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"Brice Mead: Cycling Champ Conquers the Peaks and Valleys with Platinum."
Brice Mead has tried a lot of diets and a lot of energy bars during his years as an athlete and a diabetic. But once he discovered Platinum Performance there was no turning back. It not only fits into his training and nutritional program, but into his sense of what is right for his body.
It has become clear in recent decades that the modern diet is out of sync with the genetic requirements of humans. Vitamin intake is lower and the essential fatty acid profile is substantially different from our evolutionary diet. One of the foremost experts on the subject, S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., says that the less you eat like your ancestors, the more susceptible you'll be to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many other "diseases of civilization."
According to Eaton, "The vast majority of our genes are ancient in origin [which] means that nearly all of our biochemistry and physiology are fine-tuned to conditions of life that existed before 10,000 years ago." That's why he advocates adopting the diet of the past, the Paleolithic or prehistoric diet. In prehistoric times, most carbohydrates came from fresh vegetables and fruit. Protein intake was around 30 percent, much of it coming from what is now called "game meat" like wild deer and bison. Consequently, prehistoric people also consumed a higher percentage of omega-3 fatty acids.
Mead, a 23-year-old linguist and cycling competitor recognizes the wisdom in this nutritional approach and is well on his way to integrating the Paleolithic diet as laid out by Loren Cordain, Ph.D., his book, The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat. Mead says Platinum Performance dovetails nicely with the Paleo approach.
Formerly of Dallas, Texas, Mead currently attends Columbia University, lives, works and trains in Florence, Italy, and says he is a perfect candidate for the Paelo diet. An athlete with Type 2 diabetes, he knows first-hand the limitations and hardships this disease has on competitive athletes.
In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. In either case, the body needs insulin to use sugar, the basic fuel for the cells in the body; insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. In other words, the body needs insulin to produce energy to run on. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, the cells may become famished. Over time, high blood glucose levels can damage eyes, kidneys, nerves or the heart.
Born in Texas, Mead has gravitated toward sports most of his life. In his teens, he was a tennis player and a swimmer. In fact, he first learned about Platinum Performance from his swim coach in Dallas, Jim Montgomery, the co-head coach of the Dallas Aquatic Masters program, as well as a world champion swimmer and gold medallist. He says Montgomery knew Gary Hall Jr. and all about his success with Platinum. Mead who was having a hard time trying to maintain a training program around Type 2 diabetes, looked up Platinum on the Web and ordered some bars and supplements. He started taking Myo-Aid and Hemo-Flo but feels like he hit pay dirt with the Platinum Bar. "This was it," he says. "The one thing that I felt made a difference. This is the best."
At Columbia, Mead went on to become a member of the crew (rowing) team, one of the top crew programs in the nation, and began riding with the New York City-based Century Racing Club Association, the largest racing club in the nation. But it was while triathlon training that he discovered his real strength lay in cycling. He set a goal to become a professional cyclist and moved to Europe. Eventually, he started training and racing with Team Bhoss King based in Empoli, Italy, near Florence. Bhoss King is composed of amateur and pro-cyclists alike, and is the top-ranked amateur team in Italy.
During his off-hours when he's not training, Mead co-owns Audio Vox Worldwide Inc., a language learning business that produces audio-magazines and audio-books designed to facilitate the language acquisition process.
That's also when he consumes the Paleo diet he loves so much in about six small meals a day. The bars supplement his training diet. "I love the bars," Mead says. "I love everything about them. One of the highlights of my rides is recharging with Platinum Performance. The bars taste great, and they give me the energy I need to keep me going strong on the bike. It’s the first energy bar I’ve come across whose taste I love. I actually look forward to eating them.”
Mead describes Platinum as “a good, all-natural food packed with superior nutrients. I appreciate the healthy ingredients, especially the Omega-3 essential fatty acids."
Still, life on the bike hasn't been the same since he hit on the right formula for eating the bars. Mead carries them on his daily training rides, consuming one to two bars every 60 to 90 minutes on the bike on rides that vary from 50 to 100 miles. He says he never feels hungry and his blood sugar stays level. "It's the only bar that doesn't mess with my stomach. And believe me, I’ve tried them all. It's the only one."
After considering racing for other Italian teams, such as Cantina Tolla and Park-Pre, Mead has decided to sign with Bhoss King Empoli, renewing his contract for another year. With Platinum Performance fueling his training rides, he's confident that the only impact diabetes will have had on his life is that it led him to such a great product.
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