Nutrition
10 ways to make diet foods tastier
A quick summary
- Remove the calories from your peanut butter while still getting the same flavor for desserts, sauces and dips by using defatted peanut flour.
- Replace bland, low-carb pureed cauliflower with pureed acorn squash.
- Fry "boiled" eggs, make ketchup without sugar and cook bacon in the oven instead of frying it in a pan.
- Make chicken tastier with mustard and prosciutto. Occasionally swap your oatmeal for hot rice cereal... while you sleep.
- Use peppermint essential oil to reduce your cravings. Use avocado cream for a new flavor twist on your low-fat protein sources
Forget salad
"I need to eat healthy and lose some weight, but I just don't like salad. Besides, I don't have time to cook."
We hear this all the time and ask ourselves the following:
Why do most people think that eating healthy is synonymous with bowls full of leaves and twigs? And why do others think that cooking requires hours of preparation?
It's time to look beyond the edge of the salad bowl. Here are some ingenious ways to incorporate a variety of healthy foods into your diet.
1. bake your ham and eat it with bland meals
Harvard nutrition expert Mat Lalonde has redefined the term nutrient density by considering nutrients that are critical to human health. Fortunately, pork is high on the list.
So here's your excuse to eat more bacon.
Tired of half-burnt, half-raw bacon dripping with fat? Then bake your bacon - especially if you like it crispy. And as an added bonus, you don't have to bend over a splattering pan with this unconventional method of preparation.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Take an oven dish with a rack, line it with baking paper for easier cleaning and place the rack on top.
- Place the bacon on the rack (turkey bacon also works...if you absolutely have to).
- Put the whole thing in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. Depending on your oven and how crispy you like your bacon, it may take 17 to 23 minutes for your bacon to be ready.
If you make some bacon in advance on Sunday, you will have a supply for the whole week. A strip of bacon added to a "diet meal" can make a significant difference in terms of satiety.
2. the solution for peanut butter addicts
How many servings are in a jar of peanut butter? Just two...if you're addicted to peanut butter. Fortunately, peanut butter cravings can be satisfied with defatted peanut flour - minus a large amount of calories and fat.
You don't have to follow a low-fat diet to use defatted peanut flour. You just have to love peanut butter so much that it only makes sense to remove the oil and excess calories.
What's left is a peanut-flavored powder to which you just need to add some water and salt to make a substitute for peanut butter that you can also cook and bake with. Here are 5 things you can try with defatted peanut flour:
- Use it as a high-protein and gluten-free flour for baking bread, cookies and waffles.
- Use it to thicken Asian sauces and add extra flavor to Asian dishes.
- Mix it with oatmeal and protein powder for a delicious breakfast.
- Mix it with water and a pinch of salt to make a light version of peanut butter.
- Mix it with sliced frozen bananas, vanilla protein powder and unsweetened almond milk to make peanut butter banana ice cream.
You will probably have noticed that no quantities for peanut flour have been given above. This is because peanut butter is not often used as a baking ingredient. Experiment. For soups, creamy desserts and other dishes, use as much peanut flour as necessary to achieve the desired consistency and flavor.
Tip: Forget the sugared stuff you occasionally find in supermarkets. It is overpriced. Buy the bulk pack online, which only contains one ingredient: Peanuts.
3. prepare ketchup for adults
Here's the secret to making the same old proteins new and delicious: Sauces, dips, dressings, condiments and garnishes.
Here's a recipe for rustic ketchup that tastes like it's actually made from tomatoes and not from a candy store:
- Mix 200 grams of tomato paste (not tomato sauce) with 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is best, but any vinegar will do.
- Add a quarter cup of water and mix until there are no more lumps.
- Season the ketchup with a little mustard flour, cinnamon and salt. You can also use cayenne pepper, cloves and spice mixes.
- Place the finished ketchup in the fridge for half an hour.
If you compare this ketchup to regular ketchup overloaded with sugar, you probably won't like it. But if you think of it as a true original version of ketchup, you'll love it.
4. acorn squash, the ultimate pureed carbohydrate
Are you in a fat loss phase right now? Your best tool is food that fills you up and that you can enjoy every bite of. That's exactly what you can achieve with pumpkin...if you prepare it right.
Try pureed acorn squash. It tastes like sweet, pureed potatoes with a hint of onion and makes pureed cauliflower look old in terms of flavor. Yes, acorn squash contains carbs, but it will fill you up before you have a chance to eat much of it.
- Cut an acorn squash in half and remove the seeds.
- Bake the squash at 200 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until soft. Leave it to cool afterwards.
- Remove the flesh from the skin with a spoon, put it in a saucepan and mash it with a potato masher.
- Heat the pan and add the garlic powder, pepper and salt. Dilute with some chicken stock, water, unsweetened coconut milk or sour cream until you reach the desired consistency.
- Eat this puree with any protein source that you're getting tired of seeing.
5. make your cooked food or chicken more exciting
There's a reason dieters eventually stop seeing skinless chicken breasts: they don't refine them. Yes, chicken breast is lean, but that also means it's drier than other meats. And no, chicken breast is not naturally packed with flavor.
The solution? Add things that make chicken breast less dry and more flavorful. Try Dijon chicken wrapped in prosciutto. Or even Dijon chicken without prosciutto.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Cut the chicken breast almost all the way through lengthwise.
- Place the chicken pieces in an oven dish and season with salt and pepper on each side.
- Brush the top of the chicken breast generously with Dijon mustard.
- Roll each chicken breast in a slice of prosciutto.
- Bake the chicken breasts in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. hot pumpkin rice cereal for breakfast
Breakfast can be more than oatmeal and egg whites. How about some nutrient-packed pumpkin?
Yes, this may sound strange, but we're talking about the stuff other people use to make pumpkin pie.
- In your slow cooker, mix 3 cups of water and a cup of brown rice cereal. This will make 4 to 5 servings.
- Stir in a 450 gram can of 100% pure pumpkin.
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and other spices to taste or use a ready-made pumpkin pie spice mix.
- Set your slow cooker to 6 to 7 hours on low before going to bed so that your breakfast is ready when you get up in the morning.
- Stir in one to two scoops of protein powder after cooking or reheating.
Variations: Replace the rice cereal with rolled oats. Replace the pumpkin with two bananas or apples
7. protein-rich popsicles
You know you crave cool things in summer. You know you need more protein. And you know that berries are good for you. Why not combine all this into a delicious dessert?
- Get yourself some cheap popsicle molds. If you don't have any on hand, you can also use small paper cups and plastic spoons as handles.
- Mix 2 cups of Greek yogurt, 2 cups of berries of your choice, a third of a cup of canned coconut milk and a scoop of vanilla protein powder.
- Pour this mixture into the ice cream molds and place them in the freezer for a few hours.
Variations: Replace the berries with pineapple or bananas. Use different flavors of protein powder. Use low calorie sweetener if needed.
8. hard-boiled eggs from the oven that don't cause bloating
Hard-boiled eggs are a convenient source of protein on the go. The problem, however, is that most people cook them incorrectly.
If your boiled eggs have a hay-green skin around the yolk, then they have been overcooked. It's okay to eat these eggs, but ferrous sulfur doesn't taste and smell as good.
Here is a practical solution that also makes cleaning up after cooking easier:
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
- Place a dozen raw eggs in a muffin tray.
- Bake the eggs for about 30 minutes.
- After baking, place the eggs in a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process - no more Hulk green eggs and no more sulfur bloat.
9. use peppermint essential oil
While not technically a food, essential oils are pretty much the coolest thing you can have on hand. But be careful, this is very powerful stuff.
One drop in a liter of water is plenty. Or add a drop or two of peppermint oil to your chocolate protein shake for a subtle after dinner flavor.
Why should you use it? Peppermint oil is known for its appetite suppressant effects. Of course, you should eat when you're hungry, but if you're just swiping around the fridge because you're bored, try some peppermint oil-infused water and relax somewhere else.
Peppermint oil also has a cooling effect on the palate and you may find that the snacks you were craving before are now a little less appetizing.
In addition to this, peppermint oil is said to boost energy and soothe stomach aches.
10. add avocado cream to everything
If tzatziki and guacamole had a baby, this is what it would look like.
Avocado cream goes well with fish, poultry, baked potatoes, vegetables and sandwiches.
- Mash an avocado and mix in a quarter cup of sour cream.
- Add generous amounts of dried dill, onion powder, garlic and salt for flavor.
Variations: Add 5 to 6 diced olives and half a can of coarsely chopped artichoke hearts.
Bonus. A low-calorie alternative to coffee cream
Coffee cream in coffee tastes delicious. It's also virtually free from lactose and carbohydrates. But a serving of 1 or 2 tablespoons is high in fat and calories. The problem is that these unsweetened variations of nut milk are not as creamy as coffee creamer.
Why not combine the two?
- Take a bottle and fill it halfway with organic coffee creamer.
- Fill the rest of the bottle with unsweetened cashew or almond milk.
If you want a ratio other than 1:1, simply add more or less of one of the ingredients.
And then enjoy a big, creamy cup of coffee.
From Dani Shugart, Chris Shugart | 04/21/15
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/10-ways-to-un-suck-diet-food
The first part of this article series included a description of the three macronutrients in combination with some very useful information about fatty acids, cortisol and basal metabolic rate. This article also talked about which foods you should eat and which you should avoid.
The second part of this series of articles covers 13 nutritional gems and gives you some concrete advice on how to achieve just about any body development goal you're after.
Why didn't I have something like this when I started training?
Nutritional gold nuggets
Here are some additional nutritional guidelines that are applicable in most circumstances. These simple things will allow you to better understand this whole nutrition thing and achieve optimal results in your body transformation.
1 - Measure everything and write everything down - at least in the beginning
A good nutrition program is all about quality and quantity. You should eat a certain amount of food to meet your needs and build a great body. If you eat drastically too little, you risk losing muscle and strength. If you eat too much, you will gain more fat than muscle. If your goal is to build muscle, then you need to eat enough to stimulate maximum growth, but not so much that you get fat. If you prefer to get hard and defined, then you need a large enough calorie deficit so that your body has to draw on its fat reserves to meet its energy needs, but you also shouldn't eat so little that you end up losing muscle.
In both cases, there is one constant: you need to eat a certain amount of calories within a certain range to get the results you want. How can you do this if you don't even know how many calories and how many grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat you're eating? You may think you're eating 3000 kcal a day when in reality you're only eating 2000 kcal or less (or you could be doing the opposite and drastically underestimating your calorie intake).
If you don't have a good idea of where you are, how can you tell where you need to be? This is the reason you need to keep a record of the food you eat each day and calculate your calorie intake. In an ideal world, you would always calculate your food intake to know exactly what you are getting. If you do this, then it's quite easy to make quick adjustments. I can understand if you don't want to do this all year round as it gets boring after a while and there are only so many hours in the day. However, you should at least do it during the first month of your "body composition nutrition phase". This will at least give you a pretty good idea of how many calories and nutrients your favorite foods contain.
2. use the 10-20 rule
If you are on a fat loss phase, you should eat between 10 and 20% fewer calories than you consume (a higher deficit will lead to muscle loss). If you are on a mass-building phase, you should eat between 10 and 20% more calories than you consume (you don't need more than that to build muscle and more will lead to more fat gain than muscle gain). So if your calorie consumption is 3000 kcal, then you should eat between 2400 and 2700 kcal per day if you are trying to lose fat and 3300 to 3600 kcal if you are trying to build muscle.
3. the less body fat you carry around, the more carbohydrates you can eat without gaining fat
Leaner people have better insulin sensitivity, which is why they don't tend to store carbohydrates as easily as fatter people in the form of fat. Carbohydrate intake should remain at the lower end of the spectrum as long as your body fat percentage is not below 10%. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't eat carbohydrates at all (although this is a very effective way to eat for fat loss purposes), but you should at least minimize your carbohydrate intake.
If you decide to keep carbohydrates in your diet, then you should make sure that you only eat "good carbohydrates" (vegetables and some fruit, especially berries. Carbohydrates after training in the form of a shake are also acceptable). Make sure you eat these carbohydrates at the appropriate times. As mentioned earlier, the 'safest' times to eat carbohydrates are breakfast and immediately after training. At these times, your muscles are naturally more sensitive to insulin, which means that these carbohydrates are more likely to be stored as muscle glycogen instead of fat.
4. favor whole foods
The closer a food is to its natural state, the better it is for you. This is true for both health and body composition purposes. In most circumstances, if it comes out of a box, you shouldn't eat it.
5. cheat meals
When you start a "muscle friendly" diet, you should wait 14 to 21 days until your first cheat meal. It will take at least that long for you to get used to a new eating pattern. If you cheat too often, you will stick to your old habits. Maintaining a good diet will always seem like a chore that requires discipline and brings a sense of deprivation, rather than a way of life that is enjoyable.
6. loading/cheating
Once you have established good eating habits, depending on your body fat percentage, you should plan a "loading/cheat phase" that can last from one meal to a full day every 5 to 14 days. If you are fat (by body composition standards) and have a body fat percentage of 15% or more, then you should limit yourself to 1 to 3 cheat meals (half a day) every 10 to 14 days. If your body fat percentage is between 10 and 15% then you can plan a half cheat day every 7 days and if your body fat percentage is below 10% then you can plan a full cheat day every 7 days or a half cheat day every 5 days.
7. try not to compensate for an unplanned gluttony by skipping meals
A lot of people will eat an unplanned meal, feel guilty and then either not eat for the rest of the day or be extra restrictive the next day. Even worse is when they feel like eating junk food later in the day and therefore don't eat anything at all beforehand (and basically fast for most of the day), thinking that this will prevent fat gain. This is stupid. In fact, these two mistakes are worse than the unplanned feasting itself. Not eating for an extended period of time before a big junk food meal (and starving yourself for 10 hours) will put your body into fat storage mode and you will be more likely to put on that junk food as body fat than if you hadn't fasted beforehand. In addition, if you were starving before, you are likely to eat even more junk because you are hungrier than if you had eaten your normal meals.
Skipping meals after an unplanned binge is no better, which is especially true if you choose to fast the day after the binge to make up for the binge. This can easily lead to a vicious cycle: by starving yourself you increase the feeling of hunger and you will develop huge cravings for junk food. You may then give in to these cravings by bingeing again, after which you will feel guilty again, causing you to starve again, and so on. After an unplanned cheat meal, you should immediately go back to your regular diet. Accept your mistake, live with it and do your best to prevent it from happening again. Don't make a mistake worse by trying to make up for it with another mistake.
8 - Poliquin's axiom
Some time ago, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by trainer Charles Poliquin, where he spoke about nutrition. He explained his basic nutritional principle: "If it doesn't fly, swim or run, or isn't a green vegetable, don't eat it." One silly listener asked "And what about bagels?" Even though I thought the coach was about to burst a blood vessel in his head, he simply replied, "Do bagels fly? Do they run or swim? Are they green? No? Well, then don't eat them!".
9 It's important to eat a wide variety of foods
If you eat a specific food too often - e.g. chicken four times a day, every day - then you will eventually develop an allergy or intolerance to that food. A few years ago, I coached a weightlifting team at the Quebec Games. This event was held in a remote part of the province and we were stuck at the competition site for a week. They gave us 5 food tickets for each cafeteria meal (3 per day). For each ticket we got one of the available food items. For most people, this would have been a drink, a main dish (usually pasta), a side dish (vegetable, sauce), a dessert, and a piece of fruit.
Hardly any of these foods contained protein, so for a week I subsisted on 5 packs of milk three times a day to get my protein. By the end of the week, I had developed a serious lactose intolerance.
You may not develop a full-blown food allergy, but even a mild one (that you may not even feel) can have negative effects on your body. If you have even a mild intolerance to a food, then eating that food is stressful for your body. So if you eat that food, your cortisol levels will rise. And as you may remember, cortisol can lead to catabolism (muscle breakdown and loss) and also promote the storage of fat in the abdominal area. This is doubly bad.
For this reason, you should rotate your food choices. This is especially true for protein sources, as different foods have different amino acid profiles. Don't limit yourself to cooked chicken breast: eat beef, pork, salmon, buffalo, ostrich, kangaroo, etc.... I think you know what I'm getting at.
10. small regular meals are better than big irregular meals
I really thought most people knew this today, but when I talk to new clients, I'm always amazed that they don't know it. It's quite simple, really. Your body can absorb nutrients better if you eat them in small, regular portions. This also promotes positive nutrient partitioning (more nutrients are stored in muscle and fewer nutrients are stored in fat tissue).
Eating smaller, more regular meals prevents fluctuations and dips in blood sugar and ensures more even blood sugar levels, prevents feeling bloated after large meals and prevents cravings that occur when you haven't eaten for a while. The bottom line is that for body composition purposes and health, smaller, more frequent meals (5 to 8 meals per day) are the way to go.
11. eat protein at every meal
Protein is the building block that makes up your muscles. The more protein you consume and use, the more muscle you will build. A regular protein intake will allow for optimal protein absorption. It will also optimize your muscle building by ensuring a constant supply of amino acids. If protein is not available, the muscle building process comes to a standstill. To maximize muscle growth, make sure you eat at least some protein every time you eat.
12. eat your breakfast
When it comes to body composition, breakfast is the most important meal of the day (yes, I know you've heard that before). First of all, it's important to break your overnight fast: Depending on when you ate your last meal, when you wake up in the morning, you haven't eaten for 8 to 12 hours or more. This leads to a catabolic (muscle wasting) state or at least stops muscle building. To maximize your muscle building, you need to break this fast as soon as possible. This requires a good breakfast. If you don't eat breakfast, your muscle building process will stagnate and you may even experience muscle loss due to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol (starvation is another form of stress on the body). Chronically elevated cortisol levels will make it virtually impossible to build muscle and will also cause fat to build up in the abdominal area. This is bad news.
When it comes to fat loss, skipping breakfast has another downside: it has been shown that those who skip breakfast tend to consume a greater amount of calories throughout the day. In other words, skipping breakfast stimulates hunger during the rest of the day, which can lead to overeating. On the other hand, eating a good breakfast drastically reduces hunger and food intake during the rest of the day.
The bottom line is: if you want to be lean and muscular, don't skip breakfast!
13 Don't neglect the anabolic window after training
The second most important meal of your muscle building day is the meal immediately after your workout. Simply put, no muscle growth can take place before the recovery process begins. To speed up the onset of this process, you need to supply your muscles with nutrients as quickly as possible. The faster the required nutrients are transported to the muscle, the faster you will recover and the more muscle you will build. Immediately after training you should therefore send protein and carbohydrates (more or less carbohydrates depending on your current nutritional phase) to your muscles with an express delivery so that they can grow immediately.
Even though solid food after training is better than nothing, it is not what your muscles need. Solid food needs to be digested, which is why it can take 2 or more hours before the nutrients it contains are transported to your muscles. Fast-absorbing nutrients in the form of a post-workout shake can be available for muscle building within 15 to 30 minutes. After training, we have a 45 to 60 minute anabolic window for increased muscle growth. Don't miss it. Always remember that real food is better than powder most of the time - apart from straight after training. So treat yourself to a post-workout shake.
The best diets for fat loss
There are three primary diet strategies for fat loss:
- Carbohydrate-dominant diets, where fat intake is minimized
- Fat-dominant diets that minimize carbohydrate intake
As a rule of thumb, fatter people and naturally endomorphic body types ("strong" people) will respond better to a low-carb approach, while leaner individuals and naturally ectomorphic body types ("skinny" people) will do better with a high-carb intake. Mesomorphic body types - people who are naturally lean and muscular - do well on all types of diets, but seem to respond best to a balanced approach.
The different diet types can look something like this:
Low carbohydrate
- Calorie intake is set at 10 to 20% below calorie consumption
- Protein intake is set at 2.7 to 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
- Fat accounts for 90 to 100% of energy nutrients
- Carbohydrates represent 10% of energy nutrients
If someone weighs 90 kilograms and has an energy requirement of 3000 kcal, this results in the following:
- A calorie intake of 2400 to 2700 kcal
- Approx. 250 to 300g protein (90 kilos x 2.7 to 3.3) = 1000 to 1200 kcal
- He now has 1200 to 1500 left for energy nutrients (calorie intake minus protein calories)
- The fat intake would be set at 1100 to 1400 kcal (122 to 155 grams)
- Carbohydrate intake would be less than 30 grams
Low fat
- Calorie intake would be set at 10 to 20% below calorie expenditure
- Protein intake is set at 2.7 to 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
- Fat accounts for around 10 to 20% of energy nutrients
- Carbohydrates make up 80 to 90% of energy nutrients
If someone weighs 90 kilograms and has an energy requirement of 3000 kcal, this results in the following:
- A calorie intake of 2400 to 2700 kcal
- 250 to 300 grams of protein (90 kilos x 2.7 to 3.3) = 1000 to 1200 kcal
- He now has 1200 to 1500 left for energy nutrients (calorie intake minus protein calories)
- Carbohydrate intake would be set at 1000 to 1350 kcal (250 to 335 grams)
- Fat intake would be set at 200 to 400 kcal (about 40 to 50 grams)
Balanced
- Calorie intake is set at 10 to 20% below calorie consumption
- Protein intake is set at 2.7 to 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
- Fats and carbohydrates both provide about 50% of energy nutrients
- Fats and carbohydrates should never be combined in one meal (eat only protein + carbohydrate or protein + fat meals, usually three of each)
If someone weighs 90 kilos and has an energy requirement of 3000 kcal, this results in the following:
- A calorie intake of 2400 to 2700 kcal
- 250 to 300 grams of protein (90 kilos x 2.7 to 3.3) = 1000 to 1200 kcal
- He now has 1200 to 1500 left for energy nutrients (calorie intake minus protein calories)
- Carbohydrate intake would be set at 600 to 750 kcal or 150 to 185 grams
- Fat intake would be set at around 600 to 750 kcal or 65 to 85 grams
Advice for building muscle
In my opinion, you will make the best gains if you eat a clean diet all year round. I find it idiotic when people stuff themselves with junk food during the bulking phase just to gain weight. When trying to build muscle, you should eat the same as if you were trying to lose fat, but increase your calorie intake to 10 to 20% above your calorie needs.
Let's take the same example as above (approx. 90 kilos weight and a daily calorie consumption of 3000 kcal).
Low carbohydrate
- The calorie intake is set at 10 to 20% above the calorie consumption
- Protein intake is set at 2.7 to 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
- Fat accounts for 90 to 100% of energy nutrients
- Carbohydrates represent 10% of energy nutrients
If someone weighs 90 kilograms and has an energy requirement of 3000 kcal, this results in the following:
- A calorie intake of 3300 to 3600 kcal
- 250 to 300 grams of protein (90 kilos x 2.7 to 3.3) = 1000 to 1200 kcal
- 2000 to 2600 kcal in the form of energy nutrients (calorie intake minus protein calories)
- The fat intake would be set at 1800 to 2600 kcal (200 to 290 grams)
- Carbohydrate intake would be less than 30 grams
Low fat
- Calorie intake would be set at 10 to 20% above calorie consumption
- Protein intake is set at 2.7 to 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
- Fat accounts for around 10 to 20% of energy nutrients
- Carbohydrates make up 80 to 90% of energy nutrients
If someone weighs 90 kilograms and has an energy requirement of 3000 kcal, this results in the following:
- A daily calorie intake of 3300 to 3600 kcal
- 250 to 300 grams of protein (90 kilos x 2.7 to 3.3) = 1000 to 1200 kcal
- 2000 to 2600 kcal in the form of energy nutrients (calorie intake minus protein calories)
- Carbohydrate intake would be set at 1600 to 2300 kcal (400 to 575 grams)
- Fat intake would be set at 500 to 600 kcal (about 60 to 70 grams)
Balanced
- Calorie intake is set at 10 to 20% above calorie consumption
- Protein intake is set at 2.7 to 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
- Fats and carbohydrates both provide about 50% of energy nutrients
- Fats and carbohydrates should never be combined in one meal (eat only protein + carbohydrate or protein + fat meals, usually three of each)
If someone weighs 90 kilos and has an energy requirement of 3000 kcal, this results in the following:
- A calorie intake of 3300 to 3600 kcal
- 250 to 300 grams of protein (90 kilos x 2.7 to 3.3) = 1000 to 1200 kcal
- 2000 to 2600 kcal in the form of energy nutrients (calorie intake minus protein calories)
- Carbohydrate intake would be set at 1000 to 1300 kcal (250 to 325 grams)
- Fat intake would be set at around 1000 to 1300 kcal (110 to 145 grams)
Conclusion
Exercising is easy for us as it is our passion, but what separates those who are serious about their attempt to change their body from those who are not so serious is the quality of the nutrition program. Working out takes 3 to 5 hours of effort per week, while eating right turns the whole process into a full-time job. However, it is this amount of dedication that really shows us who the successful people will be. Will you be one of them?
By Christian Thibaudeau | 11/06/07
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/nutrition-for-newbies-2
"Bodybuilding is at least 80% nutrition" - Vince Gironda
"Nutrition is 100%, training is 100%, recovery is 100%" - Dorian Yates
"If you're not growing, it's probably your diet and not your training that's holding you back" - Dr. John Berardi
I remember when I first got serious about Olympic weightlifting: after every good training session I would reward myself with five burgers. And this wasn't just something I did occasionally. I practically always ate like this. It was therefore not surprising that, although I was quite strong, I basically looked like a pile of shit or the Michelin Man's fatter brother.
I trained hard - sometimes twice a day
I used pretty much every supplement known to mankind and still looked like a fatso moving weights. Which, of course, is exactly what I was. Why on earth wasn't I a lean, muscular Adonis? Was it a genetic curse? No, it was just old-fashioned lousy eating habits. One of my former clients, a 180 cm tall, 75 kilo field hockey player had the opposite problem: he trained like a maniac (I checked) and could also make reasonable strength gains (he once surprised the NY Rangers strength coach by easily power lifting 275 pounds) but he couldn't build an ounce of muscle. I suspected inadequate nutrition. He told me he was eating a lot, so I had him keep a food diary in which he was to write down everything he ate for a week. His eating pattern was exactly as I expected: he ate like a bird throughout the day, followed by a big meal in the evening. After this big meal he felt so full that he really thought he was eating a lot, but his average calorie intake was only 1700 kcal per day. This was a young man with a very fast metabolism who trained four days a week, twice a day (one training session with weights and one training session on the pitch). 1700 kcal was barely enough to keep him alive, let alone build muscle! I changed his diet and he was able to increase his weight from 75 to 90 kilos in less than a year.
The moral of this story is that if you are training hard and not building muscle, your nutrition plan (assuming you have such a plan) is not adequate. If you have the opposite problem of training hard but not being able to lose fat, then the reason is probably the same: your diet sucks. If your nutritional approach is not optimal for your goals, then you won't get the results you want.
With this information in mind, this article will show you the basics of good nutrition for your body composition (muscle gain and/or fat loss). Of course, knowing the basics is not enough. Maintaining a muscle-friendly diet is hard, hard work. In some ways, it's even harder than training: you can usually motivate yourself to train hard for an hour a few times a week. Diet is different. You have to stay disciplined 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Controlling your cravings and urges can be painful. Believe me, I know. It's not fun. After a hard day, when you're tired and stressed, that big pot of chocolate ice cream will start to look damn tempting. Proper nutrition can be rewarding, but the psychological price is high.
Having said that, if you're still willing to go that extra step on the road to your dream body, then you should definitely read on.
What are we actually talking about?
Understanding how to plan an adequate diet to improve body composition or build muscle requires a basic understanding of some fundamental concepts. My goal is not to give you a comprehensive course on every single component of a good nutrition program. Instead, I hope to give you enough information so that you'll be able to read a nutrition article or plan a nutrition program without feeling like you're lost in a foreign country.
Protein
Each gram of protein provides four kcal. The word protein comes from the Greek and means "the first" or "of primary importance". For bodybuilders and strength athletes, this nutrient is of primary importance because proteins are, among other things, the building blocks of muscle tissue. Protein is broken down into amino acids in the body and these amino acids are converted into muscle tissue through a process called protein synthesis or muscle anabolism (which comes from another Greek word meaning "to build").
Proteins (amino acids) make up most of the solid part of a muscle. About 20 to 25% of muscle is protein, 70% is water and other fluids, and the remaining 5 to 10% is muscle glycogen, minerals, intramuscular fatty acids and other elements. You do not need to memorize these ratios in detail. Suffice it to say that protein is the most important nutrient for muscle growth. No protein - no muscles.
How much protein is needed for maximum muscle growth?
Good question. Studies have shown time and time again that a high protein intake is associated with a more positive nitrogen balance and a higher rate of protein synthesis. In other words, the more protein you eat, the more muscle you build.
However, it's not quite that simple. At some point, the law of diminishing returns comes into play. Once you reach the maximum amount of protein your body can use to build muscle, any additional protein intake will stop increasing the rate at which you build muscle.
That sucks, right? Wouldn't it be great if all we had to do to build muscle was eat tons of protein? We'd all be 115 kilo defined monsters in no time! Even the women! Sadly, we are limited by our natural biochemistry when it comes to being able to use protein (amino acids) to build muscle.
Protein synthesis (the use of protein to build muscle) is heavily dependent on our hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that circulate in our body and are responsible for our body "doing things." One of these "things" is the synthesis of protein. The hormones that are primarily responsible for stimulating this process include testosterone (the male hormone), growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), insulin and cortisol.
Testosterone directly increases protein synthesis, allowing you to effectively utilize the protein you just ate. The more testosterone you have in your body, the more protein you can convert into muscle. This is the reason why bodybuilders and other athletes use injectable testosterone or synthetic hormones (steroids): by artificially increasing their hormone levels, they increase their body's capacity to use protein to build muscle.
Some people naturally have higher testosterone levels than others, which allows them to build muscle faster than others, especially if they consume more protein. But the fact is, if you're not using anabolic or androgenic steroids (and as a beginner you shouldn't be), then your body has a limited capacity to use protein to build muscle and testosterone is the primary limiting factor.
You may now be asking what about growth hormones. You might imagine that a substance called "human growth hormone" makes people grow. Well, this is also the case if you are a child, but growth hormones only have a mild anabolic effect in adults, meaning that growth hormones only slightly increase your capacity to build muscle. The hormone IGF-1, however, is highly anabolic. IGF-1 and growth hormones are produced in spurts (IGF-1 production follows a spurt of growth hormone production). As with other hormones, the amount of these hormones produced varies from person to person and this can be a limiting factor when it comes to building muscle.
Insulin is often referred to as the most anabolic hormone. This is because its main function is to tell the body's storage units to open up, suck stuff in and store it. The main storage units of the body are muscles, liver and fat cells and the "stuff" that is stored is the nutrients we eat (protein, carbohydrates, fat, etc.). Insulin opens these storage units, but each has its own level of sensitivity to insulin. The more sensitive a storage unit is, the easier it will open and store nutrients.
In an ideal world, our muscle cells would be super-sensitive to insulin, while our fat cells would be only slightly sensitive to insulin. This would certainly promote muscle gains and minimize fat gains. Basically, the more sensitive your muscle cells are to insulin, the greater your muscle building potential will be. The more sensitive your fat cells are to insulin, the greater your flab-building potential will be.
We'll come back to this concept later, but for now, it's enough to remember that the more sensitive your muscles are to insulin, the more amino acids you can store in your muscle cells and therefore the more new muscle tissue you can build.
Let's move on to cortisol
Cortisol is a hormone that inhibits muscle growth. But not only that - it can even reduce your muscle mass. Cortisol is what we call a catabolic hormone. Its role is to mobilize nutrients (release them from storage units) so that the body can produce more energy. This includes the muscles: Cortisol can break down muscle tissue into amino acids, which can then be converted by the liver into sugar (glucose), which serves as a readily available source of energy. This is what we call catabolism (sounds like cannibalism). Catabolism is the opposite of anabolism and for a bodybuilder this is a bad thing. So it seems like cortisol is a bad hormone.
Well, yes and no. Cortisol is actually necessary during exercise as it helps with energy production and increases the body's capacity to cope with physical stress. However, if cortisol levels remain chronically elevated after a training session, then the body remains in a catabolic state instead of entering an anabolic (muscle building) state. This often happens when people are under a lot of stress. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released when stress levels rise. People who are exposed to a large amount of stress will therefore find it harder to use a lot of protein to build muscle, as their body is in a constant state of breaking down rather than building up.
As you can see, eating tons of protein will not necessarily mean that you will build more muscle. Excessive protein intake can also have another drawback: if protein is the dominant nutrient in your diet, then you run the risk of your body adapting to using protein as its primary energy source. If this happens, then your body will burn more protein for energy, resulting in less protein being available for muscle building purposes. The trick is to increase your protein intake to the point where you reach the maximum amount for optimal muscle growth.
How much is that exactly? As you probably understand by now, this is a very individual thing. However, most steroid-free exercisers will benefit from a protein intake in the range of 2.7 to 3.3 grams per kilogram of body weight. More than this is unlikely to lead to further gains. Protein is primarily found in animal products such as meat, fish, seafood, eggs, milk and cheese. And to make sure you get enough high-quality protein, you can also use a high-quality protein powder.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the first of the two energy nutrients. Each gram of carbohydrate provides 4 kcal. The main function of carbohydrates in the body is to provide a quick source of energy for physical and mental work. Carbohydrates can be stored in one of the body's three main storage units: in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen, but also in the form of body fat. Carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of energy under most circumstances. So if there are sufficient amounts of carbohydrates in the diet, then it becomes difficult to force the body to use fat as an energy source. In other words, your fat will stay where it is if you eat a lot of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates also cause the strongest insulin release of all three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fat). The increase in blood sugar levels (carbohydrates are sugar) is the primary stimulus for insulin release. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage: Insulin helps move protein and carbohydrates into the muscles (which is a good thing), but it can also stimulate fat storage (which is not so good). Furthermore, as long as insulin levels are elevated under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible to stimulate the release of fatty acids from fat cells. This means that fat loss is almost impossible as long as insulin levels are elevated. Remember that elevated insulin levels put your body into storage mode.
So elevated insulin levels are a good thing in certain circumstances (when you need to get nutrients into your muscles as quickly as possible), but most of the time elevated insulin levels are not desirable. The only two times you should eat a lot of carbohydrates (and thereby raise insulin levels) are at breakfast and immediately after a workout.
After waking up, the increase in insulin levels from breakfast will help you end the catabolic (muscle-depleting) state that comes from eight or more hours of fasting. After exercise, an increase in insulin levels will quickly transport nutrients to the muscles. This will initiate the recovery and muscle-building process while simultaneously ending the actions of cortisol. However, you should keep in mind that the amount of carbohydrates you should consume at these times will vary greatly depending on your goals and body fat percentage.
Any other time is not a good time to consume significant amounts of carbohydrates, as the resulting increase in insulin levels will have a negative impact on your body composition. Your insulin levels will remain elevated for up to 4 to 5 hours after a high carbohydrate meal, which can stall fat loss for this period of time. So not only will a high sugar meal add new fat to your fat stores, it will also effectively prevent you from using fat, turning you into a fat storing machine.
Even though carbohydrates are your body's preferred source of energy, carbohydrates are not essential in the same way that many amino acids and fatty acids are. This means that your body could function correctly even on a diet completely devoid of carbohydrates - the body would adapt to other energy sources and continue to function well.
There are many types of carbohydrates. Without going into too much detail, it should be mentioned that every carbohydrate from pure sugar to whole wheat is converted into glucose in the body. The main difference is the speed at which these carbohydrates are converted into glucose. The faster a carbohydrate is converted into glucose, the greater the insulin release will be (because more glucose enters the bloodstream at once). The rate at which a carbohydrate (or any other food) raises blood sugar is measured by the glycemic index (GI). Each food can be assigned a GI value and the higher this value is, the faster the food raises blood sugar levels. Even if this information is not perfectly accurate, it does give an indication of how much a given food will affect insulin production. However, you don't need to make a science out of this. If your goal is to improve your body composition, then the following rules apply:
- Carbohydrates that are a must: green vegetables (broccoli, cucumber, spinach, celery, asparagus, lettuce, etc.)
- Carbohydrates that can be eaten: other vegetables (except potatoes), berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, etc.)
- Carbohydrates for occasional consumption: other fruit
- Carbohydrates that should be eaten infrequently: brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, semolina porridge, potatoes, yams
- Carbohydrates that should be avoided: White bread, pasta, oatmeal
- Carbohydrates that must be avoided: Cookies, cakes, sweets and other sugary foods
Fat
Each gram provides 9 kcal. Let me first mention that fat is not a bad thing. At least not all fats are bad. The "good" fats are the essential fatty acids - fatty acids that your body can't make itself but needs for optimal function. These fats must be supplied through food or in the form of supplements. These essential fatty acids fall into two broad categories: Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Most people consume plenty of omega-6 fatty acids in their diet, especially if they eat a lot of animal protein sources. However, a lack of omega-3 fatty acids is widespread in the USA and Europe, primarily due to the fact that fish consumption is generally quite low. Omega-3 fatty acids - especially the important fatty acids DHA and EPA - have numerous benefits for health and building a muscular body.
Omega-3 fatty acids
- Increase insulin sensitivity, which has positive effects on both muscle building (promoting the transport of nutrients to the muscles) and fat loss (reducing the amount of nutrients stored as fat).
- Increasing the use of body fat as an energy source - especially during training.
- Improving regeneration and function of the nervous system.
- Improve cardiovascular health by improving blood flow, reducing triglyceride levels and reducing the formation of plaques and blood clots.
- Reduce inflammation and promote healing.
In addition to the benefits associated with omega-3 fatty acids, fat consumption has other benefits. One of the main benefits is an increase in testosterone production. Cholesterol is the raw material for the production of our favorite hormone, testosterone. If you don't consume at least 20% of your total calories in the form of fat, then your testosterone production can drop. And as you should know by now, less testosterone means less muscle.
I'm not recommending that you stuff yourself with butter and lard with both hands or drink cups of cream - I'm just reminding you that reducing your fat intake too much can seriously sabotage your muscle building goals.
Fat is also required for the absorption of several vitamins (A, D, E and K) that are needed for optimal health. If your fat intake is too low, you may develop a deficiency in one or more of these vitamins.
The basal metabolic rate (BMR)
Your basal metabolic rate describes the amount of energy your body burns in 24 hours while doing absolutely nothing. If you were to sit on the couch and watch TV for 24 hours, you would burn this amount of calories. It is possible to estimate the basal metabolic rate using a formula. This is of course not 100% accurate, but this formula can give you a pretty good idea of what your body needs to function.
These formulas look like this:
- Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age)
- Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.7 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age)
As an example, let's take a 29-year-old man who is 175 cm tall and weighs 94 kilos:
- BMR = 66 + (13.7 x 94) + (1.7 x 175) - (6.8 x 29)
- BMR = 66 + 1287 + 297 - 197
- BMR = 1453 kcal
This man would burn 1453 kcal within 24 hours while doing absolutely nothing. Depending on your daily activities, your actual daily energy expenditure, i.e. the amount of calories you burn in the course of a day, will vary. You can estimate this amount by multiplying your basal metabolic rate by an activity factor.
- 0: inactive (you do nothing but watch TV and eat potato chips)
- 1.2: very light activity (desk job, no exercise, some walking)
- 1.4: light activity (no exercise, a job that involves some light physical work)
- 1.6: moderate activity (most of us: a job that is not physically demanding, but regular exercise)
- 1.8: high activity (daily exercise and a physically active job or lifestyle)
- 2.0: very high activity (training twice a day, sport + training or training and a very physically demanding job)
In our example, if our 1453 kcal man is moderately active, then his total daily calorie consumption would be around 2324 kcal (1453 * 1.6). This means that he needs to consume 2324 kcal per day to maintain the status quo (neither gaining nor losing weight).
You should remember that these are only approximate values. It's better than guessing, but it's only really accurate for "normal" people. For example, if you are a mesomorph (naturally very muscular and lean), then this formula tends to underestimate your calorie consumption by about 10%. It's still a useful formula, but it may need a few adjustments.
Another way to determine your total calorie consumption is to write down everything you eat for a week and then calculate your calorie intake. If you have neither gained nor lost weight during these 7 days, then you have basically consumed as many calories as you have burned. Even though this method is a little more precise, it can be a real pain, which is why most people stick to calculating via a formula and adjust their calorie intake depending on how their body reacts.
By Christian Thibaudeau | 11/05/07
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/nutrition-for-newbies-1
6 strategies for improving insulin sensitivity
In this article, I will describe six strategies - five nutrients and one elegantly simple dietary strategy - that will help you improve your insulin sensitivity.
I believe in explaining to people why it makes sense to do something, rather than just telling them to do something. That's why I want to talk briefly about what it means to have good insulin sensitivity. This will "arm" you with the knowledge to help you make sensible nutritional decisions.
What exactly is insulin sensitivity?
What do bouncers and insulin have in common?
Bouncers and insulin do pretty much the same thing. Allow me to explain this in more detail.
The cells that make up your body are a lot like nightclubs - some welcome everyone with open arms, while others are quite exclusive and you have to know someone to get in.
When I was working as a bouncer in my college days, I quickly realized that one of the perks was the attention I got from some girls who knew I could get them and their friends into the club for free and without a long wait in line.
Since I obviously couldn't let everyone in without them having to pay, I had to make the tough decision of who to grant this VIP status to and who to tell that unfortunately I couldn't help them.
Our muscle cells are quite picky when it comes to who they let in. Nutrients circulating in the bloodstream can't just say "Hey, I'm going to swim into that muscle cell and see what's going on." No, that's not how muscles work.
To get into a muscle cell, it can really help if you can pull insulin to your side. If you can do this, then you can be pretty sure of gaining entry, as insulin is like the top bouncer in a club. If you're on a first-name basis with Insulin, then you're practically already inside.
Even though bouncers are notoriously callous, they have human feelings too. If you bump into a bouncer after his stripper girlfriend has just cheated on him, he's more likely to be less receptive to your desire to get in, making it harder to get into the club.
On the other hand, if you bump into him after his favorite team has just won the Super Bowl, he'll probably be friendlier and more likely to let you and your friends into the club without admission.
If you understand this bouncer analogy, then you will also understand the issue of insulin sensitivity. Sensitive bouncers let more people into the club. Sensitive insulin receptors let more nutrients (e.g. glucose, amino acids, creatine) into your muscle cells to keep the anabolic party going.
With this fundamental understanding, let's take a look at five ways to maximize your insulin sensitivity.
1 - Chromium
If you've been weight training for a few years and know your way around this area, chromium may seem a little old school at first, but just because something isn't new doesn't mean it isn't effective.
Chromium supplementation has been repeatedly shown to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. This effect goes so far that in many people even type 2 diabetes can be cured (1). This is due to the fact that a chromium deficiency can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Chromium is so linked to insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance that some nutritionists refer to chromium as the Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF).
Doses between 200 and 600 mcg per day appear to be both safe and effective.
As with any mineral or trace element, taking too much can lead to problems. For this reason, you should never fall into the "more is better" mentality when it comes to supplementing with chromium or other minerals.
I tend to use a common sense approach when supplementing with chromium (and any other mineral or trace element) - if you haven't used it for a while, then you're more likely to be deficient. It then makes sense to fill this nutritional gap by taking it as a supplement - temporarily perhaps even at a dosage that is at the higher end of the scale.
After a few weeks of supplementation, you should then reduce the dosage so that it is at the lower end of the scale, as you are now only concerned with maintaining healthy levels.
You should also consider taking a break from supplementing chromium from time to time. I find that it works well to take such a break while on vacation. This also makes traveling a little easier and you can give your body a supplement break.
As far as the different forms of chromium are concerned, experts agree that although the widely used chromium picolinate is a viable form, the amino acid chelates of chromium, where chromium is bound to an amino acid, are the best form, as this amino acid binding promotes the absorption of chromium in the body.
2 - Vanadium
Vanadium is another old school mineral that plays an important role in optimizing glucose tolerance (2).
I remember when I first started taking vanadium in the nineties. Back then, there was a lot of hype about vanadium and its ability to create a massive, skin-bursting pump. I was extremely skeptical at first, but I have to admit that I was impressed by the effects.
Without having changed anything else, after a few days of supplementing with vanadyl sulphate in the gym I noticed a much better pump and my training partner, who was also playing guinea pig, was no different. It was as if my muscles were storing more glycogen.
When I later learned more about the underlying science, I realized that I was probably storing more muscle glycogen due to an improvement in my insulin sensitivity as a result of taking vanadium.
However, I have to say that I never felt that almost immediate increase in my training pump again when I went back to supplementing with vanadium afterwards. Looking back, this makes sense and also explains why some people swore by vanadium while others didn't really feel anything.
If you have a vanadium deficiency - especially a severe deficiency - then you will most likely feel the positive effects of supplementation. If, on the other hand, you are not vanadium deficient - or at least not severely deficient - then you probably won't feel much - or anything at all.
I can say with a fair amount of certainty that when I first started taking vanadium, I suffered from a significant deficiency. When I compensated for this deficiency, I could literally feel the results of this.
Given the fact that I never took vanadium again for an extended period of time, it was unlikely that I would feel a significant effect - which is actually a good thing.
With many supplements, such as vitamin C or vitamin D, we know that they have benefits even if we can't formally feel them working. I believe this is also the case with vanadium.
Personally, I generally take 60 to 100 mcg of vanadium per day in the form of chelated vanadium. This dosage, combined with regular supplement breaks, seems to be conservative enough to prevent potential toxicity while still maintaining good insulin sensitivity.
3 - Cinnamon
If you're anything like me, the news that cinnamon has a fairly potent glucose-controlling effect (3) won't be particularly impressive. "Hmmm...that's quite nice" will be the kind of reaction to this that I'm talking about.
But imagine for a moment that you had just heard about a brand new supplement called CGM1029 that helps move nutrients preferentially into skeletal muscle and away from fat tissue.
That sounds more interesting!
Just because something is new and rare and sold by a pharmaceutical company doesn't mean we shouldn't find it exciting. But we also shouldn't let the "boring" nature of cinnamon prevent us from realizing its tremendous benefits.
While I wouldn't disagree with your logic if you decide to take cinnamon capsules, while I use good old cinnamon, I prefer the old-fashioned way - in my oatmeal and with other foods.
(Surprisingly, cinnamon tastes really good on a meatloaf. I know that sounds really weird, but don't dismiss this idea until you've tried it).
Since cinnamon is not a mineral, I don't think it's that important to cycle cinnamon. But I always lean towards moderation when in doubt.
4 - Alpha lipoic acid
Alpha lipoic acid, or ALA for short - not to be confused with the omega 3 fatty acid alpha linolenic acid - is a truly great nutrient.
ALA not only helps maintain (or improve) insulin sensitivity, but also acts as a potent antioxidant. It's no exaggeration to say that ALA is close to being a true supplement superhero.
However, if you look at studies on ALA (aka thioctic acid), you'll find that some of these studies point to a more neutral effect, while others seem to show amazing benefits. Well, as it turns out, there are two naturally occurring isomers (R-ALA and L-ALA), with the R isoimer appearing to be the more potent (4).
For this reason, if you want to supplement with ALA, make sure you use R-ALA
Note: As my scientific understanding of nutrition evolves, I am increasingly trying to harness nutrient synergies and use fewer single, isolated ingredients.
As with cinnamon, I don't worry too much about taking too much R-ALA or using it too frequently, but I still take breaks from it for caution's sake.
5 - Cyanidin 3-glucoside
If ALA is almost a supplement superhero, then cyanidin 3-glucoside is the real superstar.
And Cyanidin 3-glucoside (aka C3G) is as groundbreaking and innovative as a supplement ingredient can be - there's nothing old school about this ingredient!
Cyanidin 3-glucoside (cyanidin bound to glucose) is a specific anthocyanin that has powerful physiological effects. Anthocyanins give fruit and berries their strong dark color. Even if this property is anything but exciting for us, its physiological effects are all the more so.
First of all, C3G appears to have anti-carcinogenic properties (6). While avoiding cancer may not be one of your New Year's resolutions, I think you'll agree that anything that could help us stay healthy is a bonus.
And this is where things start to get really interesting - C3G has quite potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
That alone would be a great health benefit, but C3G has anti-inflammatory effects on fat cells. This is great because inflamed fat cells tend to send the wrong signals, which unfortunately is terrible for your body composition.
By reducing inflammation and repairing the faulty signals, overall glucose tolerance (and insulin sensitivity) is dramatically improved.
I've been aware of the increasing amount of research supporting the positive effects of C3G for some time, but it's the feedback from users that really impresses me.
One guy I know who took C3G had his blood tested and his fasting blood sugar had dropped from 117 - which is considered pre-diabetic - to a normal and healthy fasting blood sugar of 77 after 6 weeks of taking C3G. That is amazing!
Even though as strength athletes we are primarily interested in better insulin sensitivity for reasons of improving body composition, let's not forget that the same things that can help prevent or treat type II diabetes will typically help improve body composition as well. This is the reason that many of the nutritional strategies that help type 2 diabetics also work for bodybuilders and figure athletes.
6 - Carbohydrate management
An often overlooked strategy for improving insulin sensitivity is to manipulate your carbohydrate intake.
Bombarding your body with loads of carbohydrates - and especially high-glycemic carbohydrates - day in and day out can desensitize your body to carbohydrates. And this happens by reducing insulin sensitivity.
Going back to our bouncer analogy, if you want to improve your insulin sensitivity, eating large amounts of high-glycemic carbohydrates on a regular basis is about the same as sleeping with the bouncer's girlfriend and expecting him to let you into the club for free - it's not going to happen!
Therefore, even if your goal is to build muscle, you should consider incorporating phases of a low-carb diet. This is a strategy that I have used myself with great success and has proven to be so successful that it has become a regular part of my diet planning.
I am a big fan of cyclical eating strategies for many reasons - I refer to this as cyclical macronutrient intake. One of the reasons for this is that a low-carb diet can make your body more sensitive to carbohydrates again (5). If you then eat more carbohydrates again, your body is more likely to store these carbohydrates as muscle glycogen instead of putting them into your fat stores.
Even if you don't use cyclical macronutrient intake, you should at least aim to eat reasonable amounts of lower GI carbohydrates at all your meals, with the post-workout meal being a possible exception. This will reduce your average daily insulin spike and over time help to improve or at least maintain your insulin sensitivity.
Bonus training tip
The focus of this article is on dietary strategies to improve insulin sensitivity, but there is also a training tip worth sharing.
I don't know if this tip has been validated by scientific research, but I firmly believe that high-volume, glycogen depleting exercise can improve insulin sensitivity over time. Let me explain.
We know through scientific research that high volume training can increase glycogen storage capacity. So let's say you can normally store 350 grams of muscle glycogen (which is a realistic value).
After a few weeks of high volume training that depletes your glycogen reserves, your muscles will develop a better ability to store glycogen - perhaps 400 grams of glucose in the form of glycogen.
This adaptation makes sense as it better prepares your body to get through the next high-volume training stimulus. It also makes sense that our bodies will simultaneously develop a better ability to use glucose (carbohydrates) by improving insulin sensitivity.
And since scientific research has shown that resistance training improves insulin sensitivity, it's not far-fetched to think that higher-volume training might provide more of these benefits.
While I am definitely a fan of high-intensity, low-volume training programs, I doubt that they will improve your insulin sensitivity as much as they could.
For this reason, I recommend occasionally incorporating some high-volume training into your training program to a reasonable extent. For example, you can stick to sets of 10 to 20 reps and do four to five sets of four to five exercises per muscle group.
Yes, that's a lot of volume, but that's what's necessary to adequately deplete your muscle glycogen stores and prepare for the subsequent increase in glycogen storage. As long as you don't perform many of these sets to muscle failure, you should be able to avoid overtraining as long as you don't use this strategy for more than 8 weeks in a row.
I suspect that if you increase your training volume to around 20 sets per muscle group and make sure to consume adequate amounts of carbohydrates, you will find that after a few weeks your muscles will feel fuller and more pumped up without any increase in body fat.
And this effect will be even more pronounced if you have been training at a low volume.
Final words
Optimizing insulin sensitivity is definitely something worth looking into. Better insulin sensitivity will not only help you look better, but will also benefit your health.
Controlling the type and amount of carbohydrates you consume is just common sense health advice, but whether you choose to sprinkle in an insulin friendly supplement here and there is entirely up to you.
Whatever you decide to do, I hope the information in this article has helped you and you now have the knowledge you need to put some steps into action and start improving your insulin sensitivity.
References
- Diabetes & Metabolism. 2000, 26, 22-27
- J Clin Endo & Metabolism. 2001 Mar;86(3):1410-1717
- Diabetes, Obesity, & Metabolism. Dec 2009; Vol11, issue 12, 1100-1113
- AJP - Endo July 1, 1997 vol. 273 no. 1 E185-E191
- J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Apr;23(2):177-84
- J Biol Chem. 2006 Jun 23;281(25):17359-68. epub 2006 Apr 17.
From Clay Hyght
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/supplements/6-strategies-for-improved-insulin-sensitivity
Creatine was the most impressive supplement of the 20th century, but now there are a lot of experienced strength athletes who no longer use it. Why? Has it gone out of fashion just like those circus clown training pants? Or is it because new supplements are always better than old supplements? Or has creatine turned out to be just a mediocre supplement or even a scam?
It's time to take another look at this iconic supplement and see what we've learned about creatine since its launch and, more importantly, whether this old weapon is still worthy of being part of your supplement arsenal.
1 - What will creatine do for me strength-wise?
Creatine is stored in muscle cells in the form of phosphocreatine and provides a phosphate group to regenerate ATP during high-intensity contractions, increasing your capacity to perform high-intensity anaerobic repetitive work by around 15%. This means that for any given set you should be able to perform one or two extra reps with extra weight, which is anything but cold coffee.
2 - What will creatine do for me in terms of muscle mass?
About two-thirds of all users will gain about 0.8 to 2.9% body weight after the first few days of creatine supplementation. Of course, results vary enormously from person to person. In his research, Tarnopolsky found that some subjects gained about 2 pounds, while one subject - using the same creatine dosage and doing the same workout - reportedly gained 17 pounds.
In addition to increasing work capacity, creatine builds muscle mass by increasing levels of anabolic hormones (IGF-1), decreasing myostatin levels (increased levels inhibit muscle growth), improving cell signaling of satellite cells (this helps with repair and new muscle growth), and reducing protein breakdown.
3 - Isn't weight gain mainly water?
Most people gain weight so quickly after starting creatine that logic tells you that this weight gain is almost all water. This may be mostly true after you start taking creatine, but even then the weight gain seems to be proportional to the overall weight gain. Muscle is 73% water - if you gain ten pounds by taking creatine, about 7.3 pounds of that will be water.
Creatine does indeed cause cellular volumization and this is an important determining factor in protein breakdown and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle (and other cell types). Exercise activates protein synthesis while also breaking down protein, but creatine shifts the balance towards protein synthesis. Yes, creatine provides an additional phosphate group to help regenerate ATP during high-intensity contractions, but cell volumization is an even more important cause of creatine's muscle-building effects.
Long-term use presents a slightly different scenario, as in this scenario creatine increases lean mass without an accompanying increase in total body water. Muscle fiber diameter increases along with strength, and the long-term effects of creatine appear to be largely due to increased muscle mass.
4 - Does creatine also help with recovery?
It would appear so. A recent study found that strength athletes (in this case, men who performed curls to muscle failure) who used creatine suffered less muscle soreness than those in the control group. The scientists did not know exactly why this was the case, but they hypothesized that this effect was likely due to a combination of creatine's multiple functions.
5 - Does creatine also help with endurance training?
Not so much. It's best for intense, repetitive efforts that last less than 30 seconds, which is a pretty good description of training with weights.
6 - Why doesn't creatine work for everyone?
Some people - especially people who eat a lot of meat and fish - already have large amounts of creatine in their bodies and therefore may not respond as well to creatine because their cells are already saturated with creatine. Other people, such as vegetarians, who do not consume as much creatine in their diet, can achieve phenomenal results.
The muscle fiber ratio also plays a role. Those who have a fairly even distribution of fast- and slow-contracting muscle fibers will respond fairly well to creatine, while those who have about 70% fast-contracting muscle fibers will respond really well to creatine.
7 - What is the best type of creatine?
For a while it seemed like someone was launching a new form of creatine every month. There was creatine ethyl ester, dicreatine malate, effervescent creatine, micronized creatine, and even gummy bear-like creatine, among others. If ingenuity hadn't died down, we might even have beef jerky creatine or "I can't believe it's not creatine" creatine today.
These products were supposedly absorbed faster by the body or had higher uptake into the muscles or allowed the user to use less than other forms of creatine, but there was no scientific data that could convincingly show that any form of creatine worked better than creatine monohydrate. However, there was something that these forms of creatine could do faster than regular creatine: Empty your bank account.
8 - What is the best way to load creatine?
Despite the countless suggested variations of loading, and despite all the gnashing of teeth, the original loading method first suggested by Richard Kreider in the nineties still works best:
- 0.3 grams of creatine per kilogram of body weight spread over four doses daily for 5 to 7 days (however, it's not necessary to be so precise with the dosage. Just round it down to 5 grams four times a day).
- After you have loaded your body with creatine, you only need to take 3 to 5 grams of creatine per day to maintain full capacity.
There is also a study that has shown that you can skip loading altogether and just take 3 grams of creatine per day for 28 days instead, but it's not entirely clear if this low dosage increases training capacity.
9 - Do I need to take creatine with carbohydrates to increase my insulin levels?
The standard creatine supplies suggest that you need to take creatine with a large load of glucose (80 to 100 grams) or a carbohydrate/protein mix consisting of 50 to 80 grams of carbohydrate and 30 to 50 grams of creatine. Certainly this technique will cause a strong insulin spike that will lead to increased glycogen storage in skeletal muscle, which could result in increased cell volume, but taking creatine in combination with carbohydrates will not necessarily result in your muscles storing more creatine. There is also a lot of research suggesting that sodium may be more important than insulin for creatine transport, but this can be a little tricky as sodium uptake is mediated by insulin.
In addition, this dependence on sodium levels in the body may invalidate the age-old recommendation to take creatine after exercise. During exercise, you naturally lose a lot of sodium through sweat, so post-workout sodium levels will not be optimal and could interfere with creatine transport. You could of course tackle the sodium problem. Some users combine creatine with sodium bicarbonate to increase transport. Recent views suggest that there is absolutely no reason to use creatine before or after training, which would negate the potential sodium problem. Creatine works via saturation and not timing. As long as your muscles are filled with creatine, creatine will be there to help you with your workouts - regardless of when you take it, be it in the morning, sprinkled over your cereal, in the afternoon with your tea or before bed. Similarly, there is probably no real reason to continue taking creatine with high doses of carbohydrates after the 5 to 7 day loading phase has ended.
10 - When is the best time to take creatine?
Just in case you skipped the previous question, it's worth mentioning again that it doesn't matter when you take it. As long as you have followed the loading protocol and your cells are saturated with creatine, you do not need to take the following doses before or after your workout. Creatine does not listen to the clock. The saturation of the muscle cells (and not the timing) is what counts.
11 - Do I have to take creatine cyclically?
No.
12 - Does caffeine or acid affect the absorption of creatine?
The vast majority of initial creatine studies were conducted with creatine dissolved in coffee or tea, so it should be clear that coffee does not affect absorption. As for acidity, this is lower with coffee, grape juice and orange juice than with stomach acid and creatine survives digestion intact.
13 - Is long-term use of creatine safe and harmless?
Creatine also appears to be safe for long-term use. It has been used on a small scale since the sixties and on a large scale since the nineties. Sure, during the early days some people worried about creatine contributing to dehydration or rhabdomyolye, but those myths were debunked a long time ago.
14 - Is there anything I can do to maximize the effects of creatine?
Considering that the main effect of creatine is cell volumization, you need something to increase the volume of the cells, namely water. A rule of thumb is to drink about 40 ml of water per kilogram of body weight per day.
15 - How soon will I know if creatine is working for me?
You should see or feel something within a few days, but give creatine a month before drawing any conclusions.
16 - Will I lose muscle if I stop taking creatine?
You will lose some fluid from your cells, which will of course reduce muscle volume, but you will not lose any muscle mass that you have built up.
17 - Will creatine worsen your definition?
A little bit. Creatine makes muscle bellies rounder, but it might also make your definition a little worse. Fans of visible veins might be well advised to use creatine only during the time of year when they are wrapped up in thick clothing and then avoid creatine during the belly-free summertime. Of course, you must already be pretty damn defined to see this minimal effect.
18 - Why have some strength athletes stopped using creatine if it's so effective?
This is pure speculation, but it probably has to do with the fact that for a while creatine was just another ingredient in dozens, if not hundreds, of bodybuilding supplements. After a while, creatine lost attention. Combine this with the fact that creatine in these products was often underdosed or of poor quality and therefore had little effect and you have the perfect recipe for forgetting about this supplement or paying little attention to it out of indifference. The truth is that creatine was and is a valuable, super effective supplement.
19 - What should I look for when buying a creatine product?
Make sure the product comes from a company with a good reputation. Buy a micronized product if possible. And good old creatine monohydrate is really all you need.
From TC Luoma
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/supplements/creatine-scam-or-staple
