<p class="western">All this information come from my Can Fit Pro Wellness Eating and Weight Loss Coach manual.</p>

<h3 class="western" style="text-align: center;">Energy through nourishment, not stimulation.</h3>
<p class="western">Biological debt is the term used to describe the energy-depleted state often brought about by eating refined sugars or drinking stimulants like coffee to gain short-term energy. There are two types of energy: one obtained from stimulation, the other from nourishment. Stimulation is a short-term energy “burst” that masks the symptoms of fatigue. An eating plan that keeps an individual well nourished provides a steady supply of energy, which can be a pre-emptive strike against fatigue and the ensuing desire for stimulants. With nutrient-dense food as the foundation of a diet, there is no need to fall into biological debt.</p>
<p class="western">The more a food is processed, the more stimulating its effect on the nervous system. Processed foods and caffeinated beverages boost energy immediately and, almost as quickly, that energy will be spent (e.g. a sugar rush followed by a crash from the insulin response). It is a short-term, unsustainable solution to the symptom of energy debt. Furthermore, the associated adrenal gland stimulation results in eventual and unavoidable fatigue.</p>

<h3 class="western" style="text-align: center;">Stimulation makes demands on the adrenal glands, prompting the production of the stress hormone, cortisol, which is linked to inflammation, and increased fat storage.</h3>
<p class="western" style="text-align: left;">Higher levels of cortisol have many deleterious health effects including:</p>

<ul>
 	<li class="western" style="text-align: left;">Catalyst for the accumulation of body fat</li>
 	<li class="western" style="text-align: left;">Weakened cellular tissue</li>
 	<li class="western" style="text-align: left;">Lowered immune response</li>
 	<li class="western" style="text-align: left;">Increased risk of disease</li>
 	<li class="western" style="text-align: left;">Degeneration of body tissue</li>
 	<li class="western" style="text-align: left;">Reduced sleep quality</li>
</ul>
<p class="western">Chronically elevated levels of cortisol also reduce the effectiveness of exercise activity that normally helps to keep cortisol in check. Excessive cortisol levels can actually break down and prevent the action of other hormones that assist in losing fat and building muscle. As a result, fat increases more easily while muscles not only become more difficult to tone but strength is also likely to decline rather than increase. In contrast, when nutrient-dense foods are consumed and utilized as a source of energy, the adrenals are not over stimulated. The result is a sustainable energy level in the body; an important characteristic of wellness. Breaking one’s dependency on adrenal stimulation demands that clients base eating habits around the consumption of high-quality whole foods, versus supplementing dietary intake with synthetic and processed foods. Decreasing dependence on stimulants will also enhance muscle recovery.</p>

<h3 class="western" style="text-align: center;">Choose alkaline forming foods.</h3>
<p class="western"><strong>Many highly refined foods increase acidity in the body, and this acidity increases inflammation, which contributes to body fat storage and slows weight loss.</strong> To prevent high acidity in the body, increased consumption of alkaline-forming foods, and decreased consumption of acid-forming ones is necessary. Minerals are exceptionally alkaline-forming; therefore, foods with a greater concentration of micronutrients, specifically minerals, will inherently have a greater alkaline forming effect.</p>

<h3 class="western" style="text-align: center;">How alkaline-forming foods will enhance sports performance</h3>
<p class="western"><strong>A diet rich in alkaline-forming foods reduces inflammation, and less inflammation translates directly into greater efficiency of muscular contractions.</strong> Think of the many muscle contractions that take place over the course of a five-kilometre run. If every one of those contractions can be accomplished more efficiently, your clients will retain more energy and will be able to run faster without fatiguing. Recovery time between workouts is also be enhanced by this process, which means less downtime required between training sessions and, therefore, a greater rate of progress.</p>
<p class="western">Clients wishing to increase strength as well as lose fat will benefit from this approach as well. <strong>Reduced inflammation improves mobility and, therefore, peak muscle contraction strength.</strong> This improvement translates into the ability to lift heavier weight, which facilitates muscle building in less time than could be achieved with inflamed muscles.</p>