If you are training to build muscle mass (hypertrophy), immediately after your training session, there is a 15 minute window when your body is at it’s most receptive to nutrition. The best way to maximise your training, is to ensure that you eat a meal that is high in protein within this 15 minute window, to give your muscles the best possible opportunity to repair quicker, then become bigger and stronger. Don’t fall into the trap of taking protein shakes or supplements, because not only are these full of artificial ingredients that your body doesn’t need or want, but they only increase the fluid (sarcoplasm) between the muscle and the skin, rather than build the muscle. This provides a cosmetic result instead of a physical result, defeating the aim of the training.
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Preparation Time 30 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- Butter
- 3 Shallotts
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 5cm/2 inch piece fresh ginger
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbsp tomato puree
- 50 ml yeo valley natural yoghurt
- 150ml double cream
- 4 heaped tbsp of ground almonds
To serve: Brown basmati rice
Method
- Cut the chicken breasts into pieces. Heat the butter in a large pan. Add the chicken, onions and garlic, fry until the chicken is cooked. Once cooked add the ginger, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin and fry for a further minute.
- Stir in the tomato puree, ground almonds and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat.
- Add the yoghurt, double cream and mix well, then allow to warm through.
I was watching Countryfile (23 August 2009) and the item on red meat particularly concerned me. While the argument for us to eat less red meat because of the global effects of the methane gas emitted by cows is valid, shouldn’t the farmers be looking at what they are feeding the cows, that causes them to produce so much methane? Afterall, whatever is emitted, is the result of what is ingested. It was good to see that they are researching different types of grass that may alleviate the problem.
Alot of animals are fed antibiotics throughout their life, to prevent them from contracting diseases, which is not good for them and has a detrimental effect on the quality of the meat. Do you want to be eating meat that is dosed-up on drugs? I know that I don’t, which is why I buy all my meat directly from my local farm and the taste is so superior to any meat that I previously bought in the supermarket. My main concern was the item ‘linking’ red meat to an adverse effect on our health. We are animals that are meant to live of the land and red meat is a staple of our existence. Red meat is full of natural goodness and provides our bodies with more of the fundamental vitamins it needs, compared with white meat.
When Countryfile’s chosen member of the public for this item received the results of his medical and discovered that his cholesterol was high, they only mentioned LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein), the bad cholesterol and not HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) the good cholesterol. If his HDL is high, then that is good, as this is used by the body as a protector. If his LDL is high, then that is not good, but it doesn’t mean that his high consumption of red meat is the cause. Red meat is not the problem, it is how it is cooked that is the cause of high bad cholesterol. Most people cook with one of the many oils that are available on the market today, but don’t realise that the oils turn to ‘trans fats’ (bad fats) when heated at high temperatures, which is one of the main causes of high bad cholesterol. If people were to cook with a natural fat, such as butter or lard, they would be increasing their level fo HDL (the protector), as these products do not turn into bad fats, because they maintain their natural composite. So, at the end of the report, when the guy was eating his meal in the pub that consisted of fish, chips and vegetables; while the chips and fish are nutritionally good, it’s not what he is eating, but how it is cooked.
Let’s not make red meat a scapegoat for the failing health of the public, when there are so many other factors to consider.
I know that you don’t want to hear this and being an ex-serviceman, who get through their fair share of alcohol while serving Queen and country, I didn’t like hearing it either, but alcohol is fundamentally poison to your body. There is no nutritional value in it and as soon as it is ingested, your body is trying to expel it, because it doesn’t want or need it! In a regular pint of beer there are approximately 12 teaspoons of sugar. So, the next time you have a few beers with your mates, think about how much sugar you are putting into your body, what it is doing to your body and where it is going. Your body doesn’t want that amount of sugar and certainly not on a regular basis, so it stores it, which results in people becoming obese, diabetic or suffering from pancreas problems. I’m not suggesting that you stop drinking alcohol, just not to drink too much, because it dehydrates your body, which drains your energy resources, making you sluggish and it also weakens your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to viruses and diseases.
Chilli is full of protein, carbs, dairy and is a complete meal. There is fibre from brown rice and the meal on a whole is gorgeous.
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All margarines start-off BLACK! They are then pumped full of artificial ingredients to make them what you see on the supermarket shelves. They have a high content of polyunsaturated fat, which is good for you, but not in high doses. As a test, if you were to leave a tub of margarine and a block of butter out of the fridge for a long time, eventually the butter will decompose. Bacteria will get to the butter, as butter is full of natural goodness, but it will not go anywhere near the margarine. So, if bacteria doesn’t want to eat it, you don’t want to!
The current food pyramid decided upon by the government, determines that you should eat more carbohydrates such as, pasta, rice, bread, fruit and vegetables. The result of eating a diet high in carbohydrates, which your body doesn’t need, is that it ultimately provides your body with sugar, forcing your pancreas to release insulin, which makes the cells of your body more permeable, so that the sugar maybe absorbed into your system to be used as fuel. We only need a small amount of carbohydrates for nutrition, so if you eat alot of carbohydrates, the body uses the small amount that it needs and stores the rest, which is why there are alot more people are obese.
The more carbohydrates you eat, the more sugar is in your system and the harder your pancreas has to work to release more insulin. Eventually, your pancreas will burn-out, not be able to metabolise the sugar, so it is stored rather than used and not perform as it should, which can lead to obesity, diabetes and pancreas problems. The sugar release from carbohydrates supplies a short-lived boost of energy and once used, your body requires another boost soon after. To slow-down the release of sugar from the carbohydrates, eat them with a dairy product such as, butter, cheese, cream, yoghurt and milk. The dairy acts like a bungee tied to a whippet, as it stops the whippet running away at high speed and just allows it to accelerate at a steady speed, resulting in the fuel from the carbohydrates being drip-fed into your system, giving you a steady supply of energy.
When you do eat carbohydrates, eat unrefined carbohydrates such as wholemeal pasta, bread and brown rice. Don’t eat refined carbohydrates such as white pasta, bread and rice, as it has no nutritional value at all and once consumed, your body is trying to expel it, because it doesn’t want it.
This has been and is, of paramount importance to your body. Hundreds of years ago people lived off the land, getting their milk straight from a cow, with no pasteurisation process, which takes out half the goodness. They got their eggs from chickens that roamed free and were not battery farmed and not force fed. They got their meat from pasture fed animals, not a man made diet laced with antibiotics. [...]