpee Tuck Jumps
Squat Flow: Squat Flow: Kang Squat, Internal Rotation, Ankle Roll Out, Bootstraps, PNF Stretch, Squat W/ T Spine Stretch
Strength Work;
Split Squat
5-5-5-5-5
*5 On each leg*
SUPERSET With,
3 Seated box Jumps to 30/24” Box
Conditioning:
2 Rounds for Time
21 Power Cleans 135/95
21 Lateral Bar Hops
21 Wall Balls
21 Cal Row
21 Lateral Bar Hops
21 Wall Ball
21 Front Squat
6/18
Baseline:
4X :30 @ Each
-High Knee Rope Skips
-Calf March + Divebomber Push Ups
-Plank Hold
-Hollow Hold
-Scapula Pull Ups
Lunge Flow:
-Ankle Roll Outs
-Hamstring Pulses
-Elbow To instep W/ Reach
-Side Lunge
-Pigeon Stretch
Conditioning:
30 Min EMOM
A- :40 Double Unders
B- :40 Stone or D Ball Hold
C- :40 Ring Push Ups
D- :40 V Ups
6/19
Baseline;
5 :00 Assault bike
3X
12 Kip Swings
10 Banded Pull Aparts (supine)
10 Banded Pull Aparts (prone)
10 Banded Pass Thru
4 Wall Climb W/ Push Up at the bottom
Shoulder Warm Up W/ 2.5-5 # Weights
-bent Over Scarecrows
-Reverse Flys
-Internal Rotation cheek touches
-Front Raises
-Lateral Raises
-Corkscrews
-Y Presses
-Narrow Crossover Presses
Strength:
Push Press
5-5-5-5-5
*Across All sets, no cycling!!
SUPERSET W/
10 Toes To bar
Conditioning:
3 X
12 Handstand Push Ups or Box HSPU
14 Pistol Squats or Box Eccentric Lowers
16 Cal Bike
—Directly Into—
10 Clean @ 155/105
10 Front Squat
10 Push Jerks
**try to choose a weight to go unbroken on!!
6/20
Baseline:
Agility Warm Up @ 10m Each
High Knee Pull
Quad Pull
Squat 180 **stepping the leg high over hip, swing opposite leg to 180, squat
High Knees
Butt kickers
Marching High Kicks
Groiners
Straight leg shuffles
A Skip
Fig 4 Drill
Lateral Shuffle
Carioca
Lateral Bounding
Aerobic Conditioning:
2 Mile Assault Bike
1 Mile Run
2 Mile Assault Bike
1 Mile Run
Cool Down:
Roll Out for 10 Minutes
6/21
Baseline:
3X
200m Run
10 Inchworm Push Ups
10 Barbell Good Mornings
10 barbell Bent Rows
10 Barbell Snatch Grip High Pulls
Hamstring Primer:
3X 8
Deficit Deadlift 135/95
Pendlay Row
Strength:
Tempo Deadlift (1,1,3 lower)
3-3-3-3-3
*Across All Sets
SUPERSET W/
8 Strict Pull Ups after each set
WOD;
3 Minute AMRAP
18 Lateral Burpee Over bar
18 Snatch 95/65
Max Cal Row iN remaining time
—Rest 2:00—
3 Minute AMRAP
15 Lateral Burpee Over bar
15 Snatch 95/65
Max Cal Row iN remaining time
—Rest 2:00—
3 Minute AMRAP
12 Lateral Burpee Over bar
12 Snatch 95/65
Max Cal Row iN remaining time
—Rest 2:00—
3 Minute AMRAP
9 Lateral Burpee Over bar
9 Snatch 95/65
Max Cal Row iN remaining time
