How to be The Best?

Here are 5 popular questions and beliefs which all of us are very keen on getting answered.

Are vegetarians physically weaker than meat eaters?

Is there any food that can help reduce stress at work?

Are 3 meals a day or snacking better for your working day?

Why does a high carb diet keep you going longer?

Does caffeine give us a mental edge?

In this BBC documentary, they have conducted some studies to answer the 5 questions above. I believe these findings can be very helpful for all of us. Do have a look.

BBC's the Truth About Food: How to Be the Best

Summary:

#1 - Meat eaters have yet to be scientifically proven to be stronger than vegetarians.

• The experiment here shows that there is no "statistically-significant" improvement in the physical strength of vegetarians when they start taking meat, even though most of them have felt slightly improved.
• As for Colin Jackson, after turning into a vegetarian for one month, he has shown a drop in physical strength, as well as experiencing weakening muscles.

#2 - Omega 3 may well help you deal better with stress.

• 7 out of 10 people don't eat oily fish because they don't know how to cook it.
• The experiment here shows that eating oily fish 4 times a week for 12 weeks has helped reduce stress hormone in the body by 22%, and increase anti-stress hormone by 12%.

#3 - Snacking can make you more productive than eating large meals.

• After a big meal, blood rushes into the gut to help digest the food. This temporarily reduces the blood supply to other parts of the body, which means muscles can't work efficiently. This causes a dip in the body's energy level.
• Snacks are easier to digest, requiring lesser blood in the gut to help digestion, thus keeping sufficient amount of blood supply to other parts of the body to maintain the body's energy level.
• The experiment here shows that snackers (who snack on healthy food) produce 25% higher performance.

#4 - A high carb diet is better for long endurance activities.

• Carbs can be easily turned into energy during strenuous exercise.
• Fat molecules are structured in a way that the body finds harder to convert into energy during strenuous exercise.

#5 - Caffeine vs decaf for mental edge? It makes no difference.

• The experiment here shows that when someone quits coffee, initially there will be a coffee withdrawal symptom where alertness will drop drastically, but as time goes by, the mental alertness will get back to its normal state as before (all within 7 days).

Thanks to BBC's effort in making these documentaries, now we can be better informed when it comes to health related topics.  :)