Ori Hofmekler Blog

All through history, men have been debating whether and how to control sex. Ancient Asian societies believed that the semen fluid is sacred, made from the same stuff that the brain is made from, and therefore should be preserved inside the body. Athletes, particularly wrestlers and boxers, have traditionally avoided sex before competition to increase aggression. Does the avoidance of sex promote aggression? Apparently yes, but aggression can be increased by suppressing other things as well, including eating, resting, sleeping, etc. Aggression isn't always a side effect of testosterone, sometimes it's a symptom of sheer frustration and stress.

The truth is simple: sex should be treated like exercise. If you do it too often, you may become overtrained/oversexed but if you don't do it at all, you may get out of shape. Note that overtraining is a relative matter - what's considered overtraining to one person may be an optimal regime to another. Other factors that contribute to overtraining are nutrition and sleep. Inadequate nutrition (misincorporation of recovery meals and nutritional deficiencies) as well as sleep deprivation are major contributors to overtraining symptoms. The same holds true for sexual performance, whether you exhaust your virility or not is a relative matter and it depends on your lifestyle, nutrition, sleep and level of stress.

How does all the above relate to your survival? The answer is obvious: the capacity to perform sexually is critical to the survival of the species. Sex hormones regulate multiple survival related functions, including reproduction, build-up of tissues, and physical performance (fight or flight activities). The point is that we are inherently programmed to actively survive - cycle between action and rest - and having sex is an action that plays an important role in actively surviving. Every mechanism in our body is well programmed for activity rather than inactivity. And this, by any means, applies to our reproductive/sexual system. Our semen fluid must be spent and recycled to keep it fresh and healthy. Similarly, our testosterone pool must be recycled (secreted and reproduced) to sustain itself and this important process is enhanced by exercise and sex. Legendary warriors, including King David, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Attila the Hun were known for their high virility and brutality. Evidently sex and aggression go hand in hand.

Manhood is inherent to us. It involves more doing than thinking, and like other things that we possess, it should manifest itself instinctively. Sexuality is part of what we are and we can't deny it. How often and how much? Well, it all comes down to the "art of living" - if you live your life as you have been programmed to, this very question becomes irrelevant.

In our modern society, everything is pathologically measured and accounted. Check and balance, moderation and saving are all terms that relate to matter and money - "if you spend you lose" or "you can't eat the cake and have it ...etc. What people today have been failing to understand is that our bodies are not programmed to do well while saving (saving/storing means getting fat). Unlike cars, our bodies can generate energy without having been fueled. Unlike machines, we have been programmed to renovate and recreate ourselves. Our testosterone pool must be challenged in order to recreate itself and overcompensate, that's why active individuals are in better shape than sedentary people - more resilient to aging and potentially more capable of being virile for life. Do not try to save your testosterone like saving money. It simply doesn't work. Stop counting and stop contemplating, instead live instinctively, eat to your heart, make love passionately - and enjoy this primitive side of yours.

A recent report on MSNBC.com - "Baby shampoo study raises chemical concerns" - indeed raises serious concerns regarding the safety of our children in our chemical dependent society. A recent study indicated that certain industrial chemicals, called phthalates, common ingredients in ordinary household products, cosmetics, plastic bottles, toys and in this case baby products, were found in elevated levels in the urine of babies after being shampooed, powdered or lotioned with baby products.

Phthalates have shown to cause reproductive disorders - sterility, birth defects, deformed sex organs and cancer in animals. These same chemicals are now abundantly found in the products that we use, in the water that we drink and in the food that we eat. There is growing evidence that phthalates are major contributors to female disorders, male reproductive disorders and cancer in men and women. Called hormonal disruptive chemicals, phthalates belong to a large family of manmade chemicals that have shown to disrupt the endocrine/ hormonal system, shatteringthe health and development of newborn animals and humans who were exposed to these chemicals through breast milk.

Phthalates are potent estrogen mimicking substances adding to the overall estrogenic impact of chemicals on our bodies and in particular our children's bodies - which are smaller and therefore pound-for-pound more vulnerable to this chemical onslaught.

Yet in spite of the growing evidence to the devastating effects of industrial chemicals on our society and particularly on our children, government officials dismiss the findings with the same old same old statement: "Should new data emerge, we will inform the public..."

Meanwhile, no one is doing anything besides some environmental advocacy groups and activists, all good people who adamantly protest but apparently with no solution. What can we do to protect our lives and our children's future?

First, we can't overlook this problem any more. Our society is getting fatter and sicker than ever, largely due to these chemicals which have been penetrating our bodies and persistently accumulating in our tissues. Second, since it's virtually impossible to avoid chemicals in our mechanized and industrialized lifestyle, it's critically important to take action now to lower the collateral damage of chemicals on our bodies. Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself and your family:

• Avoid plastic packed foods if you can. Drink water from glass bottles, buy sauces, oils and juices packed in glass rather than plastic. Note that frozen food or juices packed in plastic are safer than non-frozen ones (freezing lowers the rate of chemical leakage).
• Eat organic, avoid conventional meat, dairy or produce if possible. Note that fruits or vegetables with peels are safer (after peeling) than non-peeling ones.
• Avoid conventional chemical-loaded cosmetics, shampoos, lotions and soaps - use instead natural products - available in health stores or online.
• Detoxify your body on a daily basis with natural cleansing herbs and detox programs. Natural detox is the most effective way to neutralize/remove toxins and thus counteract the chemical impact.
• Ban all insect sprays, gardening pesticides and housekeeping chemical deodorants.
• Remember, our bodies have never adapted to chemicals and all chemicals cause side effects; these include synthetic vitamins, chemical food additives, artificial sweeteners and synthetic sugar alcohol - therefore avoid all synthetic vitamins and all diet products drenched with synthetic additives, even if they're labeled as health items.
• Learn how to use hormonal balancing herbs and foods to naturally counteract the hormonal shattering effects of chemicals.

Forced feeding, fixed calories, false indications

Recent studies on the impact of meal frequency on middle aged men and women raise serious questions to their relevant real life conditions. The studies were conducted by Dr. Mark Mattson, a pioneer researcher in the area of human feeding, is known for his ground breaking studies on intermittent fasting. Dr. Mark Mattson and myself have been corresponding regarding the benefits of the one main meal per day approach, and about a year ago he shared with me over the phone some information regarding the studies of which results were published recently. To avoid falsely driven conclusions, lets examine the facts behind these studies and clarify some key points:

• The subjects in the group of one meal per day were force fed to consume all their daily calories in one meal. This calorie intake was far higher than what they would have naturally consumed, according to their own reports.
• The subjects in the study had no ability to choose or prioritize food. Unlike WD followers who prioritize their foods, the subjects of these studies were forced to eat whatever was there (to comply with the studies' terms).
• Apparently, fasting morning glucose was higher in the group of one meal/day, but here is the catch: if blood glucose and insulin response had been checked in the afternoon, the results could have been quite different. Evidently, subjects on one meal/day have a different daily metabolic cycle than people on three meals per day. If the researchers had checked blood glucose of subjects on three meals/day in the afternoon, they would most likely find elevated glucose and a slower insulin response – compared to the subjects on one meal/day – during the afternoon (after sufficient post meal fasting time), their blood glucose would most likely be lower with a faster insulin response.
• Most importantly, there was no guidance as to how to separate between a.m. food and p.m. food, and no guidance whatsoever about food combinations, etc. Unlike the WD followers who carefully separate between a.m. foods and p.m. foods and use proper food combinations with clear principles (low glycemic, low on the food chain, etc.), the subjects in this study were fed like lab animals with no serious regard to nothing but overall calorie intake.

Let me put it this way – if the name of the game is "fixed calories only" regardless to their source, then you rather divide your food intake to small servings to avoid shocking your body with empty calories. But if the name of the game is "eating healthy" and prioritizing accordingly your food choices then you better separate between a.m. foods and p.m. foods to nourish your body in sync with your innate circadian clock and your overall metabolic system, such as with The Warrior Diet. As I wrote previously, it will take researchers another 15 years to dissect, isolate and combine all the multiple nutritional elements of the human diet if they will ever understand what we have been experiencing in real life when following The Warrior Diet.

I believe that Dr. Mattson knows the limitations of these studies and how misleading the conclusions may seem to be. In an article in the medical journal Lancet 2005, Dr. Mattson indicated that humans indeed are inherently programmed (all through the evolutionary process) to better survive on one main meal per day. With references to The Warrior Diet, Dr. Mattson presented the adverse consequences of overfeeding via frequent feeding. Other scientists worldwide have also been realizing that the human body is not programmed for frequent feeding. The facts speak for themselves – in spite of dieting more than ever, people today are getting fatter and sicker than ever. Obesity has reached an epidemic proportion of 30%, diabetes 12%, pre-diabetes 25%, blood sugar disorders, roughly 50%, Syndrome X 20%, male impotence about 15%, estrogen disorders are virtually 100%, and prostate disorders will eventually occur to virtually 100% of males. And all these maladies occur when the vast majority of people have been eating 3 – 4 meals per day. How much more do we need to suffer before realizing that something is very wrong with our diet routines and particularly with the frequency upon which we have been shoving food into our bodies?

Previous studies on intermittent fasting in lab animals revealed the amazing benefits of lower meal frequency on increasing life span, improving blood glucose, enhancing neuro protective capacity and improving body composition. More studies need to be done on human feeding but with more care towards real life conditions – how, for instance, the reduction of meal frequency affects calorie intake and food choices – naturally (rather than artificially by force feeding the subjects).

Finally, what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat are all important factors that are inseparably bound together to form your diet. Isolating one element over the others is a futile experiment that will always fail to indicate how things really work in real life. Things simply don't work in isolation. For instance, lowering calorie intake to merely 1000 calories per day will theoretically lead to weight loss and improve insulin sensitivity – but if the 1000 calories will come from pure sugar, the results will most likely be the opposite – weight gain and insulin resistance. Here is another example: combine some of the healthiest foods together – nuts, raisins, and whole grains – and you may gain undesirable weight just because the food combination was wrong and nuts do not combine well with raisins or grains. In conclusion, you can experience undesirable weight gain in spite of reducing calorie intake, or in spite of eating healthy foods – if you ignore other factors that influence your diet.

The Warrior Diet takes into account all the factors that constitute the human diet, and the evidence to its awesome benefits on people's lives are already here and now. We're currently stuck in the dark ages of dieting. We live today in an era that may be considered in the future as a turning point in history, in which humans have become an overweight/obese species with diminished capacity to survive and multiple. A real change is needed now, a renaissance in our routines. Being "normal" today means being overweight and unhealthy. Ask yourself whether you still wish to follow the same old normal routines.

Iron is critical to life. It is part of the hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells, involving the mobilization of oxygen from lungs to tissues and carbon dioxide from tissues to lungs. Iron is also part of enzymes responsible for energy production and DNA synthesis.

Iron deficiencies are common in our society particularly among infants, adolescences, pregnant women and the elderly. Inadequate intake of iron is common among vegetarians particularly vegans. Physically active individuals require more iron than sedentary people. A positive correlation between iron intake and physical performance has been established. Evidence indicates that even a slight iron deficiency can adversely affect physical performance.

Decreased absorption of Iron can occur due to a lack of hydrochloric acid secretions in the stomach, a condition that is associated with frequent over feeding, chronic stress and aging. Iron deficiencies can lead to anemia, cognitive disabilities, impaired immunity, fatigue and loss of strength. Serum ferritin is the best test/indicator for determining iron status.

It is generally recommended to take iron supplementation in accordance with the RDA – 10mg-12mg for men and 15mg for women. Pregnant and lactating women may need to adjust iron supplementation according to blood test.

Food rich in iron include meats, liver, nuts, seeds, parsley, dried prunes, raisins and blackstrap molasses. Nonetheless, plant derived iron has a lower bioavailability compared to animal derived iron (that is bound to hemoglobin). Since high meat consumption is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, it is not recommended to rely on meat as a healthy source of iron. Therefore, for the educated healthy consumer and particularly the physically active one, iron supplementation is recommended to "cover the bases." Nonetheless, in case of high consumption of iron fortified nutritional products (cereals, shakes or bars) it is recommended to adjust iron supplementation as to avoid iron overload. An elevated level of iron may lead to an increased oxidative stress and increased levels of free radicals, thus increasing the risk for infections and vascular damage.

In conclusion, though iron deficiencies are more prevalent than iron overload, it is important to carefully monitor iron intake so as to avoid both. Note that naturally occurring iron in food does not cause an excess but rather it is the isolated iron supplements, (if taken on the top of a multivitamins and minerals) that may cause this problem. For that matter, Vitamin C supplementation can help increase iron absorption and protect against potential side effects.