Menthol, hhhaaaaaa (simulating me breathing in your face)

For those of you not reading from the link posted on http://www.yourmtb.com/, this was inspired by Walker's new "throat doping" agent deactivated by Halls.
Just for the record; Outstanding job Mr. Enthusiast -In-Chief on a great website that looks to be growing national attention!

Menthol is derived from the peppermint plant and is similar to Spearmint, but the latter is a hybrid and less potent which contains carvone. It's been used for thousands of years and continues to me sold for many uses today. Annual world production of menthol is estimated at over 63 tons.

So why does it help?
I believe it is due a combination of properties of menthol. The first being its anitpruritc properties (reduces itching) by engendering a thermal sensation that replaces the irritation. Menthol also contains chemicals that trigger cold receptors. This creates a more pleasant inhalation and takes the focus off of your breathing. When applied externally, menthol dilates blood vessels (increases blood flow) and reduces inflammation. A study http://http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2856502&dopt=Abstract showed that menthol relaxes smooth muscle in relation to intestinal muscle, but could possibly have the same effects on the smooth muscle of the bronchioles, thus relaxing and opening.

So that's my quick synopsis and my two year old must play. Or must I?

Cheerios mates.

Does high altitude training (or living) increase red blood cell production?

These little red red guys are a hot topic in the athletic community, especially the cycling world. More specifically the hormone that increases the production of them erythropoietin(EPO) also known as blood doping. Let's first discuss this amazing mammalian cell.

There are approximately 5 billion RBCs per cubic millimeter (the top of a pinhead) of blood and account for about 40-45% of the blood cells. Hematocrit is a measurable number and is the percentage of RBCs in the blood. Their unique concave shape allows them to maximize surface area and carry more oxygen by a molecule known as hemoglobin, which is what gives blood its red color. The bone marrow is the birthplace of RBCs and is initiated by EPO, produced by the kidneys, and eventually are broken down by the liver after 120 days.

I limited my search to only educational institutions due to their competitive desire to publish the most recent findings. And this is what I found.

When our bodies first encounter a higher altitude, it recognizes the decreased amount of available oxygen and begins to compensate. We immediately breathe harder to move more oxygen to our muscles. Within 2-3 days, blood content changes as more hemoglobin and RBCs are produced to increase the ability to transport oxygen. Some long term affects are found if you decide to inhabit this new environment such as the increased number of RBCs, decrease in maximum cardiac output and increased number of mitochondria and oxidative enzymes. I did not know the last two, which are interesting in of themselves due to the fact that the electron transport system is found within the walls of the mitochondria. So now the body has an increased ability to produce energy (that's whole other story). See this link: http://hem.passagen.se/hazard1/projekt/intro.htm The human body is so freaking amazing!!!

The moment you've all been waiting for: There is no significant evidence that shows training at high altitude to increase your hematocrit will increase your ability at sea level or any lower altitude. However, there is some evidence that shows training low and sleeping high (altitude training tents) can produce an edge. Colorado Altitude Training has some great info : http://www.altitudetent.com/

So that's what I found. Until next time.

Sorry it has taken so long to get back.
I would like to begin my first answer-post by starting from ground zero and define a protein.

Protein - A macromolecule that is composed of essential and non-essential amino acids. The non-essential are made by the body and the essential must be obtained through food. Proteins are not only found in muscles but hormones, cell receptors, enzymes, and come in all shapes and sizes.



Walker represents a small percentage of athletes. He is an amazing machine who has smoked me on the trails since I can remember and I can't imagine his average speed on the road. He breaks down muscle everyday as he trains or 'overtrains', which can cause an injury, but has not occurred. I believe the reason he remains healthy is his regiment is on the threshold of his optimum level (exercise vs protein intake) allows daily training and continued growth.

Extra protein has been a topic for years in the athletic community. As one, would predict; "I want more muscle, so I must work out and eat more protein to build it". Bodybuilders and endurance athletes (like Walker) are completely different when it comes to their energy source, which affects how proteins are utilized. Bodybuilders use glucose as their main energy source because of its short intensity and doesn't allow fat or protein to be used. Their protein is used to supplement tissue and muscle rebuilding. Endurance athletes sustain activity for 2-5 hours and use protein for 5-10% of their energy. Just as muscles need replenishing so does the source of energy used. So, endurance athletes usually need more protein in their diet than bodybuilders.

Consuming too much protein is thought to cause damage to your kidneys because of the hard work put into eliminating nitrogenous waste produced from protein breakdown. This was made clear by a study by Zaragoza et al (1987) in which animals were fed very high protein diets for more than half their life span and saw no adverse effects. The only negative aspect of over consumption of protein is it can lead to excess calories that are not burned and stored as fat, and protein is an inefficient source of energy for the body to use.
The recommended daily amount of protein is listed below.

RDA for sedentary adult 0.4
Adult recreational exerciser 0.5-0.75
Adult competitive athlete 0.6-0.9
Adult building muscle mass 0.7-0.9
Dieting athlete 0.7-1.0
Growing teenage athlete 0.9-1.0
*To find your daily protein requirement, multiply the appropriate numbers in this table by your weight in pounds.

I hope you have enjoyed the first session of my neuronal activity. Please feel free to correct me or suggest what ever you like.

Here It Goes

My first attempt and beginning something that I thought after periodically viewing my friend's, Walker Thompson, blogspot ( Chain Ring Action). My hopes are to discuss and research health related topics that people would like answers to. I'm not promising to be the encyclopedia, but willing to do my best to inform and have fun with our ever-increasing realm of digitized connections.