Insulin: a misunderstood hormone

I haven't written anything on here for a while as I haven't had anything I felt needed addressing but I am bored tonight so thought I would clear up some common misconceptions surrounding insulin which I believe to be a very misunderstood hormone. 


Insulin is a hormone that regulates the levels of sugar in your blood. When you eat, the pancreas senses the rising glucose and releases insulin which sends the glucose to muscles, the liver and other bodyparts. This regulates itself throughout the day and most people need not even know the existence of it. 


There are two other functions of insulin that bodybuilders and gym goers tend to take an interest in it for:
1- Stimulation of muscle protein (protein synthesis)
2- Inhibits breakdown of fat (lipolysis)


Protein synthesis

What most people think- Carbohydrates alone are responsible for stimulating insulin.
What is actually true- ALL FOODS you eat stimulate insulin.

It is true that releasing insulin straight after a workout stimulates protein synthesis (although how much impact this will really have without injecting it is up for debate) but there is no need to consume ANY dietary carbohydrates as protein can do the same job. Protein stimulates insulin just fine.

Lets look at a study that measures insulin secretion after a high carb, low protein meal compared with a low carb, high protein meal. Eac totaled an equal amount of calories (675)

As you can see, the high protein, low carb meal actually generated a HIGHER insulin response which is not what most people have been told- and this is with half the amount of carbs.


As you can see here, the high protein, low carb meal was more drawn out and not a spike which some might argue.

My point here is the you do not need to consume any carbohydrates after a workout. Postworkout nutrition has two goals:
1. Elevate insulin to halt protein breakdown.
2. Provide amino acids for protein synthesis.

Protein does both...

An ideal post workout meal would contain both carbs and protein for a higher insulin response and also read Lyle Mcdonald's work if you can be bothered.

Lipolysis

What most people think: High carb diet/meal--->High insulin--->fat storage
What is actually true: Insulin rises and falls throughout the day but the overall calorie intake is what matters.

Here is a great graph I stole from  that demonstrates that the net calorific intake is important and not the small spikes in insulin throughout the day.




Over the 24hr period, it will all balance out and you will still be in a net catabolic state if you are in a deficit.

 The south beach diet came out 10 years ago suggested only carbohydrates raised insulin which stored fat and this information is very outdated now and people need to look at the research. Looking at the insulin index we can see that some types of fish are more insulinogenic than white pasta, and all the protein sources are very high.

The point I am trying to make here is that ALL foods raise insulin and there is no need to even think about its role in fat loss and it is ironic that the people that go to the gym (generally fit, healthy and not overweight) that have the best insulin sensitivity are the ones worrying about it.



References
http://alanaragon.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin
http://weightology.net/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17413098

Myth-busting Mondays #4

Sorry there have been no posts for a while, my laptop is broken.

Following on from my last Myth-busting Monday here is an exellent video from Dr. Layne Norton busting protein myths including the one I addressed and also a couple of others.

This week: CREATINE MYTHS

'Do I need to load creatine?'

...NO...your body can only absorb about 10-20g creatine a day max depending on your overall weight and a lot of that will go to waste anyway. Muscle cells will saturate after a week or so taking 3-5g daily anyway. The 'loading' phase was fist introduced when there was little evidence about how much creatine saturates muscle cells so it was always over ingested to be safe. We now know 3g is sufficient but companies have kept advocating loading as you end up using (and wasting) more of their product which in turn, makes them more money.

'Do I need to cycle creatine?'

...NO...this again is another brilliant marketing ploy to get people to stop taking creatine for a couple of weeks and then reLOADING again (see point above to make more money). I have a theory that it also makes creatine sound more potent and effective (anabolic steroids are also cycled). Study suggests that creatine does not diminish with prolonged use.

'Do I need to take my creatine pre/post workout?'

...NO...creatine does not work like this. You have to saturate muscle cells with creatine before you will get any effects from it. You can take it any time of day as long as you are getting 3-5g daily, there is no time of day in particular that it needs to be taken. See Ian Mcarthy video creatine timing.

'What is the best type of creatine to take?'

Hands down creatine monohydrate. All other forms are inferior and more expensive. Creatine mono saturates muscle cells 100%, you can't get better than that so don't believe the marketing hype.
CEE and Kre-alkalyn debunked
CEE and Kre-alkalyn ineffective

Peace and love x

Myth-busting Mondays #3

'High protein diets put stress on the kidneys'

Unfortunately not many studies have been done on the effects of the Kidneys and Kidney function during high protein diets. The word 'high' is vague; I wouldn't consider 200g p/day to be high for a large athlete yet the government would probably argue that was excessive. Luckily I have finally found a study that examines the dose at 2.8 g/kg. This would work out at 225g a day for me which is way above what i currently consume so I was glad to see such high amounts and I will discuss the results in a moment.
    Here, it shows that 1.5g/kg is a safe value to consume without any adverse effects, although it was not tested on athletes. This is the study which uses athletes and bodybuilders on 2.8g/kg p/day. It showed that creatinine, urea, and albumin that were within the normal range and that ultimately this amount of protein does not impair renal function in well-trained athletes or bodybuilders. The last study also shows that a diet consisting of 33% protein while resistance training had no adverse effects on the Kidneys. 33% of a 2500 calorie diet would work out at 206g a day.

Conclusion

High protein diets do not negatively effect the Kidneys or Kidney function. Although the diet was at 2.8g/kg I personally recommend LESS at 1g of protein p/lb. Please see my top 5 supplements and scroll down to 'Whey protein' to find out why.

See you next week x

The 3 best ways to increase stamina

V02 max, or maximal oxygen uptake, is one factor that can determine an athlete's capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance. VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. It is measured as "milliliters of oxygen used in one minute per kilogram of body weight."

1- INTERVAL TRAINING

This type of training is very common and most of you have probably heard it before. It basically involves intense short bursts of cardiovascular exercise followed by a rest/moderate to low pace e.g. sprinting for 30 seconds followed by a 30 second walk for 15 mins. This is the single best way of increasing your stamina quickly and I would recommend it for anyone that does not have the time to perform longer, lower intensity endurance training (which is probably superior but takes up hours every week). A study shows that high intensity interval training (often referred to as HIIT) not only improved V02 max but the anaerobic capacity also increased by 28% which the steady state cardio group showed no improvement on.

2- ALTITUDE TRAINING

You can read about training at high altitude here which backs up claims that it increases performance. Subjects that trained at high altitudes increased cardiovascular performance, VO2 max and hemoglobin concentration levels. OK so most of you reading this will not have the facilities to do this but by restricting oxygen to the lungs when exercising technically replicates this type of training. You can buy a training mask or simply put a straw in your mouth and breathe through that! By restricting your oxygen flow, your diaphragm is strengthened, surface area and elasticity in the alveoli is increased. This may seem difficult at first so I would start of lightly and slowly ramp intensity up as you get used to it. 

3- CORRECT NUTRITION

I know I bang on about it on here but I can't stress the importance of correct nutrition enough. You need to stay hydrated with WATER. Just 2% total body dehydration can cause a 20% drop in performance levels. Dehydration also decreases stroke volume, which means a higher heart rate for any given exercise intensity. Anyone who knows anything about endurance training will know how important increasing your stroke volume is. Do not drink energy drinks before exercise see my earlier post on effects of energy drinks on cardiovascular exercise. 

        YES I KNOW I ALSO BANG ON ABOUT FISH OIL see my top 5 supplements but there is also evidence that it can boost your stamina and is important for lung health. Shoot for 2 g EPA and 1.5 g DHA per day.

REFERENCES
1) http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/anatomyandphysiology/a/VO2_max.htm
2) Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Oct;28(10):1327-30.Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max
3) http://www.jappl.org/content/91/3/1113.full


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BYE!

Training to Failure

This post is going to address the topic of going to complete muscular failure during resistance training. This means, lifting a weight repetitively until you cannot lift any further- in some exercises this means you may have a spotter help you as you fail on the last rep. Going to failure is a fantastic tool but I see so many people in the gym doing this EVERY workout. This is detrimental to your gains- strength and hypertrophy.

The second negative with training to failure is risk of injury. As you push for that last rep, proper form technique can go out the window putting stress on certain muscles/ joints. You also need a spotter with some exercises e.g. the bench press to make sure you do not get stuck under the bar. One exercise I recommend never going to failure on is the Deadlift. Good form is essential and you can injure your back easily by rounding the lower back.

If you fancy a read, here are 5 studies that prove that strength and hypertrophy gains are higher with multiple sets short of failure compared with one set to failure. One point I would like to make is that in the last study it shows that FAILURE TRAINING PERFORMED TOO FREQUENTLY CAN RESULT IN REDUCTIONS IN THE RESTING CONCENTRATION OF TESTOSTERONE. Overtraining also leads to strength loss, poor sleep quality, low energy, low sex drive. Studies conclusively show that going to failure works the CNS (central nervous system) more than the muscles itself so when you keep going to failure you risk burnout (overtraining). If you really need to push to beat that personal best to step up to the next level and beat that last workout then yes it should be used sparingly.

1- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17530977
2- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20300012
3- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18841079
4- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20617335 
5- http://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/

Someone who is new to lifting can make incredible progress at the start by going to failure but it is not a long term program, you are setting yourself to hit a wall and potentially begin to get weaker and weaker. What I recommend is training to failure every 6 weeks, slowly build up your strength stopping just short of failure and by about week 6 you should be struggling to keep pushing for heavier weights. This is when you should utilise failure training and push for the new PR for a couple of workouts. Then deload for a week, and repeat.



BYE! 

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The Perfect Diet

 
Grab a calculator. I'm going to explain how much Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats are required for an optimal diet for YOU. I will try and make this as short and simple as possible as I see lots of different explanations of this are long winded and complex. After writing My top 5 supplements, the feedback I got was good but I realised that all the supplements are a waste of money if your diet is not in check. These numbers are to MAINTAIN bodyweight. I will do 2 more articles in the coming weeks for optimal diets for losing fat/weight and one for gaining muscle/weight.

Before we start: Weigh yourself. Get a pen and a piece of paper and write;
Weight:
Calories:
Protein:
Fat:
Carbohydrates:

CALORIES

Multiply your weight in lbs x14 for a sedentary lifestyle or x15 for an active lifestyle. This will give you a ROUGH guide to how many calories you should be eating a day. The only sure fire way to know exactly how many is to track your calories for a week or so, weighing yourself and see if you gain or lose any weight. This is a good starting point though. Write the answer next to calories.

PROTEIN

I always start with protein because it is an essential macro nutrient (unlike carbohydrates) and most people are under eating it. Protein is simple: eat 1g of protein per lbs of bodyweight. Write this next to protein. See under whey protein to find out why i recommend this amount.

FAT

Fat is next as it is also essential in the sense that it is vital for survival and cannot be made by the body. The only essential fats are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids but optimal fat intake helps regulate hormone levels as well as helping with nutrient absorption. Once fat intake has reached it's peak, there are no benefits from over eating (as opposed to eating more carbs for example which does have benefits). Under eating fats will cause a significant drop in testosterone in men. Multiply your weight in lbs x 0.4- 0.5. This is your fat intake in grams. I tend to go for 0.5 as I just prefer fatty types of food but it is purely up to you. Write the answer in grams next to fat.

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbs are non-essential- as in technically the body does not require ANY to survive. The body will create a fuel source if none are consumed- see do low carb diets work for more info. The amount of carbs eaten should be whatever is left over so that you equal your total calories, so- my diet for me will look like this:

Weight- 180lbs
Calories- 2700
Protein- 180g
Fat- 90g
Carbohydrates- Total calories- [Protein (in calories) + Fat (in calories)]

Protein is 4 calories per g so            4x180= 720 calories
Fat is 9 calories per g so                  9x90= 810 calories

So 720 calories + 810 calories=1530 coming from protein+ fat.

2700 (total calories) - 1530= 1170 calories that will come from carbohydrates.

Carbs also have 4 calories p gram so divide carbs (in calories) by 4 to give carbs (in grams): 1170/4= 292.5

So my carbohydrate intake per day- 292.5g


SUMMARY
Eat any foods you wish that fit these numbers, it doesn't matter. All i recommend is that you get lots of nutrients in fruit, vegetables (especially green ones!) and whole eggs. Fish oil is important too see this to find out why. If you are having trouble with the carb calculations, comment below and I will help.

Thanks to everyone for reading- I have over 1000 views in 3 weeks so I hope everyone has enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing x

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Myth-busting Monday #2

I was hoping I wouldn't have to address this topic at all as it is so outdated and been proven conclusively false so many times but I came across 2 separate quotes this week- 1 from Men's Health Magazine and another from The Sun newspaper in a review of the new OMG fad diet so I thought I would put the myth to bed for anyone that still believes it. I think either the Sun 'Doctor' Carol Cooper may have either fallen asleep in her biochemistry lessons or it is possible that she got her PHD a decade or so ago when they were actually still teaching this nonsense.

'Fasting causes the body to go into starvation mode'

Fasting= extended periods of consuming zero calories.

As Dr Cooper likes to call it 'famine' mode. She also uses the word tummy...and also starts a new paragraph with...BUT...(soo not sure if she is a real doctor?!)

What ACTUALLY happens: During periods of non-eating, the body starts burning glycogen for a fuel source. Once all the glycogen stores are used up (which will usually take about 2-3 days! Unless you are doing long periods of intense exercise) the body starts using ketones and fatty acids as a fuel. After a while longer, muscle tissue is used. The timeline looks like this:

0 hours: Glucose still used as primary fuel.
0-6 hours: Glycogen is broken down to produce glucose for the body.
6-72 hours: Glycogen stores are used up and the body breaks down fatty acids. Ketone bodies are produced to help feed the brain.
72 hours and on: Body cells start to break down and proteins are used as a precursor to glucose.

You often hear that fasting slows down the metabolism but I have 2 studies that show that this is not the case. Ref 1 shows no difference in adipose tissue, fat loss or muscle loss in a high meal frequency compared with a low meal frequency. Ref 2 shows that the thermic effect of food does not change whether you nibble on food throughout the day or eat one huge meal. It comes back to the energy balance equation- if the calories are the same, there will be no change in body composition. Ref 4 shows less muscle tissue was lost on an intermittent fasting type calorie restriction and more fat was lost in comparison to a standard straight calorie restricted diet. Could intermittent fasting help PREVENT muscle loss?

I have been doing intermittent fasting every single day for over a year now and have never felt better. See www.leangains.com for more information. On a side note for anyone stupid enough that might believe Dr Cooper's last point about intermittent fasting increasing cholesterol, this study shows decreased cholesterol levels in alternate day intermittent fasting and I could find 10 more that show the same if you want the evidence but I'm sure you won't be taking this doctors advice seriously anymore.

References

1) Br J Nutr. 2010 Apr;103(8):1098-101. Epub 2009 Nov 30.Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss in subjects who were prescribed an 8-week equi-energetic energy-restricted diet.

2) Br J Nutr. 1997 Apr;77 Suppl 1:S57-70.Meal frequency and energy balance.
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_response
4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21410865?dopt=Abstract

"forgive them, for they know not what they do": Luke 23:34