The Nutrition episode with Arseny Chernov

The Endurance Asia Podcast

Arseny Chernov is the founder of Food Buddy an endurance nutrition coaching company and has a diploma of nutrition science as well as being an ironman athlete and tech professional.

Engage with Foodbuddy on https://instagram.com/foodbuddy or https://fb.me/foodbuddy

Mentioned the following:

• Estimated Energy Requirement Calculator: http://bit.ly/foodbuddy-eer

• Conrad P. Earnest, Jeff Rothschild, Christopher R. Harnish & Alireza Naderi (2019) Metabolic adaptations to endurance training and nutrition strategies influencing performance, Research in Sports Medicine, 27:2, 134-146, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15438627.2018.1544134

• Rothschild JA, Bishop DJ, Effects of Dietary Supplements on Adaptations to Endurance Training, Sports Med. 2019 Sep 17, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01185-8

• Supplement for 100+ km/week joints running load: http://bit.ly/foodbuddy-geladrink

• Inspiring Book: Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus https://amzn.to/34fuqUs

• Inspiring Book: iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious https://amzn.to/2JC1n5v

• Inspiring Book: 80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster by Training Slower https://amzn.to/2NtNLKJ

• Best sub-100$ thing: coaching by Merle Talviste, https://www.swimsmoothsingapore.com/squad

• Best sub-100$ thing: Injini 2.0 Toe-socks https://amzn.to/2L4FyuY , Drymax socks: https://amzn.to/2QjXAiK

Tell us about your background in nutrition and history in endurance sports. What came first?

Went from ~110 kg 80 kg myself. 10h 39min in Ironman Cairns (140.6), 29h 18min in PYT166 100-miler with 8000 meters elevation. Got a lab coat - did a Specialist Diploma in Nutrition Science at NYP Singapore, on top of my Master Degree in technology. I launched my own app for iOS called FoodBuddy, sunsetting it now unfortunately.

My wife Lily’s fully recovered from the neck disc tear through nutrition and well-being planned. Now runs duathlons.

Foodbuddy is all about coaching 1x1, enterprise workshops (most impactful format), also present in Regional Committees (RC-s) in Singapore as I’m a People’s Association Trainer.

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2018 official nutrition coach, run workshops, Facebook live-s.

My mentors: Andre Blumberg, Matt Fitzgerald. Coached in “kampung spirit” of Integrated Riding Racing Team (IRRT) - takes a village to ride fast! Kudos to Merle Talviste (Swim Smooth coaching Singapore)

Tell us about your philosophy on nutrition

Nutritional choices (what to take) is NOT diet (sum of intake). Let’s get terms right. Most important aspect is Hunger vs. Appetite. Figure your Estimated Energy Requirement: http://bit.ly/foodbuddy-eer Set yourself up for the reality around you. Then get bored! How I pre-select to fight appetite. Recipes. Patterns.

VICE uploaded “Mac & Cheese for 17 years” - “I’ve tried celery. I threw that shit out instantly” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TWvXwgKr0 .

Crazy case of some nervosa, definitely not anorexia nervosa though.

Anyways, it’s ABCD - no single right answer! Nutritional Needs Assessment uncovers it:

● Anthropometric (i.e. BMI %%-s, fat loss progress, )

● Biochemical (nutrient deficiencies, cholesterol level, OGTT for Diabetes)

● Clinical (skin state, etc.)

● Dietary (ecological / social status, certain food restrictions due to religion, food log, habits)

As to athletes… aspiring vs. amateur, let’s be real.

● Eliud Kipchoge - Maurten hydrogel 2018, 2019. By the way there’s a study that it’s not really working as it’s supposed to?.. Well, it works for Eliud anyways.

● Chris Froome - haribo gummy candies in Giro D’Italia 2018 while losing 1 kg over 5 days.

So did Peter Sagan.

For us, ex-hunters with 10,000-s of years of experience, - everything edible is great in moderation.

There are lots of diets that endurance athletes follow from Vegan, to Paleo to HCLF to Full Keto. What do you believe is the ideal diet for endurance sports

Successful event is a factor of preparation, mental health, in-race nutrition, luck (i.e. weather). Successful result is equivalent to “high performance”. High performance usually means lower mass.

There’s a new movie about vegan diet that throws in a bunch of claims by the way:

● “Roman gladiators didn’t eat meat” - that’s an anecdote from archaeologist, Andrew Curry, in Archaelogoly Magazine 2008: Karl Grossschmidt of Medical University of Vienna, Vienna (MedUni Vienna). Gladiators, it seems, were fat. Consuming a lot of simple carbohydrates, such as barley, and legumes, like beans, was designed for survival in the arena. Packing in the carbs also packed on the pounds. "Gladiators needed subcutaneous fat," Grossschmidt explains. "A fat cushion protects you from cut wounds and shields nerves and blood vessels in a fight." Not only would a lean gladiator have been dead meat, he would have made for a bad show. Surface wounds "look more spectacular," says Grossschmidt. "If I get wounded but just in the fatty layer, I can fight on," he adds. "It doesn't hurt much, and it looks great for the spectators."

● Claim “on par”. Plants could be an extremely good source of protein if all 9 essential amino acids + Nitrogen containing amino acids, but to say that it is on par with animal protein in terms of minerals like iron, vitamins like creatine, and synthesis availability (which are incredibly important for high performing athletes) is an outright BS.

For vegetarians, it is important to know that Protein Quality = Amino Acid Composition + Digestibility (soy is best, up to 90% where 100% is meat)

Beef is less than egg white

I eat eggs and drink milk = top PQ food :-) therefore, are you ovo-lacto-vegetarian :-)

Complementary: legumes + grains (different amino-acids).

Biological Value = (nitrogen retained, g / nitrogen absorbed, g) * 100

Higher = better match

Lower = lower match

FAT content in meat is higher, yes. There are two types of fat absorption: for saturated fat it’s through lymphatic system (chylomicrons, leading to LDL) and through intestine walls then venes and to liver (for unsat / polyunsat). Former flies past the adipose tissue reserves through lymphatic system, resulting in subcutaneous fat refills uncontrolled. Latter is controllable but again, there are two vehicles that can be determined using biochemical blood test -- High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) GOOD lipoprotein -- very small size, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) BAD as can potentially clog the arterias.

LCHF

Rothschild JA, Bishop DJ, Effects of Dietary Supplements on Adaptations to Endurance Training, Sports Med. 2019 Sep 17, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01185-8 (shout out, he’s in New Zealand doing his PhD)

Over the past 20 years, research suggested that strategically reducing carbohydrate (CHO) availability during an athlete’s training can modify the metabolic responses in lieu of simply maintaining a high CHO diet. Several methods have been explored to manipulate CHO availability and include: Low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diets, performing two-a-day training without glycogen restoration between sessions, and a “sleep-low” approach

Arguments in favor of trying to increase fat-burning capacity focus around the ability to utilize the large stores of endogenous lipids found even in very lean athletes, while preserving the relatively limited supply of muscle and liver glycogen. Yet despite this theoretical advantage, measurable performance improvements from deliberately increasing fat burning capacity have been elusive.

Each of these methods can confer beneficial metabolic adaptations for the endurance athlete including increases in mitochondrial enzyme activity, mitochondrial content, and rates of fat oxidation, yet data showing a direct performance benefit is still unclear.

Do you believe in strict macros or simply calories in calories out

They all converge to one another, if you do it right. Estimated Energy Requirements (EER) is key here, and think about 7 days sliding windos.

Another way to think about food is through the portions count of a particular quality. Kind of Matt Fidzgerald’s approach. Know your EER + tweak PAL. Think last 7 days window. Control thirst-induced hunger. Eat breakfast like a pro.

How do you believe the diet differs for each endurance sport

Everywhere it’s Gravity. Gravity is mass. Mass also non-linear to skin area, there’s a formula to that. Thus the more mass - the more heat-induced stress from energy production, but not proportionally enough evaporation. Fat % reduction vs. temperature range vs. VO2max. Same stuff.

What is your philosophy on nutrition during race

Depends on the race. Drink by thirst, do not fall below, do Protein.

What is your philosophy on nutrition in recovery

Sleep. Compensation vs. recovery. DOMS. Antioxidants. Orange, Lime, Strawberries. Guava.

Protein ratio to Carbohydrates. 30% of EER means ~0.8g/kg/day . Increase with intensity. Don’t compensate!

I do collagen peptides for 100+ km weeks

How do you feel about fasting as a method for endurance athletes.

Time restricted eating and longer term fasts

Exercise more! Ride up grades, don’t buy upgrades!

What about alcohol? Red wine good / bad? Volume?

7 cal/g, balance with life.

Do you recommend protein shakes?

Depends on training volume, but the the NuZest is great.

What about supplements? Vitamins, minerals, fish oils? Do you recommend and how do you suggest people review which supplements they should get. I’ve done DNAFit which showed a genetic lack of B6 and B12

Do the Clinical blood test and talk to doctor. Sleep.

I do collagen peptides for 100+ km weeks

Drinking during endurance sports? Hypernatremia is a big risk. Do you suggest taking on salt during exercise.

Comrades Marathon study by Tim Noakes, author of “Waterlogged”. Water follows electrolytes, salt inhibits the water. Same in inter-cellular and intracellular. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564296/

Are there any ‘superfoods’ which you recommend, Apple cider vinegar, Flak seeds, Chia seeds, nuts.

Train more!

Chia is great brekkie, keeps the Latin American economy going as side-effect ;-)

“PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY OF CHIA SEED Salvia hispanica L” -- digged through faeces to find out.

CHIA SEE contains 18% of protein content, a level markedly greater than other nutritional grains such as wheat (14%), corn (14%), rice (8.5%), oats (15.3%) and barley (9.2%) -- grind in to flour or buy as powder.

Fiber content. And it’s cool :-) But, low protein digestibility according to FAO/OMS (42) standards. 79.80%

Raw seed only 34% It looks like grinding would help protein digestion of raw seed. This treatment improve digestibility that could happen due to the fact that grinding divide and expose all seed component allowing enzymes actions. Finally, soybean flour shows an intermediate digestibility score, which is in concordance with previously a report.

BEETROOT

Conrad P. Earnest, Jeff Rothschild, Christopher R. Harnish & Alireza Naderi (2019) Metabolic adaptations to endurance training and nutrition strategies influencing performance, Research in Sports Medicine, 27:2, 134-146, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15438627.2018.1544134

The limited evidence suggests there may be small but favourable effects of endurance training with nitrate supplementation, which are possibly related to changes in muscle fibre type. Beetroot juice may be more effective than nitrate salts, though the eficiency of supplementation can be affected by inter-individual variability [97] and environmental conditions [98]. All studies to date have used high-intensity training protocols, as dietary nitrate is particularly effective at augmenting physiological responses in type II fibres

Sugar, is it really the enemy?

Yes. Dopamine! Not good :-(

Meat, is it really the enemy?

Often high fat in meat, plug cooking with oil... But again, it’s vs. choices, vs. tastes, vs… Well, for protein - nothing beats egg whites. You choose!

Around your endurance athlete CV. How many IronMan have you run. What was your best performance?

PB 10:39 in Cairns 140.6

29:18 in PYT166

Have you ever DNFd? What’s your favourite DNF and why? What did you learn?

Nope

What makes you emotional

Music, good movies. Watched “Big” with Tom Hanks recently, what a great movie. Endorphins from meditative trail running.

Most inspirational book

iGen by Jean Twenge / Crucial Conversations by Al Switzler / Throwing Rocks at Google Bus Douglas Rushkoff / 80/20 Running by M.Fitzgerald

Favourite podcasts

Unfortunately I’m the audiobooks kind of guy at best :-( Will do more Endurance Asia!

Favourite endurance tech apps

Strava of Alan Bradley :-) RAAM Solo, now RedBul TransSiberian... and being Friends on Facebook with Jag Lanante and Andre Blumberg.

Best kit you've bought under $100

• Best sub-100$ thing: coaching by Merle Talviste, https://www.swimsmoothsingapore.com/squad

• Best sub-100$ thing: Injini 2.0 Toesocks https://amzn.to/2L4FyuY , Drymax socks: https://amzn.to/2QjXAiK

Proudest moment personal / physical / professional

My daughter. My wife’s recovery from neck disc tear.

Closing remarks advice anyone thinking of coming up with or doing a challenge, whether it be a expedition adventure race, ironman, ultra marathon or Everest..

Set goals, look backwards, imagine, visualize, and think backwards how to get there. Always neg-split. Always set interim achievable goals!

Engage and reach out on Social media :-)