Immediate pre-workout nutrition

The sccond phase of nutrient timing is immediate prc-workout nutrition: this encompasses anything consumed from roughly 30 minutes before to immediately before training or competition. Any nutrients consumed during the warm-up period might also be included in this phase. The purpose of this phase is similar to that of the prc-workout meal: to ensure optimal blood glucosc levels. Hydration is also a goal here and. as you'll see below, consuming protein immediately before training may be superior to post-workout prolein intake in terms of driving protein synthesis.

As usual, most of the research in this area has been done on endurance athletes and has focuscd primarily on carbohydrate intake. Recently, one or two key picccs of research on resistance training have appeared.

As mentioned above, one of the purposes of immediate pre-workout nutrition is lo ensure optimal blood glucose levels; however, this topic is not without some controversy. Early research suggested that consuming carbohydrate immediately prior to training hurt performance by causing blood sugar to crash due to an insulin spike but this finding was hardly universal: all other studies either found that performance is improved or unchanged wilh prc-workoul carbohydrate intake (3).

Additionally, consuming carbohydrates during the warm-up prior to cycling prevented the normal increase in insulin and drop in blood glucosc (5). Athletes who are prone to crashing blood sugar may want to delay the consumption of their immediate pre-workout nutrients until they are already into their warm-up.

Little work has examined the impact ofprotein prior to endurance training although some work has looked at BCAA supplements prior and/or during endurance training from a performance standpoint. The results from these studies sometimes find a benefit but the results are highly mixed; some research suggests that BCAA supplements could actually harm performance. This research is discussed in some detail in Chapter 12.

I’m unaware of any research which has examined the impact of protein immediately before endurance training although some recent work given a combination of protein and carbohydrates before and during workouts, however. That research is discussed below in the section on during workout nutrition.

With regards to strcnglh/powcr athletes, some research has suggested a benefit of pre­workout carbohydrates (6) and a recent study found that consuming 1.0 g/kg (0.45 g/lb) carbohydrates before and an additional 0.5 g/kg (0.22 g/lb) of carbs every 10 minutes during workout significantly reduced the decrease in musclc glycogen from training (7). Limiting musclc glycogen depletion can be important from a performance standpoint, especially for athletes who train tw'ice daily.

Looking at protein, recent research suggests that pre-workout protein consumption might impact on protein synthesis after training to a greater degree than the same nutrients consumed afterwards. One study found that a combination of 35 grams of sucrose and 6 grams essential amino acids (EAAs) taken immediately prior to resistance training had a greater impact on post-workout protein synthesis than the same drink taken immediately afterwards (8). I'd note that most of the difference w*as due to a single subject w'ho showed a massive response to the prc-w'orkout nutrients so the effect may not be universal.

I Interestingly, the response w'as not seen w'hen w'hey protein w'as consumed immediately I before w'orkout, possibly due to a slow'cr digestion time compared to the liAAs (9). The researchers suggested that perhaps consuming w'hey protein 30 minutes before training might allow sufficient time for digestion to gel the benefits of pre-training supplementation. Consuming a protein hydrolysatc immediately prior to training might also have the same impact (10). My feeling is that consuming a fast protein such as w'hey (or soy) 30 minutes prior to a training bout should allow' for sufficient digestion and AA delivery to promote protein synthesis post-training.

Another recent study, which I’ll discuss in more detail below', examined the impact of a dextrose, whey protein and creatine drink consumed immediately before and after training on muscle grow'th; this w'as compared to a group w'ho received the identical supplement at other times of the day but not around their workout (11). The supplement contained approximately 0.40 g/kg (0.18 g/lb) ofw'hey protein. 0.43 g/kg (0.20 g/lb) ofdextrose, and 0.07 g/kg (-0.03 g/lb) of creatine w'ith trace fat before and after training.

For a 100kg (220 pounds) lifter, this provided 40 grams of whey protein, 43 grams of carbohydrates, and 7 grams of creatine both before and after training. That study found that lean body mass gains wxrc significantly higher compared to the group w'ho took the same supplement at other times of the day. Interestingly, there was also a slight fat loss in the group consuming the supplement around training compared to the group consuming it at other times of the day.

It’s currently unknown w'hether protein/AAs taken prior to endurance training w'ould have the same impact on post-training protein synthesis or adaptation but endurance athletes may w'ish to consider adding a small amount ofprotein to their immediate pre- workout drink in an attempt to promote greater adaptations and recovery following training. As I'll discuss below* in during w'orkout nutrition, this may have the added benefit of limit ing protein breakdown during exercise.

With the exception of the tw'o studies mentioned above, one using EAAs and the other using w'hey protein prior to training, research has not systematically examined different types of protein prior to training. Practically speaking, to avoid stomach upset, a fast protein such as whey protein or soy is the best option. Using a rapidly digesting carbohydrate source such as dextrose or sucrose makes the most sense here as well although, again, susceptible athletes should watch for signs of a blood glucose crash. Due to its slower digestion time and tendency not to raise insulin, fructose (or fruit) may be a viable option here as well.

Prior to strength/power training I rccommcnd an intake of0.3-0.5 g/kg (0.13-0.22 g/lb) of carbohydrate with an equal amount of protein roughly 30 minutes before training (to allow time for digestion). If an BAA supplement is used roughly one half as much (0.15- 0.25 g/kg or 0.06-0.11 g/lb) would be appropriate and it can be consumed closer to training. This should optimize blood glucose levels and provide amino acids during the training session. Three to five grams ofcrcatine could be added to this supplement as well. For a 100 kg athlete, this would equate to 30-50 grams of carbohydrate with 30-50 grams of whole protein. That amount of protein will provide roughly 15-25 grams ofEAAs and 8-12 grams of BCAAs. If EAAs are used, 15-25 grams wilh carbs would be an appropriate intake.

Before endurance training, a carbohydrate intake of 1.0 g/kg (0.45 g/lb) with perhaps 0.15- 0.25 g/kg (0.06-0.11 g/lb) ofprotein should be sufficient. For a 70 kg (154 lb) athlete, this

would provide 70 grams of carbs and 10.5-17.5 grams of protein. This will provide 5-8

grams ofEAAs and 2-5 grams of BCAAs.

To avoid stomach upset, both fat and fiber should be avoided in the immediate pre-

workout meal. Immediate prc-workout nutrient recommendations arc summarized below in Table 2.

Table 2: Immediate Pre-workout nutrition recommendations

Prolein Carbohydrate

Endurance 0.15-0.25 g/kg 1.0 g/kg

Strength/power 0.3-0.5 g/kg* 0.3-0.5 g/kg

* Half of this value, or 0.15-0.25 g/kg ofEAAs could be used instead

During workout nutrition

The third phase of workout nutrition deals with any nutrients consumed during the workout period itself. As mentioned above, there is potential overlap with the immediate pre-workout nutrition phase depending on whether or not the warm-up period is considered as being part of the workout.

For years, the primary goal of during workout nutrition, especially for endurance athletes, was aimed at maintaining blood glucose levels along with hydration: this was especially crucial for longer workouts or competitions. More recent research has found that proper during workout nutrition may improve performance in shorter endurance events as well as benefiting strength/power athletes during their workouts. As well, while most of the research concerned itself wilh carbohydrate intake, more recent research has found that consuming small amounts of prolein during workout can limit muscle breakdown, may improve performance and have other benefits for both endurance and strength/power athletes.

As mentioned above, during endurance training, athletes have two primary goals in terms of nutrition: maintaining blood glucose levels and staying hydrated. As far as blood glucose was concerned, early research suggested that carbohydrates were only really needed during training sessions or races lasting longer than 90*120 minutes. More recent research has suggested a performance benefit for events of an hour or less as well (12).

Maintaining adequate hydration is primarily a function of consuming sufficient fluids during training (32*36 oz per hour being near the maximum absorbable amount) although adding carbohydrate in moderate amounts improves uptake in the stomach; adding small amounts of sodium and potassium is mainly done to improve taste. Commercial hydration drinks (such as Gatorade and Powcradc in the US) are generally designed along these lines: providing sufficient amounts of carbohydrate and minerals to ensure both adequate fluid and carbohydrate intake.

It has also been shown that consuming carbohydrates during endurance training helps limit the increase in Cortisol and impairment of immune system function along with decreasing oxidative stress and the need to utilize protein for fuel (13.14,15). With the exception oftraining done explicitly under fasted conditions mentioned above or very low intensity activity, I feel that carbs should always be ingested during endurance training.

There has generally been thought to be a limit to how much carbohydrate can be consumed and effectively utilized during endurance training, with the gut showing maximum absorption rates of 30*60 grams/hour of glucose. However, by using a combination ofglucose and fructose (which use different intestinal transporters), 20*50% more carbohydrate can be consumed and utilized without stomach upset (12). This leads to greater use of carbohydrate during exercise and may improve performance by sparing muscle glycogen use.

I'd note that while a majority of research has used simple sugars (such as glucose or sucrose) during exercise, longer chains of glucose such as maltodcxtrin or maltose are also effectively utilized during exercise (16). Additionally, a combination of maltodcxtrin and fructose has been shown to promote higher carbohydrate utilization rates than maltodcxtrin alone (17).

A combination ofglucose and fructosc also improves fluid absorption from the gut which may help with the maintenance ofhydration (18). By using a combination of glucosc and fructose (note that sucrose is half glucose and fructose), a carbohydrate intake of 45*70 grams per hour could be achieved during cndurancc training: as mentioned above, this would be mixed in 32*36 oz of fluid.

With regards to resistance training, while it hasn't traditionally been thought that carbohydrates during (or before) training were particularly important, recent research has found that consuming 1.0 g/kg (0.45 g/lb) of carbohydrate limits muscle glycogen depletion, keeps insulin higher and reduces Cortisol levels.! The same amount of carbohydrate may also improve performance (especially for training sessions lasting an hour or more), and leads to higher levels of blood glucose following training (1 9). All of

these effects could have an overall positive impact on recovery and strength and muscle mass gains (discussed in the next section).

But what about protein during training? One early study provided a 6% carbohydrate solution (sucrose) with 6 grams of EAAs during resistance training (20). It found that insulin stayed higher. Cortisol was lower, and muscle breakdown during training was decreased; this might be expected to improve recovery and skeletal muscle gains in the long-term. Like many of the studies on this topic, it's important to realize that it was done in the fasted state and the results may have been different if the subjects had eaten before the workout.

Another recent study provided approximately 62 grams of carbohydrates w ith 15 grams of protein (the type was not specified) around and during resistance training. One third of the drink was consumed 30 minutes before training with another third given during training and the final third consumed immediately after training. Although Cortisol was unaffected, insulin levels were higher and the study found a significant decrease in protein breakdown during training as well as 24 hours later (21).

In terms of endurance training, while early research focused exclusively on carbohydrate intake, recent work has begun to find a number of potential benefits of consuming both carbohydrates and protein during endurance exercise. These include improved performance, decreased muscle damage, improved recovery, and better performance at subsequent workouts (22). As well, adding small amounts ofprotein to carbohydrate may increase fluid absorption from the stomach, further helping with hydration status during exercise.

A variety of work has been done to date examining differing amounts of both carbohydrate and protein. Typically a ratio of approximately 4:1 carbohydrates to protein (e.g. 40-60 grams of carbohydrate to 10-15 grams ofprotein) has been used. At least three published studies have found that this can improve performance during endurance exercise (13) while one found no effect (23). Interestingly, this latter study used a larger amount ofprotein (20 g/hour) and this may have been in excess of optimal amounts (13). It's currently unclear how adding protein to carbohydrate during endurance training improves performance (22,24).

Of additional benefit, several studies have found that adding protein to carbohydrate during training decreases protein breakdown and measures of muscle damage, improving performance at subsequent training sessions (22, 25). A carbohydrate/protein gel containing providing 40 grams of carbohydrates per hour and 10 grams of protein per hour was recently shown to both improve performance during cycling as well as decrease markers of muscle damage (26).

Given the potential contribution of AAs to energy production during long-duration endurance training, the above research makes some sense. Providing dietary AAs would be expected to limit the need to break down muscle protein during training; this should improve overall recovery.

Typically, the studies to date have used whey protein during training although recent work has also used a casein hydrolysate (22). No studies have systematically compared

different types of protein during endurance training but, from a practical standpoint, using a quickly digesting protein during training makes the most logical sense to avoid stomach 1 upset.

As a final issue relating to during workout nutrition. I should probably talk somewhat about BCAA supplementation, although the topic is discussed in much greater detail in Chapter 12. The BCAAs. through a variety of pathways, have been found to have potential benefit during training; they may decrease fatigue (although recent research has called this into question) and some coaches feel that high dose BCAA intake during strength/power training may improve adaptation. There is certainly some research to support this idea although none has compared, for example, high dose BCAA intake during training to the consumption ofcarbs/whey protein as I'm discussing in this chapter.

As well, while early studies suggested a positive effect of BCAAs on endurance training performance, evidence of impaired performance was also found due to the production of excess ammonia (a potential cause of fatigue) during training. In contrast, the consumption of whey proteins during training doesn't increase ammonia in this fashion and may be a better strategy overall.

In any case, it seems unlikely to me that anything but pharmacological doses of BCAAs (20-40 grams are often recommended) taken during training would confer a benefit. As

we II. athletes folio wing the full recommendations I'm making in this chapter for pre-during-and post BCAAs (and EAAs) around training without the need to supplement.

1 should also mention that some strength/power athletes, especially those whose workouts involve long rest intervals between sets will mention blood sugar crashing when they consume large amounts of high GI carbohydrates during training. This is especially true if they use dextrose or glucose. Using sucrose or something akin to Gatorade (which is a combination of glucose, sucrose and fructose) during training can often eliminate this problem as the digestion speed is slower. However, for those athletes who still have issues, avoiding carbohydrate intake during training may be the only option. Consuming a dilute solution ofwhey protein or BCAAs may be preferred.

At this point it looks like an hourly intake of 30-60 grams of rapidly digested carbohydrate such as dextrose or sucrose (or a mix of dextrose/glucose and fructose) with 8-15 grams of an easily digesting protein such as whey can be beneficial for both strength/power and endurance athletes.

Using a combination of dextrose/glucose and fructose would allow endurance athletes to consume up to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour, increasing carbohydrate oxidation rates and possibly sparing muscle glycogen. Endurance athletes may wish to experiment with progressively larger amounts of carbohydrate to And their individual tolerance for carbohydrate while avoiding stomach upset. I'd mention again that table sugar (sucrose) is one half glucose and fructose.

As has been the case throughout this chapter, due to the differences in demands between activities, strength/power athletes will generally be consuming slightly less carbohydrate

and slightly more protein than cndurancc athletes who will consume relatively more carbohydrate and relatively less protein during training.

Table 3 below shows recommended amounts of nutrients to be consumed during training. The amounts listed below would be mixed in 32-36 oz of water and sipped throughout the workout at a rate of 8*9 oz every 15 minutes.

Table 3: Duringworkout nutrition recommendations

Endurance	Protein 8-15 g/hour whey protein	Carbohydrate 30-60 g/hour dextrose alone OR 45-70 g/hour dextrose plus fructose
Strength/power	12-15g/hour w'hey protein	30-45 g/hour dextrose or sucrose

Note: Carbohydrates such as maltodcxtrin, maltose or sucrose can be used in place of dextrose if desired or better tolerated by the athlete. As well, soy could be used in place of whey.

Most athletes find that the addition of small amounts of potassium and sodium improve flavor and make them want to drink more compared to unflavored drinks. A mixture of a commercial sports/hydration drink such as Gatoradc or Poweradc along wi th whey protein mixed in 32-36 oz of water gives a close approximation to the studies done to date. The amount of Gatorade/Powerade pow'dcr and whey protein can be varied to achieve the recommended intake levels in Tabic 3 above.

For example, a strength/power athlete would mix 2-3 tablespoons of Gatoradc powder (providing approximately 30-45 grams of carbs) with just over half of a standard scoop of protein powder (providing 12-15 grams ofprotein). An cndurancc athlete would put 4 tablespoons ofGatorade with roughly 1/2 scoop ofwhey to obtain approximately 60 grams ofcarbsand 10-15 grams of protein.

Post-workout nutrition

The final phase of around w'orkout nutrition is post-workout nutrition; this phase refers to any nutrients consumed immediately after training until perhaps 1-2 hours later. At some point, of course, the post-workout period becomes the normal daily eating plan but this really isn't that important a distinction as far as I'm conccrncd.

What is important is that w'hat is consumed immediately after training has the potential to impact significantly on various aspects oftraining including glycogen rcsynthesis, protein synthesis, recovery, adaptation to training and subsequent workout performance.

I'm going to divide the work in this area up into two distinct categories; glycogen rcsynthesis and protein synthesis although, as you'll see, there is overlap in the recommendations for both.

21:51

Glycogen resynthesis: Introduction

Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrate found in the muscle and liver. Maintenance of optimal levels of muscle glycogen is important for performance and affects a number of aspects of metabolism relevant to athletes. Glycogen levels can impact on gene expression, protein breakdown, protein synthesis, and all'ect whole body metabolism (27).

As has typically been the case, most of the early work on glycogen depletion and resynthesis came from studies of endurance athletes although more recent research has examined resistance training as well. Decades of studies determined a significant number of factors related to glycogen resynthesis following training. These issues could be separated into issues of amount, type and timing of carbohydrate.

I want to make it clear that the research I'm going to discuss is only directly applicable to endurance athletes engaged in daily. near-exhaustive training although some sports nutritionists have uncritically tried to apply it to non-endurance athletes.

A cyclist performing 3-6 hours/day on the bike is going to require far more carbohydrates (and total calories) than. say. a mixed martial artist performing 45-60 minutes of high intensity work as part of their conditioning several times per week. Powerlifters and Olympic lifters, who typically work in a low repetition range may not deplete much muscle glycogen at all. while a bodybuilder working in a medium-high repetition range, especially if they are doing a large number of sets, may be getting significant amounts of glycogen depletion. The bodybuilder will have proportionally higher carbohydrate requirements. Strongman competitors who tend to do a great deal of strength endurance training will also be depleting muscle glycogen. Athletes in many team sports often do large amounts of resistance training along with conditioning work and will have proportionally higher carbohydrate and calorie requirements.

My point is that there is no one size fits all recommendation for carbohydrate intake that can apply to all athletes. This applies both to total carbohydrate intake in addition to any nutrients consumed around training. Differences in training volume, intensity, and the primary energy system used all play a role in determining carbohydrate requirements.

In any case, glycogen repletion requirements can be divided into two categories depending on how long the athlete has between training or competition: when the duration between training bouts is 6-8 hours or less (which is common in athletes training twice daily), the requirements for optimal glycogen replenishment are far different than when there are at least 24 hours between training sessions or competition (common among recreational athletes or those training once daily or less frequently).

Glycogen replenishment with at least 24 hours between workouts

When an athlete has at least 24 hours to replenish glycogen, it turns out that the amount of carbohydrate consumed is the primary determinant of whether or not normal glycogen levels can be achieved (28); the type of carbohydrate or timing of intake aren't as important. As long as amounts in the range of 10-12 g/kg (4.5-5.5 g/lb) of carbohydrates are consumed during the 24 hours between workouts, glycogen can be restored within that time span.

Under these conditions, timing doesn't seem to matter much. Whether 2 or 7 meals are fed. or the carbohydrates are given as four large meals or 16 small snacks given an hour apart, the glycogen levels achieved are the same (28). The same holds true for the type of carbohydrate. As long as extremes of diet (i.e. all fructose) are avoided, the type of carbohydrate (high versus low glycemic-index or simple versus complex carbohydrate) is also fairly irrelevant.

While 10-12 g/kg (about 4.5-5.5 g/lb) of carbohydrate may be necessary for endurance athletes, this is probably excessive for most strength and power athletes. Roughly half that amount or 5-6 g/kg (2.2-2.7 g/lb) should generally be sufficient and may be excessive depending on total training volume and intensity. Once again, much of this depends on the specifics ofthe sport and the type and amount of training being done.

By monitoring performance and changes in body composition, athletes can eventually determine whether their intake of carbohydrates and total calories is insufficient, excessive or just right. But for the most part, only endurance athletes involved in daily exhaustive (2-6 hour) training sessions will need to target the full 10-12 g/kg of carbohydrate on a daily basis.

Glycogen replenishment with 8 hours or less between workouts

In contrast to the situation where an athlete has 24 hours or more to replenish glycogen stores, when the time between sessions is only a few hours (which may be the break an athlete gets when training or competing twice per day) things get more complicated. Issues of type, timing and amount of carbohydrate end up significantly impacting how well or poorly glycogen can be resynthesized.

Summarizing the research on this topic, it was found that glycogen storage could be maximized by consuming a large total amount of carbohydrates in smaller amounts immediately after training and for the 4-6 hours after training. A carbohydrate intake of 1.0-1.85 g/kg/hour (0.45-0.8 g/lb/hour) consumed in smaller drinks every 15-60 minutes will maximize glycogen storage following exercise (29).

For example, a 70 kg athlete would consume from 70-130 grams of carbohydrates per hour with drinks being consumed every 15-60 minutes. Let's assume he's going to consume a middle value of 100 grams of carbohydrate per hour. If he took one drink per hour, he'd consume the full 100 grams of carbs. If he consumed carbs every 30 minutes, that would be 50 grains in each drink. Or he could consume 25 grains of carbohydrate every 15 minutes.

This would be continued during the 4-6 hours following training to maximize glycogen resynthesis between training bouts or competition. Athletes who do not wish to consume this many carbohydrates may be able to achieve high levels of glycogen synthesis by combining smaller amounts of carbohydrates with very insulinogenic proteins such as whey; this topic is discussed below.

It is important that carbohydrates be consumed very soon after the completion oftraining; a delay of several hours led lo 50% less glycogen rcsynthesis compared to consuming those carbs immediately following training. This is probably where the idea of a "window' of opportunity" for recovery came from. Once again, this research was performed on endurance athletes not strength/power athletes. As mentioned above, many strength/power athletes engage in training twicc per day and ensuring optimal glycogen replenishment between bouts oftraining is important for those types of athletes as well.

In terms of the type of carbohydrate, w'hen rapid glycogen synthesis is the goal, higher glycemic index carbohydrates work more effectively than lower glycemic index carbs, primarily due to increased insulin levels. Glucose and sucrose arc more effective than pure fructose at refi I ling muscle glycogen.

Other forms of carbohydrate may be even more effective when very rapid glycogen replenishment is desired. Recent research has found that a high molecular weight carbohydrate replenishes musclc glycogen more quickly in the first 2 hours after exercise compared to glucosc (30). The same compound w'as recently shown to improve performance in a time trial undertaken 2 hours following an exhaustive excrcisc bout (31).

This product is sold commercially under the trade name Vitargo or in bulk as waxy maize starch. Athletes who need to replenish glycogen at maximum rates may w'ant to experiment with this product following workouts w'hen they only have a short period to rcsynthesizc glycogen.

Failing that, using glucosc/dextrosc or maltodcxtrin immediately post>training followed by other high glycemic index carbohydrates is the most effective w'ay lo replenish glycogen rapidly on days when tw'o training sessions must be performed w'ith only a short-break betw'cen them. A small amount of fructose can also be beneficial in order to refill liver glycogen, but the primary carbohydrates should consist of dextrosc/maltodextrin or glucose as those are preferentially used to refill muscle glycogen.

Carbohydrate and protein postworkout: improved glycogen synthesis

While the majority of early research focused solely on carbohydrate intake and its effect on glycogen rcsynthesis, this changed in 1992 when a seminal paper found that adding protein lo carbohydrate increased glycogen rcsynthesis following exercise (32). In that study, male cyclists rode for 2 hours and then received either 112 grams of carbohydrate, 40 grams ofprotein, or a combination ofthe two.

The carb/protein combination led to significantly larger amounts of glycogen synthesis after four hours compared lo either carbohydrate or prolein by itself. Adding protein or certain amino acids increases the insulin response to carbohydrate and this is most likely what caused the difference in glycogen storage (33.34).

A number of similar studies followed, some found that protein added to carbohydrate increased glycogen storage while others did not. Without detailing each (see references 28 or 29 for review), the following pattern developed: w'hen carbohydrates w'crc fed in large quantities at frequent intervals, protein provided no additional benefit.

However, when carbohydrate intake was below a certain threshold of intake (approximately 12 g/kg/hour or 0.5 g/lb/hour) or the feedings were more lhan an hour apart, additional protein enhanced muscle glycogen storage. Once again, increased insulin release from the protein appears to be the primary mechanism and highly insulinogenic proteins such as whey are probably beneficial in this regard (29).

This research is intriguing as it may allow athletes to achieve sufficient glycogen rcsynthcsis without having to over-consume carbohydrates. This would be especially beneficial for athletes who need to ensure adequate recovery and glycogen rcsynthcsis between training sessions while keeping caloric intake under control. This would include athletes who arc dieting, lighter (female or smaller male) athletes or weight class athletes who need to restrict calories while maintaining training intensity.

Additionally, as I'm going to discuss shortly, the combination ofprotein and carbohydrate following training has enough other benefits to recommend it beyond simply an effect on glycogen synthesis.

Carbohydrate and protein post-workout: Effects on protein synthesis

As 1 discussed back in Chapter 3, following training, there is generally an increase in both protein synthesis and breakdown with breakdown exceeding synthesis; thus the body is in a net catabolic state (35). If no nutrients are provided, the body will remain in this state. However, if nutrients are provided following training, the body can be shifted back into a net anabolic state, synthesizing new proteins. I'd mention again that, while both strength/power and endurance training stimulate the synthesis of new proteins following training, the specific proteins synthesized are different.

I'd also note that, while I'm going to focus here on post-workout nutrition, nutrients

consumed before or during workout might still be providing nutrients in the immediate post-workout period. That is, a large amount of protein consumed prior to an hour long strength/power workout will still be releasing amino acids to the body following training. However, as the majority of research to date has focused on nutrients consumed after

training, that will be the focus of my discussion.

Back in Chapter 3, 1 discussed the role of insulin and amino acids and their overall effect on protein synthesis and breakdown in terms of how the body responded to meal feeding. The effect of nutrient intake following resistance training is essentially identical: increases in blood amino acid levels have a primary role in stimulating protein synthesis with little impact on protein breakdown while increasing insulin primarily inhibits protein breakdown with little effect on protein synthesis.

As with meal feeding, the essential amino acids (EAAs) and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), and leucinc specifically, appear to play a primary role in promoting protein synthesis following training; the inessential amino acids are not required.

Regarding leucine, a recent study gave protein and carbohydrate or protein, carbohydrate and free leucine following exercise (36). It found higher insulin levels in the free leucine group and a very slightly larger increase in protein synthesis. However, the amount of

Prolein given in the drinks was fairly small (approximately 13 grams per hour for a 75 kg individual along with 6 grams of free leucine), and it's impossible to know whether five Icucinc would have any further advantage if the protein intake had been higher in the first place. Additionally, the drinks were given for six hours following training (which has little relevance to a single drink taken after a workout) and the overall measured benefit was fairly small.

All high quality proteins contain significant amounts of BCAAs of which some portion is leucine; for example, 40 grams of whey protein contains about 10 grams of BCAAs and 4-5 grams of Icucinc. It seems unlikely that adding a few more grams of Icucinc to such an amount ofprotein would impact greatly on post-workout protein synthesis. Athletes who wanted to rcducc the amount of protein consumed post-training for some reason might want to consider adding free Icucinc to increase the insulin and anabolic response.

As discusscd in the last chapter, extracellular concentrations of AAs (rather than intracellular levels) are the driver for protein synthesis and there is a plateau that occurs in terms of how much protein is ncccssary to generate a maximal anabolic response. AA concentrations above a certain point do not further stimulate protein synthesis (37).

Muscle responds to small amounts of EAAs (3-6 grams EAAs equivalent to 6-15 grains of whole protein) given an hour apart following training (38) but this amount is unlikely to generate a maximum response in the first place. Other research, looking at orally ingested AAs. found no further increase in protein synthesis for 40 versus 20 grams of EAAs (equivalent to roughly 80 or 40 grams of a whole protein) given after training (39). That is to say. both amounts of EAAs generated the same protein synthetic response following training.

To pul this in units consistent with the other studies I'm going to discuss, based on the body weight of the subjects, this amounts to roughly 0.15-0.30 g/kg of EAAs, or approximately 0.3-0.75 g/kg of whole protein (30-75 grams protein for a 100kg athlete). Consuming more protein than this post-workout would appear to have no further benefit or effects as the skeletal musclc machinery simply can’t utilize all ofthe AAs past a certain point.

Raising insulin following a workout will primarily be a function of carbohydrate intake. As mentioned above, adding protein to carbohydrate increases the insulin response as well. Consuming high glyccmic index carbohydrates following training, along with prolein. should provide an optimal insulin response to maximize net prolein gain after training.

What the above data all points to is that, following resistance training, protein alone is better than carbohydrate alone but protein with carbohydrate yields superior results to cither (40,41). A variety of studies bear this idea out with the combination of carbohydrate and protein having a greater impact on protein synthesis following training than cither alone (42,43); carbohydrate by itself is significantly less valuable (44,45).

Although most of the research to date has been done on resistance training, the combination of prolein and carbohydrates has also been shown to benefit endurance athletes following training. Providing a combination of carbohydrates and protein after endurance training improves protein synthesis (46) and a recent study found that a

protein, carbohydrate and antioxidant drink consumed after a cross-country race significantly decreased markers of protein breakdown and soreness (47).

Endurance athletes seeking maximal performance and adaptation should ensure sufficient intake of both carbohydrate and protein after training. This not only has the potential to improve glycogen rcsynthesis, but should also improve recovery and overall adaptation to training.

Putting it all together: Amount, timing and type

It's clear from the research that the combination of carbohydrates and protein following training positively impacts on protein synthesis and adaptation in addition to potentially improving glycogen rcsynthesis following training. Additionally, the consumption of protein and carbohydrates post training appears to impact favorably on anabolic hormone levels following resistance training (40).

Clearly, optimizing the post-workout recovery period means providing AAs in addition lo raising insulin by also consuming carbohydrate (48). Towards this goal, it's been suggested that the combination of a protein hydrolysatc such as whey (with or without the addition of free Icucinc) along with rapidly digesting carbohydrates (such as dextrose or maltoxdcxtrin) might be an optimal combination (48,49). This approach has not been tested in any long-term studies to see if it would provide greater gains compared to say, a protein isolate such as whey or milk protein isolate.

Given the extremely slight differences in absorption time for casein and whey and their hydrolysates (discussed in Chapter 2), I find it unlikely that major differences would be seen using a hydrolysatc compared to a prolein isolate. This is even more likely lo be true ifmy recommendations for prc- and during-workoul nutrition are being followed.

With those "meals" still providing AAs immediately after training, there would seem lo be no real priority in terms of providing AAs as rapidly as possible wilh the use of a hydrolysatc. As discussed above, given sufficient amounts of high quality prolein in the first place, I tend to doubt that adding extra free leucine will have much of an additional impact.

Methodological problems with the studies: Fasted vs. non-fasted subjects

Before I continue with this chapter, I want to discuss one methodological issue relating to the studies done on nutrient timing and resistance training. With very few exceptions, most of the work has used fasted subjects. That is, the subjects come in to the lab after an overnight fast, train, and then various nutrient combinations are consumed and the impact on protein synthesis or breakdown is measured.

While /his makes control of the study variables simpler, it docs raise some questions regarding the applicability of some of the research. For example, consider the study mentioned above that found that consuming EAAs before train ingyicldedbelterresults than consuming them afterwards (8).

In an overnight lasted state, clearly a pre-workout meal is going to provide nutrients at a sooner time than anything consumed after training. However, what if the subjects had had a solid meal one to two hours before training and thus had protein and carbohydrates digesting and being released into the bloodstream? Would pre-workout nutrition still have yielded superior results?

About the only study that has examined pre/post workout nutrition under more realistic \ conditions is the study by Cribb mentioned above and discussed in more detail below (11). As described above, it compared a group that consumed nutrients immediately before and after training (but within the context of a normal day of eating) to a group consuming the same nutrients at other times ofthe day and found that the pre/post workout group got better results in terms of LBM gains and fat loss.

It's also unknown at this point whether combining the results from all of the individual studies will yield greater results. For example, as discussed above, consuming nutrients both before and during resistance training has been shown to have benefits in terms of promoting protein synthesis and limiting protein breakdown. As 1 discuss below, consuming nutrients afterwards does as well.

Does that mean that consuming nutrients before and alter is better than only one or the other? What if you consume nutrients before, during and after; is that better than just before, or before and after, or just during?

As described in the sections above, pre-, during- and post-workout nutrition each have slightly different benefits and effects in terms of exercise performance, recovery and adaptation. Based on physiological and theoretical concerns, there is some logical reason to believe that optimizing nutrition around training by providing nutrients through all three time periods (pre-. during- and post-workout) should yield better results than only consuming nutrients at one or two of those times. This idea has not been systematically tested.

An additional issue regarding most ofthe research to date, which I'll address below, is that the grand majority of studies have been short-term, examining only the acute response to nutrient ingestion after training. Only a handful of studies have examined w hether or not consuming nutrients around training yields improved gains in lean body mass, strength or performance in the long-term.

Tmhg

Based on early data looking at glycogen resynthesis, the idea of a "window of opportunity" in terms of post-workout nutrient intake has long been discussed. For example, early research found that the consumption of carbohydrate/protein 1 hour following endurance training yields better results than waiting until 3 hours after training (50). It's less clear whether the immediate consumption of protein/carbohydrate after resistance training is required for optimal gains.

In elderly individuals, the consumption of protein/carbs immediately after training, as opposed to waiting two hours, significantly improved muscle gain (51) while in younger

individuals whether aminos/carbs >vere given one or three hours following resistance training, the effects on acute protein synthesis were the same (52). Older individuals typically respond differently than younger individuals (consider the difference in response to protein "pulse" feeding between older and younger subjects discussed in Chapter 7); this may explain the difference in results between these two studies.

Additionally, if nutrients were consumed before and/or during training, amino acids and carbohydrates will still be available in the post-workout period. Whether consuming additional nutrients immediately after training would be of additional benefit is currently unknown.

As mentioned above, from a physiological standpoint, it makes logical sense to provide nutrients immediately after training to shift the body back into an anabolic state. In addition, blood flow to the trained muscles is typically higher following training, as is AA uptake (53). Providing additional nutrients at that time would certainly seem to be beneficial.

However, if pre- and/or during-workout nutrition is consumed, it may not be crucial to consume a post-workout shake or meal immediately after training as breaks of one to three hours appear to have no major impact in the short-term.

Type and amount

Because ofthe way the studies have been performed, it's impossible to separate the type of protein from the amount ofprotein given so I'm going to discuss them together. In terms of resistance training. I'm not aware of any research systematically examining different carbohydrate types; most studies have typically used sucrose (table sugar) although the Cribb study mentioned above used dextrose before and after training.

Early studies used a combination of EAAs. generally with sucrose in varying amounts and timing. One study found that the consumption of 3-6 grams of EAAs one and two hours alter training stimulated protein synthesis each time (38) but as mentioned above, this is unlikely to have maximized the anabolic response in the first place. Given the research discussed in Chapter 7 on skeletal muscle becoming "desensitized" to AAs. had more protein been given at the one-hour mark, it seems unlikely that the second dose would have had an effect.

Tipton provided 6 grams of EAAs with 35 grams of sucrose either before or after training (8). The pre-workout EAAs generated a larger impact on post-workout protein synthesis than the same dose given post-workout. As mentioned above, this appears to mainly have been due to one subject who had a massive response to the pre-workout nutrients. As well, the study was done fasted which raises some issues about the relevance of the findings to most real-world eating patterns (as discussed above).

Another study determined that a maximum response in terms of protein synthesis following training was found w ith 20 grams of EAAs after training (39). This w ould equate to roughly 40-50 grams of whole protein: based on the body weight of the subjects this amounts to approximately 0.6 g/kg of whole protein to generate a maximal anabolic response after training.

While a majority of the early research tended to use KAA supplements around training, more recent research has begun to examine the impact of whole proteins on protein synthesis post-training. The Cribb study described above gave bodybuilders 0.40 g/kg (0.18 g/lb) of whey prolein, 0.43 g/kg (0.2 g/lb) of dextrose and 0.07 g/kg (~0.03 g/lb) of creatine with trace fat before and after training. For a 100kg (220 lb) lifter this provided 40 grams of whey with 43 grams dextrose and 7 grams of creatine (II).

Borsheim provided 17.5 grams of whey protein (0.23 g/kg) with 77 grams carbohydrates (1.0 g/kg) and 5 grams of amino acids following resistance training (45), not unsurprisingly this yielded superior results to 100 grams of carbohydrates consumed alone.

Another study examined the impact of either 20 grams (-0.26 g/kg) of casein or whey after training; despite differences in the pattern of amino acid appearance in the bloodstream, both produced an identical result in terms of protein synthesis (54). Readers may recall from an earlier chapter that a mixture of whey and casein has been hypothesized to be superior lo cither alone in the post-workout period (55). Recent work suggests that this is likely to be the case.

One reccnt study examined the impact of skim milk, whole milk, or enough skim milk to match the caloric content of the whole milk on protein synthesis following resistance training. This provided either 8 or 14 grams (0.13-0.19 g/kg) ofprolein along with 12 or 20 grams of carbs (56). Interestingly, whole milk yielded better results than skim milk although the reasons for this are unclear.

In another study, 18 grams (0.22 g/kg) of skim milk protein (with 24 grams carbs and 1.5 grams fat) was shown to generate a superior anabolic response to a soy based drink containing identical nutrients and calories following resistance training (57). Soy is a fast prolein, similar to whey, and the difference in response appears to be related to the slower digestion of the milk protein. The same group found a trend towards increased lean body mass gains with milk compared to soy protein in longer- term studies as well (58,59).

Similarly, a reccnt study compared the intake of 48 grams of carbohydrate (0.57 g/kg) to 40 grams whey with 8 grams casein (0.57 g/kg total protein) or 40 grams of whey wilh 5 grams BCAAs and 3 grams of leucine over 10 weeks of resistance training. The cascin/whey mixture yielded the best gains in muscle mass (60). However, differences in caloric intake (e.g. the whcy/BCAA/glutamine group ate fewer calories) color this observation.

Collectively, the above research seems to suggest that consuming slower digesting proteins, or a mixture of last and slow proteins during the post-training period may provide superior results compared to a fast protein. Although no study has tested it directly, milk protein isolate (MP1), which contains 20% whey and 80% casein might turn out to be an ideal post-workout protein: the studies using milk (skim or whole) would certainly seem to support this idea.

By providing a rapidly available source of amino acids (from the whey) w'ith a slower digesting source (from the casein), both protein synthesis and breakdown should be

21:52

positively affected: this effect should be even greater when combined with carbohydrates to raise insulin.

Research on endurance training has mostly focused on glycogen resynthesis more than protein synthesis or recovery. I'm not aware of any research systematically examining the impact of different amounts or types of protein following endurance training on either glycogen resynthesis or adaptation. Looking at amounts, one study found that the addition of 40 grams of protein to 110 grams of carbohydrate increased glycogen resynthesis following training (32). Similarly. 28 grams of protein added to 80 grams of carbohydrate resulted in greater glycogen resynthesis compared to either 80 or 108 grams of carbohydrate (61). As mentioned above, any benefit of adding protein to carbohydrate in terms of glycogen synthesis appears to be lost if sufficient carbohydrate (1.5 g/kg or more) is provided to begin with (24) or the carbohydrates are given at frequent intervals.

Examining the impact of a protein/carbohydrate drink on muscle damage following distance running, one study provided roughly 1.5 g/kg of carbohydrate (~0.7 g/lb) with 0.35 g/kg (0.15 g/lb) ofprotein following training (47). For a 60 kg (132 lb) athlete this provided 88 grams of carbohydrate and 21 grams of protein. The subjects in the protein/carbohydrate group reported less muscle soreness. Markers of muscle damage were also reduced following training: in the long-term this might be expected to improve performance.

Another study compared chocolate milk to a carbohydrate only drink consumed between two endurance sessions set only 4 hours apart. Subjects received 0.27*0.42 g/kg protein and 1-12 g/kg carbohydrate along with a small amount of fat from chocolate milk (roughly 2-3 cups of chocolate milk) or one of two carbohydrate only drinks (62). The chocolate milk group performed better at the second session indicating that the combination of carbohydrate and protein was superior for recovery between workouts.

Although unrelated to recovery per se, milk was found to be superior to either water or Powerade (a commercial carbohydrate drink) for rehydration following endurance exercise, most likely due to the higher sodium and potassium content (63).

Overall, as with resistance training, it appears that consuming protein and carbohydrates after endurance training is beneficial, both from a glycogen resynthesis and recovery point of view. There is some indication that the practice of proper post-workout nutrition can also limit muscle damage while promoting positive adaptations to training.

A final issue that has received relatively little study is whet her liquids or solids post-workout are superior. From a matter whether liquids or solids are consumed following training (64).

In terms of resistance training. I'm only aware of one study which compared a solid and liquid meal following resistance training and examined a variety of hormonal parameters (65): no measures of protein synthesis or breakdown were made. The meal provided 38 grams protein (0.41 g/kg). 70 grams carbohydrate (0.75 g/kg) and 7 grams fat. The liquid meal was a blend of whey, casein and milk protein along with maltodextrin. sucrose and dextrose with canola. MCI and borage providing the fat: the solid meal consisted of skinless chicken breast with rice.

The only difference seen was that the liquid meal maintained insulin at a higher level compared to the whole food meal, possibly due to the insulinogenic effects of whey or the faster rate of digestion for liquids versus solids. This could potentially stimulate protein synthesis (or inhibit protein breakdown) more effectively although this was not examined in the study.

Of practical importance, the subjects reported finding it easier to consume the liquid meal following training. This is not uncommon as many athletes find their hunger blunted following intense training. Practically speaking, a liquid meal often makes it easier to consume sufficient post-workout nutrients.

As well, athletes looking to maximize glycogen replenishment for a second training session later in the day would likely benefit from the increased insulin response; they would also be able to eat again sooner by not having a solid food meal digesting. Finally, liquid nutrients following training would also go towards rehydration following the workout.

My recommendations for post-workout nutrition appear in Table 4 below. Continuing with the theme of this chapter, endurance athletes will be consuming more carbohydrate and relatively less protein following training while a strength/power athlete would be consuming relatively less carbohydrate and more protein.

Table 4: Post workout nutrition recommendations

Protein Carbohydrate

Endurance 0.15-0.35 g/kg 1-1.85 g/kg

Strength/power 0.3-0.5 g/kg 0.3-1.5 g/kg

The ideal protein post-workout is unknown although emerging data suggests that a slower protein such as casein or a mixture of fast/slow proteins such as MPI (or a half and half mixture of casein and whey) might be ideal. Carbohydrate sources ranging from dextrose to maltodextrin (a long chain polymer of glucose) with some fructose (to refill liver glycogen, important for overall anabolism) can be consumed. Waxy maize starch (commercially sold as Vitargo) may be beneficial for athletes who need to maximize glycogen synthesis between two workouts which are very close together although 1 tend to doubt it has much benefit for athletes training only once per day (where maximum rates of glycogen resynthesis are not required).

Athletes who prefer to consume whole food following training should generally pick somewhat more easily digested foods such as lower fat protein (chicken, fish, low fat red meat) along with higher GI carbohydrates (potato, breads, rice, etc.).

The range for carbohydrate intake post-workout is necessarily large due to the differences in the types of workouts that might be included in the above categories. The values above are given in an attempt to cover the myriad possibilities that might come up and I want to discuss some of those eventualities here (111 address this issue in more detail in Chapter 13).

Following endurance workouts, carbohydrate amounts would be chosen depending on the extent of the workout (longer and/or more intensive workouts would require more carbohydrate) along with how rapidly the athlete needed to replenish glycogen. An athlete training once per day could go with the lower amounts of carbohydrate so long as sufficient carbohydrate is consumed over the next 24 hours. An athlete who needed to train again later that same day would want to consume larger amounts of carbohydrates to maximize the immediate resynthesis of glycogen.

How much protein is consumed will tend to depend on the size of the athlete and total amount of protein being consumed per day. A smaller female endurance athlete consuming the low end of my daily protein recommendations (1.3 g/kg) may only consume 0.15 g/kg of protein post*workout to ensure that sufficient amounts can be consumed at other meals while a larger male athlete consuming the high*end recommendations of 2.0 g/kg may go with the larger amount of protein following training.

Workout intensity or duration plays a role here as well, relatively longer and/or more intensive workouts would tend to require larger amounts of protein following training than shorter and/or lower intensity workouts. Running, because of its higher impact nature (compared to other endurance sports) tends to cause more muscle damage as well, proportionally more protein might be needed after running workouts compared to sports such as cycling, swimming, rowing, etc. This has not been studied to my knowledge.

For strength/power workouts, the choice of post*workout carbohydrate amount depends on the nature of the workout (volume and type of training) along with the goals of the workout. The larger the volume of work in the glycolytic range (work bouts ranging from roughly 30*90 seconds), the more glycogen that is used and the more it will be necessary to replenish glycogen following training. An athlete performing a large amount of bodybuilding type of work would require more carbohydrates following training than an athlete performing lower repetition "neural" training.

Additionally, an athlete looking for maximal gains in body mass would tend towards the higher amounts of both protein and carbohydrate after training when compared to an athlete who was simply trying to maintain body weight (or explicitly avoid mass gains); the latter athlete would consume relatively less carbohydrate (and possibly less total protein as well).

Athletes performing other types of strength/power workouts such as sprinting or plyometrics will have to use a bit of trial and error to determine how many carbohydrates they need following training. In general, the shorter the work bouts (less than 30 seconds), the less glycogen that will be depleted: hence less carbohydrates will be necessary. As above, the more work done in the time range of 30*90 seconds, the more glycogen that will be used and the more carbohydrates should be consumed following training.

Acute versus long-term studies

As mentioned above, one limitation with many of the post-workout studies is that they generally only examine what happens immediately after training. A question unanswered until fairly recently is whether these acute changes in protein synthesis and breakdown actually result in a greater amount of musclc gained over time.

While this may seem like a silly question (logically, how could promoting protein synthesis after a workout not generate better gains?), it's actually not that simple. It's always possible that any adaptation seen in the short-term could be negated by a counter- adaptation later in the day. For example, perhaps the small gain in protein following training plus nutrient ingestion is counterbalanced by a greater breakdown of protein later in the day (as occurs when non-training subjects simply increase their protein intake).

However, more recently, the answer to this question has become much more clear. One early study showed that the protein gained after training with post-workout nutrients resulted in a greater 24-hour protein balance (66). That is, the body simply added the protein gained from training plus nutrients to its total stores. However, this still didn't address whether lean body mass gains would be improved over lime. Additionally, since there was no control group that trained wiihout consuming nutrients after workout, it was impossible to know if the results were from the training, the protein supplement or the combination ofthe two.

Earlier, I mentioned a study which compared carbohydrate only to whey/casein or whey/BCAA/glutamine over 10 weeks and found that the whey/casein group showed greater gains in lean body mass compared to either other group (60). However, there was no placebo group consuming nothing after training for comparison. Perhaps the subjects gained more lean body mass as a consequence of consuming more calorics with no impact ofthe actual timing ofconsumption

One recent study compared either carbohydrate alone to protein consumed before and after training over 14 weeks of resistance training (67). In that study, only the protein group showed gains in musclc size but. again, with no control group, it’s impossible to conclude that consuming nutrients around training was the cause. Perhaps simply consuming more protein per sc, rather than the timing, was responsible.

Although verification is necessary, the recent study by Cribb at least points towards the logical conclusion being correct (II); consuming nutrients around training (when utilization and uptake is greatest) leads to greater lean body mass gains compared to consuming an identical amount of nutrients at other times of the day. I'd refer readers to the discussion above for more details on this paper.

1 am unaware of any research examining whether pre-, during- or post-workout nutrition will impact on the long-term adaptations to endurance training although there arc certain theoretical reasons to believe that this would be the case. Similar physiological clTccts in terms of blood flow, amino acid uptake and protein synthesis arc occurring following endurance training. It makes sense that shifting the body back into an anabolic state by consuming nutrients fol lowing all types of tra in ingshould serve to promote better long-term adaptations.

Remaining questions about optimal nutrition around workouts

Research lo date has examined a number of different aspccls regarding the impact of pre- during and post-w'orkout nutrition but questions still remain as most ofthe work has been done in isolation and many different intake patterns are possible.

If an athlete consumes nutrients immediately pre-workout, is post-workout nutrition absolutely required? What about consuming nutrients during training folio wing pre-workout intake? If an at hi can they simply wait an hour to eat a solid meal or will extra nutrients consumed immediately after training yield better results?

If an athlete has consumed a solid meal two hours prior to training, wc might ask if any of this is really ncccssary in the first place. As discusscd in Chapter 7, solid food meals take hours to digest, meal consumed within two to three hours of training will still be digesting and releasing nutrients to the body throughout the workout period: does this make around w'orkout nutrition moot?

Assuming that consuming nutrients around training will still yield better results given a normal meal schedule, the unanswered questions change. Is it better to spread nutrition consumed around training evenly across the pre-, during and post-workout period or will some other pattern turn out to be optimal? At this point, there arc more questions than answers.

Ofthe research examined above, only a few studies have even partially examined this Issue and neither was making a comparison of different patterns of consumption. As mentioned, the study by Cribb compared pre- and post-workout nutrition lo the same nutrients consumed at times other than around training: the pre/post group showed better gains in lean body mass w'ith a slight fat loss (11).

A rcccnt study on resistance training provided a small amount of carbohydrate and protein (62 and 15 grams respectively) starting 30 minutes before to immediately after training, this decreased markers of protein breakdown but, as the study only looked at a single workout, the impact over the long-term is unknown (21). However, the study wasn’t comparing various intake patterns to one another; rather, it simply spread the nutrients around the w'orkout period.

A very recent study examined the impact of resistance training on molccular markers of hypertrophy (68). Trainees were given either 0.3 g/kg ofprotein or 0.3 g/kg protein with an additional 0.3 g/kg of carbohydrate before, immediately after, and again 1 hour after training (so they rcccived a total of 0.9 g/kg of carbs and protein spread around training).

The group receiving carbohydrate and protein showed the greatest impact on the markers examined. Once again, the study didn't examine different intake patterns; it simply provided nutrients throughout the immediate pre- and post-workout period to ensure a maximal response.

Given that each period of around training nutrition can be seen as having a slightly different impact on training, recovery or adaptation, my general feeling is that spreading

nutrients throughout the pre-, during* and post-workout nutrition should yield optimal results.

Providing carbohydrate and protein before workout ensures optimal blood glucose and AA levels during training. During workout nutrition appears lo limit protein breakdown and fatigue during both endurance and resistance training and may improve overall workout performance in some situations. Post-workout nutrition optimizes recovery in terms of both glycogen and protein synthesis: this improves long-term adaptations to both types of training.

At the same time, there are some practical reasons why athletes might choose to forego some aspect of around workout nutrition. Some athletes don't like training wilh anything in their stomach, or find that their blood sugar levels get unstable with prc- or during- workout carbohydrates. This can be especially true for sprint and low-repetition weight workouts where the rest-intervals are often long; it lends to be much less of an issue for endurance athletes. This problem can be compounded if very fast acting carbohydrates like dextrose are chosen: sucrose or Gatoradc type drinks tend to avoid problems wilh blood sugar crashing, probably because the fructose helps to maintain blood sugar.

Assuming that a sufficient solid meal is consumed within 2-3 hours oftraining. such that nutrients are still being released during the workout, athletes may find that they can eliminate the prc- and during-workout phases and only consume post-workout nutrition.

Or they might skip the immediately pre-workout nutrition and only consume a small amount of carbs/protcin during the workout to maintain blood glucose and AA levels, followed by a post-workout drink (or solid meal). As mentioned above, outside of some practical considerations, athletes who only train once per day or less may prefer to consume a solid meal following training and avoid liquid nutrition altogether.

I'd also mention that some of the choice of around workout nutrition will also clearly depend on the length and type of workout. A bodybuilder performing an hour of lifting will have far less requirements for nutrients in terms of maintaining blood glucose or amino acid levels than a sprinter or athlete performing a workout lasting two or more hours. A single meal consumed two to three hours before training would probably be insufficient in that situation. The same would hold for an endurance athlete who may be performing a several hour training session, simply eating a few hours before training would be unlikely to keep them fueled during training.

Nutrient timing and body fat

One potential concern that is often raised regarding nutrition around training is the potential impact on body fat levels; this tends to be especially true in the bodybuilding community but is also relevant lo athletes who need lo maintain a very low level ofbody fat for optimal performance.

The concern typically revolves around the consumption of large amounts of high glycemic

index carbohydrates and raising insulin around training; a number of creative post-workout nutriti on strat

while minimizing an increase in insulin. Is this concern valid?

Research has repeatedly shown that muscular insulin sensitivity is up regulated following both resistance and endurance training although the mechanisms are different for each type of training (69). Improvements in insulin sensitivity also depend on the total amount of training done with a threshold caloric expenditure of 500-900 calories per workout being necessary (70,71). While these levels may exceed what a typical sedentary individual can accomplish, even moderately w'cll trained athletes should be able to easily achieve them.

The training induced increase in insulin sensitivity is likely to be a major mechanism behind the "window of opportunity" following training, skeletal musclc is primed to take up nutrients at an accelerated rate. This means that the chance of calories being pushed into fat storage is minimized if not eliminated. Related to this, following glycogen depleting endurance exercise, research has clearly shown that the ingested carbohydrates go towards glycogen storage while the body continues to rely on fatty acids for fuel (72, 73). This occurs despite an increase in insulin levels from the carbohydrates.

This holds true for massive carbohydrate intakes as well. In one study, subjects were given 5 g/kg of carbohydrate (500 grams carbohydrate for a 100kg athlete) following 90 minutes of moderate exercise and de novo lipogencsis (DNL, the conversion of carbohydrate to fat) w'as studied: not only did no DNL occur but the body continued to burn fat in the post- exercise period (74). Essentially, w'hen glycogen is depleted from training, incoming carbohydrates go to glycogen storage while the body continues to use fatty acids for fuel: raising insulin post-workout does not interfere w'i th this.

Related to the above, various concerns regarding the hormonal response to training (especially in terms of testosterone and growth hormone) have occasionally been raised. The debate over the potential relevance of the hormonal response to training is beyond the scope of this book: suffice to say it's unknown how' important fairly small and acute (one hour or less) changes in hormones are to the overall adaptation to training. How'ever, even if we assume that they are important, it doesn’t appear that consuming nutrients around training negatively impacts upon them.

One of the early post-workout nutrition studies found that carbs and protein consumed after resistance training led to a more pronounced growth hormone (GH) response than protein alone or placebo (40). A later study showed that consumption of 50 grams of carbs and 25 grams of protein before and after training led to an increased grow'th hormone (GH) response (75). Interestingly, that same study show'cd that post-workout feeding caused a lowering of testosterone in the post-w'orkout period which might be interpreted as a negative from the standpoint of muscle gain. How'ever, this decrease is thought to represent increased clearance of testosterone into skeletal muscle rather than a decrease in production per se.

In support of this idea, a recent study showed that consuming carbohydrate, protein and fat after training led to an increased level of androgen receptors (the receptor that testosterone binds to in order to stimulate gains in skeletal musclc) compared to w'ater alone (76). Increased androgen receptor levels would bind more testosterone, possibly explaining the decrease in blood levels following training. Other research, already discussed, has shown that consuming nutrients during or after workout leads to increased insulin and decreased levels of Cortisol, indicating a more anabolic state.

Related to this issue, a question that often conies up is whether carbohydrates and calorics should be consumed around or during training when an athlete is trying to lose body fat. Based on the data above, it seems unnecessary to limit calorics around training. Readers might consider again the study by Cribb which found a slight fat loss (1 kg) in the group consuming dextrose, whey protein and creatine before and after training (11).

Quite in fact, given the crucial importance of ensuring workout intensity as well as promoting recovery during dieting, it seems backwards to limit calories around training. Instead, caloric reductions should be made at other meals ofthe day with appropriate pre*. during* and post»workout nutrition being maintained. This ensures proper recovery while dieting while still allowing for a suitable deficit to be created. Athletes having to restrict calorics to rcduce body mass may w'ish to reduce their around workout nutrition to the lower values in the recommendations, this will allow more food to be consumed at the other meals ofthe day. This topic is addressed in further detail in Chapter 13.

Application

Although I'll discuss this in more detail in Chapter 13, I want to talk about how’ all ofthe information in this chapter can be put into practicc.

The simplest approach, of course would be to simply take all ofthe values given above for pre*, during* and post-w'orkout nutrition and total them up. That amount of carbohydrate and protein would be mixed into a sufficient amount of liquid in a single large bottle. The athlete would simply begin sipping the drink starting 30 minutes before the workout, continuing through the workout and finishing the drink at the end of the workout.

Let’s say w'c have a 100 kg (220 lb) strength/power athlete w'ho will consumc 0.5 g/kg protein before and after training for a total of 1.0 g/kg (100 grams ofprotein) along with an additional 15 grams ofprotein during the w'orkout. So 115 grams ofprotein total around training. To that he might add an equal amount of rapidly digested carbohydrate or 115 grams. Creatine might also be added to the drink w'hich would be mixed up in roughly 64 oz of fluid. This would be sipped starting 30 minutes before workout, consumed evenly throughout the workout and finished w'hen the w'orkout w'as over. A solid meal would be consumed 2*3 hours later and normal eating resumed.

The drawback to the simple approach, of course, is that mixing everything into one bottle mandates that the same protein and carbohydrates be consumed throughout the entire around>w'orkout nutrition period. This may not be optimal.

As discusscd in detail in this chapter, there is some indication that different proteins (and possibly carbohydrates) might be superior at different times. While fast proteins are probably optimal before and during a workout, a slow or slow/fast mixture appears to be ideal following training. Additionally, while fast acting carbs such as dextrose are most appropriate after a workout, they can cause blood sugar problems in some athletes. A mixture of glucose and fructosc, or sucrose, might be a better choice for consumption during training under those conditions.

A slightly more complex approach would be to mix two drinks, one to be consumed pre-and during work second bottle (containing a slow or mixed protein such as a casein/whey mixture or milk protein isolate) mixed tor post-workout. Different carbohydrates could be used in each drink with this approach.

Obviously the most time intensive approach would be to mix three drinks; this would allow the greatest amount of control over the nutrient (and liquid content) of each phase for athletes trying to optimize all aspects of their around training nutrition.

For example, an athlete might choose to consume 25 grams of dextrose with 25 grams of whey protein approximately 30 minutes before training in only a small amount of fluid, to avoid issues of gastric upset (or having to pee during training). This should give the whey sufficient time to digest to provide AAs to the working muscles.

During the workout, an additional 60 grams of a typical hydration drink (such as Gatorade) with 12-15 grams of whey protein might be consumed in 32-36 oz of fluid every hour. This would maintain blood glucose and blood amino acids along with ensuring sufficient fluid intake.

Post-workout, a mixture of dextrose (or maltodextrin, or a mixture of the two) and milk protein isolate (or a half and half mixture of whey and casein) could be consumed in however much water was necessary to ensure optimal rehydration following training. The amounts used would, of course, depend on the athlete's goals, the amount of training that had been done and the other issues discussed throughout this chaplcr.

Protein Controversies

Before looking al whole proteins and protein powders, I'd like to address some of the most common controversies that lend to surround the high protein intakes typically seen in and recommended to athletes. The major ones are kidney function, bone health, and heart disease and colon cancer. Related to the issue of bone health. I'm also going to address the topic of metabolic acidosis and the impact that dietary protein intake has upon it.

Kidney function

A common criticism of high protein intakes/diets is the concern that they arc damaging to the kidneys. This belief seems to stem from the fact that, in individuals with preexisting kidney damage, protein intake often has to be reduced to prevent further development of the disease. Incorrectly, this has been turned around to suggest that high-protein intakes arc damaging to the kidneys (1).

There is at best a weak case to be made for a risk of high protein intakes on kidney function; quite in fact, some research suggests a beneficial effect of higher protein intakes on kidney function (2). Simply pul, the adaptations to kidney function that arc often cited as indicating "strain" or damage are more likely to simply be normal adaptive eiTects ofvarying protein intake (1).

Unfortunately, very little research has directly examined the impact of high protein intakes on kidney function in athletes. One study examined the impact of 2.8 g/kg (1.3 g/lb) protein on the kidney function of bodybuilders, no negative effect was seen (3). To my knowledge, higher intakes have not been studied.

Empirically, it's worth considering that athletes have been habitually consuming large amounts of protein for at least several decades without any reported increase in the incidence of kidney problems. If such a problem were going to occur, it seems likely that it would have shown up by now. While this certainly doesn’t prove that high protein intakes aren't potentially detrimental lo kidney function, the data in support of that idea would seem to be lacking both from a scientific and real-world point of view.

Interestingly, while it's always been stated that high dietary protein intakes increase fluid requirements, this idea appears to have originated from a military study examining nitrogen balance under conditions of water and energy restriction (1). There is no indication that individuals who arc sufficiently hydrated need to go out of their way to increase fluid intake when they are consuming large amounts of protein.

Bone health

Perhaps one ofthe most pervasive criticisms of high protein intakes has to do with the impact of protein on bone health and calcium status. This goes back to early nutritional studies which gave purified protein diets and saw a loss of calcium from the body.

Later studies, using whole food proteins (which included other nutrients such as phosphorous) found very different effects. Frankly, the early studies on this topic are fairly irrelevant to normal human nutrition since the consumption of protein in the total absence of other nutrients would be extremely rare: all whole food proteins and protein powders contain micronutricnts.

As well, the impact of protein on overall calcium status is more complex than having a simple positive or negative clTccl as dietary protein can impact on both calcium excretion as well as calcium absorption and utilization. It is the combined elTcct of these processes which determines the end result in terms ofbonc health.

In epidemiological studies, a high intake of animal protein increases the risk of bone fractures; as well, a high ratio of animal to vegetable protein intake has also been associated with an increased risk ofbonc loss (4). In contrast, high intakes ofprotein improve bone healing, following a fracture for example. This is mediated both by increased calcium absorption as well increased levels of insulin-like growth factor l(JGF-l). a hormone involved in tissue growth (5). How can this contradiction be reconcilcd?

Fundamentally, it's too simplistic to look at protein intake in isolation in lenns of its effects on bone health as the protein content of food interacts with other nutrients in that food or in the total diet (6). For example, recent studies suggest an interaction between protein and calcium intake.

When calcium intake is low. high protein intakes appear to have negative eftects on bone health. In contrast, when calcium and vitamin D intake are sufficient, protein intake has a beneficial effect on bone health (7). This suggests that ensuring adequate calcium intake (through a sufficient intake of dairy foods, or calcium supplements) is crucial for bone health when large amounts of protein arc being consumed.

This most likely serves to explain the above contradiction. In the studies where dietary protein intake was found to have a negative impact on bone health, there were other dietary factors playing a role. Calcium or Vitamin D intake may have been insufficient causing an overall negative elTcct. However, when sufficient calcium and Vitamin D are

provided (as Ihcy typically arc following bone injury), dietary prolein has a beneficial impact.

Metabolic acidosis

Related to the issue of dietary protein and bone health is a concept referred to as net renal acid load (NRAL). When foods are consumed, they have the potential lo produce either a net acidic or net alkaline (basic) effect, which the body, primarily the kidneys has lo deal with. NRAL refers to the total amount of acid produced that the kidneys have lo process.

Simplistically, protein foods tend to increase the net renal acid load, as does a high intake of sodium relative to potassium. In contrast, fruits and vegetables, along with foods high in potassium, tend to buffer this net acid load and have an overall alkalizing effect on the body. Wilh an excess of acid forming foods in the diet relative lo the number of base producing foods, a slight metabolic acidosis can occur.

The modern diet, with its high reliance on animal proteins and high intake of sodium, along wilh a low intake of fruits, vegetables and potassium is thought lo generate a sub-clinical metabolic can have a number of negative health effects, not the least of which is an impact on hormones important to athletes (9). Ensuring sufficient intake of basic foods (fruits and vegetables) to balance out the acid produced from a high protein intake is one key to avoiding this problem.

From both a bone health and performance standpoint, any athlete consuming a high protein diet must ensure sufficient intake of other foods including plenty of fruits and vegetables to buffer any potential negative effects (10). Using a potassium salt or mixed sodium/potassium salt to ensure adequate potassium intake lo offset the high levels of sodium in the modern diet is not a bad idea either.

As a final comment related to this issue, it has been suggested that the impact of diet on the body’sacid balance can impact on exercise performance. lt*s we II established that low-carbohydrated intensity exercise, for example. This hurts performance during those types of events. Reducing protein intake and increasing carbohydrate intake for 3-5 days prior to an important event has been theorized lo increase exercise performance in events lasting 3-7 minutes (II).

Colon cancer/heart disease/overall health

A large meat intake, especially red meat, is often claimed to be involved in the development of a number of diseases, especially heart disease and colon cancer. A great deal of this research is based on observational w'ork where individuals consuming a meat- based diet are more likely to get such diseases. As well, there is ample evidence to suggest health benefits with vegetarian diets (12).

However, as with the protein and bone health issue, you can’t simply isolate protein/meat intake from other aspects of the diet. This is important when looking at the research as most of it tends to be epidemiological in nature, that is it looks at large populations of individuals and tries to draws correlations between different measured variables. This can lead researchers to draw incorrect conclusions.

For example, modern meal based diets are also typically very high in fat with typical cuts of red meal being high in saturated fal, a known risk factor for various diseases. In contrast, lean red meats, trimmed of visible fal, have a drastically different impact on the risk of cardiac disease (13). As well, unprocessed lean red meal doesn't increase markers of inflammation or oxidation (14). In addition to potential cancer promoting factors, meat also contains a number of cancer preventing factors (15). Replacement of carbohydrate with lean red meal has also been shown to lower of blood pressure (16). The key here, of course, is that lean red meal, as opposed to the fattier cuts commonly consumed were studied.

Diets high in meat arc often low in fruits and vegetables (meaning a low intake of important micronutrients as well as fiber) and research suggests that it is the lack of those foods (fruits, vegetables) more so than the presence of red meat that is responsible for any increased cancer risk (17). High fat intakes have also been associated with low food variety and low intakes of fruits and vegetables (18); this would further contribute to the apparent link between consuming fatty meat and health risk.

Pul differently, there is going to be a fairly large difference in the overall impact of a diet that is high in animal protein, high in fat, low in fruits and vegetables (and thus low in fiber and other important nutrients) which may be accompanied with other health risks such as inactivity, being obese, etc. This would be held in complete contrast to an athletic diet containing large amounts of lean meats along with a large fruit and vegetable intake, high levels of activity, maintenance ofa low level ofbody fal, etc.

As I mentioned above with regards to bone health any diet high in animal protein must be accompanied by a high intake of fruits and vegetables. As well, leaner cuts of meal (especially red meat) should be chosen whenever possible.

Summary

A number of health risks have been attributed to the consumption of high protein intakes, this includes potential problems with the kidneys, bone health, metabolic acidosis and certain types of cancers. For the most part, these risks tend to be extremely overstated.

While high protein intakes may cause problems when there is pre-existing kidney disease, no research suggests that high protein intakes cause kidney damage. While there is potential for high protein intakes to cause body calcium loss, this appears to only occur when calcium intake is insufficient in the first place; high protein intakes with high calcium intakes improves bone health. Ensuring sufficient vegetable intake along with a high protein intake is a key aspect not only to bone health but to preventing a small metabolic acidosis which may occur when large amounts of protein are consumed by themselves.

Concerns over hcarl disease and cancer arc more related lo ihe high fat content of many cuts of meat, along with other nutritional factors such as insufficient fruit and vegetable intake that contributes. Other lifestyle factors that typically accompany the consumption ofhighcr fat cuts ofmcat are also a likely contributor to the overall health risk. The consumption of lean cuts ofmcat has actually been shown to improve overall health; both athletic and diets for general health should ideally contain plenty of fruits and vegetables for this reason.

Whole Food Proteins

Overall, I feel strongly that an athlete's daily protein intake should come primarily from whole food sources. While supplements offer convenience, and many are now more economical (in terms of cost per gram protein) than food proteins, there are likely to be nutrients present in whole foods that are as of yet undiscovered by research, which are important to cither human health or athletic performance.

The proteins discussed in this chapter are not presented in any order ofimportance and I'll make more specific protein recommendations for different situations in Chapter 13. For the most part, all of the proteins discussed in this chapter arc appropriate at all times of the day except immediately before and during training; I'll discuss any exceptions as necessary.

By way of introduction

Although this book's primary focus is the role of protein for athletes, examining various protein sources can go beyond simply looking at the amount or quality of the protein. Whole proteins contain other nutrients or compounds that may offer nutritional benefits (or negatives) and this should play a role in the selection of protein by athletes or the general public.

For example, the fat content of a given protein may be an important consideration for an athlete trying to limit fat intake (or increase it for that matter). Even that is complicated by the type of fat present. Some highcr»fat protein sources contain significant amounts of healthy fats such as the omcga-3 (w-3) fish oils; others contain trace amounts of fats such as conjugated linoleic acid that may play a functional role in the human body. An additional consideration would include the presence or absence of micronutrients such as zinc, iron. BI2 and calcium.

Of course protein foods may also have potential health negatives associated with them; for example, there arc potential concerns of cancer causing compounds created w'hen grilling meals and may types offish contain unacceptable levels of mercury.

A final issue is cost. Unfortunately, it's impossible to really discuss this aspect of protein choice because of variance in prices in different locations; what is inexpensive in one location may be very expensive elsewhere. As well, food prices change constantly due to fluctuations in availability: any price list provided in this book would be useless. In Appendix 2. I'll explain how readers can determine the relative cost per gram ofprotein for different foods and perform a cost comparison for foods available in their area.

Fowl

The category of fow l includes such foods as chicken, turkey, duck, goose and others. Like all animal proteins, fowl is a high quality protein. The fat content for proteins in this category can vary significantly. Cuts of meat such as the thigh can contain considerable amounts of fat while the breast meat of many types of chicken and turkey are essentially fat free if the skin is removed.

Additionally, many methods of preparation such as batter frying increase the fat content significantly; the generation of potentially carcinogenic compounds (discussed in more detail under red meat below) with certain modes of cooking is another possible concern. As mentioned above, the fat content of different parts of the bird can vary fairty significantly.

Fowl is a good source of the essential micronutrients zinc and iron. As discussed below, there appears to be a compound in both chicken and red meat that enhances the absorption of non-heme iron w hich can facilitate optimal iron intake.

From a practical standpoint, fowl can be eaten any time of the day although immediately before or during workouts would be inappropriate. Many athletes have trouble maintaining a proper diet when traveling or eating out; obtaining sufficient protein with a low fat content (if desired) can be difficult.

However, most restaurants (at least in the US) will have some type of grilled chicken breast meal or sandwich which makes getting sufficient lean protein fairly easy. Even the majority of fast food restaurants w ill have some type of grilled chicken sandwich. Coupled with a side salad or plain baked potato, this can allow athletes to maintain their desired training diet under these circumstances.

Fish

Fish is a high quality protein and many types of fish are extremely low fat. making it an excellent protein source choice. There are numerous varieties of fish and. similar to fowl, fish is appropriate at all times ofthe day except immediately around training. Of interest to dieting athletes, some research has found that fish keeps people fuller compared to either chicken or red meat (1).

Although fish is often chosen for its low-fat content, even the higher fat (typically cokl water) fish typically contain most of their fat in the form of the omega-3 fish (w-3) oils.

These fals have a tremendous number of benefits, both for general health and athletic performance.

The bcncficial effects offish oils are numerous and include increased fat burning, decreased fat storage, decreased inflammation, decreased depression, mood stabilization, and decreased risk of heart disease and blood clots. More benefits are being found constantly and it's not an exaggeration to say that, if individuals were to take any single supplement on a daily basis, it should be a fish oil supplement. Although food scientists are working to increase the w'-3 content of other foods (such as w-3 eggs described below'), fatty fish remain the primary source in the food supply.

However, counteracting the potential benefits of fish and the w-3 fatty acids, there is increasing concern over the mercury content of many types of fish; because of their place in the food chain, mercury accumulates in the tissue ofthe fish to vary ing degrees. Chronic mercury exposur

Because ofthe potential health effects of mcrcury, both the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have set daily and w'cckly limits for sale mercury intake. Pregnant women, or women intending to become pregnant should minimize mercury intake from fish to avoid the possibility of birth defects.

A list of fish with their mercury concentration (in parts per million for a 3 oz serving) appears in Table 1 below*.

Table 1: Mercury content (parts per million) per 3 oz serving

Fish	Mercury	Fish	Mercury
Whiting	ND	Shad	0.07
Ocean perch	ND	Whitefish	0.07
Scallops	ND	Pacific mackerel	0.09
Clams	ND	Cod	0.1 1
Shrimp	ND	...Canned.tuna (light)	0.12
Oysters	ND	Perch	0.14
Salmon (fresh)	0.01	Mackerel (Spanish)	0.18
Tilapia	0.01	Monkfish	0.18
Sardine	0.02	Snapper	0.19
Haddock	0.03	Sable	0.22
Crawfish	0.03	Halibut	0.26
Trout	0.03	Saltwater bass	0.27
Herring	0.04	Bluefish	0.31
Flounder/sole	0.05	Tuna (canned albacore)	0.35
Mackerel	0.05	Tuna (fresh)	0.38
Crab	0.06	Marlin	0.49
Pollack	0.06	Orange roughy	0.54

ND ■ non detectable levels of mercury

Source: Levenson CW and Axelrad D. Too much of a good thing? Update on fish consumption and mercury exposure. Nutrition Rev (2006) 64: 139-145.

Lower numbers arc better, indicating less mercury per 3 oz serving offish. On a daily basis, males should slay at the 0.19 level or less: fish higher than this level can be eaten up to twice per week. Females should stay at a level of 0.14 or less for daily consumption and can go up to 0.38 twice per week. Orange roughy, a staple of some dieting bodybuilders, is far in excess of acceptable mercury levels for regular consumption.

Red meat

Like all animal proteins, red meat is a high quality protein. Sources include beef, lamb, emu, bison, buffalo and many others. As discussed in Chapter 9, there are a number of negative health claims that are often made concerning red meat; for the most part these arc more related to the high fat content that often accompanies red meat. Quite in fact, there are a number of good reasons for athletes to consume lean red meat on a regular basis.

Red meat contains high amounts of other nutrients including zinc, iron, B12, creatine and conjugated linoleic acid. Both zinc and iron arc important to optimal athletic performance and many athletes arc deficient in them (3,4). This is especially true for female athletes who are at much greater risk for iron deficicncy and anemia due to blood loss during their menstrual cycle (4).

The iron in red meat is the most bioavailable form (called heme iron): heme iron is absorbed roughly ten times more effectively than the type of iron found in vegetable foods (called non-heme iron). As mentioned above in the section on fowl, a recent study suggests that some factor found in both beef and chickcn improves the absorption of non* heme iron (5).

Creatine has a tremendous amount of positive research on it in terms of athletic

performance and is discusscd in detail in Chapter 12. The impact of conjugated linoleic

acid (CLA) on human health is still a matter of some debate and is discusscd in a bit more detail in the section on dairy foods below'.

Simply put, in addition to its protein content, red meat is a nutritional powerhouse containing many nutrients ofimportancc to both overall health and athletic performance. Given that most ofthe potential health problems associated with red meat can be avoided by consuming leaner cuts. I simply sec no reason not to consume it regularly.

Humans are thought to have evolved on lean red meat and its consumption may confcr

numerous health benefits (6,7) in addition to providing nutrients crucial for optimal performance. By trimming the visible fat from red meat and choosing leaner cuts, red meat can and should be part of an optimal athletic diet.

The fat content of red meat can vary drastically from extremely low to extremely. For example, a lean eye of round contains roughly 4 grams of fat per 3 oz while short loin contains 20 grams of fat for the same 3 oz ofmcat: ground beef can vary as little as 4-8 grams of fat for very lean beef to upwards of 20-30 grams for the same 3 oz serving. Most game meat, such as buffalo and venison, is extremely low in fat, on par with skinless chicken breast.

Unfortunately, variance in local naming of meats, not to mention the huge number of possible cuts makes a list comparing the fat content of different meals nearly impossible. Additionally, fresh meats rarely, if ever, have nutritional labels which can make determination of the actual fat content more difficult. Readers can go to the USDA database to obtain information about specific cuts of red meat.

http://www.nal.usda.tfov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

It's important to note a high fat content doesn't automatically make red meat bad, especially from the standpoint of heart disease. Not only total fat content but also the type of fat present in a food determines whether it will have positive, negative or neutral health clTects.

Most foods, red meat included contain a mixture of different types of fats; quite in fact, while a small amount of the fat in red meat is thought to contribute towards heart disease, the majority present is actually neutral monounsatured fat with the remainder of the fats actually acting in a preventative fashion against heart disease (8).

However, given the potential concerns over large amounts of fat in the diet and other diseases such as colon cancer along with a general tendency to try to limit fat intake among many athletes, choosing leaner cuts of red meat is still probably the most prudent approach.

I should also note that some research suggests that adequate saturated fat intake is necessary to optimize testosterone levels (9); trying to eliminate all saturated fat from an athletic diet is probably a mistake in the first place.

Another concern regarding red meat (as well as chicken and pork) revolves around the production of various chemicals during cooking that may contribute to cancer risk. This is especially the case when meat is fried, broiled or barbecued and occurs to a greater degree when red meat is cooked medium-well or well done. Red meal cooked rare or medium-rare appears to cause fewer problems. Additionally, fewer of these chemicals arc formed when meat is oven roasted or baked and almost none are produced when meat is stewed, boiled or poached. Athletes who consume large amounts of red meat should try to choose cooking methods that minimize the production of potentially dangerous chemicals.

I should probably also mention beef jerky which is a processed dried beef product that is typically extremely low in fat. Traveling athletes, who often have difficulty obtaining sufficient amounts of lean protein might consider jerky as a viable alternative. Containing plenty of lean protein, jerky doesn't require refrigeration and is easily transportable and can make obtaining proper nutrition while traveling much easier. One potential drawback to this is that jerky also tends to contain a large amount of sodium. Athletes should also be aware that jerky is not a pure protein source and typically contains a moderate amount of carbohydrates as well.

Fork prolein includes products such as bacon, ham, pork tenderloin and others. Most of the comments I made above relative to fowl above more or less apply here: pork is a good high quality animal protein which can be consumed at any time except around workouts. The biggest drawback lo pork is that many cuts arc very high in fat. One notable exception is pork loin (or pork tenderloin) which is generally very lean.

The high sodium contcnt of many pork products (especially processed foods) can also be problematic for athletes needing lo make weight (or dry out immediately prior to a bodybuilding contest). Additionally, processed pork products such as spam, hot dogs, ctc. tend to be full of any number of chemicals, in addition to being high in fat and sodium. Athletes should generally avoid them unless there is truly no other option available. Finally, there is a risk of trichinosis (a parasitic disease) with the consumption of undercooked pork.

Egg

Eggs have a long history in athletic nutrition, especially egg whites which have traditionally been consumed in vast quantities by bodybuilders. However, concerns about dietary cholesterol and saturated fat and their cffcct on heart health have seared many people away from whole eggs (the yolk contains all of the fat and cholesterol present in the egg).

It’s important to note that the response to high intakes of dietary cholesterol in terms of changes in blood cholcstcrol is highly variable with most people showing no elTcct. Additionally, the changcs which occur in blood lipid levels tend to be somewhat beneficial rather than negative, and whole eggs may contain other nutrients important for human health (10). Whole eggs appear to have received an undeservedly bad reputation nutritionally and even the American Heart Association has removed its recommendation to limit egg intake (11).

Like most animal sourcc proteins, whole egg is very high quality: quite in fact, whole egg was once held as the "gold standard" for protein quality in humans. Additionally, eggs are typically inexpensive especially purchased in bulk. The various liquid egg products (such as Bgg Beaters) are not quite as economical but may offer convenience over cracking numerous eggs.

At the same time, athletes wishing to reducc or limit total dietary fat intake often prefer to use egg whiles (or liquid egg while products) as a concentrated sourcc of nearly pure protein. While this reduces fat intake, and while egg whites are extremely versatile for cooking, egg while itself is not a tremendously high quality protein. As well, one individual egg white only contains about 3.5 grams ofprotein (and 15 calorics) so it takes a lot of them to gel an appreciable amount ofprotein.

A possible solution is to combine a number of egg whites with one or two whole eggs. This cuts fat intake while maintaining taste, and the higher quality protein in the yolk should ensure that the entire meal is of a higher quality. Alternately, consuming other high quality proteins in the same meal would help to prevent issues with the relatively poorer quality of pure egg whites. Athletes could add low- or non-fat cheese or some type of meal (i.e. chicken) to the egg whites and make an omelet; consumption of milk or yogurt with the egg whites should also improve the overall quality ofthe meal in addition to increasing the total protein content ofthe meal.

The consumption of raw eggs is not recommended due to a slight risk of salmonella poisoning. As well, uncooked egg whites are poorly digested and absorbed (12). Many companies now' make a pasteurized liquid egg white that can be consumed raw or used for cooking although this still has the disadvantages of egg whites in terms of quality; the cost is typically higher than buying fresh eggs but such products otTcr greater convenience over cracking and separating egg whites.

Recently, eggs produced wilh a higher w-3 content have become commercially available. As sufficient intake of w-3 should be a part of every athlete's diet, individuals who dislike consuming pills or liquid fish oil may want to consider high omega eggs (or fattier fish, described above) as a potential source. While the cost is generally higher compared to regular eggs, this is olTset by not having to purchase a separate w-3 supplement; I'd note that the content of w-3 in these eggs is not staggeringly high and it may be more cost elTective to consume regular eggs and purchase fish oil in capsule or liquid form for supplementation. It's important to keep in mind that all ofthe w-3 in such eggs will be in the yolk: purchasing high w-3 eggs and only consuming the whites would defeat the purpose entirely.

Dairy

Dairy foods include such items as milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream and kefir (a cultured milk product). For semi-completeness, I would add condensed milk and even dried milk powder (which I'll discuss more in the chapter on protein powders).

All dairy foods derive from milk, typically from a cow (products made from goat and sheep arc also available). Most dairy foods will have at least similar nutritional breakdowns because of this. 1 should mention that rice, soy, and almond "milk" are often used as a milk substitute but they share none of the qualities of dairy that I'm going to discuss below.

Nutritionally, dairy contains a number of compounds of interest and importance to athletes. In keeping with the theme of this book, clearly the prolein content is of major importance. As I've mentioned previously, cows milk contains roughly 20% whey and 80% casein, two of the highest quality proteins both of which contain large amounts of the BCAAs and leucine (13). I've mentioned in previous chapters that high leucine intakes while dieting appear to stabilize blood glucose and improve the ratio of fat to muscle lost (14).

As discussed in Chapter 2 (and I'll discuss whey and casein protein powders in the next chapter), whey and casein have different functional characteristics in terms of their digestion speed with whey digesting rapidly while casein digests slowly. I'd note again that

differences in digestion speed lend to be reduced when ihosc proteins arc consumed as part of a whole meal.

It’s interesting to note that research suggests that the combination of whey and casein may be superior to cither individually and, empirically, old school bodybuilders often advocated drinking large amounts of milk (usually whole milk) to gain muscle mass. Of course, athletes concerned with overall caloric or fat intake would tend to use lower fal or skimmed dairy products which are commonly available now.

However, the protein content of dairy is far from the only reason why it may be beneficial; dairy turns out to also contain a number ofbioaclive compounds of possible benefit (13). These include compounds native to both the casein and whey sub-fractions.

Research has found that these compounds can positively affcct immune function, may lower blood pressure, and may have anti-microbial or anti-cancer properties (13,15,16). I want to note that most of these effects have only been shown in animal or test-tube

models so far: whether or not they will apply to humans is still an area of debate and

research.

With the exception of cheese, most dairy foods contain carbohydrate, primarily as the sugar lactose (milk sugar). Lactose may have its own biological eftects, increasing calcium absorption lor one (13). In addition, the fat content of dairy may have biological eftects: for example, conjugated linolcic acid (CLA) has been examined for its role in cancer prevention and fat loss. While CLA generates impressive fat loss effects in lab animals, these eftects have generally been minor or nonexistent in humans (17). Athletes choosing nonfat dairy wi 11 not be getting much CLA anyhow.

Fermented dairy products such as yogurt, kefir and others have been of some interest due

to the presence of probiotics: live cultures which improve the health and function ofthe

bacteria present in the human gut (13). Proper functioning ofthe gut and its bacteria can be affected by stress, antibiotic use and illness and inclusion of probiotics in the diet helps to correct this.

Arguably the primary role of dairy is as a calcium source and dairy products arc the major source of dietary calcium in the food supply. A typical 8 oz serving of dairy contains roughly 300 mg of calcium (18). While other nondairy foods such as broccoli, beans and some cereals also contain calcium, it is generally not in the quantity found in dairy food. Additionally compounds such as phytalcs in grains and oxaloacctatc in vegetables impair calcium absorption from those foods (18). Nutritionally, dairy foods are a calcium delivery vehicle optimized to provide calcium to the body.

Why is calcium important? Clearly one ofthe main reasons is bone health as adequate calcium intake is crucial for the development and maintenance of bone density (18). As discussed in Chapter 9, this is likely to be even more important in the face of high protein intakes where inadequate calcium intake can lead to bone loss. Additionally, calcium may play important roles in lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke, preventing colon cancer and reducing the risk of developing kidney stones (18).

Of more rclcvance to athletes, accumulating research indicates that dairy foods arc important to regulate body weight and fat mass, partitioning calories from body fat to skeletal musclc (19). Early research suggested that this cffcct was due to the calcium itself and several different mcchanisms of action were suggested. Research found that calcium itself might directly impact on fat ccll metabolism by stimulating lipolysis, along wilh| increasing fat burning in skeletal muscle. Finally, high calcium intakes appear to bind to dietary fat, carrying it out ofthe body without absorption.

However, later studies compared increased consumption of dairy foods to isolated calcium supplements and further additional clTccts on fat mass were often found: this suggests that some other aspect of dairy foods themselves might be having an elTcct.

One possibility is simply that dairy calcium is absorbed more effectively. There is also some indication of an interaction between the calcium and BCAA contcnt of the whey portion of the protein. Finally, the bioactive compounds mentioned previously might be having an additional cffcct.

In any event, the research is clear that increasing calcium from dairy proteins (and this includes both whey and cascin) can causc fat loss under both maintenance and reduced calorics (19).

Which brings me in a roundabout way lo some of the potential negatives of dairy products, some of which are real and some of which are most likely imagined. Oddly, given the research on dairy and fat loss, dairy products have had a reputation for “making people smooth" in the bodybuilding subculture. Contest dieters often talk of removing dairy from their diet weeks or months out from competition for this reason. The origin of this belief is a little bit obscure.

1 suspect that some of it has to do with the fact that old-school bodybuilders often bulked up on copious amounts of whole milk: upon removing it from their diet (reducing calorics and fat intake), they leaned out. Hence milk got a reputation as a food that kept people smooth (i.e. fat).

Another possibility, more likely in my mind, is that individuals on extremely low-sodium diets read to the sodium content of dairy foods by holding water. Cottage cheese for example, can contain up to 500 mg of sodium per serving with other dairy foods having 150*300 mg of sodium per serving. This could cause water retention for individuals who are restricting their sodium intake.

Another possibility is a true food allergy to milk as this could causc bloating. However, research shows that the true prevalence of allergies to cow’s milk is only 1-3%, although it is often self-reported at 10 times that level (20,21). Clearly individuals with a true food allergy should avoid that food but it seems unlikely that all bodybuilders are in the 1-3% of clinically established cases. I suspccl the sodium issue is the primary culprit here.

Of far more realistic conccm with dairy is lactose intolerance (lactose mal-digcstion) which is distinct from a true allergy (this topic is discusscd in more detail at the end of the chapter). Lactose intolerance occurs when the body makes insufficient amounts of the

enzyme lactase (which digests lactose): this causes stomach upset, diarrhea and gas in susceptible individuals.

Lactose intolerance often develops in adulthood although the prevalence varies by ethnic group. Generally speaking, darker skinned ethnicities (who typically stop drinking milk once they are past weaning) have a greater propensity towards lactose intolerance than lighter skinned individuals. I'd mention that lactose intolerance, like true food allergies, is often self-reported to a much greater degree than it actually occurs.

Athletes who suffer from lactose intolerance but who wish to consume dairy foods have several options available to them. Individuals with severe lactose intolerance often find that hard cheeses and yogurt can be consumed without problem: consuming dairy with meals can eliminate the problem as well (22). Regular consumption of fermented dairy products such as yogurt or kefir also appears to improve lactose tolerance, in addition to keeping the bacteria in the gut healthy (23).

Finally, lactose reduced or removed products are now available, companies also make supplemental lactase (in pill or drop form) that can be used to make digestion of dairy foods easier for individuals prone to lactose intolerance. Recently, a product containing certain strains of gut bacteria has been introduced to help improve lactose digestion, taken once per day in the morning, it claims to improve the ability to digest lactose.

Another possible downside of dairy is the fat content, which can be problematic for individuals trying to limit caloric or fat intake: the fairly high availability of low- and nonfat dairy products makes this a relative non-issue.

Between the extremely high quality protein found in dairy along with potentially beneficial bioactive compounds, added to the effect of dairy/calcium on body fat and body weight, there are tremendous benefits to be had from the regular inclusion of dairy foods in an athletic diet. This is true from both a health and practical standpoint.

Yogurt and cottage cheese an both be used as a carrier for protein powder (whey, casein or MP1 can be mixed in to make a pudding type of dessert), a cup of milk can easily be added to other meals to bump up the protein content and quality, low- or non-fat cheese can be added to eggs or on top of lean hamburger meat. etc.

Specific to training, recent work has shown that the consumption of milk after resistance training promotes protein synthesis: oddly, whole milk worked slightly better than skim milk (24). Additionally, a recent paper found that skim milk generated a superior anabolic response compared to a soy based drink containing the same amount of protein (25). As discussed in Chapter 8. it appears that slower digesting proteins (or a mixture of fast and slow proteins) post-workout may generate a superior anabolic response.

Similarly, chocolate milk was recently shown to improve recovery following endurance training as well (26). Low-fat milk was also found to be superior to either water or Powerade for rehydration following endurance training (27).

About the only time that whole dairy foods would be inappropriate would be immediately prior to or during training as the slow digestion of casein could cause stomach upset. However, whey protein (discussed next chapter) can be consumed at those times.

While dieting for fat loss, it would appear that consuming dairy improves results in terms of greater fat loss and sparing of lean body mass loss. Athletes worried about potential problems wilh bloating or water retention may need to drop dairy out of their diets a few days or a week prior to their contest. Cutting dairy food 12-16 weeks out seems unnecessarily extreme, especially given that it may actually hinder optimal fat loss.

Legumes: Beans and nuts

The broad food category of legumes refers to both beans and nuts, of which there are many, many types. Soybeans (discusscd separately below), kidney beans, pinto beans, lentils, chickpcas/garbanzo beans, etc. along wilh the myriad varieties of nuts all belong in this category. Many vegetarian athletes rely heavily on beans as a protein source and meat-eating athletes also often consume them as a supplement to their meat based protein.

In terms of their protein content, beans and nuts are considered a decent quality protein (depending on the method of determination) although their overall digestibility tends to be somewhat poor compared to animal based proteins (28). As mentioned previously, soy protein has been shown lo be sufficient for meeting human maintenance protein requirements.

In addition to their protein content, beans tend to be high in fiber and other nutrients including zinc and calcium. Most beans are generally low in fat although nuts (w'ith the exception of chestnuts), soybeans and chickpeas tend to contain more dietary fat. As well, nuts tend lo contain the healthier fats and research has found that regular nut consumption may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance (29).

Interestingly, despite their high fat and caloric content, studies suggest that regular consumption of nuts cither has a minimal effect on body weight or causes weight loss (30). This may be due to increased fullness from the nut consumption, a thermogenic effect from cither the protein or fat content, or the fact that some of the calorics in nuts go unabsorbed (31).

As far as negatives. I’ve already mentioned the relatively poorer digestibility of bean and nut protein relative lo animal based proteins (discusscd in more detail in Chapter 2). As well, the presence of anti-nutrients such as phytates, oxaloacetatc and trypsin could impair the absorption of important nutrients such as calcium and zinc although this may be overstated (28).

Perhaps the biggest practical issue related to beans is that the fermentation of sugars in them can cause gas. This issue can be dealt with in a number of ways. One is lo use a commercial produce such Beano which is available in both tablet and liquid. The tablets aiv consumed immediately prior to the meal while the liquid is added lo gas producing foods before consumption to help avoid problems with maldigestion ofthe sugars.

Additionally, raw beans can be .soaked overnight in water and baking soda; this serves to reduce the content of those same gas-producing sugars. For every 1/2 cup of beans, 2 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda should be added and the entire mixture left to soak overnight. The water is then drained off and the beans cooked and eaten with most ofthe offending sugars removed. Lentils and split peas seem to cause less gas problems for some people than other beans. Soaking does not appear to significantly impact on the nutritional content of beans.

Arguably the biggest problem with the higher fat beans and nuts is the high calorie and fat content. I'd note again that the fats present in these foods arc typically the healthier fats; as well the relationship between nut intake and body weight is not cut and dry. Nuts, despite their high caloric and fat content, may help with weight or fat lossJThat said, even small volumes of nuts can add tremendous numbers of calorics and fal to the diet if they are eaten indiscriminately.

A high fiber intake is important to any athletic diet (except around workouts) for a number of reasons. Beans can be eaten with meals containing animal source proteins to provide extra protein, fiber and nutrients to the diet without adding significant amounts of dietary fat.

Soy

Soy products refer to foods such as soybeans, tofu, soymilk or soy protein isolate (discussed next chapter). Another soy food worth mention is texturized vegetable protein (TVP), a "meat substitute" made from defatted soy Hour. High in protein and low in fat and sodium TVP can be used to increase the protein content of other foods or used in cooking as a vegetarian substitute for the meal that w'ould normally be present.

The grand majority of comments I made above regarding legumes also apply to soy foods; however there is an addition Issue related specifically to soy products that requires a separate discussion.

From a protein standpoint, soy protein is actually a decent quality protein; recall from Chapter 5 that it ranks equally to animal based products based on the PDCAAS scoring method. Studies have shown that soy protein is more than capable of supporting basic human protein requirements. However, like most beans, soy's digestibility is not fantastic

(28).

Soy contains a reasonably large amount of the amino acids glutamine, lysine and the BCAAs; quite in fact some soy protein isolates contain more of these aminos than whey or casein. And w'hile the fat content of soybeans is high (relative to some other foods), the fat content is primarily healthy fat.

The primary concern regarding soy products has to do with the phytoestrogcn content and a great deal of controversy exists over this topic. Phytoestrogens arc naturally occurring compounds in soy products that have weak estrogenic eftccts in the body. That is, they bind to the estrogen receptor and exert a weak signal (weaker than the body's natural estrogens would exert).

I want to note upfront that the research on the effects of phytoestrogens is highly mixed with both positive and negative studies existing; furthermore, whether or not phytoestrogens arc a "problem" may depend on whether they are being consumed by men or women (32).

Most ofthe research into the elTcct ofphytocstrogcn has been performed on women. It’s thought phytocstrogcns might exert a bencficial cffcct in women by decreasing overall estrogenic stimulation. This occurs as the phytocstrogcns binds to the estrogen rcccptor, sending a weaker signal than the bodies own estrogens would send. This could conceivably lower the risk of breast cancer. In peri- and post-mcnopausal women, phytocstrogcns could have many potential health benefits related to bone or cardiovascular health (33, 34). Even there, scientific debate continues heavily as to the relative benefits or drawbacks ofsoy foods on human health.

Much less dear is the potential impact ofthe phytoestrogens on males, with concerns about the impact of phytocstrogcns on male hormones (especially testosterone) being the primary concern. Interestingly, both negative and positive effects on hormone levels have been suggested (e.g. it's been theorized that raising estrogen in males might causc testosterone levels to go up).

Most of that research has examined the impact of phytocstrogcns on prostate cancer: the idea being that by lowering testosterone levels in men, the progression of prostate cancer could be slowed. However, dircct research into the topic has shown, at most, a small impact ofsoy products on the hormone levels of men (35).

One study, which gave men 70 mg/day of phytocstrogcns, noted a slight increase in SHBO (sex-hormonc binding globulin, a hormone that binds to testosterone) and slight decreases in free testosterone levels. Other studies using lower intakes (40 mg/day or less) have found no cflccts. Thus there may be a threshold level below which phytocstrogcns have no measurable elTcct on male hormone levels. It's interesting to note that the average phytocstrogcn intake in Asian communities (often claimed to consume a great deal of soy products) has been estimated at 15-50 mg/day.

The most recent research gave men 56 grams of soy protein per day for 4 weeks and examined hormone levels (36). The results were very mixed, one subject (who started with extremely high testosterone levels) had a massive drop in levels, several subjects showed a slight increase in testosterone.

Soy foods typically contain 1-3 mg ofisoflavoncs per gram ofprotein so 56 grams ofsoy prolein per day would have provided 56-168 mg of phytocstrogcns per day. well above the threshold suggested above for hormonal effects.

At this point I consider the issue unresolved. Extremely large intakes of phytocstrogcns daily may slightly impact on male hormone levels; smaller intakes appear to have no effect.

It is currently unknown what, ifany, real world impact these small hormonal cffects would have on male or female athletes in terms of performance, adaptation or recovery. Empirically, bodybuilders often used large quantities of soy protein (before other protein supplements bccamc widely available) with no reported negative cffccts. Until more data is available, it seems reasonable to limit soy intake lo one to two 20*25 gram servings per day (this amount includes soy protein powders, discussed in the next chapter). As mentioned previously, athletes should strive to consume a variety of proteins throughout the day in the first place in order to maximize benefits and minimize any potential negatives of any one source. Wilh the large variety of proteins available for consumption, there should be no need for an athlete to ovcrconsumc any singular prolein to excess in the first place.

I should mention that soy is being used as a protein source in many food items such as protein bars, "high-prolein” cereals, low-carbohydrate foods and prepackaged meats; athletes who consume these foods as a regular part of their diet may already be ingesting some amount of phytocstrogens without realizing it. It's conceivable that adding soy foods (or protein powder) to such a diet could increase phytocslrogcn intake to such a level to have a negative impact on hormone levels.

As a final comment, while early animal research suggested that soy protein might increase levels of thyroxine (T4, one ofthe thyroid hormones), the most recent research suggests that there is little impact in healthy individuals (37).

However, large levels of soy protein may impair thyroid medication uptake in individuals who are hypothyroid (37, 38). As well, it appears that the phytocstrogens in soy can causc hypothyroidism when iodine intake is insufficient (39). Given that iodized salt is one of the primary sources of iodine in the modern diet, and given that many athletes limit their salt intake excessively, cxcess soy protein could potentially cause problems.

Other proteins (grains, vegetables, fruit, etc.)

With a few' exceptions such as many candies, which are pure sugar, and almost all oils, w'hich are pure fat, most foods contain some protein. Vegetables and fruits contain trace amounts of protein at best, while many grains can contain quite a bit; for example, both a cup of oats and a large bagel may contain 8-10 grams of protein.

A question that comes up among obsessed athletes is whether these proteins should be counted in daily totals. It’s usually pointless lo include the gram or two that occurs in fruits and vegetables but the protein in grains can add significantly to total protein intake.

And w'hile the protein in grains may not be the highest quality, assuming those grains are part of a mixed diet containing other high quality proteins, any issues regarding quality are both overstated and irrelevant. For this reason, I think that the protein in those foods can and should count towards an athlete's daily totals.

A final vegetarian protein that 1 want to mention is seitan, made from the gluten protein found in wheat flour. Seitan is high in protein w'ith moderate amounts of carbohydrate and can be used for cooking or as a "meat substitute". Although I'll discuss food allergies in more detail in the next section, individuals with gluten intolerance issues should avoid seitan.

Food allergies and intolerances

To finish up (his chapter, I want to make a few' comments about food allergies and intolerances, which I touched on above in the scction on dairy foods. Commonly, the terms food allergy and food intolerance are used interchangeably although they actually represent very different phenomena (40).

Food intolerance, such as lactose intolerance from dairy products, typically occurs due to a lack of appropriate digestive enzymes and this tends to cause upset stomach, gas, bloating or diarrhea. At worst, food intolerances typically cause sonic discomfort but no real danger.

In contrast, a true food allergy generates an immune reaction in the body. This is potentially much more severe and can cause respiratory, stomach, skin and cardiovascular symptoms; anaphylactic shock and death can also occur in extreme cases (40). True food allergies are typically caused when small amounts of proteins enter the bloodstream. This can occur during childhood when the gut lining isn't fully developed or later in life due to a compromised stomach barrier. Some allergens can also enter the body through the respiratory system.

While technically any food can cause a true allergic response, protein foods tend to be the most common culprits with milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, some fish and shellfish being the most common causcs of allergies (41). Gluten, a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye, is also a common source of food allergies (42). Gluten allergies can be especially troublesome for athletes with high caloric and carbohydrate requirements since grains cannot be consumed; increasing commercial availability of gluten free foods can help to ensure adequate caloric and carbohydrate intake.

True food allergies are thought to occur in 3-4% of adults. There are a number of different ways to determine the presence of a true food allergy but, from a practical standpoint, if eating a given protein source causcs problems of the sort described above, that tells the athlete all they need to know. For the most part, there is little to no treatment for true food allergies; avoiding the problem food is the best and only option (40).

Summary

After reading this chapter, hopefully you realize that no single whole food protein can be considered the best. Whether it's protein quality, the presence or absence of other nutrients, or potential health risks, all proteins can be compared to one another in terms of their pros and cons.

For this reason, eating a variety of whole food proteins throughout the day would seem to be the best practical strategy; this should serve to minimize any negatives inherent to one source ofprotein while maximizing overall protein nutrition. Bodybuilders, especially when they are dieting, tend to consume the same single protein source (or alternate between two different proteins, usually chicken and tuna) and may be missing out on important nutrients.

Additionally, it seems possible that combining proteins in individual meals might confer some benefits. I've mentioned that consuming higher quality proteins can improve the quality of lower quality proteins and mixing and matching proteins at any given meal would seem to ensure that any deficiency present in one protein might be offset by something present in another protein. Vegetarians have done this for year by combining grains and beans but the same might very well hold for other proteins.

Various legumes (beans/nuts) or grains, providing both fiber and carbohydrate, could be consumed along with animal protein. Omelet's can contain ham, chicken or other meat along with low or nonfat cheese: a glass of milk or yogurt can always be consumed with other meals to provide the benefits of dairy in addition to the other protein present in the meat.

In Tabic 2 below I've provided a partial list of some common foods along with the protein content found in a given serving size.

Table 2: Protein content of some common whole foods

Food	|	Serving Size	Protein (grams)
Milk	|	1 cup	ft
Cheese	|	1 oz	7
Yogurt	1	1 cup |	8
Beef		1 oz 1	8
Chicken		1 oz 1	8
Kish	|	1 oz	7
Whole egg	|	1 large	6.5
Egg white	!	1 1	3.5
Beans		//2cup	7
Tofu	i	//2 c up	10
Peanuts	!	1/4 cup }
Bread	1	1 slice 1	3
Broccoli	I	//2cup	2
Banana	!	i !	1
As mentioned earlier in	the book.	animal source foods tend to	be the most concentrated

sources of protein. A typical serving of meat might range from 3*4 oz (about the size of a deck of cards) to double or triple that. This would provide anywhere from 21*28 to 60 or more grams of protein. In contrast, vegetable source foods contain far less protein for a given volume. Vegetables and fruit contain only trace amounts.

Protein Powders

Protein po>vders have long been an athletic staple, especially in the bodybuilding world, with amazing claims being made for them over the years. Even the general public has jumped on the protein drink bandwagon to some degree; this is especially true as emerging data has shown the benefits of higher protein intakes for both appetite control and weight loss.

While 1 feel that whole food should comprise most of an athlete's daily protein intake, protein powders can have advantages over whole food (1). For one, some bulk protein powders can be cheaper per gram of protein than many food proteins. Additionally, most protein powders are low- or nonfat and have excellent shelf life and stability. Because they can be exactly measured, protein powders can also provide easier nutrient control over the diet compared to whole food proteins.

Based on the rapidly emerging data discussed in Chapter 8. it seems fairly clear that protein powders are ideal around workouts, especially in the pre- and during-workout phases, where whole foods would cause stomach upset. Whether whole food proteins or powders are superior following workout is up to debate but protein powders can be benellcial there as well since many athletes find consuming liquid nutrients easier than eating solid food.

Outside of around workout nutrition, protein powders have a number of additional practical uses. Protein powders are often consumed as their own meal, either by themselves or with other nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, fiber). Meal replacement powders, containing protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber and micronutrients are often used to provide easy and quick nutrition to support athletic performance.

A scoop or scoop and a half of protein powder can be mixed in various liquids (milk, juice, water, etc.) alone or with other nutrients to provide a quick and convenient 25-40 grams (or more) of protein. This can be beneficial for athletes trying to squeeze in sufficient protein around a busy work or school schedule. Athletes who have trouble meeting calorie (or protein) requirements from whole food often find that drinking at least some portion of their daily calorics can make things easier; protein drinks can facilitate this.

As well, protein powder can be added to morning yogurt or cottage cheese to boost the protein content without adding extra carbohydrates (if any athlete is trying to avoid or limit them). Protein powder can even be worked into cooking recipes, added to pancakc mix or muffins or other baked goods to produce high protein versions of those foods. Many athletes make up their own types oflow-fat, high-protein desserts as well.

Simply put, between their convenience, cost and utility, protein powders are likely to remain a staple of diets for athletes forever; as discussed above, they certainly have many uses. However. I'd like to reiterate a point 1 made earlier in this book: because ofthe prevalence of their use, companies will continue to push expensive protein powders on athletes based on false promises and hype.

As an extreme example, a product has recently come to market that is essentially a purified hydrolyzed casein. With essentially no research supporting any benefits ofthis product, it retails for roughly 7 times as much as other protein powders.

Another recent trend in sports nutrition is to push protein hydrolysates based on the claim that the faster digestion speed will promote better anabolism or recovery following training. As discussed in Chapter 2, the difference in digestion speed between whey, casein and their respective hydrolysates are a few minutes at most; that's in addition to emergin research that faster digestion speeds may not be superior in the first place, especially after training. The presence of free form AAs in hydrolysates often makes them bitter tasting as well, on top ofcosting more.

Similar claims regarding the superior quality or absorption of one protein over another are often made, as discussed in some detail in Chapter 5. However, given the extremely high quality and digestion efficiency of proteins such as whey and egg to begin with, it seems extremely unlikely that other proteins will show significant differences in these regards.

Unless an athlete is dieting strictly and has to watch total food intake, eating a few percent more of a cheaper protein works just as well as consuming less of a much more expensive protein. The same holds true for hydrolysates versus isolates. An athlete overly concerned with the few minute difference in digestion could just as easily consumc their protein 5 minutes earlier, rather than paying more for a bitter hydrolysate.

In any case, in looking at protein powders, as with whole food proteins in the last chaptcr, the protein content or quality is only one potential aspect when examining their value. Possible functional clTccts (such as impacts on immune system or overall health) along with potential elTects on performance are equally important in determining what protein powder might be optimal for a given application.

At the end of each listing, you’ll often find my comments regarding a given powder’s taste, texture, mixability, etc. I want to make it clear that these simply reflect my personal opinion based on taste testing a number of products, and that individual variance in taste and texture preferences certainly exist. In an attempt to standardize my comparison, I obtained commercial samples of a number of products from an online retailer, all of them were chosen with an identical flavoring system. Thirty grams ofprotein powder was mixed in 8 oz. of water for 10 seconds in a shaker bottle and I based my comments on tasting a small amount ofthe drink. Many protein powders mix and taste differently in other fluids (i.e. milk, juicc) and that may make otherwise poor tasting prolein powders drinkable. r< strongly suggest that any athlete trying a new type of protein powder obtain a small amount (if possible) to lest for taste, etc. Purchasing ten pounds of a nearly undrinkable powder is simply a waste ofthe athlete's money.

Forms of protein powder

As I discusscd in an earlier chapter, protein powders come in one of three primary forms: concentrates, protein isolates, and hydrolysales. Protein concentrates are typically about 80% protein with 5-6% carbohydrate; isolates are generally 90% protein with minimal carbohydrate. Hydrolysatcs arc simply proteins that have been prcdigcstcd (partially hydrolyzed) by throwing some digestive enzymes into the mix.

Concentrates arc the least expensive form ofprotein with the price increasing for isolates; hydrolysatcs are the most expensive. As mentioned above, hydrolysatcs arc oflcn bitter due lo the presence of free form AAs in the mixture.

The main advantage of isolates over concentrates is the slightly higher percentage of protein relative to the total: the lack of extra carbs may be important for athletes who are restricting or controlling carbohydrate intake. Empirically protein conccntratcs seem to cause bloating in some individuals relative to isolates as well.

As discussed above and in other chapters of this book, the supposed advantage of hydrolysatcs is speed of digestion although research doesn't really bear this idea out. Not only is the dilTercncc small or non-existent, there is some indication that faster digestion isn’t necessarily always belter in the first placc.

As I discuss some ofthe different types ofprotein powders below, simply keep in mind that most arc available as concentrates, isolates or hydrolysatcs. 1 won't be making individual comments (for the most part) on, for example, whey concentrate versus whey isolate versus whey hydrolysate.

As a final comment, it's not uncommon to see products containing a mixture of different protein types, based on the idea that this might generate a better overall response. Some companies also allow customers to customize their own protein blend.

For example, a combination of whey and cascin might be produced to provide both a fast and slow digesting protein: a third protein might be added in an attempt to get a different digestion speed or AA profile. Outside ofthe small amount of work discusscd in Chapter 8 examining types ofprotein following training, the topic is poorly researched.

Other products contain a mixture of different forms of the same protein. For example, one product contains a mixture of whey isolates, concentrates and some hydrolyzed whey protein.

As with the last chapter on whole food proteins, I want to look at the currently available protein powders in terms of potential advantages, disadvantages and applications. I'll make further comments as necessary. As with whole food proteins, while cost is clearly

another issue of importance in choosing a prolein powder, price differences between locales make this an impossible topic lo discuss meaningfully. Readcn. should refer to Appendix 2 lo see how they can set up their own price comparison chart for locally available proteins (whole food or powders).

One issue of importance to athletes using protein powders has to do wilh the actual amount of protein per serving. As you’ll see below, the presence of other macronulrients (especially fat) can affect the actual amount of prolein found in a single serving of prolein powder; both whole egg and hemp protein contain considerably less protein per serving for this reason.

As an additional issue, while prolein powders will always list a given standard serving size and generally come wilh a scoop for measurement, differences in the density ofthe protein powder itself can drastically affcct whether the scoop actually contains the listed amount. For example, a standard 30 gram scoop may or may not actually contain 30 grams of prolein powder depending on the density. Athletes may wish to obtain a digital food scale to actually measure out 30 grams of powder to see how il actually correlates with ihc included scoop.

Egg

Commercially, both egg white and whole egg powders are now available; the whole egg powders contain both the fat and cholesterol content of whole eggs themselves. I'd note that this significantly reduces the actual protein content per serving for whole egg protein. 1 don't have much to say about these types of proteins that 1 didn't cover in the last chapter on eggs themselves.

Egg white by itself is not a fantastic protein although whole eggs are extremely high quality. Egg protein powders typically don't mix well and have a reputation for giving users very smelly gas.

The primary use of egg protein powders would simply be convenience. Eggs are generally cheap and easy to obtain although cracking 6-12 of them at a time can be a hassle: an egg based protein powder used by itself (or mixed with other proteins) could provide an easy protein source in this situation. Additionally, athletes who cannot tolerate milk proteins could use egg protein powder as a substitute. Although I'm unaware of data on protein powder, egg appears to be a slowly digesting protein (as per 'I'able 2 in Chapter 2) and would be most appropriate post>training.

Kgg white powder mixes well although, mixed in water, it has somewhat of a thin texture. In contrast, whole egg powder mixes somewhat less well but provides a much thicker texture, most likely due to the presence of dietary fat.

Dairy: Whey, casein and milk protein isolate

I discussed dairy foods in (he last chapter but isolated dairy proteins are also available in supplement form; they are currently of great interest in the sports nutrition world. As mentioned last chapter, whole dairy foods such as milk typically consist of 20% whey and 80% casein and most of what 1 discussed last chapter also applies to dairy based protein powders.

Both whey and casein are available as isolated powders and milk protein isolates (containing both whey and casein but without the tagalong carbohydrates and fats) are also available. Most commercial products have had the lactose content reduced or removed, making them appropriate for individuals with lactose intolerance. Athletes with true dairy allergies will still have to find an alternative.

The least expensive casein powders are typically in the form of caseinates, while a far more expensive form of casein called miccllar casein is also available. Casein hydrolysate is available and. although it was used in one study described below. I question its utility: the primary benefit of casein is its slow digestion, hydrolyzing casein in an attempt to increase digestion speed seems to eliminate casein's primary advantage. I would note again that the actual dilTerence in digestion time between casein and its hydrolysate is very small in the first place; any extra cost of hydrolyzed casein would appear to have no real benefit in the first place.

Whey comes in a number of different forms, defined by the amount of processing that has been done. Concentrates arc processed further into isolates while cold filtration and ion- exchange separation attempts further purification without damaging the protein; price generally goes up significantly as you move from one type of whey to the next. Whey hydrolysates are also available; as discussed previously, there appears to be no difference in digestion speed and 1 see little benefit to be had.

Milk protein isolate (MPI) is simply isolated milk protein and contains 20% whey and 80% casein. To my knowledge MPI is only available as an isolate; concentrates and hydrolysates are not available. Recently, a complete milk dairy isolate (CMD1) has become commercially available. Similar nutritionally to MPI (although more expensive), CMD1 is claimed to have been processed more gently.

As an additional option, skim milk powder is an extremely inexpensive way to add both high quality protein and calories to a diet. However, the lactose is still present (causing problems for individuals with lactose intolerance) and the carbohydrate could be a problem for individuals trying to limit their intake.

Due to their high digestibility and AA content, all dairy proteins are extremely high quality proteins as discussed back in Chapter S. I'd mention again that, despite the occasional claim to the contrary, the biological value of whey does not and cannot exceed 100.

As discussed in previous chapters, whey and casein, despite coming from the same source are not identical. They have slightly different AA profiles with whey typically containing the highest BCAA content (23-25%) of any protein; casein comes in around 20% BCAA contcnt. Casein also contains more glutamine than whey, soy or egg protein. I've mentioned research in earlier chapters suggesting that high intakes of BCAAs/leucinc may offer benefits to both protein synthesis and w'hile dieting (2,3).

As well, and as discussed in previous chapters, whey and casein show distinctively different patterns in terms of their digestion rale and metabolic effects on the body (4).

Recapping briefly, w'hey protein tends to digest quickly, flooding the bloodstream with AAs. While this lends lo promote prolein synthesis (with only a minimal effect on protein breakdown), it can also result in a greater oxidation (burning) of amino acids. As discussed in Chapter 7. this may be because excess AAs overload the body's ability to utilize them, pushing more towards oxidation. I’d note again that adding other nutrients such as carbohydrate, fat and fiber to whey makes it act much more like a slow' protein; the other nutrients also decrease protein breakdown.

In contrast, cascin forms a clot in the stomach, slowing digestion. While blood AAs don’t increase to as great a level as w'ith whey, cascin ingestion generates a sustained low' level of blood AAs for up to 7-8 hours. Because of this, casein tends lo have a minimal impact on protein synthesis but decreases protein breakdown.

At first glance, this w'ould suggest that whey is more of an anabolic protein (and hence better for mass gains) w'hile casein w'ould be superior w'hile dieting (because of its anti- catabolic effects). What very limited direct research exists w'ould appear lo support this idea.

In one study, obese policemen were put on a diet and resistance training program supplemented with either w'hey prolein or a casein hydrolysate; the casein group lost more fat and gained more lean body mass (S). In contrast, a recent study had lifters supplement their diet with either 13 g/kg of whey or casein w'hile on a progressive resistance training program: the w'hey group gained significantly more lean body mass than the cascin group (6). As discusscd in previous chapters, a mixture of both proteins might yield superior results.

As mentioned above, the high BCAA/leucine content of both whey and casein are beneficial w'hile dieting. Whey, casein and MPI are all good sources of dietary calcium w'hich, as I discusscd last chapter, seems to have a beneficial effect on body composition. From an appetite standpoint, at least one study suggests that whey may decrease appetite due to its cficcts on gut hormones (7); casein might have benefits in these regards due lo its slow gastric emptying.

Although not yet studied, MPI might be superior in terms of appetite control by combining the hormonal cflects of whey w'ith the slow' digestion rale of cascin. Empirically, many people report that MPI keeps them full longer while dieting.

In terms of performance, subjects supplemented w'ith cither w'hey (as Immunocal) or cascin made greater performance improvements with the whey; antioxidant levels were also increased to a greater degree (8). The latter effect is thought to be due lo the high cysteine contcnt of w'hey w'hich may serve lo raise tissue levels of a powerful antioxidant compound callcd glutathione.

In cndurancc athletes, an intake of 1.0 g/kg of whey prolein per day has been shown to prevent ihc normal drop in glutathione status over 6 weeks of training (9). By maintaining tissue levels of cysteine, whey protein might also help lo prevent muscle loss; this has been shown with N-acetyl-cystcinc supplementation in individuals with low blood glutamine levels (10). From a more general standpoint, both whey and casein contain bioactive fractions that may confer health benefits lo the immune system, gut and more as discusscd last chapter (11,12).

As discusscd in previous chapters, it's been suggested that a combination of whey and cascin might give optimal results by combining the anabolic cffcct of the whey with the anti-catabolic cftccts of casein (13). In keeping with this, a recent study found that skim milk provides a superior anabolic response to soy protein (a fast protein), probably due lo the more slowly digesting nature of the casein (14). Related lo this, a recent paper found that whey alone was inferior at maintaining an optimal anabolic response compared lo a total milk protein containing both whey and cascin (15). This goes back to an idea I examined in Chapters 2 and 7. faster digestion speed may not automatically be superior under all conditions.

As I mentioned in the last chapter while discussing dairy foods, it's interesting to note that drinking copious amounts of milk was common among old school bodybuilders for musclc mass gains. MPI, containing 20% whey and 80% casein would provide this protein profile although bulk whey and cascin could easily be mixed in different proportions. Alternately, whey could be added lo milk, yogurt or cottagc chccsc lo bump up the proportion ofwhcy, with the dairy food providingcasein.

Although the impact of MPI per sc on muscle mass gains has not been examined, one study that found a mixture of whey and casein to be superior lo whey, glutamine and BCAAs after training (16). Another found that milk (both skim and whole fat) stimulates prolein synlhesis following training (17).

As discusscd in the chapter on nutrient timing, whey protein is more appropriate than casein or MPI before and during training; the cascin fraction simply digests too slowly and may cause stomach upset. After workout, as mentioned, both whey and cascin promote protein synthesis and a mixture ofthe two or MPI might be expected to promote superior results lo cither in isolation.

Whey is easily used in prolein drinks due to its superior mixability and consuming fast digesting whey drinks in-bclwcen solid meals (as discusscd in the chaptcr on meal timing) might provide some additional benefit in terms ofprotein synthesis for athletes trying to gain musclc mass.

From a practical standpoint, commcrcial whey proteins arc generally highly soluble and mix easily. Whey can be added to almost any beverage (and some foods) and mixed with a spoon. A scoop ofwhcy in a shaker bottle can be mixed rapidly and easily.

Casein, in contrast, tends to have somewhat of a chalky/bland taste and mixes poorly; a spoon is rarely sufficient with a shaker bottle or blender being required. Hydrolyzed casein mixes fairly well although it tends to froth up during the process; 1 would describe it as

undrinkable due to the bitter taste. Even a small amount w'as gag-inducingly bad and I find it unlikely that most athletes would drink it on a regular basis.

Similar to casein, MPI which tends to mix poorly without a shaker bottle or blender; it also tends to have the same chalky taste as pure casein. The newly available complete milk dairy isolate (CMDI) has a less chalky taste and mixes more easily than MPI.

Soy isolate

A great deal of what 1 discussed in the last chapter for soy foods applies to soy protein isolates and I won’t repeat that information here. However, soy protein isolates aiv typically fortified with limiting AAs to increase their overall quality compared to whole soy foods. Interestingly, compared to whey, casein, eggs and beef, soy protein isolates can actually be higher in what is termed the critical cluster of AAs: glutamine, BCAAs and lysine.

The low cost of soy protein isolate makes soy protein powders attractive. Vegetarian athletes, or athletes who can’t consume dairy proteins because of allergy, might consider soy protein powder as an alternative.

In terms of exercise performance, two studies have shown that 40 grams of soy protein per day improved antioxidant status to a greater degree than whey when combined with resistance exercise (18, 19). And while one study showed no difference in lean mass gains for soy versus whey protein over 6 weeks (20), a longer study of 12 weeks found a greater trend for LBM gains in a group consuming milk protein rather than soy (21, 22). Soy may not be an ideal protein for promoting lean body mass gains from resistance training.

Related to this, a recent paper found a soy drink to be inferior to skim milk for promoting protein synthesis following resistance training (14). This is probably related to the fact that soy is a fast protein like whey. As well, research has shown that soy digests rapidly I and may be used preferentially by tissues in the gut whereas dairy proteins provide more I amino acids to skeletal muscle (23,24). Adding other nutrients to soy such as carbohydrate, fat and fiber might be expected to improve soy’s performance in this regard by slowing it down; this has not been tested.

As I mentioned last chapter, it’s currently unknown what, ifany, impact the intake ofsoy protein/phytoestrogens actually has on male athletes in terms of muscle growth, adaptation or recovery. Empirically, soy proteins have been in use for several decades now and reports of problems simply aren’t there; while this certainly doesn’t prove that I excessive phytoestrogen intakes couldn’t cause problems, there seems little reason for the type of alarmism that so often surrounds the topic.

Oncc again, until more research is available, it still seems prudent to limit soy protein isolate intake somewhat. Last chapter I suggested that limiting total soy protein intake to 1-2 servings daily seemed prudent and I’d simply reiterate that comment here.

As I mentioned in the last chapter, many food manufacturers are now using soy protein to boost the protein content of many pre-packaged foods and athletes may already be

consuming a good bit of soy prolein without knowing it if these make up a major part of their diets. I entourage athletes to chcck the ingredient list on the foods they are eating to see if soy already comprises a large proportion of their prolein intake before consuming additional amounts.

The fast digestion rate of soy might make it appropriate lor pre- or during workout purposes, no research has examined this lo my knowledge. Like whey, soy could

eonccivably be added lo other foods to bolster the protein content: again, potential negatives from very high phytoestrogen intake are a concern here.

Soy protein isolate mixes well although it is thick and somewhat gritty. The taste is fairly neutral although it has a hint of "nutliness".

Other vegetarian proteins: Pea, rice and hemp protein

A number of other protein isolates are available for vegetarian athletes who cannot consume egg or dairy proteins, these include pea, rice and hemp protein isolates.

Poa protein is, as the name suggests, isolated from peas: it provides a decent quality vegetarian protein source. It has recently become available and is fairly inexpensive and the taste is passable. Pea protein does not mix fantastically, even in a shaker bottle, and is very thick. The taste is distinctive although I'd have difficulty describing it.

Rice protein is isolated from white or brown rice and has an amino acid profile similar to soy protein at a similar cost. I was unable to taste test rice protein.

Finally is hemp protein which is isolated from hemp seeds. Hemp is a surprisingly good quality protein and hemp protein isolate contains both fiber and essential fatly acids. However, it is relatively expensive and the fibcr/EFA contcnt lowers the protein content per serving. Alhlctes wishing to increase both their fiber or HFA content might consider hemp prolein although, cosl»wise, it's probably less expensive overall lo gel a less expensive prolein concentrate and simply supplement wilh fish oils. Hemp protein mixes fairly poorly leaving a sediment at the bottom of the bottle, the taste is somewhat grainy bccausc of this; the taste is passable although, like pea protein, it has a distinct taste.

Sunmary

While 1 feel that athletes should rely on whole foods for the majority of their prolein needs, it’s clear that protein powders can offer a number of benefits in terms of pricc, convenience, dietary control, etc. Additionally, for around workout nutrition, especially immediately before and during training, protein powders are preferred over whole prolein foods to avoid stomach upset.

Protein powders arc generally available as conccntralcs, isolates and hydrolysates wilh price increasing as more processing is done. Isolates contain more protein per serving (and less carbohydrate and fat) than concentrates. Hydrolysates have been partially predigested: this can give them a biller taste due lo the presence of free form AAs. The

purported benefit of hydrolisates is faster digestion but research docs not generally bear out a significant differe

As with whole food proteins, it should be clear that no protein powder can be considered best in absolute terms: all have their individual pros and cons. While I personally see little benefit to egg protein powders, they may be beneficial as a high quality protein for athletes with intolerances to dairy.

While whey has been the current top protein (at least commercially), it should be clear that casein and MPI/CMDI offer significant advantages due their slower digestion time. This advantage may be offset by poorer mixability and a chalky taste. Slow proteins are also not optimal before or during training.

Soy protein isolate is still embroiled in a great deal of controversy: while the AA profile of soy isolate is good, concern over phytoestrogens and questions regarding their ultimate biological effects are still up to debate. My feeling at this point is that soy protein powder can be used (and may be one of few options for vegetarian bodybuilders) but its total intake should probably be limited to some degree. For athletes who can digest them (Le. no dairy allergies), dairy proteins would still appear to be superior.

Rice protein isolate would seem to have little to recommend it, a combination of high cost and poor taste makes it a poor choice except for athletes who simply can't tolerate anything else. Pea protein isolate has recently become commercially available, a low cost and decent mixability and taste make it an appropriate vegetarian protein source. Hemp protein, while expensive, is a decent quality protein and contains both fiber and EFA's. its mixability is poor leaving a sediment in the bottom of the bottle, its taste is also somewhat grainy as well.

Supplements

Having discussed whole food proteins and protein powders, I want to talk about certain individual amino acids (or mixes of amino acids) or protein based supplements that are marketed towards athletes. I want to make the point again that anything described in this chapter should be considered only after overall protein intake (including both whole food proteins and powders) has been taken care of. For an athlete to worry about their glutamine or BCAA status when they are not getting sufficient dietary protein in the first place is going about things in the wrong way. Food comes first, supplemental protein powders second, any individual supplement should be considered last.

I bring this up for at least two major reasons. First and foremost, it's fairly ridiculous to worry about supplements that might add, at best, a small benefit when an athlete doesn't already have their basic nutrition and training program in line. Additionally, as you'll see in my discussion below, many ofthe studies which found a benefit of various amino acids were done with athletes consuming insufficient protein in the first place. When protein requirements aren't being met in the first place, it's far more likely that an individual nutrient might provide a benefit; however when protein requirements are met, this is far less likely to be the case.

I can't possibly discuss every product in existence; instead. I'm going to try and focus on the products that are currently popular with athletes and/or which have some research to support them in some way (or have research showing that they are ineffective). As with most supplements, a great many products have come and gone over the years and this is likely to hold true for many ofthe current crop of products.

In this chapter. I've tried to examine a variety of supplements from both a theoretical and applied standpoint. In referencing each product. I've focused as much as possible on research in otherwise healthy humans. A great deal of supplement research tends to be done using nutrient infusions, with animal models, in various disease states, or in vitro (meaning it is done in a test-tube or petri dish); unfortunately these models tend not to transfer well to healthy athletes consuming those nutrients orally.

While I am always optimistic that truly bcncficial performance supplements will come along (and at least one, crcatinc, is discusscd thoroughly below), the supplement industry has a rather poor track record in these regards. Supplements appear surrounded by immense amounts of hype, generally based on poor research models, only to disappear a few months later, then to be replaced by the newest magic pill ofthe month.

Glutamine

Glutamine is perhaps one ofthe most popular ofthe individual amino acids, although this reputation is not entirely deserved. While not an essential amino acid, glutamine is one of the most prevalent aminos in the body and can become conditionally essential (meaning that the body cannot produce enough and it must be obtained from the diet) under conditions of trauma, sepsis or burn. Please note that even the most intensive training doesn’t even come close to damaging the body as much as these types ofinjury.

One of the oddities about glutamine metabolism is that glutamine is used to a great degree by the gut and most oral glutamine never reaches the bloodstream in the first placc; as much as 65-75% of ingested glutamine will be used preferentially by the gut (I). In this regards, glutamine may have some benefit for gut healing in conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Glutamine obtained a reputation as a musclc-building compound when it was discovered that adding glutamine to isolated rat musclc increased protein synthesis and inhibited protein breakdown (2,3). It's important to note that the increase in skeletal musclc glutamine concentration in those studies was about 10 fold, a level of increase that simply doesn't occur in humans with supplementation (1). Studies using both intravenous infusion (4) and oral intake of glutamine (5) have found no impact on human skeletal muscle protein synthesis, with little to no change in skeletal musclc glutamine concentrations.

What little direct research exists on glutamine as an anabolic suggests that it is ineffective. One study gave subjects cither 0.9 g of glutamine/kg lean body weight per day (81 grams of glutamine for a 100 kg athlete at 10% body fat) or the same amount of maltodcxtrin (a carbohydrate supplement) over 6 weeks of resistance training (6); no difference in strength or lean mass gains was seen between the groups. Another study gave subjects 0.3 g/kg of glutamine (30 grams for a 100kg athlete) prior to weight training and found no improvement in weightlifting performance (7).

In a very recent study, subjects were provided with either carbohydrate and essential amino acids or carbs/EAAs with added glutamine following cndurancc training; the addition of glutamine had no impact on post-training anabolism (8). Despite numerous claims to the contrary, glutamine appears to have no real benefit to musclc building, performance, or recovery following training.

Glutamine has also been suggested to be useful for fat loss, for a number of potential reasons. One study found that an oral intake of 2 grams of glutamine elevated growth hormone (GH) and blood bicarbonate levels; this is discusscd further in the section on GH relcascrs. Another gave subjects 0.25 g glutaminc/kg (25 grams for a 100kg athlete) with a standardized meal; the glutamine increased post-mcal energy expenditure and increased fat oxidation by 42 calorics (9) representing roughly 4 grams offat burned. While this might

conccivably benefit fat loss, it seems a rather cost-ineffective way to do so. A 100kg athlete would require 75 grams of glutamine per day lo burn an additional 150 calorics of fat per day. A diclary fat reduction of 15 grams/day would accomplish the same.

It's also been suggested that glutamine might be anti-catabolic on a diet, sparing muscle loss; the mechanisms were discussed back in Chapter 6. However, research does not support this idea either. In the only study I’m aware of, wrestlers subjected to a large caloric deficit were given 1.5 g/kg of protein/day and either 0.35 g/kg (35 grams of glutamine for a 100 kg person) or placebo for 12 days; both groups lost equivalent amounts of body mass, lean body mass and fat mass (10); the added glutamine had no effect

The immune system also uses glutamine as a fuel and protecting immune system function may be one of its primary benefits when the training load is very high, especially for endurance athletes (11,12). In one study, endurance athletes were given 5 grams of glutamine immediately after and again 2 hours after competition; there was a significant decrease in the reported incidence of sickness (13). Other studies have not supported this finding however (14,15).

Low plasma glutamine levels have been linked wilh overtraining (16), making supplementation of potential benefit. While glutamine levels often fall during prolonged endurance training, they are either unchanged or go up following short-term, high- intensity training (17). This suggests that endurance athletes might benefit more from glutamine supplementation than strength/power athletes. Athletes who perform both heavy weight work and endurance training (rugby, football, etc.) might also benefit from glutamine due to their high training volume.

As noted in Chapter 6, muscle tissue actually synthesizes glutamine from other amino acids. At least one study suggests that BCAA supplementation can protect immune system function in endurance athletes under heavy training (see BCAAs below) and glutamine intake may limit the body’s need to break down BCAAs in the first place (18). Sufficient carbohydrate intake (30-60 g/hour) during endurance training also limits the decrease in muscle glutamine levels (19); the nutrient recommendations given in the nutrient timing chapter will help to protect the immune system.

In some studies, glutamine or glutamine peptides (from wheat prolein) has also been used lo refill muscle glycogen (20). This seems an expensive and inefficient way of doing things; carbohydrates are cheaper, taste belter and work just as effectively. The nutrient recommendations given in Chapter 8 for post-workout nutrition should optimally refill muscle glycogen in the first place.

Application

Glutamine is relatively inexpensive and may be useful in doses of 5-10 grams/day to protect immune system function during periods of high-volume training. This is true for both endurance athletes and strength/power athletes who engage in some form of endurance conditioning during their training.

As discusscd below. BCAAs may work more effectively in the firsl place and athletes consuming the amount ofprotein recommended in this book should be getting plenty of BCAAs to begin with. Empirically, many have found that taking high doses of glutamine (10-20 g/day) with vitamin C (multiple gram dosing) helps to Tight off minor infections.

Much higher doses of glutamine or glutamine peptides are required for glycogen compensation but 1 don't recommend this. Carbohydrates or a carbohydrate/protein mixture work just as effectively post-workout to rcsynthesize musclc glycogen. Glutamine is ineffective as an anabolic compound, even at massive doses. Nor does it appear to improve acute training performance or spare muscle loss on a diet.

Glutamine peptides, derived from wheat protein, have now become available: they are roughly twice the cost of straight glutamine in commercial products. Outside of the glycogen synthesis study discusscd above, 1 am unaware of any research into glutamine peptides and athletic performance or musclc growth.

Tyrosine

I Tyrosine is an amino acid that acts as a precursor substrate for adrenaline, noradrenaline I and dopamine in the brain (21); it has been examined from a performance standpoint for this reason. By itself tyrosine doesn’t appear to have any major impact on performance, even in high doses (22). Tyrosine also failed to improve endurance performance when combined with carbohydrate (23).

However, empirical evidence suggests that tyrosine can have an impact as a pre-workout (or pre-competition) stimulant when combined with other substances; tyrosine appears to act synergistically with the other compounds.

Athletes combining 1000-3000 mg (1-3 grams) of 1-tyrosine with 200 mg of caffeine and a high glyccmic index carbohydrate (the insulin helps to drive nervous system output) have noted stimulant eiTects similar to the cphedrinc/caffeine (EC) stack; performance increases of 5% or more are not unheard of.

Athletes who may be drug tested or who will not (or can not) use the EC stack may wish to consider this combination before intense workouts or competition. While not tested in humans, animal studies have also found that tyrosine can potentiate the effects ofthe EC stack (24).

Application

Tyrosine may be useful as a non-ephedrine based pre-workout stimulant when used with caffeine and/or to potentiate the ephcdrine/caffcine slack (for either dieting or performance purposes). One to three grams of 1-tyrosine with 200 mg of caffeine and a small amount of sugar approximately 30-60 minutes prior to training or competition seems to be effective. By itself, tyrosine appears to be relatively useless.

Branched chain amino acids/leucine

The branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) arc so-named because of their branching chemical structure and arc comprised of the essential amino acids Icucinc. isoleucinc and valine. As discusscd in Chapter 2, the BCAAs are unusual in that they are not metabolized to any significant degree in the liver, most ingested BCAAs make it to the bloodstream lo be used by skeletal muscle.

As discussed previously, BCAAs can be used for energy directly in the muscle and this eflcct is more pronounced when muscle glycogen has been depicted. The BCAAs are found in high quantities in all high quality dietary proteins, averaging 15-20% ofthe total protein content. Whey protein may contain 23-25% total BCAAs.

A typical diet containing high quality protein will provide 15-20 grams of BCAAs for every 100 grams ofprotein ingested (25); diets containing a significant amount of whey protein will contain slightly more than this. A 100 kg athlete consuming 3.0 g/kg protein, or 300 grams ofprotein per day, would be expected lo be consuming 45-60 grams of BCAAs per day; again, this value would be slightly higher if a large amount ofwhcy protein was being consumed.

I bring this up for reasons mentioned in the chapter introduction: the impact of supplemental amino acids when prolein intakes arc very high may be completely different compared to their use when dietary intake is insufficient to begin with.

The BCAAs have been extensively studied for a number of roles relevant lo athlctic performance. This includes sparing musclc mass while dieting, improving immune system function. I imiting fatigue, promoting protein synthesis and others.

As I've mentioned in previous chapters, recent studies have found that diets high in protein and specifically Icucinc may help with blood glucose stability and protein sparing on a diet (26). As mentioned in an earlier chapter, both whey and cascin arc high in Icucinc: as discussed in Chapter 1 I, both may have potential benefits while dieting for this and other reasons.

Related to this, an early study in wrestlers found that the provision of extremely high quantities ofBCAAs while dieting limited lean body mass loss and increased visceral fat loss

27. . In that study, wrestlers were given 24.4 calories per kilogram (1660 calories for 68 kg/150 lb individual) with 20% protein. This would have only provided 80 grams of protein per day or roughly 12 g/kg (0.5 g/lb) ofprotein. The supplement group added an additional 52 grams ofBCAAs to their diet; this spared LBM and generated a slightly greater fat loss.

But let’s consider this within the context ofthe protein recommendations in this book. A strength/power athlete such as a wrestler has a recommended protein intake of 3.0-3.3 g/kg (1.4-1.5 g/lb). A 68 kg athlete at this protein intake would be consuming between 204-224 grams ofprotein per day, far more than used in the study. Assuming an average BCAA content of 20%, the additional 120-140 grams ofprotein would already be providing 24 to 28 grams ofBCAAs from the protein alone; ifwhey made up some proportion ofthal total, even more BCAAs would already be present in the diet. Would supplemental BCAAs slill have had a benefit or were the wrestlers simply receiving insufficient protein in the first place? I’m inclined lo think it was the latter.

As mentioned above. BCAAs are heavily involved in the function of the immune system

27. ; one study found that the provision of 6 g/day of BCAAs lor 15 days decreased the incidence of infection following a triathlon (29). As mentioned above, BCAAs and glutamine metabolism are intertwined and BCAA supplementation may be a more effective way of protecting the immune system, as this tends lo protect the body’s glutamine stores. I’d mention that endurance athletes often under-consume prolein in the first place, a single 25 gram serving of whey prolein would provide that same 6 grams of BCAAs found lo improve immune system function.

Another possible role of BCAAs for endurance athletes is in preventing what scientists refer to as central fatigue (30). The earliest hypothesis for central fatigue suggested that, during exercise, as levels of BCAAs in the blood drop, more tryptophan is able to enter the brain; this would be expected to increase serotonin levels, making athletes drowsy and unmotivated. By maintaining blood BCAA levels, this could be prevented, limiting fatigue during exercise. Controlled studies using various nutritional interventions, including BCAA supplementation have failed to demonstrate a consistent effect however (31).

More reccnt research suggests that central fatigue is far more complex, involving interactions between a number of different neurotransmitlcrs and compounds in the body (32). One of importance lo this discussion is ammonia which can contribute to central nervous system fatigue (31). I bring this up as studies have shown that BCAA supplementation can increase ammonia levels during exercise (33), potentially contributing to fatigue. Interestingly, this doesn’t occur with whole protein supplementation during exercise due to the presence of ammonia binding amino acids found in whole protein (34).

This may explain some of the studies on BCAAs showing no benefit on performance; while the BCAAs may have impacted on the level of serotonin produced in the brain, increased ammonia levels could have negated any benefit. Whey protein consumed during training should actually be superior to isolated BCAAs in this regards; due lo the presence of AAs that bind ammonia, whey not only provides BCAAs during exercise but also limits the increase in ammonia levels that contribute to fatigue.

In addition to its potential effects on LBM maintenance while dieting and immune system function, it’s also been suggested that hard training athletes might require more Icucinc; both aerobic and anaerobic exercise along with strength training have all been shown lo decrease scrum and plasma leucine levels by 11 to 30% and requirements may be higher because of this (35). Given the presence of BCAAs in all high quality proteins, it seems likely that simply increasing dietary protein lo the levels recommended in this book will more than meet those increased needs.

An early study in endurance athletes suggested that BCAA intake might modify the hormonal response to training, preventing an exercise induced drop in growth hormone and testosterone levels (36); this might provide a more overall anabolic state following training. BCAA supplementation (12 g/day for 14 days) has also been found to reduce markers of muscle damage following 2 hours of bicycle exercise (37); as discussed in

Chapter 8, it's becoming clcar that the consumption of even small amounts of protein during endurance exercise can limit musclc damage so these clTccts are not surprising.

A rccent study in swimmers found that 12 grams of BCAAs/day for 15 days resulted in significantly less muscle breakdown (measured by levels of 3-methylhistidine) following training (38). Another recent study, in outrigger canocists, found a performance improvement from a rather small supplement of leucine (roughly 3 grams for a 68 kg/t50 pound individual) but with a protein intake of 0.85 g/kg (0.4 g/lb), their protein intake was fairly low to begin with (39). Increasing protein intake to the levels recommended in this book would have provided far more leucine than the small supplement provided.

Of relevance to strength athletes, BCAA supplements have long been known to stimulate protein synthesis (40). Recent research has demonstrated that leucine probably plays the major role (41) via stimulation of a biochemical sensor called mTOR. For example, a rccent study provided 0.1 g/kg BCAAs (10 grams BCAAs for a 100 kg athlete) during and after resistance exercise (42); the researchers found that this increased activity of several of the signaling pathways involved in hypertrophy. I’d point out that the protein recommendations given in Chapter 8 would easily provide this amount of BCAAs (along with the full complement of both essential and non-essential amino acids) in the first place.

As mentioned Chapter 8, a rccent study found that the addition of 6 grams of leucine to 14 grams ofprotein and carbohydrates had a small impact on overall net protein gain with the effect most likely due to an increase in insulin levels from the additional leucine (43). As discussed in the timing chapter, that study was a little odd in that it gave the various drinks for 6 hours following training, hardly applicable to most situations. As well, the amount of protein provided was below the amount needed to provide a maximal stimulation of protein synthesis. I find it unlikely that adding a gram or two of free leucine to a single post-workout drink containing sufficient amounts of protein and high glyccmic index carbs would have any benefit.

In another study, 50 mg/kg of leucine (5 grams of leucine for a 100kg athlete) given to strength/power athletes on a fairly low protein intake (1.26 g/kg) prevented the decrease in blood leucine levels of 10 weeks of training but had no impact on hormones or performance (44). I'd mention again that the protein intake used in this study is less than half of what this book recommends, simply increasing total protein intake to appropriate amounts would have provided significant amount of BCAAs and leucine without the need for supplementation. For the most part studies have not generally found an impact of BCAAs supplements on performance (45,46).

However, one of the most commonly cited studies in favor of BCAA supplements is an Italian study (not translated in full to English) that compared either 0.2 g/kg of BCAAs before and after training to a non-caloric placebo. That is, it compared high dose BCAAs to nothing around training. So a 100kg athlete would be consuming 40 grams of BCAAs around training (47). The BCAA group showed greater improvements in weight and in squat and bench performance and this has often been used as a justification for the consumption of massive doses of BCAAs around training.

Given the data 1 presented on the importance of pre-, during- and post-workout nutrition in Chapter 8, these results aren't surprising: consuming anything around training is generally better than consuming nothing and the studies using various combinations of nutrients around training show improved results compared to nothing at all.

A strength/power athlete following the nutrient timing recommendations in that chaptcr should be consuming somewhere between 60 and 100 grams ofprotein around training, from whey and/or MPI. That would provide between 15-25 grams ofBCAAs in addition to the full complement of other amino acids. Whether additional BCAAs would provide more benefit is currently unknown.

For completeness, I should mention HMB (bcta-hydroxy-bela-methylbutyratc), a metabolite of Icucinc. Early research found that HMB limited musclc damage and led to greater gains in muscle mass (48). Later research determined that HMB only had an impact in untrained individuals (49); trained athletes derived no benefit from HMB (50,51). Empirically, few have reported benefits from HMB at the recommended daily dose of 3 g/day. Some coaches feci that higher doses (6 g/day) coupled with extremely intensive training might unmask an elTcct of HMB on musclc growth or damage but this has not been studied.

Interestingly, HMB might have some benefit to cndurancc athletes, specifically runners (who impose a good deal of cccentric stress lo their musclcs). In one study, runners supplemented with 3 grams of HMB per day for 6 weeks showed lower markers of musclc damage following a 20 km run (52). A reccnt study also found that 3 g/day of HMB improved the adaptation to cndurancc training in untrained college students (53). However, as with the data on strength athletes, it appears that HMB only improves aerobic adaptations in untrained individuals; trained cndurancc athletes receive no performance benefits from supplementation (54).

Application

Even in bulk, effective daily doses of BCAAs can get fairly expensive. As mentioned above, while early BCAA powder supplements tended to have a foul taste, newer products arc reported to taste much better. Because of the doses typically ascd, pills an: neither cost cffcctivc nor practical.

Overall, BCAAs do appear to be quite important to overall health and immunity, as well as musclc growth (dircctly stimulating protein synthesis); they may also be of benefit for cndurancc athletes to protcct immune function and/or hormone levels. Their role in the prevention of central fatigue is more questionable; isolated BCAAs might actually contribute to fatigue by raising ammonia levels.

The unanswered question is whether additional BCAAs have a demonstrable benefit when protein intake is set adequately in the first place; the majority of studies examining BCAAs supplementation appear to have done so on a background of insufficient protein intakes (at least relative to the recommendations being made in this book).

Consider the study cited above which found an cffect of Icucinc given lo strength/power athletes consuming a mere 1.26 g/kg of protein (0.6 g/lb). That's roughly half of the lowest recommendation made in this book for total protein; would extra leucine have had an effect if the subjects were consuming more protein in the first place? I doubt it.

As stated above, every 100 grams of high-quality prolein will provide 15-20 grams of BCAAs: a strength athlete consuming 180-200 grams of high quality protein per day is already obtaining 30-40 grams of BCAAs in their diet. Additionally, if the nutrient timing guidelines made in this book involving the intake of whey before and during training and casein, MPI or even milk afterwards, the athlete will be consuming large amounts of BCAAs. along with all ofthe other amino acids around training.

BCAA supplements might have benefits during periods of strict dieting, or if protein intake falls below optimal levels. Some bodybuilders have experimented with sipping BCAA solutions during the day while dieting in an attempt to stave off catabolism; I suspect that simply ensuring a constant low level of amino acids in the bloodstream (through the use of slowly digesting proteins such as casein or MPI and an appropriate meal frequency) would have as much if not more benefit.

Endurance athletes who, as a whole, tend to under-consume protein (and generally don't use supplemental protein powders even though they should) might also benefit from additional BCAAs to protect immune function. Frankly, I'd rather see endurance athletes ensuring sufficient protein intakes in the first place, rather than try to make up for a dietary inadequacy with a supplement. Consuming sufficient carbohydrates during training is also crucial for maintenance of proper immune system function.

As noted. HMB might have some benefit for endurance athletes, especially runners, at a dose of 3 grams/day to limit muscle damage; improvements in endurance performance effects seem to be limited to untrained individuals. For strength/power athletes, HMB has proven ineffective as a supplement, at least at the recommended dose of 3 g/day. Higher doses (6 g/day) might have some impact during periods of extremely intensive training. HMB is relatively expensive and the effect would have to be fairly meaningful to justify the cost.

Essential amino acids (EAAs)

As discussed back in Chapter 1, dietary amino acids can be roughly separated into the categories of essential and non-essential (or indispensable and dispensable) depending on whether or not they must be obtained from the diet. There are 8 essential amino acids (EAAs) that cannot be made within the body and so must be obtained by the body from the diet. On average, all high quality proteins contain roughly 40-50% EAAs.

It appears that the EAAs have a number of specific effects in the body that the non- essential amino acids do not. 'Recent research has shown that only the EAAs are required

lo stimulate prolein synthesis (55); in that study, 13.4 grams ofEAAs along with 35 grams of sucrose were given, blood AA levels started lo increase within 10 minutes and net protein balance changed from negative to positive although the overall effect was fairly small.

Additional research, mentioned previously, found that there is apparently a dose-rcsponse limit in terms of how much EAAs are needed to maximally stimulate muscular protein synthesis (56). Young and old subjects were given EAAs in varying doses from 0 to 20g EAAs (older subjects were given an additional dose of 40g EAAs). In young subjects. 10 g EAAs generated a maximal protein synthetic response; no further increase was seen with the 20gEAA dose.

This amount of EAAs represented roughly 0.13 g EAAs/kg body weight; since whole proteins contain anywhere from 40-50% EAAs (depending on the protein), this would represent 0.26-0.32 g/kg whole protein to generate a maximal response in skeletal muscle.

A 100kg lifter would require 13 grams EAAs or roughly 26-32 grams whole protein to maximize muscular protein synthetic response. I'd note again that a maximal muscle protein synthetic response doesn't mean a maximal response in all other tissues and pathways that use AAs; it may be that more protein than this can still have additional physiological effects.

In addition. I'd mention again the study I discussed in Chapter 7 where small amounts of EAAs given in-between solid meals generated an anabolic response without impacting on the response to normal meals (57). Again, differences in total AA intake between groups make drawing conclusions from this study difficult.

As discussed in Chapter 3, there's no indication that stimulating protein synthesis in this fashion leads to gain in skeletal muscle. Consider that eating whole proteins/meals also stimulates protein synthesis in sedentary individuals but that this doesn't lead to significantly increased muscle mass: the body simply adapts by breaking down more protein later in the day. Rather, resistance training in addition to adequate protein intake are required to stimulate gains in muscle mass.

Early research examined the impact of EAAs either by themselves (58,59) or in combination with sucrose (60) around training; both EAAs and EAAs plus carbohydrate stimulated protein synthesis following training. In another study, 6 grams of EAAs were given either by themselves or in a 6% carbohydrate solution during training, muscle fiber breakdown was decreased. Cortisol was blunted and insulin levels were higher (61). Recall from Chapter 8 that studies on endurance athletes show the same effect with whole protein added in small amounts to carbohydrate drinks consumed during exercise.

Another study gave subjects 6 grams of EAAs with 35 grams of sucrose either before or after training (62), the pre-training group showed a greater increase in protein synthesis (readers can refer back to Chapter 8 for more discussion ofprotein timing around training).

Interestingly, as discussed in the nutrient timing chapter, the same was not seen when whey protein was given immediately before training (63), probably due to the relatively slower rate of digestion of whey protein compared to EAAs. It's possible that whey given 30-60 minutes before training would have generated a similar response as it would have had time to digest and release aminos into the system; this has not been tested.

Only one study has examined the long-term impact of EAAs on the adaptations to training. In that study, untrained women were given an extra 18.3 grams of EAAs along with a combined strength training and endurance training program for 6 weeks (64). The study found no improvement in body composition or strength in the supplement group: however treadmill lime to exhaustion increased.

Application

For the most part, 1 sec no real benefit to HAA supplements if an athlete is consuming sufficient protein in the first placc. As mentioned above, all high quality proteins contain 40-50% EAAs depending on the source. As well, while early studies examined the impact of EAAs on training, subsequent studies have used whole proteins such as whey, whey plus casein, or even milk and found a similar anabolic response to training. Outside of possibly being superior immediately before training when their rapid digestion may make them superior, EAAs would seem to provide no benefit over whole proteins.

Given the high cost and often bitter taste of EAAs powder, it makes more scasc to just take 12-15 grams of whole protein instead of 6-8 grams of EAAs powder; the protein can be consumed 30 minutes prior to training to allow adequate time for digestion. A 25g scoop of whey or MPI after training would provide approximately 10-12.5g EAAs.

If an athlete were trying to cut calories to the bone while ensuring sufficient EAA intake, these types of products might have some benefit. Even there, 1 think whole proteins arc a better choice. Consider that a protein powder such as cascin or MPI not only provides slower digestion and an anti-catabolic eflcct, but the dairy calcium may have additional fat loss benefits. EAAs won’t help with fullness or provide the anti-catabolism that slowly digesting whole proteins provide.

Finally, as discusscd in Chapter 7, it’s possible that consuming EAAs with carbs in-between normal meals might be anabolic although there is no indication that this leads to greater lean body mass gains in the long-term. A dose of EAAs of 0.13 g/kg (13 grams for a 100kg athlete) consumed with a small amount of carbohydrates would be expcctcd to give the maximal response.

Creatine monohydrate

Creatine may be the single most studied product in the history of dietary supplements. While not an amino acid itself, creatine is produced in the body from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine. To completely review all of the research on crcatinc would be unrealistic, due to the sheer volume of it (hundreds of papers): I'll rely heavily on review papers for this reason.

Creatine is found in skeletal musclc in the form of creatine phosphate and its main mode of action is to provide an inorganic phosphate to rcsynthcsize ATP during high intensity activities, typically lasting 10 seconds or less (i.e. sprinting, high intensity weight lifting). However, as more research has been done, it appears that creatine may have benefits for other types of exercise as well. For completeness, I'd mention that crcatinc has even shown benefit in the treatment of ccrtain disease states but that topic is beyond the scope ofthis book.

The body normally synthesizes about I gram ofcrcatine per day with an additional I gram coming in from the diet (65). Studies repeatedly show that muscular stores can be supersaturated with a variety of dosing protocols; crcatine loading is discusscd below. Conceptually, crcatine loading is similar to the idea of carbohydrate loading whereby high intakes of carbohydrates can overfill muscular glycogen stores lo improve athletic performance.

Although other forms of crcatine have recently become available, the primary form for supplementation is creatine monohydrate (CM). Over the past several decadcs, a tremendous amount of research has been done on CM and performance.

Creatine supplementation can potentially impact on exercise performance through a number of different mechanisms (65). The most direct is by increasing muscular stores of crcatine phosphate which is used to resynthcsizc ATP during high-intensity activities lasting a few seconds or so. Creatine may also help to buffer changes in musclc acidosis, as well as sparing glycogen utilization during short-duration activities. Creatine doesn't appear to affcct aerobic metabolism (66). Thus creatine supplementation would be expeclcd to impact on activities lasting between 10 seconds and 2 minutes with little lo no benefit for activities lasting longer than that (the potential impact of creatine on endurance athletes is discussed further below). Creatine also appears to improve recovery between repeated bouts ofhigh intensity activity such as repealed sprints or intervals.

The majority of early studies examined its effects on fairly short-term activity, either weight lifting or sprint performance. Although not all studies found a positive cffcct, the grand majority did. In one review of 22 studies, the CM group showed an average 8% better gain in maximum strength and a 14% increase in the number of repetitions done with a sub-maximal load (67).

In another review, it was reported that nearly 70% of creatine studies had reported a benefit to high intensity training with none showing a negative cffcct (68); the other 30% found no cffcct at all. It reported an average gain in strength and repetitions to failure of 5-15%, an increase in sprint performance of 1-5% and work done during repealed sprint performance of 5-15%.

In addition, crcatine has been suggested to increase the gains in muscle mass with training. Studies have routinely shown an increase in lean body mass with creatine supplementation although this is likely to represent increased water retention in the short-term (65). However, over the longer term, CM could potentially impact on musclc mass gains.

These effects might simply be indirect: by allowing an athlete lo work wilh heavier weights or to get more reps with a given weight, gains might be increased.

However, some research has suggested more direct effects of CM on muscle mass including an increased expression ofgcncs involved in musclc growth as well as myosin heavy chain expression (69,70). Creatine might also impact on ccll metabolism by altering cell volume (the amount of water in the ccll impacts on a number of biological processes including protein synthesis and breakdown).

One study found that 5 days of creatine loading decreased leucine oxidation (a marker of protein breakdown) although it had no cffcct on protein synthesis (71). Interestingly, this cffcct was only seen in male subjects: other studies have shown a gender difference in responses to crealinc with women typically gaining less body mass than men (72). However, women seem to receive the same performance benefits from creatine supplementation as men (73).

Not all research has found a beneficial cffcct of CM on protein synthesis and breakdown. One study of CM supplementation examined a host of cffccts after resistance training and found no impact of CM on either protein synthesis or breakdown (74). The same group found no effect of creatine on protein synthesis or breakdown at rest as well (75). At this point, a direct effect of creatine on muscle growth is still up to debate, although the impact of creatine supplementation on strength and power performance is essentially unarguable.

With one possible exception, CM is likely to be one of the very few must-have sports supplements for any strength or power athlete interested in maximizing either performance or training. CM is inexpensive, readily available, and proven over hundreds of studies to have a beneficial cffcct under most conditions relevant to those types of athletes. The one major exception to this is weight class athletes for whom CM could cause problems in making weight due to the increased water retention. Even there, CM could be used during training and then stopped several weeks prior to competition to allow any extra water weight to be lost.

While the benefit of CM for strength/power athletes is well established, the role of CM for endurance athletes is more debatable. Based on its mechanism of action, there is little reason to expect CM supplements to greatly benefit endurance events or any event lasting longer than about 3 minutes. For the most part, research has supported this with CM having no real impact on endurance performance (65).

Some early research even suggested that CM might impair running or swimming performance, most likely by increasing body weight (76): sports where body weight is supported such as cycling or rowing sometimes show a performance improvement but this is an inconsistent finding. Studies examining intermittent endurance performance (interval training) have found some benefit, which is in keeping with the mechanism of CM. Given the use of high-intensity/interval training by endurance athletes, CM could still play a role in improving overall training performance and adaptation.

There is other research suggesting that CM can still be useful for endurance athletes although, once again, the data is far from complete. One study of rowers found that CM supplementation had no impact on aerobic metabolism but improved the increase in lactate threshold with training (77). In another study, CM improved anaerobic power output by 18%, with no impact on aerobic metabolism in a group of triathletes (78). CM supplementation for 5 days also decreased markers of muscle inflammation and damage following a 30 km run (79).

So can CM improve endurance performance? Perhaps. CM might be beneficial during periods of interval training, to improve the quality of training and stimulate better gains in adaptation (similar to the cffccts for strength and power athletes). Additionally, since

many cndurancc events contain high intensity efforts (e.g. a cyclist trying to make a breakaway or climb a hill). CM might have some benefit there as well.

However, any improvements in anaerobic performance have to be balanced against the weight gain that can occur; the increase in body weight could easily ovcrcomc any improvements in power output. The data on muscle damage is interesting but preliminary, if CM can improve recovery following extensive endurance training, by limiting musclc damage, this would be another potential benefit lo endurance athletes. This is especially true for runners who may causc muscle damage during training due to the high impact nature of their sport (downhill running also causcs a great deal of muscle damage). CM could also benefit cndurancc athletes by increasing glycogen storage (SO).

Although research has consistently demonstrated a performance improvement with CM supplementation, some people appear to be non-responders to creatine and there appears to be a specific biological profile that goes wit h being a crcatinc responder versus a non-responder (81). C higher proportion of Type II musclc fibers, a larger muscle cross sectional area and a greater amount of lean body mass. Non-responders were the opposite, having higher starling levels of creatine, less Type II fibers, a smaller muscle cross sectional area and less lean body mass.

One current controversy regarding crcatinc is over a potentially negative impact of caffeine on crcatinc intake. Two studies, using different performance tests have found that high doses of caffeine (5 mg/kg or 350 mg for a 70 kg athlete) negated the ergogenic effects of crcatinc (82,83). Crcatinc appears lo reduce muscular relaxation time after contraction (84); this would be important during sprint types of activities. High doses of calTcinc appear lo negate this cffcct. Whether lower doses of caffeine have this type of elTcct is unknown; it's interesting to note that many early studies provided CM with lea (containing small amounts of caffeine) and the benefits were still observed. As well, whether calTcinc negates the benefits of CM during others types of activity is currently unknown.

Potential negative effects of creatine supplementation

A number of potential negative cffects of creatine have cither been studied or theorized and it's important to look at these (65,85). Barly creatine products, which tended lo have the consistency of sand and mixed poorly, often caused stomach upset in users, especially at high doses. This is less of an issue now as products generally mix and dissolve easily; the small amount of research done on the topic suggests no real cffcct of creatine on stomach upset.

However, some athletes still have problems with CM and stomach upset especially if they use the higher dose loading schemes. Typically, 20 grams of CM per day for 5 days has been used to load and the sheer amount of CM can cause problems. I’ll present two other loading schcmcs below in the application section that athletes may wish lo experiment with ifhigh dose CM intake causcs them stomach upset.

Another possible potential negative effect of creatine is the impact of creatine on the kidneys or liver. Research on healthy individuals has found no impact of creatine on either kidney or liver function, although individuals with a preexisting condition could potentially have problems. Creatine supplementation will increase creatinine excretion which can raise alarm if blood work is done, but this is a normal response.

In the early days of creatine use, there were many anecdotal reports of muscle cramping but direct research has not supported this effect. Cramps are more likely due to the high- intensity nature of the training being done and/or electrolyte imbalances. Ensuring adequate water intake during creatine loading is a key factor to avoid such problems. One study of collegiate football players found that CM actually decreased the incidence of cramping and injury (86).

A final potential negative is the increase in body mass with creatine supplementation, although this is most likely caused by an increase in total body water. This increase in mass can range from 1-2.5 kg (2-5 pounds) over the course ofthe first week of loading; once again, women seem to see a much smaller increase in body mass than men. This has particular relevance for weight class athletes (such as poweriifters, Olympic lifters or MMA athletes) as the increase in body mass from creatine could potentially prevent an athlete from making weight. Additionally, the increase in body weight with creatine may offset performance benefits in some types of sports (especially distance running where the extra body mass requires more energy to move) as discussed above.

Application

As mentioned above, creatine is naturally occurring in meats w hich contain 4-5 grams of creatine per kilogram (2.2 pounds). A typical daily dose for CM during a standard loading phase may be 20 grams per day; this would require an unrealistic intake of nearly 10 pounds of meat per day.

Almost all ofthe studies done to date have used CM for supplementation although many other types of creatine products such as creatine serum, effervescent creatine, creatine phosphate or creatine ethyl ester have been brought to market. For the most part there is little to no research on these alternate products and little to no reason to expect them to perform more effectively than inexpensive bulk CM powder.

Regardless of the form of CM used or the type of loading scheme followed, intramuscular creatine levels will eventually reach a maximum level with any excess creatine being excreted in the urine past that point. The only possible benefit of another form of creatine would be to load muscular stores more quickly or possibly with less gastric upset.

The most common dosing pattern has been to take 20 g/day of CM for 5 days and most research has used that approach. However, alternate loading patterns are possible and may be preferred for various reasons. Ten grams ofCM for 10 days or even 3 grams per day for a month can both be effective. At the end of this time period, intramuscular creatine stores will be maximized; the only real difference is how long it will take to load.

ll appears that insulin is important for creatine uptake and taking creatine with a simple carbohydrate (87) or carbohydrate and protein may increase uptake (88). Adding lipoic acid (1000 mg/day) to creatine with carbohydrates may also increase uptake and storage (89). Creatine uptake is also increased following endurance exercise. Athletes who want to limit their total carbohydrate intake for some reason may want to take their creatine following training (87).

Following loading, many recommend a maintenance dose of 3*6 grams/day to maintain muscular stores (90). Even with zero supplemental creatine intake, muscular stores of creatine remain partially elevated for at least 6 weeks following loading (90).

As mentioned above, creatine occurs naturally in meats, especially red meat. Vegetarians have been found to have lower muscular levels of creatine and appear to get a greater benefit from creatine supplementation (91) as a consequence of starting with lower initial levels. Athletes who eat large amounts of red meat may not gel much out of creatine supplementation for this reason: they already have higher levels of creatine stores.

CM is a granular white powder that usually mixes reasonably well in liquids. It can be put into blender drinks and, as mentioned, consuming CM with carbs or carbohydrate and protein improves uptake; so does taking CM after endurance exercise (whether this holds for resistance training is unknown). Due to concern over poor mixability, some athletes have taken their CM by putting the powder directly into their mouth and washing it down with some liquid. This ensures that no unmixed creatine is left in the glass or mixing bowl.

As a final comment, there has been some suggestion that creatine should be cycled, due to a possible impact of creatine supplementation on the creatine transporter or on normal synthesis. While creatine intake appears to downregulate the creatine transporter in animals, this doesn't appear to be the case in humans (92). Additionally, even if CM supplementation downregulates the body's normal production, this should be a non-issue as long as a daily maintenance dose is used; above normal levels of creatine phosphate in the muscles will be maintained.

As mentioned above, CM is perhaps the single most well-studied sports supplement in the history of the industry and would appear to be one of the few supplement "must-haves" especially for strength/power athletes; it may also have some benefit for endurance athletes.

Whether an athlete chooses to do the typical loading phase (20 g/day for 5 days) or one of the longer-term loading approaches (10 g/day for 10 days or even 3-5 g/day for a month) would seem to be irrelevant, at the end of that time period, muscular creatine stores will be maximized. The daily dose ofcreatine should be split up with at least one dose (3-5 grams) being put into the post-workout carb/protein shake. After loading, a maintenance dose of

3. 5 grams/day would be used post-workout on training days, or with any meal on non- training days.

Carnitine

Carnitine is synthesized from the dietary amino acids lysine and methionine; it is 1'ound in the diet in meat and dairy products. While carnitine is found in other tissues, it is found primarily in skeletal musclc (93). One of carnitine’s primary roles is to transport fatty acids into the mitochondria (the powerhouse ofthe ccll) to be burned for energy and carnitine has long been touted as a fat burner.

As well, the carnitine contcnt ofmusclc decreases during exercise, especially high intensity activity, and it has been suggested that carnitine supplements may be important to normalize or maintain skeletal muscle levels.

Most early research found that short-term supplementation of even high doses of carnitine (4-6 g/day) failed to increase skeletal muscle levels (94); a 5-hour infusion of carnitine was also ineffective at raising skeletal muscle stores (95). Wilh poor oral absorption (only about 20% of an oral dose is absorbed in the first placc), a large body pool, and generally poor uptake of carnitine into skeletal muscle, it would likely take long-term supplementation to have even a small impact on skeletal musclc carnitine stores (94).

In this vein, one study found that carnitine supplementation during six months of endurance training prevented the 10% decrease in skeletal muscle carnitine seen in the placebo group (96). However, it appears that decreases in carnitine levels are fairly unimportant unless a reduction of 25-50% from normal are reached (this can occur due to ccrtain drugs and in certain disease states); a drop in musclc carnitine levels of only 10% is unlikely to have a major impact on skeletal muscle function in the first placc (94).

Carnitine has been hypothesized lo impact on exercise performance in a number of ways, most of which are relevant to endurance athletes. These include increasing fat burning (sparing musclc glycogen), replacing muscle carnitine which has been redistributed to acylcarnilinc (another form of carnitine in the muscle), activating the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) which may help to prevent acidosis, improving resistance to fatigue and. as mentioned, replacing the carnitine lost with training (96).

Overall, the studies on carnitine and excrcise performance are highly variable, with some showing a benefit and others finding no benefit; this is likely related to differences in the subjects studied, the dose and duration of dosing, and the type of exercise test which was administered. This has led rcscarchers lo very different conclusions about the usefulness of carnitine as a sports supplement. Some feci that there is evidence for a beneficial use of carnitine (93) for athletes; others have concluded the exact opposite, that carnitine is essentially useless as a supplement (96).

Hvcn in the positive studies of carnitine, where changes in V02 max. and fat oxidation have been noted, the effect tends to be. very small (for example, a few percentage change in fat oxidation or increase in V02 max.); however these types of small improvements, which may be insignificant in the laboratory, might be valuable to elite athletes looking to maximize performance (94).

As a fat burner/weight loss agent, carnitine has been found to be relatively ineffective unless a diagnosed carnitine deficiency is present.

The generally poor ability of supplemental carnitine to impact on skeletal musclc stores wouldn’t predict a major effect of supplementation so the results of the studies done to date arc not entirely surprising: if supplementation doesn't increase skeletal muscle levels in the first place, no cffcct would be expected.

Rccent research has found that increasing insulin levels improves carnitine retention (97). In the first part of that study, subjects were given carnitinc followed by 4 drinks containing 94 grams of carbohydrate to increase insulin: urinary carnitinc excretion was significantly decreased. In the second part, subjects consumed 2 grams of carnitine followed by two drinks consuming 94 grams of carbohydrate 1 and 4 hours alter the carnitinc; urinary excretion was again decreased. A follow-up study showed that a threshold of increased insulin is required to generate an cfTect (98); smaller amounts of carbohydrates may be insufficient to increase carnitine uptake.

The same group demonstrated that skeletal muscle carnitine could be raised by 15% with infusion of carnitine and insulin and this impacted acutely on skeletal musclc fuel utilization, decreasing glycogen use and lactate production, most likely by increasing fat utilization (99). However, it would take 100 days of the oral carnitine plus carbohydrate feeding to increase skeletal musclc carnitine levels by even 10% (95). So while it appears that skeletal musclc carnitine levels, and fuel utilization in muscle, might be effectively manipulated by consuming carnitine with highly insulinogenic carbohydrates, it's somewhat questionable how practical this is. An extremely large amount of carbohydrate is necessary and the effect would take a long time to appear.

Of possible importance to strength/power athletes, two recent studies have found that 1- carnitine 1-tartrate (2-3 g/day for 3 weeks) decreased the incidencc of muscle damage with high-rcpetition weight training (100,101); an even more rcccnt study found similar effects from either 1 or 2 grams (102). The same group showed that supplementation of 2 grams of 1-carnitine 1-tartrate per day for three weeks caused an increase in the concentration of androgen receptors (103); this might be expected to improve the adaptations seen to resistance training in the long-term.

Application

In bulk, carnitine is relatively inexpensive and an effective dose would appear to be 2-4 grams/day taken for multiple weeks to months. Some studies have found that 2 grams taken immediately before high intensity activity may increase Vo2 max. and decrease lactate accumulation, but this efTect is far from universal.

Endurance athletes may wish to experiment with carnitine to sec if it affects aerobic or anaerobic performance; strength/power athletes involved in heavy training might find it effective in decreasing soreness and muscle damage. Carnitinc is not recommended as a fat burner as it appears to be ineffective in this regard. Vegetarians are potentially at risk for a carnitinc deficiency and might benefit from carnitine supplementation.

As noted above, consuming carnitine with high glycemic carbohydrates increases retention in the body, a key to making carnitine even marginally effective. Athletes wishing to experiment with carnitine may want to include it with their pre- or post­workout nutrition (as per the nutrient timing chapter); (he increase in insulin from a combination of carbohydrates and an insulinogenic protein should help to ensure greater retention of the l»carnitinc. Any benefits from this strategy are likely to be extremely small, taking a long time to actually show up.

Acetyl-I carnitine (ALCAR)

Acetyl 1-carnitine, usually abbreviated as ALCAR, is a modified form ofcarnitine which has a number of effects distinct from carnitine; it has become very popular with athletes and bodybuilders recently.

Carnitine is actually converted to acylcarnitine in skeletal muscle during high intensity activity; however, the main interest in ALCAR has to do with its potential effects in the brain.

A number of studies have identified a profound number of potential health benefits of ALCAR including the inhibition of brain aging (104), cardio- and neuroprotection, and prevention of a normal age related decrease in mitochondrial function (105). ALCAR may also have a role in the treatment of diabetes by increasing mitochondrial function and improving glucose uptake into skeletal muscle (106).

However, little to no research has examined the impact of ALCAR on sports performance and the fascination with ALCAR among healthy athletes is hard to explain or understand. At best, anecdotally, ALCAR seems to improve focus and alertness among people who take it and one study showed an improvement in reflexes during a video game test in healthy individuals( 107).

It’s been suggested that ALCAR might have beneficial effects on brain function or hormone levels, most like Iy by affecting dopamine levels in the brain. Most of this work is based on animal research and it's unclear what relevance this has to humans.

One study did show that some women with hypothalamic amenorrhea (a loss of menstrual function, generally related to dysfunction in the hypothalamus that is tied to inadequate energy intake relative to output) benefited from 2 g/day of ALCAR (108); some of the women’s cycles normalized with the supplementation. Given the propensity of female athletes, especially those heavily restricting calories or performing excessive amounts of training, to have hormonal problems related to amenorrhea, ALCAR might be worth considering.

Furthermore, there is often a general drop in dopamine signaling during dieting and this would appear to be part of the overall metabolic changes which can occur (e.g. metabolic slowdown, increased hunger, etc.). Increasing dopamine signaling in the brain while dieting may have beneficial effects (readers may wish to refer to my booklet Bromocriptine for a more detailed look at this topic); based on the one study mentioned above, ALCAR might have some benefit in this regard.

Application

ALCAR appears to have many health benefits but any direct impact on exercise performance for either strength or endurance athletes is lacking. Empirically, people have reported greater clarity and focus when using ALCAR in doses of 1-3 g/day. Doses are typically taken first thing in the morning or immediately before training, often with caffeine, tyrosine or other products. Claims of increased focus, training intensity and work capacity are often made: again this has not been tested.

1. have seen no reports of changes in body composition, strength or power with ALCAR use. ALCAR may have benefit for older endurance athletes to protect mitochondrial function: combining ALCAR with lipoic acid has even greater benefits, at least in animal models (109). ALCAR is relatively inexpensive in bulk and is probably worth trying but data in healthy human athletes (or non-athletes) is lacking: almost all of it has been done in a variety ofpathological conditions or in animal models.

Typically ALCAR is dosed at 1-3 g/day and it's usually suggested that it be taken on an empty stomach: taking it first thing in the morning is often recommended for this reason. As mentioned. ALCAR is often stacked with caffeine, tyrosine and other compounds before intense training to improve focus and work output. ALCAR taken in the evening may keep some people awake due to a slight stimulatory effect.

Carnosine/beta-alanine

Carnosine is synthesized in the body from alanine and histidine: beta-alanine has recently been used to raise carnosine levels in skeletal muscle and is discussed further below. Carnosine appears to be involved in buffering changes in acidosis during exercise (110) although the overall impact in humans is fairly small (111). In one study, skeletal muscle carnosine levels correlated with fatigue resistance in the last part of a 30 second maximal bike test (112). Carnosine levels are elevated in sprinters and rowers but not in marathon runners (113): bodybuilders also show elevated carnosine levels (1 14). This suggests that the high intensity training done by these types of athletes increases muscular carnosine levels. Only one study has examined the impact of carnosine supplementation on exercise performance, it found no effect (110).

In rats, histidine deficiency lowers skeletal muscle carnosine and supplementation increases it (115), an athlete eating sufficient protein would be unlikely to have such a deficiency. In horses, the combination of beta-alanine and histidine raises muscle carnosine levels (116) and it’s been suggested that supplementation of beta-alanine might have similar cffccts in humans.

Recently, two studies showed that supplementation with beta-alanine can increase skeletal muscle levels of carnosine in humans and this improved maximal performance in a supra­maximal bicycle test (117,11 8). Doses of 3.2 to 6.4 g of beta-alanine per day were given in 4-8 divided doses of 800 mg each and subjects cycled to exhaustion at 110% of their maximal power output after 4 and 10 weeks of supplementation: the beta-alanine group improved their performance by 12 and 16 seconds at the 4 and 10 week marks. Two other rcccnt studies have suggested that beta-alaninc can improve other aspccts of endurance performance as well (1 19,120).

In another study, strength/power athletes were given a combination of 10.5 g creatine and 3.2 g beta-alaninc per day in two divided doses or a placebo; the supplement group maintained a higher average volume and intensity during their training and had greater strength gains, along with greater increases in lean body mass and decreases in fat mass (121).

In the most recent study, trained sprinters were supplemented with 4.8 g per day of beta- alaninc for 4-5 weeks and a variety of performance tests were done including isokinetic torque production, isometric cndurancc and a 400m run (122). While bcta-alanine raised carnosinc levels in both the calf muscles, and improved performance on the isokinetic test, no improvements in running time or isometric endurance were found.

Application

While supplementation ofcarnosine itself appears to be relatively ineffective in increasing skeletal musclc carnosinc content, recent studies have suggested that beta-alaninc; a precursor of carnosine can be effective in raising tissue levels. Improvements in various aspects of cycling performance and strength/power have both been shown with supplementation.

For optimal results, 3.2-6.4 g of beta-alaninc should be consumed per day in at least 4 divided doses (i.e. 800-1600 mg per dose): at least one month of supplementation is necessary to increase skeletal musclc levels of carnosinc although further elTccts may be seen with longer periods of supplementation. Beta-alaninc can causc a slight histamine response, referring to a mildly painful and slinging flushing or burning sensation ofthe skin. Beta-alaninc with creatine may be an even more effective combination for strength/power athletes.

Taurine

Taurine is an inessential amino acid found predominantly in animal sourcc proteins; like all amino acids, it plays a tremendous number of roles in the human body. Unlike other dietary amino acids, it is not involved in the synthesis of skeletal musclc protein. However, it plays a crucial role in skeletal musclc contractility and force production, with any number of pathological muscular states being possibly related to low or depleted taurine levels (123).

Taurine may also reduce excessive adrenal output and the correction of taurine deficiencies lowers high blood pressure (124). Taurine also acts as an insulin mimic and may play a role in the treatment of diabetes (125); it has also been shown to decrease blood triglyceride levels and may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease (126). However, it’s difficult to sec how this research applies to otherwise healthy athletes.

In animal models, exercise causes taurine excretion to occur and skeletal musclc taurine levels were found to be decreased in bodybuilders compared to untrained controls (114). Endurance training also appears to decrease skeletal muscle taurine levels (127). This suggests that supplementation is necessary to maintain optimal muscular levels. I am unaware of any direct research on taurine supplements in strength/power athletes.

In one study, taurine supplementation was shown to decrease oxidative stress caused by endurance training (128). An increase in urinary taurine excretion was seen following a marathon (129) and the researchers suggested that this might be related to muscular impairment and/or damage.

Two studies using Red Bull (a drink containing 43 grams carbohydrate, 160 mg caffcinc and

2. grams of taurine) have shown changes in performance during endurance exercise: a higher power output and lower sub-maximal oxygen uptake (130,131). A third found improved sub-maximal endurance, pedaling speed and improvements in mental performance (132). Taurine alone or with caffeine might have some benefit for endurance athletes before an important race or intense workouts. A more recent study found that Red Bull slightly increased upper body muscular endurance but had no impact on anaerobic bicycle performance (133).

Empirically, some have used taurine to help with muscle cramps and as a sleep aid and taurine may be beneficial for athletes using a lot of stimulant compounds (such as the cphcdrinc/caffcinc slack or clcnbutcrol).

Application

Doses of 3-6 grams/day and more are being used in a variety of dosing protocols for different goals. Some have used it around workouts as an insulin mimic/cell volumizing compound while others are using it at bedtime as a sleep/anti-cramp aid. Bulk taurine powder is extremely cheap and may be worth experimenting wilh. Some have reported stomach upset wilh high doses (5+ grams/day).

Citrulline malate

Cilrullinc malate is another noncsscnlial amino acid, related to arginine, that plays a large role in the urea cycle in the liver. Some research has suggested that it may benefit athletes by promoting aerobic metabolism locally in muscle (134); note that this study was in a rather odd finger movement task which has minimal relevance lo normal exercise. Another suggested that citrulline helped to decrease blood acidosis and buffer an ammonia increase during exercise (135). While the occasional bodybuilder or anaerobic athlete has reported an effect from citrulline, it would more likely to effect long-duration endurance activities.

In contrast, a reccnt study found that citrulline supplementation actually hurt endurance performance (136) and much more research needs lo be done on citrulline. Another possible effect of citrulline would be in that, since it is converted to arginine, it might provide a belter substrate for nitric oxide (NO) production (137); the topic of NO and exercise performance is discussed below under arginine and ornithine supplements.

Application

A typical dose of citrulline would be 3*6 grams per day. Some have suggested thal taking a B vitamin complex with the citrulline is required for optimal results; this has not been studied to my knowledge.

Arginine/ornithine/glutamine

Since the 1980s. a variety of amino acids have been promoted as growth hormone (GH) rcleascrs. By way of introduction, GH is a hormone released by the body under a variety of conditions that is important for normal growth. This is especially true if you're talking about GH deficient individuals where replacing their GH levels to normal has profound effects; however, GH appears to play a minimal role at best in the growth of skeletal muscle in healthy adults. GH appears to play a much more significant role in fat loss however

(138).

The earliest GH releasing aminos that were promoted to athletes included arginine and ornithine (139), two bitter tasting powders that did appear to increase GH release in fairly large doses, especially when infused. Hven there, not all studies found that GH levels were increased in athletes (140,141). More recently, a fairly small dose (2 grams) of glutamine was found to increase GH levels (142).

It's questionable how great of an impact these small pulses of GH had and most studies have found no anabolic effect of any of the GH releasers; few scientists recommend them as having any sort of anabolic cffcct (143). Related to endurance athletes, two studies have examined the impact of arginine aspartame supplementation and found no impact on performance (144,145).

However, such compounds could conceivably have an impact on fat loss. GH is one of several lipolytic (fat mobilizing) stimuli although it is not a primary stimulator of fat loss. Research has shown that even physiologic pulses of GH can stimulate lipolysis, although the cffcct takes 2-2.5 hours to show up (146). Additionally, inhibition ofthe normal nighttime GH pulse decreases fat breakdown on the subsequent day (147).

Athletes trying to lose fat might benefit from taking a few grams of glutamine (cheaper and better tasting than high doses of arginine/ornithine) at bedtime to ensure a proper GH release and optimal fat mobilization the next day. What real-world impact this might have is unknown and has not been directly tested. Recall from above that glutamine may have other important roles in terms of immune function.

In addition to the supposed GH releasing cffcct. arginine has generated interest of late due to its conversion to a compound called nitric oxide (NO). NO is a profoundly important signaling molecule in the body and is involved in blood flow in many tissues along with many olhcr effects. Viagra, which promotes crcctions, docs so by inhibiting the enzyme that breaks down NO in the penis, promoting blood flow to that area.

Therapeutically, arginine may be of great benefit for individuals suffering from a variety of disease states related to heart disease (148). At least one researcher has suggested that arginine might have an crgogcnic eflcct by increasing blood flow* lo muscles (and thus increasing amino acid delivery) if added to other amino acids: this has not been tested in humans (148).

Arginine is the primary compound in most of the NO products currently available and while claims for increased growth have been made, 1 am unaware of any research to support this: many users report an improved pump during training although the real-world significance ofthis in terms ofmuscular adaptation is unknown.

From a practical standpoint, it's questionable how' much of an impact arginine actually has on NO in healthy individuals. Raising NO via arginine supplementation or infusion certainly appears to have some benefit in individuals with heart disease and diabetes (148): however, it doesn’t appear that arginine is effective in raising NO or improving exercise performance in otherwise healthy individuals (149, 150).

As a final note, I should mention that insulin increases NO production (and blood flow) to many tissues including skeletal muscle: eating carbohydrates with protein prior to will raise NO levels as w'dl (151). Following the pre-workout nutrient recommendations from Chapter 8 should be more than sufficient to increase NO release and blood flow during training.

Application

None of the supposed GH releasers are recommended for anabolic purposes although they might play a small role during dieting by increasing fat mobilization. The rank taste and high doses required for both arginine and ornithine make them poor choices: encapsulation is alw'ays a possibility but this increases the cost and a large number of pills will have to be taken to achieve an effective dose.

Taking several two to three grams of glutamine at bedtime (to ensure a proper nighttime GH pulse) or tw'o to three hours before training might increase lipolysis. Whether or not this will impact on overall fat loss on a properly set up diet and training program is unknown.

While arginine might have the potential to increase skeletal muscle blood flow due to the stimulation of NO release, there is no real indication that this has any benefit in terms of a training response. Consuming a small amount of high glyccmic index carbs w'ith protein prior to training increases insulin: not only will this raise NO levels, it will provide nutrients to the skeletal muscle and promote a much greater anabolic cffcct than any NO precursor could provide.

1 mentioned the importance of cysteine and its role in promoting the production of glutathione (one of the body's inherent antioxidant defense systems) in the last chapter during the discussion of whey protein; the high cysteine content of whey has been shown to increase the body's store of glutathione and this may confer health benefits (152).

From a performance standpoint, it appears that a high cysteine intake may improve anaerobic performance (153); of interest to dieters, one study found that individuals with low blood glutamine levels were at greater risk for body protein loss; supplementation of 400 mg per day of n-acetyl-cysteine prevented this loss from occurring (154).

Application

Athletes consuming whey protein on a daily basis should already be obtaining a significant amount of cysteine. However, athletes who find that they lose lean body mass while dieting may wish to experiment with n-aectyl-cystcine. A dosage of400 mg per day in two divided doses appears to be effective.

4-hydroxyisoleucine

3. hydroxyisoleucine is an amino acid isolated from fenugreek seeds, it has been used in traditional medicine to lower blood glucosc levels with research showing that it increases insulin release (155), lowering blood glucose in diabetic individuals (156).

Of some relevance to athletes, a recent study found that it could increase the rate of glycogen synthesis following high-intensity endurance depicting endurance exercise (157). In that study, subjects received either 1.8 g/kg of carbohydrate or the same amount of carbohydrate with 2 mg/kg of 4-hydroxyisoleucine; musclc glycogen storage was roughly 63% faster for the supplemented group. In contrast, a reccnt study found no effect on glycogen storage following 5 hours of lower intensity cycling (158).

Application

As discusscd in the chapter on nutrient timing, athletes who perform two or more workouts per day often need to be concerned with optimal rcsynthesis of glycogen between workouts. In addition to providing sufficient carbohydrate, along with prolein, athletes who need to maximize glycogcn storage might consider adding 4- hydroxyisoleucine lo their post-workout drink following high-intensity training. As mentioned above, 2 mg/kg body weight should be added to the post-workout drink. For a 100 kg (220 lb) athlete, that would be 2.0 grams of4-hydroxyisolcucinc.

Bovine Colostrum

Colostrum is a specialized protein found in mother's milk that contains a number of bioactivc peptides important for gut health (159). In the first 24*48 hours of life, those proteins ensure that the baby's gut finishes developing; this contributes to overall health as well. Interest in colostrum for both health and athletic benefits have been examined and bovine colostrum (taken from cow's milk) has been brought to market.

Colostrum lies somewhere between a protein powder and a protein based supplement. Containing a variety of proteins found in mother’s milk, colostrum wouldn't typically be used in the same fashion as a protein powder, but neither is it an amino acid per se.

As with many supplements, the research on colostrum is highly varied. Harly research suggested that colostrum could raise blood levels of insulin-like growth factor t (IGF-1, 160) but not all studies find this to be true (161). Given that IGF-1 is not absorbed orally to a significant degree (160), any cffcct of colostrum on 1GF-I levels would have to be mediated through another mechanism.

Some research has found a benefit of colostrum supplementation on athletic performance. This includes increases in anaerobic peak power (161), increases in recovery (but not performance) from endurance training (162), increased cycling time trial performance (163) and increased sprint speed in field hockey players (164). In one study, supplementation of colostrum was found to improve body composition changes when coupled with training (165).

In other studies, colostrum failed to improve rowing performance (166); one study suggested that colostrum increased skin thickness and that accounted for the gains in arm circumference (167). Two recent studies compared 10 grams of bovine colostrum with 10 grams of whey protein over 8 weeks of cycling training including 5 days of consecutive high intensity interval training, the colostrum group showed greater improvements during a 40 km time trial along with a decreased incidence of upper respiratory tract illness (168, 169). The exact mechanism by which bovine colostrum may improve performance is currently unknown.

Application

At the recommended dose, bovine colostrum is extremely expensive. Although commercial products often list 6 grams/day as an effective dose, most studies have used 20- 60 grams/day and generally compared it to a concentrated whey protein. Two recent studies have used a more realistic dose of 10 grams per day over 8 weeks although this would still represent a significant daily cost. For the most part, unless an athlete had their training and other dietary aspects absolutely pcrfcct and money was no object, colostrum simply isn't a cost effective product.

21:56

78% (M>

Summary

In writing this chaptcr. I've tried to touch on a majority of popularly available protein or amino acid based suppleme Clearly there are products with a good deal of human research available. Creatine, beta-alanine, I'd simply reiterate that prior to adding any supplement to their dietary regimen, athletes should ensure proper overall

Most find that, after a proper diet and training program are in order, supplements add only a small amount. However, for competitive athletes seeking those final few percentage points lo their performance, adding specific supplements to a proper training and nutrition program may be worthwhile.

Putting it All Together

In the previous 12 chapters. I've covered a tremendous amount of information regarding protein. In this chapter I want to get into practical applications of all of this information for different types of athletes. As I've discussed throughout this book, it's impossible to give any single set of recommendations that can apply to all athletes equally.

Differences in the type and amount of training, along with the specific goals of a given athlete, all serve to impact on what might constitute an ideal amount of total protein to be consumed each day (1). Those same differences would impact on the amounts and types of nutrients that might ideally be consumed around training, both to support training and for optimal recovery afterwards.

Little to no research has examined the impact of different whole food proteins and how they might apply to different types of sports. However, emerging research has compared the impact of different types of protein powders (e.g. soy versus milk protein) on training adaptations, primarily muscle growth following resistance training. As discussed in Chapter 12, the various protein or amino acid based supplements have relatively more or less application to endurance and strength/power sports respectively.

In order to address these topics in an applied way, 1 first want to divide sports into one of two primary categories, with an additional sub-category. The main determinants of w hich category a given sport falls into are the duration of the event during competition, as well as the predominant type oftraining done.

In addition to the physiological demands of different sports, an additional issue that impacts on optimal protein nutrition has to do with varying goals of the athlete. I'm going to simplify these into maintaining current body mass (while improving performance), losing body fat, and gaining body mass (generally muscle mass). I'll address how each goal impacts on total protein requirements along with the ideal types and timing of protein during the day and around training.

To finish the chapter, I want to examine issues specific to female athletes and address the issue of vegetarianism as it pertains to protein nutrition for athletes.

21:56

Sport categories

Sports can be subdivided into a number of different categories depending on the physiological requirements of competition and the specifics of their training. Throughout this book. I’ve divided sports and training into two primary categories which are endurance and strength/power. In this chapter. I'm also going to introduce at h ird sub-category under stre fitness and figure. While they share many aspects in common with strength/power sports, they are distinct enough in terms of their training and physiological requirements to be considered separately from a nutritional point of view'.

Pure endurance sports include activities such as cycling, running, cross country skiing, rowing and others. Such sports are typified by extended durations and relatively continuous activity. The intensity ofsuch events is typically sub-maximal, although many such sports require bursts of high intensity activity during competition as well (e.g. a cyclist climbing a hill or covering a break, a distance runner doing the same).

The majority of training for endurance sports is typically done for extended periods at sub- maximal intensities: weight training typically plays a much smaller overall role and endurance athletes generally aren't pursuing increased muscle mass as a primary goal. Weight training is often done for injury prevention or performance reasons and many endurance athletes perform some amount of w'eight training during their off-season or early preparation phase, often when normal training is limited by bad w'cathcr. Even there, large increases in muscle mass are rarely an explicit goal of pure endurance type sports.

The strength/power category simply includes everything else. Any sport where a greater proportion of the training is done under anaerobic conditions, or where strength/pow'er training (in the w'eight room or out) is a primary focus would be included in the strength/power category. This category includes everything from pure strength/power events such as the throws, power and Olympic lifting and short sprints, to medium duration events such as the 400 or 800m sprints. Team sports such as football, rugby, basketball, hockey, etc. would also be included in this category. Since some type of metabolic conditioning or endurance w'ork is also often done, athletes in this category often have to cover the protein requirements for both types of activities.

Practically speaking, any sport w'here relatively large amounts of strength and/or power training is done should follow' the daily protein recommendations for strength/power athletes; sports which don't rely so heavily on resistance training or where increases in muscle mass aren't the goal and where training primarily entails high volumes of lower intensity exercise should use the recommendations for endurance athletes.

Although they share many aspects in common w'ith strength/power sports in terms of their training (a majority of which is done in the weight room), the physique sports are unique enough to be placed into their own category. For the most part, the physique activities are judged on appearance and are not, strictly speaking, performance based. One exception to this is the fitness routine in fitness competitions. The differences between the physique sports and the more performance oriented strength/power sports have implications forall aspects of diet, which I'll address below.

Although the above sporting classifications should be used to determine total daily protein

intake (i.e. endurance athletes should use the endurance recommendations and

strength/power athletes should use the strength/power recommendations), one question that arises is which set of guidelines for around training nutrition should be used.

In general, 1 think it’s better to think in terms of the type of workout being performed (rather than the sport category per sc) to be used when determining which

recommendations to use for around workout training. A strength/power athlete

performing an endurance type of conditioning workout would be better served by utilizing the recommendations for around endurance nutrition (although lower carbohydrate values would most likely still be used) as the requirement for protein simply will not be as high as when a strength/power workout is being performed. An endurance athlete engaging in resistance training would be better served using the strength/power

recommendations (although the lower protein values would generally be used since muscle mass gains are generally not the goal).

Sporting goals

Obviously, the goal of all sports training is improved performance. Whether this means throwing further, lifting a heavier weight, running, cycling or swimming faster or what

have you, the fundamental goal of the training process is to improve competition

performance. For the physique sports, increased muscle mass or fat loss could be

considered an explicit performance goal as well.

While the topic of optimal sports nutrition is beyond the scope of this book, hopefully the issue of proper protein intake has been sufficiently covered. Ensuring optimal protein intake has many potential benefits from promoting optimal adaptations to training, to limiting protein breakdown during endurance training, to helping to stave off overtraining.

In addition to promoting optimal performance improvements, a common goal among athletes has to do with changes in body mass. Losing body fat, gaining muscle mass (and sometimes simply total body mass) are both common goals for athletes. As noted above, these may be the primary goals of athletes in the physique sports.

The first topic I want to address in this chapter is how an athlete can go about applying the information from this book when their goals arc essentially maintenance of current body composition along with promoting optimal adaptations to training and improvement in performance. I’ll recap the guidelines for total protein intake as well as

recommendations for nutrient timing around training, discuss how to make both whole food and protein powder choices, and finally make a few comments about the use of supplements.

Having established the maintenance situation as a baseline, I then want to discuss how an athlete's diet should change in terms of total protein intake, protein choices, etc. when their goals include fat loss or muscle gain as explicit goals.

When alhletes reach an appropriate level of leanness and/or muscularity for their sport, the goal of training and nutrition then becomes to generate maximal adaptation to their training for improved performance. A huge part of this, of course, is a properly designed training program which is far beyond the scope of this book.

Nutritionally, promoting optimal training adaptations encompasses many topics which arc also outside the scope of this book. Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), fluid, and sufficient energy (from carbohydrates and fat) to cover both the energy cost of training along with the energy needed to synthesize new proteins are all required.

Ensuring adequate protein intake, along with the above, is an important aspect of an optimal diet for athletes. While it's true that many athletes already consume sufficient (or even excessive) amounts of protein, it's also true that many consume insufficient amounts to meet their goals.

In addition, current research strongly supports the idea that the timing of nutrients around training may be just as important in terms of improving performance, recovery, and adaptation as the total amount consumed per day. This is currently a huge area of research.

Dietary supplements, while all too often used to make up for deficiencies or cover up mistakes in the diet, can often be useful or have small additional effects when added to a proper diet and training program.

When changes in body composition aren’t an explicit goal, athletes use a variety of different measurements of performance to gauge whether or not their training and dietary program is effective. Strength or metabolic tests or simply on-field performance can all be used to determine if an athlete is progressing or not. As well, even when maintenance of body composition is the goal, changcs in body composition can indicate if a supposed maintenance intake is appropriate or not. As mentioned above, athletes in the physique sports may be using changes in body composition as their primary or only indicator.

If body fat is accumulating, an excessive number of calorics are being consumed and a slight reduction in intake (or increase in activity) should occur; if body weight/body fat is decreasing (and this isn't an explicit goal), calorics should to be increased to compensate. Assuming that protein intake is set at appropriate levels, changes in caloric intake should come from adjustments in carbohydrates or fat. Finally, if body weight/body fat is stable but performance improvements aren’t occurring, a slightly increased caloric intake (to ensure sufficient nutrients and energy for optimal adaptation) may be needed.

It's worth noting that certain subgroups of athletes, notably female runners, dancers and gymnasts along with male wrestlers and boxers are known to chronically restrict food intake to keep their body weight down and this often limits their ability to train intensely; this can cause a variety of health problems as well, especially for females. I’ll address some issues specific to female athletes later in this chapter.

Athletes who arc at maintenance should be following the protein recommendations set earlier in this book and shown again in Table 1.

Table 1: Daily protein recommendations Type of athlete , Habitual , Dieting

. gflcg . . g/tb

Male strength/power . 2.5-3.0 . 1.1-1.4 . 3.0-3.3 . 1.4-1.5

Female strength/power _ 2.4-2.6 _ 1.1-1.2 _ 2.6-3.0 1.2-1.4

Male endurance " 1.7-2.0 * 0.7-0.9 " 2.0-2.2 . 0.9-I.0 '

Female endurance 1.3-1.6 0.6 -0.7 1.6-1.9 0.75-0.9

Athletes who are at maintenance will be using the values in the "Habitual" column which I'd note, covers a fairly large rang of intakes. Given the impact of energy intake on nitrogen balance, w'ith calorics at maintenance a protein intake anywhere within those ranges should be fine.

For cndurancc athletes, as cither the duration or intensity of training goes up. using the values nearer the higher end of the protein recommendations is going to be most appropriate. During periods of low'er training volumes or intensities, protein intake can be decreased if desired. I'd mention that many endurance athletes report "feeling" better w'ith higher protein intakes. There may be no need to deliberately lower protein intake during periods of low'er intensity training for this reason.

For strength/power athletes, the same basic comments apply: a protein intake anywhere in the above range should be appropriate. Those w'ho arc explicitly trying to avoid gains in lean body mass may wish to set protein intake nearer the lower levels while athletes still washing to make small gains in lean body mass (w'hich technically isn't maintenance) may wish to consumc protein at the higher levels.

In the physique sports, training approaches vary significantly from very high volumes of training to low'er volumc/high-intcnsily approaches. In general, athletes in these activities tend to default to diets that are higher in protein and lowxr in carbohydrate and often fat. Assuming that training intensity and quality don't suffer, setting protein intake at the high end of the recommendations with a reduction in carbohydrate or fat intake makes sense for this group.

In Table 2 on the next page. I've calculalcd out the daily protein intake that athletes of different body sizes would require based on the intake recommendations given in Table I.

Tabic 2: Daily Protein intake for athletes of different body mass

	g/kg	1.1	1.3	1.5	1.8	2.0	2.2	2.4	2.6	2.9	3.1	3.3
K.2	g/lb Lbs	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.5
45	100	50	59	69	79	89	99	109	119	129	139	149
50	no	55	66	77	88	99	110	121	132	143	154	165
55	121	60	73	85	97	109	121	133	145	157	169	182
60	132	66	79	92	106	119	132	145	158	172	185	198
65	143	72	86	100	114	129	143	157	172	186	200	214
70	154	77	92	108	123	139	154	169	185	200	216	231
75	165	82	99	116	132	148	165	182	198	214	231	248
80	176	88	106	123	141	158	176	194	211	229	246	264
85	187	94	112	131	150	168	187	206	224	243	262	280
90	198	99	119	139	158	178	198	218	238	257	277	297
95	209	104	125	146	167	188	209	230	251	272	293	314
100	220	110	132	154	176	198	220	242	264	286	308	330
105	231	116	139	162	185	208	231	254	277	300	323	346
110	242	121	145	169	194	218	242	266	290	315	339	363
115	253	126	152	177	202	228	253	278	304	329	354	380
120	264	132	158	185	211	238	264	290	317	343	370	396
125	275	138	165	192	220	248	275	302	330	358	385	412

The left column shows body weight in both kilograms and pounds, the top row shows protein intake in both g/kg and g/lb values. Athletes who are heavier than 125 kg (275 pounds) or lighter than 45 kg (100 pounds) will have to break out the calculator.

Given that many athletes don’t train every day, a question that often comcs up is whether or not protein should be kept at the recommended levels on off-days when training is not being performed. In general the answer is yes as adaptation to training is an ongoing process. For example, protein synthesis following resistance training can remain elevated for 24-48 hours (2,3). I’m unaware of similar data on endurance training.

In any case, providing sufficient building blocks and energy on off-days is generally a good idea to ensure maximal adaptations to training. At the same time, it might be argued that protein requirements would be slightly lower on non-training days since the immediate support of training adaptations (or limiting protein breakdown during training) isn’t necessary.

One possible solution would be to use the lower values for protein recommendations on non-training days and the higher value on training days. So strength/power athletes might aim for 2.5 g/kg (1.1 g/lb) on non-training days and a full 3.0 g/kg (1.4 g/lb) on training days; endurance athletes would use 1.7 g/kg (0.7 g/lb) on non-training days and a full 2.0 g/kg (0.9 g/lb) on training days. The difference in protein intake between training and non-training days would generally be made up by the nutrients consumed around training.

On non-training days, athletes should simply divide up their daily protein intake across however many meals they are consuming. As discusscd in Chapter 7, eating anywhere from every 3*5 hours is the most reasonable approach and this will typically yield anywhere from 4-6 meals/day; the day's prolein would be divided fairly evenly across each meal.

In terms of protein choices, at maintenance calories, protein quality won't matter that much, especially on non-training days. One fairly unlikely exception would be an athlete choosing a single low quality protein source to fulfill their daily intake: even there, the sheer quantity ofprotein ingested should make up for any issues with quality.

I recommend athletes get a variety of proteins on a day-to-day basis. As discussed in detail in Chapter 10, all proteins tend to have their own pros and cons. Many athletes, especially those in the physique sports, tend lo fixate on one or two prolein sources. Not only does this mean that they may miss out on potential benefits of other sourccs, but they may be compounding potential negatives inherent to the sourccs that they do consume (e.g. excessive mercury intake from a reliance on certain types ofscafood).

I'd like to emphasize again the important benefits I think that lean red meat contribute to the diet, especially for females athletes in terms of iron status. While red meat needn't be eaten daily, I do feci it should be eaten several times per week to ensure sufficient iron intake (in addition to the other important micronutrients found in meat). I'd also reemphasize the benefits ofdairy proteins in terms of both their high quality and potential positive impact on body composition.

As I mentioned in Chapter 10 there is some logical reason to think that consuming varied proteins at the same meal might provide some benefits; any limitations of one protein could be countcractcd by the presence of another prolein. Dairy such as milk, yogurt or cheese can usually be added easily to other protein meals (e.g. glass of milk, cup of yogurt, cheese on top of a burger or salad), beans and other legumes add fiber, carbohydrates, calories and protein to the meal; many other possibilities can be dreamt up. Different types ofanimal proteins (i.e. chicken and fish or red meat) could be eaten at a single meal.

On non-training days, prolein powders probably aren’t necessary except for reasons of convenience or practicality. They may be helpful for athletes who have very high prolein requirements but who have difficulty consuming sufficient amounts of whole food. Athletes who work full lime jobs or who are in school may need to mix protein drinks (recall that carbohydrates, fat and fiber should ideally be present) to consume between main meals; others like to use protein powders to make dessert type items. Athletes with a poor appetite ofien find that drinking some portion of their daily calories is easier than eating solid foods and protein powders can be used to mix high calorie blender drinks.

With regards to supplements, whether or not specific supplements are taken on non­training days will depend entirely on the nature of the supplement. Obviously the products that require chronic use such as creatine or beta-alanine to maintain tissue levels would be consumed on non-training days. Compounds used solely around training or to support some aspect oftraining wouldn't need to be consumed on non-training days.

Depending on the nature ofthe sport and the athlete, athletes may be training anywhere from once every other day to twicc or more six days per week at the highest level of sports training. Generally speaking, w'orkouts tend to fall into one oftwo major categories which are weight training and metabolic work (endurance or conditioning training).

Weight training is an extremely broad category and can range from hypertrophy work (typically 6*12 rep sets) for a physique athlete or performance athlete who needed to gain muscle mass to a low' repetition (1-5 rep sets) workout geared towards maximal strength and/or power. Strcngth-cndurance training utilizing higher repetitions and short rest periods are used by both strongmen and performance athletes w'ho need to improve local muscular endurance. Combined workouts including both low repetition w'ork for strength/power and higher rep work for hypertrophy; structural balance or general condi tioning are often done during these workouts as we 11.

Bach w'orkout has its own specific physiological demands in terms ofthe fuel used, amount of glycogen depleted, amount of muscle damage done, and the amount ofprotein synthesis that is stimulated. Thus the requirements for protein and calories to support training can vary profoundly between the different types of resistance training. In general, athletes emphasizing lower repetitions and strength w'on’t have the requirements for either calories or protein around training as compared to athletes looking for more hypertrophy or even strcngth-cndurance (where a great deal of muscle glycogen may be depleted).

Metabolic or endurance work also takes a tremendous number of forms. True endurance sport training can range from short (30*60 minutes) recovery workouts at very low' intensities, to extensive workouts (2-8 hours) at low to moderate intensities to high intensity interval or time trial work ranging from I to 20 minutes or longer (the last type of training typically makes up a relatively small percentage ofthe total training time). Again, caloric costs can vary significantly bctw'ccn workouts although endurance athletes, in general, have higher energy requirements than strength/power athletes (4). A moderate caloric burn of even 600 calories/hour sustained for 3-4 hours equates to 1800-2400 calories burned in addition to maintenance levels.

Strength/pow'er athletes may be doing body w'eight or medicine ball circuits, complexes in the w'eight room or various types of interval work for conditioning, "endurance" or work capacity training. Generally speaking strength/pow'er athletes don't and shouldn't perform a lot of low'-intensity steady state endurance type work (running distance, etc.) as this tends to impair the strength/pow'er adaptations that they are seeking (5).

Of course, other types of training are often done. Pure skill or technical training is perhaps one of the most typical; generally speaking, this doesn't have the high-energy cost or recovery needs of the other types of training but the high levels of concentration required can be mentally draining.

As mentioned above, athletes have essentially tw'o options as to how' protein intake might vary on training versus non-training days. Hither protein intake will remain constant every day (training or otherwise) or the different "ends" of the range w'ould be used on

non-training days versus training days with slightly larger intakes being consumed on trainingdays relative to non-training days.

In cither ease, some proportion of the day's total protein intake will be placcd around training, meaning that it will need to be subtracted from the other meals of the day. Simply, having determined how much protein will be consumed i n total on the training basedon Tables I and 2 above, the amount being consumed around training would be acted from that and the remainder distributed through the day's meals.

As well, between the energy cost of training itself, along wit h energy needed for tissue and protein synthesis, calories will generally be higher on training days versus non-training days, with a majority of the difference coming from carbohydrates consumed before, during and/or after training.

Because of the differences in nutrient absorption and utilization during exercise, as compared to pre- or post-workout, readers may recall that the during workout recommendations were expressed in absolute terms (grams per hour) rather than relative to body weight. Because of this, I want to discuss them separately in this chapter before moving onto pre- and post-workout intake. In Table 3, I've recapped the during workout recommendations from Chapter 8.

Table 3: During workout nutrition recommendations

Protein

linurance 8-15 g/hour whey protein

Strength/power 12-15g/hour whey protein

Carbohydrate

30-60 g/hour dextrose alone OR 45-70 g/hour dextrose plus fructose 30-45 g/hour dextrose or sucrose

Note: Other carbohydrates such as maltodextrin, maltose or sucrose can be used in place of dextrose if sired or better tolerated by the athlete. As well, soy could be used in place of whey.

typical strength/power workout might last one to two hours, so an athlete might be consuming 12-30 grams ofprotein total along with 30-90 grams of carbohydrate. An endurance type of workout might represent anywhere from 1-6 hours for a pure endurance athlete while a strength/power athlete might only perform I hour of metabolic conditioning. So while the strength/power athlete might only consume 15 grams of protein with 30 grams of carbohydrate, a cyclist on the bike for 4 hours might be consuming32-60 grams of protein and up to 240 or more grams of carbohydrate during heir workout.

'dearlythe amount ofprotein consumed during training can vary significantly because of :his, with the endurance athlete consuming far more total protein during training due to :hcir workouts generally being much longer in duration. And while it seems that the endurance athlete might actually be consuming a majority of their daily protein during the workout. I'd note that an endurance athlete who is training 4-6 hours/day and sleeping 8 has a fairly limited lime to consume the remainder of their food; proportionally more of their intake should be consumed during training since it represents a much larger part of

their total day. In any ease, the amount of protein consumed during training will simply be subtracted from the daily totals.

Having determined the amount of protein that will be consumed during training, the final consideration for training days becomes that of pre* and post-workout nutrition. Below I’ve reprinted the pre* and posl-workoul recommendations from Chapter 8 in Table 4 and 5. I’ve also added a new Table 6 which simply adds up the pre- and post-workout recommendations to show the total amount of protein and carbs that would be consumed around training.

Table4: Immediate Pre-workout nutrition recommendations

Protein Carbohydrate

Endurance 0.15-0.25 g/kg 1.0 g/kg

Strength/power 0.3-0.4 g/kg* 0.3-0.4 g/kg

• Halfoflhis value, or 0.15-0.25 g/kg of EAAs could be used instead

Table 5: Post workout nutrition recommendations

Prolein Carbohydrate

Endurance _ 0.15-0.35 g/kg _ 1-1.85 g/kg

Strength/power 0.3-0.5 g/kg 0.3-1.5 g/kg

Table 6: Total pre/post workout nutrition recommendations

Protein Carbohydrate Endurance _ 0.3-0.6 g/kg 2.0-2.85 g/kg Strength/power 0.6-0.9 g/kg 0.6-1.9 g/kg

Again, Table 6 simply represents the amounts shown in Tables 4 and 5 added together and would represent the total amount ofprotein consumed pre- and post-training. This would be added to the amount being consumed during training (from Table 3 above), and that total amount would be subtracted from the day's overall totals: the remainder would simply be divided up throughout the day's whole food meals.

Table 7 on the next page shows the tolal amount of protein in grams that will be consumed based on the totals from Table 6 above.

As with Table 1, the left hand column shows body weight in kilograms and pounds, the top row shows total protein intake recommendations in both g/kg and g/lb. So a 70 kg (154 pound) endurance athlete consuming 0.6 g/kg of protein around training would be consuming 42 grams of protein, this would be added to the amount of protein being consumed during training, and the total amount of protein consumed around training would be subtracted from the daily protein intake.

A 100 kg (220 pound) strcngth/powcr athlete consuming 0.9 g/kg of protein around training would be consuming 90 grams of protein total around training which would be first added to any protein consumed during training, and the total amount of protein consumed around training would be subtracted from his daily totals.

Table 7: Total protein intake around training

e/ke		0.3	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.0
	g/lb	0.14	0.18	0.23	0.27	0.32	0.36	0.41	0.45
Kg	Lbs
45	99	13.5	18	22.5	27	31.5	36	40.5	45
50	110	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50
55	121	16.5	22	27.5	33	38.5	44	49.5	55
60	132	18	24	30	36	42	48	54	60
65	143	19.5	26	32.5	39	45.5	52	58.5	65
70	154	21	28	35	42	49	56	63	70
75	165	22.5	30	37.5	45	52.5	60	67.5	75
80	176	24	32	40	48	56	64	72	80
85	187	25.5	34	42.5	51	59.5	68	76.5	85
90	198	27	36	45	54	63	72	SI	90
95	209	28.5	38	47.5	57	66.5	76	85.5	95
100	220	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
105	231	31.5	42	52.5	63	73.5	84	94.5	105
110	242	33	44	55	66	77	88	99	110
115	253	34.5	46	57.5	69	80.5	92	103.5	115
120	264	36	48	60	72	84	96	108	120
125	275	37.5	50	62.5	75	87.5	100	112.5	125

To show you how lo make the calculations, let's assume a male strength/power athlete who weighs 100 kg (220 pounds) and who is consuming the full 3 g/kg of protein per day from Table I; he will be consuming a total of 300 grams ofprolein per day. On a particular training day, let's assume that he performs a strength/power session which lasts one hour and he’ll be consuming 15 grams ofprolein during the workout. He prefers to consume the highest levels of protein before and after training so he’ll be consuming an additional 0.9 g/kg ofprolein or 90 grams around training.

In total around training, he's consuming 105 grams of prolein (90 grams pre- and post­plus 15 grams during his workout). Subtracted from his daily intake of 300 grams of protein, that leaves 195 grams of protein which would be divided relatively evenly through his remaining daily meals. If he's consuming 4 whole food meals, that would be approximately 48 grams of protein per meal; if he’s consuming 6 meals, that’s 32.5 grams of protein per meal.

In terms ofprolein choices around training, as described in Chapter 8, using a fast protein before and during training appears to be optima I. Whey would be the first choice forpre»and during workout also a plus. For athletes allergic to dairy proteins or who are vegetarians, soy protein is another fast protein which would be appropriate before and during training. 1 should

mention (hat some athletes prefer to forego whole proteins during training, preferring to consume BCAA mixtures. As discussed in Chapter 12, this may conceivably cause fatigue during training due to increased production of ammonia, a problem that doesn't occur when w'hole proteins such as whey are consumed.

Post-w'orkout. emerging data suggests that a slow' protein such as cascin or a mixed fast and slow protein such as milk protein isolate appears to be superior. Alternately, whey protein could be mixed in milk, or milk itself could be consumed. It would generally be difficult for a strength/power athlete to gel sufficient protein post-workout wilh milk without consuming a tremendous amount. Due to their lower protein requirements post-workout, an endurance athlete might find milk to be effective as both a source of carbohydrate and fat: the fluid contcnt also facilitates rchydration.

Many athletes simply prefer to eat a whole food meal after training: little data exists and the final determinant will be w'hether or not the athlete is actually hungry enough to eat a solid meal following training. Some are but many are not, making liquids a preferred choice. Finally, various supplements can be consumed around training as part ofthe pre-, during- or post-workout drink.

Losing body fat: Introduction

For most sports, ensuring sufficient leanness without sacrificing performance is an important goal and many athletes have to actively diet to reach those levels. Under most circumstances, excess body fat (above some optimal level, which varies by sport) is simply dead w'eight that is a negative to performance. At the same time, many athletes become so obsessed with losing body fat that they sacrifice performance via impaired training capacity or lost muscle mass in an attempt to reach unrealistic and unnecessary levels of leanness.

Sports w'here athletes are projecting themselves against gravity such as running, road cycling, the jumping events, gymnastics, etc. generally benefit from lowered body fat levels from a performance standpoint. Overall body mass is often fairly low' in such sports as well.

Athletes in w'eight class sports such as wrestling and the lighter powerlifting and Olympic lifting classes also typically benefit from low'crcd body fat as this allow's the athlete to maximize the amount of muscle mass that they can carry at a given body w'eight. Weight class athletes often use a combination of fat loss and dehydration to make it into a lower w'eight class as w'cll.

Bodybuilding, figure and fitness are all judged on both muscularity and leanness (fitness has the added component ofthe fitness routine) and fat loss, often to extreme levels, is a common goal. It's not an over-exaggeration to say that many individuals in those sports are professional dieters. Maximizing fat loss w'hile minimizing muscle loss has been a long­standing goal in the physique sports.

The challenge with fat loss is finding w'ays to optimally lose body fat without sacrificing training capacity, performance or muscle mass. Tangentially, under some very rare circumstances, an athlete may wish to lose unnecessary musclc mass but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

Losing body fat: Specific recommendations

At a basic level, losing body fat requires a prolonged imbalance between caloric expenditure and intake: the athlete must be burning more calories than they are consuming. Under those circumstances, the body will draw on stored body fat to make up the deficit, causing fat loss over time. However, the body can also use protein for fuel and this can cause muscle and performance loss; this becomes especially problematic as athletes try to reach lower levels of body fat.

In practice, creating a deficit either means reducing total caloric intake, increasing activity, or some combination ofthe two. Looking at food intake, athletes have four primary food groups from which to reduce their food intake: protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol. As alcohol provides nothing from a performance or nutritional standpoint, reducing its intake can be one simple way of reducing total caloric intake. Unless athletes are consuming a large amount of alcohol on a daily basis, caloric restrictions will realistically have to come from protein, carbohydrates or fats.

In general, unless intake is already excessive, caloric reductions should not come from protein. Rather, as discussed in Chapter 4, protein requirements go up while dieting and dietary protein intake may need to be increased somewhat when calories arc being restricted. With alcohol and protein eliminated as possibilities, this means that reductions have to come from carbohydrates or fat. There are advantages and disadvantages to reducing either carbohydrates or fat but they are beyond the scope of this book.

As mentioned above, protein intake should be increased slightly when calories arc reduced. Table I above shows recommended protein intakes while dieting for different groups and Table 2 can be used to recalculate protein intake while dieting.

As discussed in Chapter 8, meal frequency appears to play a much larger role in terms of nitrogen balance and lean body mass maintenance during periods of lowered caloric intake, more so when protein intake is low. With the high protein recommendations being made in this book, it's debatable how much of an impact meal frequency will actually have.

As discussed in that chapter, someone consuming 50 grams of protein in a silting will have amino acids being released into the bloodstream for 5 hours or more, depending on the source. In any case, ensuring that the body has a sufficient supply of amino acids throughout the day by spacing meals evenly is the safest and most time-tested and proven dietary strategy to limit lean body mass losses.

In addition, slower digesting proteins, including whole foods and casein, appear to have a distinct benefit during periods of dieting due to the anti-catabolic cffcct of maintaining constant levels of amino acids in the bloodstream. As discusscd in Chapter 11, whey may also have benefits in terms of muscle sparing due to its high cysteine contcnt.

Milk protein isolate (MPI) may be an ideal protein powder for dieting for (hose reasons. In addition to containing both whey and casein, MPI has a reputation for keeping dieters full longer than other powders, helping to allay the hunger that can derail a diet. As well, as discussed in both the chapter on whole food proteins and protein powders, the consumption of dairy proteins on a diet has been shown to increase the loss of body fat, making their inclusion in a fat loss diet that much more important.

One strategy worth considering is to consume a small amount of casein or MPI with a small amount of fat first thing in the morning and again at bedtime, around normal meals. This would keep a sustained level of amino acids in the bloodstream for many hours, helping to limit muscle loss. The combination ofprotein and fat also helps to blunt hunger.

Beyond those specific protein recommendations, the same basic idea as for maintenance intake holds: consuming a variety of proteins while dieting helps to ensure that any negatives are minimized while positives of each protein are maximized. It's even more common for athletes to default to one or two protein sources while dieting and this can lead to their missing out on important nutrients.

As one very specific example, many dieters concerned with fat intake will eliminate red meat, which compromises iron and zinc intake. Given the prevalence of very low-fat red meat (and the importance of consuming some fat while dieting), this seems unnecessary. As long as total caloric intake is controlled, all protein sources can be safely included on a diet. I'd note that, as discusscd in Chapter 10, physique athletes may need to remove dairy in the last few days of their contest preparation if they are having issues with water retention. Beyond that, I see no need to eliminate any particular category of proteins while dieting.

On non-training days, as with maintenance, the day's protein intake should simply be divided across the day's meals. On training days, the typical question revolves around the importance or benefit of nutrition around training. Many athletes reduce or eliminate nutrition around training cither to save calorics or in an attempt to increase fat mobilization.

As discusscd in Chapter 8. consuming nutrients around training doesn't appear to hamper fat loss in the first place. More importantly, the maintenance of proper training intensity on a diet is far more important than any (arguably) small impact on fuel mobilization. An inability to train intensely and effectively on a diet tends to lead to performance and musclc loss; ensuring sufficient nutrients around training goes a long way towards eliminating this problem.

Rather than eliminating nutrients around training, I prefer athletes to reduce food intake at other meals throughout the day. That is, carbohydrate or fat reductions should be made at the meals not consumed around training. However, to allow for sufficient food intake at those meals, the amounts of nutrients consumed around training may need to be cut back slightly (especially the carbohydrate intake).

Athletes may want to use the lower recommendations for carbohydrate intake before, during and after training. This strategy should help to promote optimal training intensity and recovery while still allowing sufficient calorics so that the other meals of the day aren't too small.

However, with the exception of low-intensity aerobic work, which doesn’t require a lot of around workout nutrition in the first place, I believe that proper prc-, during and post- workout nutrition should be maintained to some degree even while dieting.

Although I'd generally refer readers back to Chapter 12 lor a discussion of protein based supplements while dieting, I do want to mention a current practice being used by some athletes (primarily bodybuilders) which is to sip on small amounts of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) during the day while dieting. This idea comes from the single study in wrestlers where massive intakes of BCAAs exerted a small protein sparing cffcct. Recall from that chapter that the wrestlers were receiving roughly 1.1 g/kg (0.5 g/lb) ofprolein, roughly l/3rd of what this book recommends while dieting.

As discusscd in that chapter, my gut feeling is that, given the high intake recommendations for prolein given in this book, coupled with an intake of either whey/cascin or MPI (all containing high amounts of BCAAs), that extra BCAAs are probably unnecessary. An athlete consuming 3.3 g/kg (1.5 g/lb) of prolein is already getting roughly 0.66 g/kg of BCAAs (based on the fact that most proteins are roughly 20% BCAAs). more if they are consuming whey prolein. I have trouble seeing how anything but massive extra doses would have any further benefit. Athletes who feel that they are prone to musclc loss on a diet may still wish to consider this strategy.

N-acctyl-cystcinc (NAC) may also be a useful supplement for those individuals since it appears to spare musclc mass while dieting for individuals with low cysteine levels; note that athletes consuming whey protein before and during training as recommended throughout this book arc probably already getting sufficient amounts of cysteine in their diets.

Gaining mass: Introduction

Another very common goal among athletes is an increase in muscle mass. This can be done as an end unto itself (i.e. for the physique sports) or lo provide a basis for either increased strength or power production for performance based activities.

Additionally, some sports simply require a large overall body mass even if some ofthe extra weight gained is body fat. Football linemen are one example that come lo mind: super- heavyweight power and Olympic lifters often carry relatively large amounts of body fat in addition to their musclc mass.

It would be somewhat rare, although not unheard of, for endurance athletes to want to increase muscle mass; generally, if this is done at all it is done during the early part ofthe season (or during the winter months when outdoor training tends to be curtailed).

Gaining mass: Specific recommendations

As with the discussion of fat loss above, fundamentally gaining body mass is fairly simple: an athlete needs to consume more calories than they expend and body weight in some proportion of fat and muscle will typically be gained. For those athletes unconcerned with the quality of weight gained, simply "eating more¹' may be a sufficient recommendation. However, for those athletes seeking to gain predominantly muscle mass, a little more detail is needed.

It should go without saying that gaining skeletal muscle mass requires a proper training program. Although muscle mass can't be built out of nothing in terms of energy and building blocks, the body simply won’t see any "need" to build new muscle mass without an appropriate stimulus: that stimulus is a proper weight training program, the details of which are beyond the scope ofthis book.

However, once a proper training program is in place, providing both sufficient building blocks in the form of protein/amino acids and energy intake is key. Any athlete seeking maximal gains in muscle mass should increase total protein intake to the high end ofthe range; this includes endurance athletes who, for whatever reason, wanted to gain muscle mass. Tables I and 2 should be used to determine daily protein intakes.

I should mention that, empirically, anabolic steroid users seem to benefit from intakes even higher than those recommended in this book, intakes of 4.4 g/kg (2 g/lb) or even higher are often consumed in order to maximize the effects ofthe drugs.

I want to emphasize that, as discussed in Chapter 4, once protein requirements are met, increases in total energy intake tends to have a far greater impact on lean body mass gains than simply consuming more protein. Ensuring sufficient carbohydrate and fat intake on a day-to-day basis, in addition to adequate protein intake, is more important than just consuming more and more dietary protein. However, massive energy surpluses are generally not necessary as they only promote excess gains in body fat.

In terms of meal frequency, once again there is limited data and it doesn't appear that meal frequency or spacing plays a major role in the body's retention of nitrogen at above maintenance calories. I'd mention again that it does appear that eating too frequently could actually be detrimental to the goal ofgaining muscle mass although this topic needs to be researched in more detail. As long as an athlete is consuming sufficient amounts of protein as part of a mixed meal every 3-5 hours, the body will have more than sufficient amino acids to support growth.

There is limited data at best on whether any specific type of whole food protein is superior to any other in terms of gaining lean body mass. As mentioned above, at above maintenance calories, protein quality becomes much less relevant. Athletes seeking gains in muscle mass should follow the same recommendations given for maintenance above and consume a variety of proteins throughout the day.

The same basic idea holds for protein powders. Athletes who find it difficult to consume the recommended protein intakes from whole foods, or who have scheduling difficulties that make consumption of meals a problem (i.e. work/travel) may find protein drinks of from either a cost or convenience standpoint.

In terms of around workout nutrition, athletes seeking maximal muscle mass gains would want to consume nutrients at the high end of the strength/power recommendations around their resistance workouts to maximize the anabolic cffcct of training. Ensuring sufficient protein and carbohydrates around training has been shown repeatedly to promote protein synthesis, inhibit protein breakdown and promote gains in muscle mass. Once again, a fast protein before and during training and a slow or mixed fast/slow protein after training appear to be ideal. Whey before and during training and cascin, MPI or whey mixed in milk afterwards would be appropriate. Many athletes prefer to eat a solid meal following training and clearly this is effective as well.

Athletes seeking maximal muscle mass often concern themselves with the overnight fast and the fact that, during this time, the body is going without nutrients. This tends be a special concern of athletes who perform their resistance training in the evening; this can be a major period of time during which protein synthesis is elevated but is occurring without the availability of nutrients. One potential solution is to consume a slow protein (along with carbohydrate, fiber and fat) at bedtime to provide nutrients and energy through at least part ofthe night. A whole food meal or a drink containing cascin or MPI along with other nutrients at bedtime should provide protein and energy during at least part of the fasting period.

Some athletes go even further than this, waking up in the middle of the night to consume another protein drink. I'm mixed as to the benefits of this strategy. On the one hand, anything that interrupts the normal sleep cycle (and hence recovery) should generally be avoided and setting an alarm to wake up in the middle of the night may interrupt the recovery that occurs during this period. At the same time, athletes who naturally wake up (e.g. to use the bathroom) in the middle of the night could easily consume a premixed drink (or a glass ofmilk) to maintain nutrient levels throughout the night.

A final strategy discussed in Chapter 7 has to do with the possible benefit of essential amino acid (EAA) supplements and mass gains. As discusscd in that chaptcr. one study found that consuming small amounts of EAAs between whole food meals had an additional effect on protein synthesis, although a lack of a good control group draws the results into question. As well, whether or not this strategy actually yields greater gains in lean body mass compared to eating whole food meals is currently unknown.

As far as supplements go, crcatine is in the must-have category when the goal is increased muscle mass. Between its established effects on training capacity and potential effects on gene expression, coupled with low-cost, there’s no reason not to consume it. Emerging research on beta-alanine also makes it a worthwhile consideration: by allowing athletes to maintain a higher workload, better gains may occur.

Female athletes

As mentioned above, female athletes, because of their lighter weight (combined frequently with concerns about body weight) tend to restrict calories to a greater degree than men.

This is especially prevalent in sports such as gymnastics, ballet, and other sports where maintaining an extremely low body weight (for either performance or aesthetic reasons) is an integral part of the sport.

Additionally, in my experience, female athletes often tend to restrict protein intake, cither out of concern for the protein itself, or in a misguided attempt to eliminate dietary fat from their diets. Along with this can come a poor intake of several specific micronutrients including calcium, iron and zinc (6). Ensuring sufficient protein intake from varied sources, including dairy and red meal, is an important aspect of both general health and optimal athletic performance for females.

Conversely, between generally smaller caloric requirements, coupled with an often self- imposed restriction of total energy intake, athletes who fill up their daily caloric requirements with protein can have difficulties consuming sufficient energy from carbohydrate and fat to support training. Of course, ensuring adequate total caloric intake in the first place should go a long way towards eliminating this problem.

As discussed back in Chapter 4. there is some indication that females may need less protein than men although most of the research to date has been done on endurance training. Although some have suggested no difference in males and female strength/power athletes in terms of protein requirements, based on fundamental physiology alone (i.e. differences in the rate of musclc mass increase), female athletes can probably get by with slightly less protein than men on a day to day basis. As well, due to their generally higher body fat levels, estimates based on total body weight may already be over-estimating female protein needs. Hence my recommendations for slightly reduced values.

Once again. Table I above includes recommended intakes for female athletes under both habitual and dieting conditions. Table 2 can be used to determine daily protein intakes.

Physiologically, there seems to be no reason for females to follow a different meal frequency than male athletes. However, practically this isn’t always the case as discussed back in Chapter 7. Female athletes with low total daily caloric intakes often find a high meal frequency leads to extremely small meals.

For example, a light female athlete consuming 1500 calories per day and trying to eat 6 small meals per day would only be eating 250 calorics/meal. Split into 4 more realistic meals per day, this would yield 375 calorics/meal. Clearly, as total caloric intake goes up, the issue of high meal frequencies leading to disappointingly small meals becomes less of an issue.

Outside of the issues discussed above, notably poor calcium, iron and zinc intake, I see no reason for women to choose different protein sources than men. I’d simply encourage female athletes to make skim- or low-fat dairy and low-fat red meat a regular part of their diet to ensure that micronutrient intake is adequate.

Similarly, I see no fundamental reason for females to choose different protein powders than men if they are used. I'd only mention that both whey and casein can serve as calcium sources, as they are on par with whole dairy foods in terms of their calcium content. Due

to the phytoestrogen content, soy protein is still an area of much debate: I'd refer female leaders back to Chapter 10 for a more detailed discussion upon which to base their choicc.

Out of a misguided desire to reduce caloric intake, female athletes often eliminate around workout nutrition in an attempt to limit what they perceive as "unnecessary" caloric intake. For the same reasons discusscd under fat loss above, this is a mistake. Ensuring sufficient nutrients around training to maintain proper training intensity and support recovery is just as crucial for female athletes as for males. And since the nutrient recommendations arc scaled to body weight, a lighter female will be consuming less absolute calories anyhow.

Even there, because of generally lowered caloric (and potentially protein) requirements, females may wish to consume nearer the low end of the around workout recommendations. This should be done only as long as training intensity can be maintained and recovery and progress are both occurring. As with dieting, I’d encourage athletes to consumc sufficient calorics around intense training even if it means reducing I intake at other meals of the day.

With regards lo supplements, once again there’s no reason for female athletes to have different requirements or recommendations compared to males. About the only comment I'd make has to do with crcatinc: females who are particularly weight conscious should be aware ofthe slight weight gain that crcatinc often causcs due to water retention.

Vegetarianism

Vegetarian style eating patterns are sometimes practiced by athletes and, due to the elimination of certain categories of foods, there are specific nutritional issues that vegetarian athletes need to be aware of (7).

In order to discuss some issues related to vegetarianism and athletics, I need to define some terms first as there are many different "types" of vegetarianism practiced. At the least extreme, many vegetarians will eat all animal source foods with the exception of red meat. So fish, chicken, eggs, and dairy are acceptable. Strictly speaking this isn't truly a vegetarian diet but this is not an uncommon eating pattern. Lacto-ovo vegetarians will consume milk and eggs but no fish, chicken or red meat. Some variants allow fish but no land animals (chicken or red meat). At the most extreme is strict veganism which disallows any animal source foods including those that come from animals such as eggs, milk or honey.

Without getting mired in various moral or other arguments for or against vegetarianism. I want to point out that there are both pros and cons to a vegetarian lifestyle. Diets high in vegetables and fruits are consistent with good health and athletic performance; athletes should consume ample amounts of those foods whether their diet contains meat or not.

However, vegetarian athletes can have a few issues to contend with, again depending on the extremity of their eating patterns. A general truism is that the more food groups that aie eliminated from the diet, the more difficult it bccomcs to obtain optimal amounts of all nutrients. This would be true for a meat-eating athlete who did not consume vegetables or fruit just as much as a vegetarian athlete who omits meat from their diet: both groups are at risk for insufficient nutrient intake due to their avoidance of an entire food group.

For the most part, obtaining sufficient total amounts of quality protein is no problem for vegetarians who eat milk and eggs: those that allow' some type of animal flesh (chickcn/fish) should have absolutely no difficulty either. Recall from Chapter 5 that adding even small amounts of higher quality proteins to vegetarian protein sources tends to cnhancc the overall protein value of the meal. As long as some form of concentrated protein source is being consumed, total protein intake is generally a non-issue.

Strict vegans often find that, due to the relatively non»conccntratcd nature of most vegetable protein sourccs, they have trouble obtaining sufficient protein without consuming an enormous amount of food. Achieving the amounts of protein rccommcnded in this book from purely vegetarian sources would be extremely difficult without having lo consume massive numbers of calories. The few vegetarian protein powders (soy, hemp, ricc, pea) can facilitate sufficient protein intake for vegans.

And although this seems to contradict the previous paragraph, the high bulk nature of vegetarian types of diets often causes spontaneous reductions in caloric intake and vegetarians are often found to have lower body weight levels than mcat-catcrs: this might make a more vegetarian based lifestyle attractive for athletes w'ho need to lose w'cight. How'cvcr, for athletes w'ith extremely high caloric requirements, vegetarian diets may make it difficult to consume sufficient calories to cover training needs.

Outside ofthe potential issue of difficulties achieving adequate total protein intake (again depending on the extremity of food restriction), vegetarians also have to deal wilh the potential for micronutrient imbalances as a conscqucncc of eliminating specific foods. Deficiencies in zinc. BI2, calcium and vitamin D arc the primary issues. While total iron intake may be adequate in non-meat eaters, the low'cr absorption of non-heme iron in non-animal sourccs can predispose vegetarians towards iron insufficiency.

Recall from Chapter 10 that a factor present in both red meal and chicken improves iron absorption from non»hcme sourccs. Vegetarians w'ho consume chicken should try lo consume other vegetarian iron sources at the same meal to maximize iron absorption. Cooking in a cast iron skillet and consuming vitamin C with iron containing meals also improves absorption.

Clearly the types of proteins consumed by vegetarians will depend on the type of

vegetarianism practiced. I'd still encourage vegetarian athletes to obtain protein from as many varied sourccs as possible w'ithin the limits of their specific type of vegetarianism. Vegan athletes will almost assuredly have difficulty obtaining the levels of protein recommended in this book without supplementation wilh protein powder.

In terms of protein powders, again w'hal is allowed will depend on the type of

vegetarianism practiced. Lacto-ovo vegetarians can consume whey, casein or MPI and

essentially follow' every recommendation made in this book in terms of overall use of

protein powders or around workout nutrition.

Vegetarian athletes who avoid dairy products could use soy protein as a fast protein for before and during workout nutrition. I am unaware of any slow vegetarian proteins but soy could be mixed with other nutrients to slow its digestion. Vegans will have to rely on the few purely vegetable based protein powders for any supplementation.

Creatine is typically low in vegetarians with some research suggesting that vegetarians respond better to creatine than meat-eaters Supplementation by vegetarian strength/power athletes is highly recommended.

21:57

Appencfx 1: Protein intake Tables

In this appendix. I've reprinted the various tables for recommended protein intakes from previous chapters. Table I recaps the overall daily protein recommendations from Chapter 4

Table 1: Daily protein recommendations
Type of athlete	Habi	tual	Diet:	ng
	g/kg .	g/lb	g/kg	g/lb
! Male strength/power	. 2.5-3.0 .	1.1-1.4	3.0-3.3	1.4-1.5
Female strength/power	! 2.4-2.6 *	1.1-1.2	2.6-3.0	1.2-1.4
, Male endurance	I.7-2.0 _	0.7-0.9	2.0-2.2	0.9-1.0
Female endurance	1.3-1.6	0.6 -0.7	1.63-1.92	0.75-0.9

Table 2 simply calculates the protein recommendations from Table I above for individuals of different bodyweight. The left column shows body weight in both kilograms and pounds, the top row shows protein intake in both g/kg and g/lb values. Athletes who are heavier than I25 kg (275 pounds) or lighter than 45 kg (100 pounds) will have to break out the calculator.

Table 2: Daily Protein intake for athletes of different body mass

	«/kfi	1.1	1.3	1.5	1.8	2.0	2.2	2.4	2.6	2.9	3.1
	g/lb	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.5
	Lbs
45	100	50	59	69	79	89	99	109	119	129	139	149
50	110	55	66	77	88	99	110	121	132	143	154	165
55	121	60	73	85	97	109	121	133	145	157	169	182
60	132	66	79	92	106	119	132	145	158	172	185	198
65	143	72	86	100	114	129	143	157	172	186	200	7.14
70	154	77	92	108	123	139	154	169	185	200	216	231
75	165	82	99	116	132	148	165	182	198	214	231	248
80	176	88	106	123	141	158	176	194	211	229	246	264
85	187	94	112	131	150	168	187	206	224	243	262	280
90	198	99	119	139	158	178	198	218	238	257	277	297
95	209	104	125	146	167	188	209	230	251	272	293	314
100	220	110	132	154	176	198	220	242	264	286	308	330
105	231	116	139	162	185	208	231	254	277	300	323	346
110	242	121	145	169	194	218	242	266	290	315	339	363
115	253	126	152	177	202	228	253	278	304	329	354	380
120	264	132	158	185	211	238	264	290	317	343	370	396
125	275	138	165	192	220	248	275	302	330	358	385	412

Tables 3 through 6 reprint the recommendations for around workout nutrition from Chapters 8 and 13.

Since nutrient intake recommendations during training are based on the amount that can be absorbed from the gut rather than scaled to bodyweight, they are presented below in Table 3 separate from the pre* and posl-workout nutrient recommendations.

Table 3: During workout nutrition recommendations

	Protein	Carbohydrate
Endurance	8-15 g/hour whev protein	30-60 g/hour dextrose alone OR
		45-70 g/hour dextrose + fructose
Strength/power	12-15g/hour whey protein	30-45 g/hour dextrose or sucrose

Note: Other carbohydrates such as maltodcxtrin, maltose or sucrose can be used in place of dextrose if desired or better tolerated by the athlete. As well, soy could be used in place of whey.

Tables 4 and 5 recap the pre- and post-workout recommendations for nutrient intake. Table 6 lists the total values found by adding up the values from Tables 4 and 5.

Table 4: Immediate Pre-workoul nutrition recommendations

Prolein , Carbohydrate Endurance 0.15-0.25 g/kg l.Og/kg

Strength/power 0.3-0.4 g/kg* 0.3-0.4 g/kg

• Half of this value, or 0.15-0.25 g/kg of EAAs could be used instead

Table 5: Post workout nutrition recommendations

Prolein Carbohydrate Endurance 0.15-0.35 g/kg 1-1.85 g/kg

Strength/power 0.3-0.5 g/kg 0.3-1.5 g/kg

Table 6: Total pre/post workout nutrition recommendations

Protein Carbohydrate Endurance 0.3-0.6 g/kg 2.0-2.85 g/kg

Strength/power 0.6-0.9 g/kg 0.6-1.9 g/kg

Table 7 on the next page shows the total amount of protein in grams that will be consumed based on the totals from Table 6 above.

Table 7: Total protein intake around training

M 45	Lbs 99	0.3 0.14 13.5	0.4 0.18 18	0.5 0.23 22.5	0.6 0.27 27	0.7 0.32 31.5	0.8 0.36 36	0.9 0.41 40.5	1.0 0.45 45
50	110	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50
55	121	16.5	22	27.5	33	38.5	44	49.5	55
60	132	18	24	30	36	42	48	54	60
65	143	19.5	26	32.5	39	45.5	52	58.5	65
70	154	21	28	35	42	49	56	63	70
75	165	22.5	30	37.5	45	52.5	60	67.5	75
80	176	24	32	40	48	56	64	72	80
85	187	25.5	34	42.5	51	59.5	68	76.5	85
90	198	27	36	45	54	63	72	81	90
95	209	28.5	38	47.5	57	66.5	76	85.5	95
100	220	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
105	231	31.5	42	52.5	63	73.5	84	94.5	105
110	242	33	44	55	66	77	88	99	110
115	253	34.5	46	57.5	69	80.5	92	103.5	115
120	264	36	48	60	72	84	96	108	120
125	275	37.5	50	62.5	75	87.5	100	112.5	125

The left hand column shows body weight in kilograms and pounds, the top row shows total protein intake recommendations in both g/kg and g/lb. So a 70 kg (154 pound) endurance athlete consuming 0.6 g/kg of protein around training would be consuming 42 grams of protein, this would be added to the amount of protein being consumed during training, and the total amount of protein consumed around training would be subtracted from the daily protein intake.

Appendix 2: Determining Protein Cost

As mentioned in Chapters 10 and II, one aspect of rating proteins has to do with cost. Unfortunately, it's impossible to give any sort of ranking of proteins by cost that will be of any use; prices change routinely and costs can vary by locale. Rather. I'd like to show readers how lo make their own chart to compare varying protein sources.

From a strictly financial point of view (and again, this ignores issues of quality, accessory nutrients, taste, etc.), probably the best way to rank proteins is in terms of cost per gram of protein: this tends to be more valuable than just looking at cost per serving. This is important, for example, because some protein powders (notably some of the vegetarian powders such as rice, hemp and pea; whole egg protein powder also contains significantly less protein per serving due to the presence of dietary fat) aren't very concentrated so the actual cost per gram ofprotein is much higher. So one protein may only cost 1.5 cents per gram ofprotein while another costs 4 cents per gram ofprotein.

Once again, please note that the actual value of a protein may only be partially related to its protein content. The presence of micronutrients like iron and zinc (red meat) or speed of digestion/absorption (whey vs. cascin) may be of equal or greater importance depending on the specific situation. Readers should refer back to Chapter 10 and 11 on whole food protein and protein powders respectively for details about individual protein sources.

You will need two numbers to make the calculation of cost per gram ofprotein. The first is the cost ofthe protein in your local currency (I’ll be using cents in the examples below). The second is the total amount ofprotein present in grams. Then you simply divide the cost by the total amount of protein in grams, this will give you the cost per gram of protein.

For example, a typical can of tuna fish costs about 50 cents and contains 32 grams of protein. 50 cents divided by 32 grams ofprotein = 1.8 cents per gram of protein. A cup of low fat yogurt also costs about 50 cents and contains 8 grams ofprotein (along with 12 or so grams of carbohydrate). This gives it a cost of 50 cents/8 grams of protein = 6.25 cents/gram of protein.

Let’s say that we have red meat of some sort that costs $4.50 per pound (one pound is 16 oz). First we convert the total cost of 4.50 to 450 cents. Next we have to determine the total amount of protein present; animal protein typically contains about 7-8 grams of prolein per oz so 16 oz yields 112-128 grams of protein. I'll split the middle and use 120 grams ofprotein. So that’s 450 cents/120 grams protein = 3.75 cents^gram.

So from lowest to highest, using these three examples, tuna comes in at 1.8 cents per gram of prolein, red meat at 3.75 ccnts/gram and yogurl at 6.25 cents per gram ofprotein. Docs that make tuna superior? Looking only at the protein content, perhaps. But that has to be weighed agaiast the zinc and iron content of the red meat or the quality/calcium content of the yogurt.

The same basic calculation can be done for protein powders. Looking at one ofthe major commercial online supplement houses, a 5»pound container of ON Gold Standard whey protein costs $39.00 or 3900 cents. The container has 77 servings of protein, each of which contains 24 grams ofprotein so the container has 77 * 24 = 1.848 grams ofprotein. 3900 cents / 1848 grams of protein = 2.11 cents/gram protein.

Milk protein isolate currently retails for between 7.12-7.49 per pound (depending on how much you buy) which is 712 to 749 cents per pound. I'll split the middle and call it 725 cents per pound and split the middle. Each pound contains 15 servings ofprotein at 26 grams per serving which gives 15 servings * 26 grams protein per serving which is 390 grams ofprotein. 725 cents / 390 grams ofprotein = 1.85 ccnts/gram protein. Hopefully you get the idea of how to do the calculation.

Just using those examples, 1 can make a chart ranking the proteins from least to most expensive. Again, other aspects of the protein such as the presence of absence of other micronutrients, the rate of absorption or application (i.e. whey protein versus casein) should also be taken into account when deciding which protein is best for a given application. Table I below summarizes the values from the examples I gave above.

Table 1: Comparison of Prices for Different Protein Sources

Food	Total protein (g)	Cost (cents)	Cost/gram protein
Tuna fish	32	50	1.8 cents
Milk protein isolate	390	650	1.85 cents
Whey protein	1848	2700	2.11 cents
Red meat	120	450	3.75 cents
Yogurt	8	50	6.75 cents

As I mentioned, many supplemental protein powders are now more economical than some food proteins as the above chart indicates, at least in the US. For overseas athletes, shipping and other costs often drive the pricc of protein powders much higher and make them much less economical than whole food. Please note again that foods are likely to contain nutrients not found in protein powder and nutritional scicncc is only beginning to determine what nutrients may or may not be involved in either optimal human health or athletic performance and muscle growth.

The same basic calculation can be done for protein powders. Looking at one ofthe major commercial online supplement houses, a 5»pound container of ON Gold Standard whey protein costs $39.00 or 3900 cents. The container has 77 servings of protein, each of which contains 24 grams ofprotein so the container has 77 * 24 = 1.848 grams ofprotein. 3900 cents / 1848 grams of prolein = 2.11 cents/gram protein.

Milk protein isolate currently retails for between 7.12-7.49 per pound (depending on how much you buy) which is 712 to 749 cents per pound. I'll split the middle and call it 725 cents per pound and split the middle. Each pound contains 15 servings ofprotein at 26 grams per serving which gives 15 servings * 26 grams protein per serving which is 390 grams ofprotein. 725 cents / 390 grams ofprotein = 1.85 cents/gram prolein. Hopefully you get the idea of how to do the calculation.

Just using those examples, 1 can make a chart ranking the proteins from least to most expensive. Again, other aspects of the protein such as the presence of absence of other micronutrients, the rate of absorption or application (i.e. whey prolein versus casein) should also be taken into account when deciding which protein is best for a given application. Table I below summarizes the values from the examples I gave above.

Table 1: Comparison of Prices for Different Protein Sources

Food	Total protein (g)	Cost (cents)	Cost/gram protein
Tuna fish	32	50	1.8 cents
Milk protein isolate	390	650	1.85 cents
Whey protein	1848	2700	2.11 cents
Red meat	120	450	3.75 cents
Yogurt	8	50	6.75 cents

As I mentioned, many supplemental prolein powders are now more economical than some food proteins as the above chart indicates, at least in the US. For overseas athletes, shipping and other costs often drive the price of protein powders much higher and make them much less economical than whole food. Please note again that foods are likely to contain nutrients not found in protein powder and nutritional science is only beginning to determine what nutrients may or may not be involved in either optimal human health or athletic performance and muscle growth.