The Theory of the Sweet Science
The Theory of the Sweet Science
It seems the innate law of the universe — that things thought of as quick ‘solutions’ always have a down side. Getting hidden benefits from anything in life almost always means work. It’s easy to believe, because it’s convenient, that the panacea to all sports nutritional matters lies within bottles of pills that can be bought over a counter. No doubt vitamin supplements have their place, but they will never be a substitute for nutritious and natural food.
Let's take a look at the pyramid.
The pyramid illustrates, in general terms, what I’ve observed about people’s dietary habits. Obviously a few more sections could be added in between these, but hopefully you get the idea. Now, not all canned food is crap, but when I see people living on highly processed foods all of the time — there is a problem.
In reality most people will not be able to grow enough food to be self sufficent but you can certainly aim for that ideal — and in so doing, you will wipe out much of your food bill. More importantly you will garner all the health benefits of growing your own organic food.
Demineralization of farming soils is a fairly substantial and ubiquitous problem. People who do take the time to select and buy proper foods are usually unaware of this problem. To the naked eye the food appears to be nutritious but because of depleted soils, it lack minerals, amino acids and vitamins — all of which are essential for optimum levels of general health as–well as proper brain function.
There is also another major issue. A simple lack of water. Australia is experiencing a major draught. “Inflows into the Murray-Darling Basin in the winter of 2007 were amongst the lowest on record though marginally better than those of the winter of 2006 which had been the driest on record” [wikipedia]
So who cares about that you say.
“The Murray Basin contains 42% of the nation's farmland and produces 75% of the nation's food.”[wikipedia]
You should care! The equation couldn't be more simple. No water = no food.
I’m all for the concept of decentralisation but countries such as China have less stringent regulations for pesticide use, so some food produce is tainted with chemicals that are banned in western nations. Not everything that arrives at the port can be checked. The bottom line here is that the proper handling and care needed to safely deliver quality food products that are grown overseas is out of your control. If you want to be sure something is nutritious and safe to eat, grow it yourself.
Space and relevancy to boxing, which is what this website is supposed to be about, don’t permit me to rave on further, so I’ll move on.
Think of this as Sports Gardening, but having said that the benefits extend far beyond sport.
This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Unlike Neo in the Matrix, you don’t need a blue tablet or even a red one. On this crossing you’ll opt for a green pill in order to become a green thumb — and suffice to say, this pill requires some work.
Quality soil is what we need.
The answer is composting and it has many benefits. But what is compost? It’s simply a mixture (a compound) of many different organic (living organisms) materials that have been broken down.
There are 4 key elements that make the composting process work:
You first apply a layers of dry material (dry leaves like that pictured right →) then a layer of wet material (banana and potato peels, old tomatoes etc). The ideal ratio is about 30 parts carbon (dry stuff) to 1 part water (fresh wet food scraps) The ratio doesn’t have to be perfect, close enough is near enough, you’ll work it out for yourself over time. In between layers, sprinkle some blood and bone in the mix, this will help to speed up the composting process.
The compost will be ready about 2—3 weeks from the time you put your last load of water or carbon materials in. It will break down a little faster in the summer time.
To help the raw materials break down faster, I mulch everything first using a lawn mower. then I throw it all in the compost bin. You'll find that it will heat up very rapidly using this method.
The other reason you'll want to mulch it, is simply that it's harder to aerate when you have a bunch of tangled things in there, you really have to struggle to move it about.
Pictured left ← is the finished product. It’s lost roughly 1/3 of it’s volume over the time that it has been composting.
My compost bin dimensions are H90cm × W60cm × D64cm. So the total volume of the raw material is about 350,0003cm. After it’s all broken down I end up with about 250,0003cm of good compost material. That is about 250 — 1 litre milk cartons filled with compost.
Not a bad haul and certainly enough for the average size garden.
You can buy compost bins from hardware stores but I just make my own using old forklift pallets. There is no magical formula to building a compost bin. The only advice I would offer is make it from timber because it tends to hold the microbes better than plastic bins. And don’t build it wide, build it tall — I’ve found that tends to help keep the heat in better. A word of caution however, don't build the bin so high that you cannot mix the contents. The dimensions I mention above will do you nicely.
The only other thing you need is a pitch fork to turn and aerate the mix.
What can go into the compost bin? Almost anything that was once living.
What cannot go into the compost bin? Dairy products, meat of any kind, fats and oils.
The compost heap is cold and has a bad smell. What can I do? You’ve got too much wet stuff. Just add some dry stuff and mix well.
The compost is dry and doesn’t heat up. What can I do? Just add some wet stuff, if you don’t have enough food scraps or garden clippings, just throw in some water and give it a mix.
How do I know when it’s ready? After about 3 weeks or so it goes black and actually has a nice earthy smell.
How do I use it? Don’t just throw it on the garden because it will dry out. Bury it under the surface. You can apply it to the surface but cover it with a layer of straw or seaweed.
Are there any other side benefits to composting? Yes. Besides adding essential elements to the soil, compost acts like a sponge thereby improving the soils ability to hold water. This means less watering. You also dramatically reduce the volume of waste that would otherwise go into your garbage bin. Last but not least, you'll find that your food just tastes better.
Are there ways to speed up the composting process? Yes. Growing a herb known as Comfrey. This particular plant serves to add nitrogen to a compost heap which helps to hasten the process. It also has another benefit — it's other name being 'knitbone', the herb can be used as a poultice on wounds, sprains and fractures. It can also be eaten and is rich in Vitamin B12 but this practice has been discouraged due to the risk of liver toxicity.
The picture (left ←) is a small sampling of the produce from my garden. There are two kinds of spinach, tomatoes, basil and parsley. Obviously these foods are fairly low in energy, but when combined with other high energy foods such as pasta, rice, potatoes, lean meat etc they serve to provide the essential vitamins and minerals.
I know my home grown food hasn’t been polluted with chemicals - nor has it suffered a loss of vitamin and mineral content through being grown in overworked farmland soils or by the transportation and storage process. I spend a few minutes outside selecting fresh food from the garden, and then I go cook it. It’s that simple.
If you're interested in starting and maintaining a vegetable garden then Peter Cundall's book called 'The Practical Australian Gardener' is in my opinion, the best resource out there. Besides being the host of Gardening Australia for many years, Peter is also a Korean war veteran and his no nonsense approach to life shines through in his gardening book. He simply states what works and ignores the rest.
There are many approaches and techniques to gardening. One way that looks to hold some promise is called moon gardening. Recently (Feb 2009) Better Homes and Gardens aired a segment on this method of gardening and the results were very good. Take a look at the footage to see for yourself.
It’s hard to comment on one’s self. I’ve practiced organic gardening for a few years and I’ve been training a whole lot longer. I was fairly healthy to begin with so most improvements will be harder to notice.
I seem to recover faster from training, which obviously has a spin off benefit for better athletic performance.
However, in general, my health hasn’t been better.
There are a multitude of articles out there on the web that talk about the benefits of organic gardening and composting. What I’ve tried to show and hopefully convince you is simply this:
Quality Soil → Quality Food → Optimum levels of nutrition → Optimum levels of Health → Better results in the gym.
In sport you want every advantage you can get. I believe that it’s the small changes that transpire into the more substantial and measurable differences — that make a real difference. This is about an investment in your overall health and as long as you’re an athlete, your performance as–well.
The current age is filled with fitness industry rip—offs that are fueled by advertising hype and a million choices and promises. Perhaps it’s time to get back to the fundamentals.
It may also be worth remembering what Warren Buffet said:
Beware the investment activity that produces applause; the great moves are usually greeted by yawns.
