Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by Brendan Brazier Read Free Book Online

your diet. The net gain of food is the term I use to describe the energy and usable sustenance that our body is left with once the food has been digested and assimilated. The body gets energy from food by way of nutrients. The more energy the body must expend to digest, assimilate, and utilize the nutrients in the food we give it, the less energy we are left with. As I mentioned earlier, the Thrive Diet was designed to reduce stress. For nutritional stress to be minimized, efficiency of digestion and nutrient assimilation must be maximized. Essentially, what high net-gain eating does is eliminate excess work for the body. And as you know, work without benefit equals uncomplementary stress.
     
    Unfortunately, most foods in the average North American’s diet require almost as much energy to assimilate as they contain. They therefore have an extremely low net gain. The nutritional value of food stated on the food packaging label refers to what is in the food—not what the body actually gets from it. The digestion process requires energy, a large portion of which is expelled as heat. People who eat a standard North American diet, one that includes many processed foods, burn a significant amount of energy digesting it. Similar to an incandescent light bulb that throws off heat inadvertently when producing light, the substantial amount of heat created and expelled during digestion translates into a significant net energy loss. Bodies that constantly operate at a high temperature are simply not operating efficiently. Energy used digesting the food is turned into heat that is then expelled into the environment. As heat escapes the body, so does energy. Had energy not been lost through this process—if it had been conserved through greater digestive efficacy—it might have been used as fuel for other body functions or fabrication of new cellular tissue.
     
    Because high net-gain foods are more easily digested, you may notice that your core body temperature drops slightly when you follow the Thrive Diet. During the colder winter months, in particular, this will be noticeable. While much healthier and a testament to an efficient body, a lower temperature may take getting used to.
     
    We can all benefit significantly from a body that retains energy by operating more efficiently, and the advantage for athletes is particularly great. Starting with a lower core temperature provides a larger “window” in which to operate. When physical intensity rises, so too does body temperature. By starting at a lower point, the athlete will be able to generate a greater intensity before reaching the maximum temperature that the body can efficiently function under. That is, a lower operating temperature translates into the ability to perform more work before experiencing fatigue. Here’s an example: If two runners were running side by side and one’s core temperature was a degree lower than the other’s, she would be farther from her body’s maximum temperature. This would allow her to speed up, running ahead of the other runner while exerting no more effort. Also, being farther from maximum temperature means that her body, and therefore heart, do not have to work as hard, allowing her heart rate to stay lower. A lower heart rate means that less energy is being expended to maintain physical workload, and therefore her endurance is improved.
     
    I am often asked how I am able to gain and maintain strength and lean muscle, and have an abundance of energy for high-performance training, while eating fewer calories than most people. One of the most important factors is that I select food with the net-gain concept in mind rather than by the conventional calorie-counting method. Let’s consider white bread. In the old days, when dining out, I would wolf down the French bread typically served before the meal. My stomach would be physically full, yet I would still be hungry. Since white bread is void of any useful nutrients, my body wanted me to