Effect of Humidity on Athletic Performance

It's pre-monsoon and soon it'll be monsoon season in India, and in places such as Delhi in Northern India, the high temperatures (soaring above 40 degrees C) coupled with high humidity makes for a bizarre situation for runners and cyclists since the air quality is far better than winters and therefore you'd want to be outdoors more, but the climatic conditions for prolonged or HIIT exercise are totally non-supportive.

During the season, as the humidity arrives and progressively increases, there is a general phenomenon amongst runners and cyclists to reduce the intensity and/or duration of exercise since the weather (high humidity in particular) feels awful and, quite visibly, exercise attire gets drenched in sweat in a matter of minutes, due to lack of evaporation. 

When such feelings arrive, there is a common psychological tendency to reduce the duration and/or intensity of exercise since athletes become hyper-focused on the palpable humidity and their sweat drenched clothes, and blame the high humidity for their lack of performance, like blaming god for getting fired from a job.

On an average day, I reach home from work at a little before 10 p.m., so I usually end up running in the mornings at about 7-8:30 a.m. when both heat and humidity are high and I also regularly get the feelings to take it easy during workouts, but I usually (unless I'm hungover) do not take it easy.

Enjoy the customary random photo since I'm not narcissistic enough to put mine

So the moot question is, 'how much does humidity affect athletic performance?' I'll ignore heat since there is ample and cogent evidence on the interwebz which demonstrates that increases in environmental heat (other than during warm-ups) after a certain point is directly related to decreases in exercise performance. Hence, allow me to ignore heat as a factor in relation to exercise performance since I don't want to bore you or misuse my blog like a conman for spewing information which is common knowledge or which is already available with a single Google search click.

Effects of heat and different humidity levels on aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance in athletes (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1728869X13000087) is one of the first studies which was conducted in the year 2013 to systematically investigate the effects of a hot environment and different humidity levels on VO2max and Wingate anaerobic test performance in the laboratory.

As per the aforesaid study, the VO2max performance was impaired in the hot–dry (i.e. hot and low humidity) and the hot–wet (i.e. hot and high humidity) conditions in comparison to the optimal temperature-optimal humidity (control conditions/thermoneutral conditions), but there was no difference between the hot–dry condition and the hot–wet condition. The researchers found that humidity changes did not further affect VO2max. This means that you should not decrease the intensity and/or duration of your non-HIIT (i.e. long runs/tempo runs/steady runs/recovery runs workouts) if you feel that the humidity is high and your clothes (and maybe shoes too like it happens to me in this season) are drenched in sweat. It's not the humidity, it's just your brain playing tricks. You reverse-trick that fucker and complete your workout, drenched or not.

In addition, it was found in the aforesaid study that anaerobic performance using the Wingate test (i.e. peak power and anaerobic capacity) was not affected by the hot–dry conditions or the hot–wet condition, compared to the control environment (thermoneutral conditions).

Lastly, the study was conducted during the spring season to avoid any natural heat acclimatization from the summer in the test subjects. Therefore, if you reside and run in a hot and humid environment, then to a certain extent your body has already acclimatized to the then existing environmental conditions.

This means that you can keep doing your shorter intervals (like really short intervals since Wingate HIIT tests are such) without being affected by heat or humidity, especially considering that your body may have acclimatized to a certain extent. Again ignore the monkey brain which is making your take extra notice of the humidity and drenched clothes.

In conclusion:

1. Humidity will not decrease your VO2max, but heat will. So don't blame the humidity and hammer through your workouts in the high humidity season; and
2. Short interval training/short HIIT will not be affected by heat or humidity, so hammer through those too!

In the next blog, I'll tell you about boosting metabolism through heat training. 

Make gains in this weather and be outside more, because Delhi's polluted winters are coming soon. Cough cough! Ouch.

- Aman Yadav

Biomarker analysis for athletes

Biomarker analysis for athletes is becoming increasingly popular. True Ventures, an initial venture capital investor in Fitbit saw merit in the concept and has recently invested in a biomarker analysis company.

In simple terms, Biomarker analysis for athletes means getting your blood tested for various parameters which can/may/will affect your athletic performance, both physically and mentally.

For the past 1.5 years, while practising law, I’ve been working on a side project and using myself and my co-founder, Yashraj Rao, as guinea pigs to test different biomarkers in our blood in response to the effects of, (i) different types of exercise; (ii) different intensities of exercise; and (iii) different nutrition.

Our findings from our blood tests are pretty interesting and helpful for curating an exercise regime, but nonetheless we could have behaved better before giving our blood samples to the lab. But, hey! both of us are semi-hedonists and (almost) failures in the start-up world, and therefore as god’s imperfect creatures we are prone to ingesting unhealthy liquids and solids, and inhaling plants which are not permitted by law unless you reach a certain age.

I won’t take you through all the parameters we got our blood tested for but I will highlight one biomarker which has immense potential in not just making a better athlete but also a better man. That biomarker is Testosterone.

In the year 2016, I had written an article on Testosterone when, 33 year old, two time Olympian and American half marathon record holder (59:43), Ryan Hall had announced his retirement from professional running. He did this just a few weeks before the U.S. Olympic Trials and the reason was his critically low Testosterone from excessive running mileage and low calorie diet, which had made him suffer both physically and mentally.

The article linked above contains, (i) guidelines for running mileage; (ii) list of food which can help; and (iii) importance of strength training, to help maintain healthy Testosterone levels, so I won’t delve again into those aspects here.

In the article linked above, I had not focussed on the mental benefits from maintaining a healthy Testosterone level. Before we proceed further, allow me to give a caveat --- barring a few studies (which I think may have been funded by nutrition companies selling bull semen or bull testicle candy to men), most of the scientific studies have been unable to conclusively establish a positive link between mood and testosterone levels in the male body. Having said that, let us not forget that Testosterone is essential for numerous critical functions in the male body, and therefore maintaining a healthy level of Testosterone is akin to maintaining a healthy bank balance -- you may not need the money all the time, but when the need arises, you must have it circulating in your system.

Testosterone plays an important role throughout the body in men (and women too). It affects the brain, bone and muscle mass, fat distribution, the vascular system, energy levels, genital tissues, and sexual functioning.

A drop in testosterone levels can contribute to, diminished erectile quality, changes in mood, reduced intellectual and cognitive function, fatigue, depression and anger, decrease in muscle mass and strength, decreased body hair, skin alterations, decreased bone mass/mineral density and increase in abdominal fat mass.

Endurance exercise like distance running, cycling and swimming have been shown to reduce testosterone levels in a male body significantly.

So a lower base level of testosterone which is common in men nowadays, coupled with testosterone losses from endurance exercise sounds like a recipe for disaster for amateur athletes. Moreover, training will suffer due to low testosterone levels since energy levels will be low, mood swings will be present and fatigue will be holding you back. There will be higher chances of a burnout and bad race timings.

Coming back to my blood work. Towards year 2017 ending, I had reduced my running and strength training to negligible levels due to the Delhi’s air pollution but I had increased my cycling --- predominantly low intensity cycling but high weekly mileage on the indoor trainer to prepare for a mountain bike race in Himachal Pradesh in February 2018.

During this span of 3-4 months of low intensity cycling, my weight did not increase but I lost a lot of muscle mass and gained noticeable abdominal fat, and mood-wise I felt about 5/10. Maybe it was the lack of sunlight, but I’m not sure!

So during my scheduled blood work in the beginning of January 2018, my test results showed that my Testosterone level was 535.54 ng/dl (Normal Range 241 – 827 ng/dl). Needless to say that I was not pleased with this and I decided that after finishing the cycle race in February 2018 --- from March 2018, I will get back on a balanced exercise program with focus on physical and mental improvements, and not just be cardio obsessed.

January 2018 blood work

For the past 2 years, I have become significantly less obsessed with race timings, high weekly mileage and posting workouts on social media. My goal from exercise has shifted towards balance and using exercise to not being in general a typical asshole. So, I work out hard-ish and keep my biomarkers in check (while being a semi-hedonist), and simultaneously ensure that I feel positive enough to not snap or get annoyed with friends, my family, my lady, the boss-man and my colleagues without due reason, but still have enough fire in my system to not be ‘meek’. Actually, not snapping at my parents takes the top spot in my main goals from exercise. You can’t be a prick at home but pretend to be a saint on social media. Jordan Peterson and the old Stoics would be proud of me. I’m cleaning my room Dr. Jordan.

Ok, so from the beginning of March 2018, I commenced more running (since it is better at changing biomarkers than cycling), lifting weights and eating more fat and meat. The plan was to also introduce one day of running HIIT per week to boost Testosterone levels, but I messed that up by doing too much too soon and getting injured, and by the time May 2018 had arrived for my scheduled blood test, I had done only one HIIT session. Notwithstanding the lack of a proper overhaul of my exercise routine, my biomarker testing in mid-May 2018 showed that my Testosterone level was at 634.22 ng/dl (Normal Range 241 – 827 ng/dl).

May 2018 blood work

So in 2 months, there was an increase of 100 ng/dl in Testosterone, lower abdominal fat and mood-wise (unless I’m hungover) I feel about 7/10 on most days. Win-win!

I’ve commenced the next phase of training and nutrition for my upcoming blood test, and this time the major change is that I’ve introduced some read meat, and Zinc Picolinate and Magnesium Glycinate tablets to my diet. I except to gain some lean muscle mass and also see a positive spike in the next blood test. Well, I could reduce my weekly cardio and increase weight lifting for faster results, but unfortunately I love pavement pounding too much.

- Aman Yadav

Nootropics and Vitamins for the Depressed Athlete

Are you sad? Do you feel less sad after a workout or a drink or junk food? Does your sadness keep ebbing and flowing?

Do the following words by Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club resonate with you:

“I see all this potential and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars, advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of the history man, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives, we've been all raised by television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won't and we're slowly learning that fact.”

If the answer is yes, and if you’ve not deluded yourself into believing that 100k followers on your Instagram account is success, then congratulations ?!, you’re depressed; like most of the people around you.

Many people take up exercising for extracting its mental health benefits, or they may start exercising for other reasons but end up experiencing the positive mental changes it can induce after a few weeks.

Mostly, people exercise voluntarily, but sometimes if you’re fortunate to meet a good doctor who is not fat and sedentary, and his default mode for alleviating sadness is not anti-depressants, then he may prescribe exercise as step one to enable you to climb out of the misery hole. If you have such a doctor, send him a thank you note, because he saved you from a paralyzing life-long addiction which would have altered your original easily excitable brain into a lobotomized remnant.

An addition to your exercise regimen, and an alternative to some anti-depressants are ‘nootropics’. Both, antidepressants and nootropics, work on the brain and alter your mental state, or alter it for whatever your immediate requirement may be.

Nootropics can be synthetic and natural. An example of a synthetic nootropic, which I’ve taken sometimes for being more productive is Modafinil. Think of Modafinil as a smart-drug which works like turbocharged coffee. Pop one; it’ll wake you up and dismiss the lazy inside you.

A natural, abundant (in Asia), and cheap nootropic to alleviate symptoms of sadness/depression is Bacopa Monnieri. I know that’s a fancy scientific name, but it belongs to a very common herb in India called Brahmi. Brahmi can improve memory, and even significantly reverse the amnesia which is caused from the usage of benzodiazepines (Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2008 Sep;200(1):27-37. Epub 2008 Jan 13). Win-Win!

"Bacopa Monnieri, is an indigenous plant, found throughout India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Florida, Hawaii, and some other southern states of USA. Its description in Indian scriptures dates back to 5000 BC. It has been used in Ayurveda since 500 AD as “Medhya Rasayana” for treatment of anxiety, poor memory, epilepsy, improvement of cognitive processes, comprehension, memory, and recall. Animal studies have shown that it has anxiolytic, cognition enhancing, relaxing, bronchodilatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antidepressant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory effects" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075615/).

But do take note that Bacopa Monnieri does not work immediately like a regular anti-depressant pill, and that is why you should ideally take it for at least 8-12 weeks before reaching any conclusions about its efficacy.

As far as dosage in milligrams (mg) is concerned; 500-750 mg of Bacopa Monnieri extract could be the minimum daily dosage, ideally divided into 2/3 smaller doses per day which are taken with food. Bacopa Monnieri does not have a standard dosage since its effects on the brain differs between individuals. The 500-750 mg dosage mentioned above is not exact/standard since manufacturers may have used different parts of the herb during the manufacturing process and therefore the actual compound (bacoside) in the product may differ between brands.

Coming to vitamins now! Magnesium is known to help with mental health. I don’t want to copy paste links here, since if you Google, you can find a lot of information on how Magnesium is extremely beneficial for maintaining our bodily functions (especially the brain) and how modern diet is extremely deficient in Magnesium. But Magnesium Oxide which is commonly sold online at cheap rates is not easily absorbed by the body since its bio-availability is quite low. Therefore, Magnesium Malate/Magnesium Citrate/Magnesium Glycinate are better options since their bio-availability is higher. 

You can receive Magnesium even through food items which are rich in it. A simple food to this end would be oats (especially as breakfast). You can Google to find a whole list of Magnesium rich foods.

There are more vitamins (such as B-Complex and Zinc), herbs (such as Mucuna Pruriens and Withania Somnifera) and natural notropics (such as Rhodiola Rosea) which can be a part of your 'mental health diet', but I don't want to overload this post since Magnesium and Brahmi should alleviate your symptoms and are easily (and cheaply) available in India.

To create an anti-sadness stack (even for non-athletes), combine Brahmi extract tablets/capsules with a Magnesium supplement. Both Magnesium and Brahmi capusles/tablets are abundantly available online. I’m not linking any brands here since, for now, I just want to help and I don’t intend to commercialize/monetize this blog for whatever it’s worth/not worth, and practicing law is quite my gig....for now.

- Aman Yadav

Ashwagandha and Arjuna for increasing speed, power, VO2 max and lowering blood pressure

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) and Arjuna (Terminalia Arjuna) in their independent capacities have a very important place in Ayurveda. Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb and allows humans to adapt to physical and mental stresses. Arjuna on the other hand in commonly seen in use by heart patients.

This (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996571/) year 2010 Indian study administered 500mg/per day of Ashwagandha root extract powder and 500mg/per day Arjuna tree bark extract powder, separately and together, to a control group of 40 healthy college going young adults with moderately active life style for a period of 8 weeks.

The participants were then made to perform the following physical activities, and their performances were assessed:

1.  Sprinting to find their respective maximum velocities.

2.  Vertical jumps to measure their average absolute and average relative power of the lower limbs.

3.  Balancing on a wobble board to measure changes in balancing.

4. Indoor cycling on a turbo trainer to measure their peak maximum oxygen consumption (ml/kg/min)

After 8 weeks, the researchers found that Ashwagandha increased velocity, power and VO2 max, whereas Arjuna increased VO2 max and lowered resting systolic blood pressure.

When given in combination, the improvement was seen in all parameters except balance and diastolic blood pressure.

The increases in the measured parameters (in percentage) are as follows:

S.No.	Parameter measured	Change (in %)
1	Maximum Velocity	1.3%
2	Average Absolute Power	10.17%
3	Average Relative Power	9.16%
4	Balance	NIL
5	VO2 max	6.3%
6	Systolic blood pressure	4.3%
7	Diastolic blood pressure	Almost NIL

(You may want to cross-check my maths. The figures above may not be exact, but more or less bearable)

So what do these numbers mean for a runner? The numbers suggest that even though the increase in power (absolute and relative) is astonishing at approximately 10%, for a runner it translates into only a 1.3% increase in velocity while sprinting. However, if you consider the increase in VO2 max at 6.3% and Power at about 10% and reduction in systolic blood pressure at 4.3%, an endurance athlete would see a significant increase in performance.

The icing on the cake is that both Ashwagandha and Arjuna are quite cheap to purchase (online/offline) and extremely beneficial for residents of areas with a high level of pollution, which for an Indian will be almost everywhere in India.

I’m using the Ashwagandha and Arjuna combination (500 mg powder each) for the last two months and on some fast workouts, I do feel better, but that may be attributable to a placebo effect. Maybe if I could give up my occasional but voluntary smoke inhalation, periodic junk food binges, and frequent but useless calorie laden alcohol intake, I could be faster and stronger. Till then, I’ll just use the (extremely flawed and pathetic) self-love excuse and march forward with blinders. As Socrates said, "Excuses are like assholes. Everybody has one, and they all stink".

Carpe (Excuses-Excuses) Diem.

- Aman Yadav

Reach racing weight with Apple Cider Vinegar

Lose weight, get faster and race faster.

Lose weight in the wrong way and at the wrong time; then be prepared to risk having a suppressed immune system, nutritional deficiency, brittle bones and adverse hormonal changes, which will most likely lead to a worse race.

Ergo, you were better off fatter!

Depending on the race distance, mostly training peaks at about 1-3 months before the race. Cutting food calories (at the amateur level) during the peaking phase of training is not a sane idea since the lower calorie intake combined with extra fatigue in the peaking phase will lead to the issues mentioned above. 

Moreover, cutting calories in the incorrect way may even lead to muscle loss and not just fat reduction.

An easier solution for cutting weight, and especially target fat reduction is the consumption of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).

ACV is simply diluted Acetic Acid (AcOH). It is understood that the Acetate in ACV inhibits lipogenesis and most likely stimulates fatty acid oxidation. (lipogenesis is the process by which our bodies create fatty acids)

In a 2014 (publishing year) Japanese double blind study, researchers found that vinegar intake reduced body mass by about 5 pounds after a 12 week period of vinegar consumption, and there was localized reduction in abdominal fat. The additional advantage of ACV intake is that it reduces the risk of heart attacks. But one month after ceasing vinegar consumption the lost weight returnedin the subjects. This means that perpetual consumption of ACV is necessary to sustain its benefits. (Tomoo KONDO, Mikiya KISHI, Takashi FUSHIMI, Shinobu UGAJIN & Takayuki KAGA (2009) Vinegar Intake Reduces Body Weight, Body Fat Mass, and Serum Triglyceride Levels in Obese Japanese Subjects, Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 73:8, 1837-1843, DOI: 10.1271/bbb.90231).

In the aforesaid study, no abnormalities of liver and kidney functions nor adverse effects were observed when 90ml of vinegar was ingested daily for 4 weeks. In fact, intake of 15 ml of vinegar per day was found to be sufficient to achieve the fat and body mass reduction, and also reduction of strokes.

But due to the taste of vinegar, and also because it is hard to ensure a disciplined daily intake – it would be prudent to schedule the intake of ACV in your training program in such a manner that you reap the maximum benefits on the race day.

Like me, if this is your normal routine then, don't waste money on ACV.

A suggested protocol would be -- 2 tablespoons of ACV per day, which is diluted in at least 250 ml of water, for 4 weeks before race day. (do not ingest ACV without diluting it; it’s basically AcOH and may cause damage)

Other than for cosmetic reasons, consuming ACV every day for its weight loss benefits would not be the best strategy to train for a race. This is because the weight loss and peak training would not coincide to deliver maximum results. Instead you would be training the entire time on your ACV based peak body weight.

A fermented apple a day, keeps the fat away?

Workout Speeds to Reduce Air Pollution Inhalation

Finally there is some much needed respite from the Delhi heat. The nip in the air, silent nights, warm embrace of a quilt and the cold yet comforting melancholy.

Delhi has adjusted its thermostat and wants to cool down. Men will unconsciously follow genetic code and grow stubbles to keep warm, and farmers will consciously burn their bumper crop stubbles to ensure our food supply. The thermal power plants continue to power our lives monthly and weaken our lungs forever. The Diwali sweets and crackers have returned from exile to rule on our waists and lungs. Real estate dust scatters yet scaffolds in courts and our lives. Capitalism has unleased festive discounts and in response we’ve unleashed our gluttony. We relish in oblivion and apathy to continue amassing wealth and material possessions and add our individual butterflies to the Butterfly Effect taking place in the climate. #CarpeDiem #YOLO #Swag #like4like

Now complex brain functions have processed an even more complicated algorithm and the nerves send the instructions to the limb – hey, we need to exercise outside with greater intensity since the running season has commenced.

The more we breathe Delhi while exercising – like a leech it clings to our insides even more.

Enough now child! It’s the peak exercise season and peak performance requires speed work, tempo, long runs, interval training etc., and we want to ensure that an unreasonable amount of Delhi is inhaled in this noble self-sacrifice? and pursuit of endurance and endorphins.

Professor Alexander Y. Bigazzi of the Department of Civil Engineering, the University of British Columbia (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308535014_Determination_of_active_travel_speed_for_minimum_air_pollution_inhalation) quite recently (late 2016/early 2017) has found the minimum dose speeds for Walking, Running and Cycling at which the amount of inhalation of pollutants is the lowest. Move faster than these speeds and you will expend dramatically more energy which in turn will increase your heart rate and respiration and therefore you will inhale exponentially higher amounts of air + pollution.

The human mind is and will always remain a mystery -- so without further ado and analysis, as per Prof. Bigazzi, the speeds at which you will get a ‘decent’ workout while not inhaling exponentially higher units of Delhi air are as follows:

Exercise Type	Speed (km/h)
Walking	3 to 8
Running	8 to 13
Cycling	12 to 20

These speed ranges are for flat surfaces. Energy expenditure and respiration increases with inclines and therefore on inclines the speeds have to be reduced. Walking/running/cycling in the aforesaid ranges will ensure the least amount of pollution inhalation. At speeds above these there is an exponential rise in effort and therefore more inhalation of pollutants.

Maybe buy an anti-pollution mask to go faster than these speeds to not miss out on the “peak season”.

- Aman Yadav

Tulsi Supplement to Adapt to Training Stress and protect from Food and Air Pollutants

Tusli/Holy Basil (Ocimum Sanctum) is an adaptogen/adaptogenic herb which sits at the top in Ayurveda.

Because of its innumerable and immense benefits it is also known as "The Incomparable One", "The Mother Medicine of Nature", and "The Queen of Herbs".

Adaptogens constitute a new class of metabolic regulators (of a natural origin) which have been shown to increase the ability of the organism to adapt to environmental factors and to avoid damage from such factors (source: http://www.scicompdf.se/rosenrot/panossian_1999.pdf). Most importantly an adapogenic herb has to be non-toxic to be classified as adaptogen.

An adaptogen can help an athlete in various ways to adapt to training stressors, especially stressors (mental and physical) which originate from endurance sports. Adaptogens are also essential in maintaining and facilitating an individual’s homeostasis.

The most important effects of an adaptogenic herb for an endurance athlete are, (i) reduction in the stress hormone Cortisol, (ii) increase in stamina (source: ibid), and (iii) increase in immunity to fight off respiratory infections.

Usually, Cortisol increase and Immunity decrease are directly proportional to increase in weekly distance/exercise intensity or a combination of both.

I have realised that management of (i) and (iii) i.e. Cortisol and Immunity are key factors in maintaining an uninterrupted training season. Number (iii) above i.e., stamina may be assisted by an adaptogen but it is more of a function of regularity- you have to exercise regularly and systematically to see progression in stamina.

Studies using forced-swimming, restraint and cold-exposure stress in laboratory animals have shown that Tulsi enhances aerobic metabolism, improves swimming time, reduces oxidative tissue damage and normalizes many physiological and biochemical parameters caused by physical stressors (source: ibid).

Modern food industry, especially processed food industry is broken and because of that people end up purchasing and consuming ungodly amounts of toxic chemicals and pesticides through food. Tulsi has been shown to significantly reduce the damage to humans from such foreign bodies.

Moreover, in a heavily polluted country like India, it can also reduce the harmful impact of air pollution. It was observed in a study that in automobile related high air pollution areas- Tulsi plants develop leaf injury symptoms and alter their metabolism and leaf architecture to acclimatize to new environment and then, quite amazingly, such plants adapt and survive well at the polluted environment sites (source: http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ijmb.20170701.01.html).

Because of its anti-stress properties, regular consumption of Tulsi tea can be compared with regular practice of yoga (source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4296439/). Marc Maurice Cohen, in his research paper calls it “Liquid Yoga”.

The Queen of Herbs originated in India- North India to be specific, and therefore a very powerful adaptogen is available to all athletes in India in a very accessible manner and at an extremely cheap price.

I have recently started using Organic India Tulsi capsules, and I’m waiting for a shipment of Himalaya Tulsi to arrive. Most studies which highlight the benefits of Tulsi are based on Ocimum Sanctum (Krishna Tulsi) variety and as per a study quoted above, Krishna Tulsi (black/purple variety) has a higher phenolic content and anti-oxidant capacity than white Vana (wild) Tulsi (Ocimum Gratissimum).

What I have seen on the label on Organic India Tulsi is that it has 2/3^rds Vana Tulsi. As per the label which I’ve checked online -- Himalaya Tulsi is 100% Krishna Tulsi. On paper Himalaya Tulsi appears a better buy.

A one month supply of 60 capsules/tablets is available for less than Rs. 200.

- Aman Yadav