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Posts Tagged ‘Metabolism’

A recent debate questions whether we should eat three meals a day or five to six meals a day for optimum health and fitness. Nutritional experts are divided about this, but all of them agree that skipping meals is detrimental to overall fitness success.

Individual metabolism seems to be the key in determining how many meals a day to eat. However, if you eat only two to three meals a day you are probably not making your metabolism work as hard as it is supposed to. You may feel tired with a loss of energy and wind up turning toward snacks, which may not be as carefully chosen as an actual meal. With five to six meals a day, you have more opportunities to plan to eat correctly as opposed to snacking on junk food.

Deciding to eat 5 or 6 meals a day gives you the opportunity to think about what you are eating and plan meals that include the four food groups. The portions you serve should equal the size of your heart, which is approximately the size of your fist. Exercising portion control and spreading your meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism working properly, giving you plenty of energy. Also, smaller portions help you to avoid overeating and do not make you as sluggish as eating a huge meal. Having several meals during the day gives you the opportunity to add more variety to your diet, as well as avoid pangs of hunger from going too long without eating.

The ADA suggests that you ask yourself three questions when deciding how and when to eat:

- Am I hungry? If you are not, wait 20 minutes.
- When was the last time I ate? Meals should usually be about three hours apart.
- Could a small snack tide me over until my next meal? Of course, fruit and veggies are preferred choices for snacks in between meals.

In summary about the debate regarding three meals a day versus six, Gary Schwartz (researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine) states, “There’s no strong data supporting either as being being more effective. Clearly, there is an emphasis on reducing caloric intake overall, whether it be by decreasing meal size and/or decreasing meal frequency.”

You can develop a truly effective individual fitness plan by counting calories, exercising regularly and carefully monitoring how your metabolism reacts to the number of meals you eat daily.

I am sure you have heard previously that your post-workout meal is actually the most important meal of your day (aside from breakfast of course).

I would have to agree with that assertion for the most part because refueling your body with the right combo of nutrients is so vastly important to repairing your muscles from the breakdown of a workout, and keeping your metabolic rate sky high.

From recent research on post-workout meals:

“A recent 12-week study says that those who failed to consume a post workout meal immediately after their workouts suffered a lower metabolism, loss of fat free mass, and had clear indications of muscle loss – while their counterparts (those who consumed a post workout recovery meal) significantly lost more fat, increased lean muscle, improved their metabolism, and increased dynamic strength.”

I have noticed that many people are confused as to what actually makes a good post-workout meal. A couple common questions I receive about post workout meals:

1. Aren’t post-workout meals only important for muscle building? Do they matter at all for fat loss goals?

2. Is it best to use one of the fancy post-workout drinks or shakes that you see in the magazines or is a whole food meal better? What’s the best combo of carbs to protein to fat in a good post workout meal?

3. How soon after a workout is best to have my post workout meal?

Answers:

1. Post-workout meals are actually important for BOTH muscle building and losing body fat!

Always remember that one of the most important considerations of long term body fat loss and maintaining a lean body for life is raising your overall metabolic rate by building and maintaining adequate lean muscle mass throughout your entire body.

By consuming a good post workout meal after every workout, you assist your body in repairing and building lean muscle throughout your whole body. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate (even when resting)… hence, you lose fat easier and faster, and it is MUCH easier to stay lean in the long term.

2. Are whole foods or supplement shakes best? This can actually be done either way, but I am going to show you some guidelines why some post-workout shakes are better than others and some whole foods are better than others. Either way, it can work.

First, keep in mind that your goal throughout the majority of each day is eating small whole food meals frequently that digest slowly with high fiber and a controlled glycemic response (blood sugar). These normal daily meals should also contain healthy fats and slowly digested proteins to maintain a steady supply of amino acids.

When it comes to post-workout meals, you can just about use the exact opposite strategy of your normal meals. With post-workout meals, you actually want a faster digesting carb source to stimulate an insulin response. This helps to push nutrients and glycogen back into your muscle cells for repair. Remember, this is not just important for building muscle, but also for losing fat.

So while I always preach high fiber for most of your meals, with post-workout meals, you actually want lower fiber, higher GI carbohydrates, and quickly digesting protein as well to kick start muscle repair.

Another consideration to keep in mind… while I always preach healthy fats at most of your meals… with the post workout meal, you actually want almost all carbohydrates and protein, and very little fat. Fat in the post workout meal just slows the absorption and glycemic response which is not what you want at this key time.

What about the best ratios of carbohydrates and protein?

I have reviewed dozens of studies on this subject and most seem to agree that a ratio of approx 2 to 1 carbs to protein is optimal. This seems to be the best combo to maximize muscle repair to boost that metabolic rate for long term body fat loss.

I usually make my post-workout shakes using a frozen banana, whey protein, water, and some real maple syrup (not the cheap high fructose corn syrup based maple syrups at most stores) and aim for about a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein in the shake.

If you want to make things a little simpler, one of the best post-workout shakes that I’ve found that is already mixed in a 2:1 carb:protein ratio is Prograde’s Varsity Post-Workout mix. You can find it at the bottom of this page.

3. How soon should you eat (or drink) your post-workout meal once your done working out?

As soon as you can after your workout (the sooner the better)!

Studies have shown that the sooner you consume your post workout meal following your intense workout, the better your muscle recovery will be, and a higher quantity of the carbohydrates ingested will be used for muscle glycogen replenishment instead of other uses.

The first thing I do when I get back from the gym is make my post workout shake, and this is about 10 min after finishing my workout.

If you have problems gaining weight or if you’re looking for a way to gain weight faster, keep reading. In fact it is very simple and logical to do so. All the processes I’m about to explain have been very well documented. This is not a diet or a supplement, it is something you already posses the power over right now – your brain.

I’m going to discuss:

1. The two branches of your nervous system, their functions and how you can determine which one is dominant in you.
2. How creating an imbalance prevents you from getting the results you want.
3. How you can regain balance to produce the results you desire.

A quick description of the Automatic Nervous System(ANS):

The model of ANS used in clinics originated from Francis M. Pottenger, M.D, 1919. The ANS is the master controller of your metabolism; it controls almost all metabolic processes. The ANS is divided into two divisions on the basis of anatomic and physiological grounds. Nerves from both divisions connect the brain (Hypothalamus) to the organs and glands of the body.

The ANS is like an information transport system with the brain as its switchboard operator. The two divisions, the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system work together to regulate all the activities in the body. To name a few: heart beat, fight or flight, blood pressure, digestion, elimination, repair and rebuilding and much more. In this article, we are interested in the repair and rebuilding activities.

The difference between Parasympathetic and Sympathetic influence is different from person to person. People are more or less influenced by one of these. I encourage you to search the web for a more in depth description of these influences to see where you fit.

Parasympathetic (rest and digest branch): Digestion, Elimination (detoxification), repairing, rebuilding, anabolic processes. People with Parasympathetic dominance tend to be wider build, procrastinate and have excessive appetite and lethargy.

Sympathetic (survival branch): fight or flight response, motivation, stress, catabolic processes. People with Sympathetic dominance tend to be tall, thin, highly motivated, have a low appetite, and excellent concentration.

The key is to be highly motivated and have excellent concentration while training (sympathetic dominant) and then be relaxed and calm in the restitution period (parasympathetic dominant).

Since the parasympathetic branch is the one that builds and repairs our body, along with controlling our anabolic processes, we want that branch to be most active when wanting to gain weight.

Now what you probably don’t know, is that most people in our stressed and modern world are in a constant condition called Autonomic Disregulation where our sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are opposite of what they should be. They are literally jacked out of direction, disturbing every metabolic process including our ability to be anabolic. This is where your mind comes in the picture.

You are, in fact, in charge of whether you want to be disregulated, or if you want to be regulated. Regulated is where your body works at 100% efficiency giving you high health and energy.

When you are stressed, your sympathetic nervous system gets activated and responds with a release of catabolic hormones which makes you alert. Cortisol is one of the many, but is the primary stress hormone. You don’t want to be sympathetic when gaining muscle.

When you elevate your levels of cortisol, your DHEA ratio to cortisol is disrupted. DHEA-S or DHEA-Sulfite is an anabolic hormone. It is a tissue repair hormone and is very closely related to growth hormone, testosterone and all the other anabolic hormones. So when your cortisol goes up, your DHEA goes down, damaging your health.

High levels of cortisol in the body have been related to highly rapid death of brain cells, and rapid ageing. As cortisol levels go up, it affects the memory and ability to learn .In other words, it disrupts the neurocognitivity which enables the neurons to communicate with one another. Look at the patterns of people who consume caffeinated drinks, sports drinks and coffee, etc.

Caffeine creates a sympathetic catabolic response in your nervous system, where glycogen (sugar) is released from your liver, along with cortisol (which makes you feel fresh and alert). Cortisol is a catabolic anti-inflammatory hormone that breaks down muscle tissue and feeds it to the body. Since the high release of glycogen in your body also triggers a release of insulin, your blood sugar crashes, and it crashes with you. It also affects the quality of your sleep and mood because it interferes with anabolic repair cycles.

If you’re waking up in the morning after 7 hours of sleep still tired (not feeling fresh) you are probably not entering deep sleep, because cortisol also disrupts your ability to enter the restorative phases of sleep – REM (Rapid eye movement) Cortisol disrupts your ability to repair your nervous system, and it disrupts your ability for the immune system to do its job. One of the most important changes you can make is to not consume any caffeinated substances after 3pm, because depending on the rate on which your liver is able to detoxify caffeine, it may disrupt your hormonal levels. This will interfere with your ability to sleep and therefore, interrupt your anabolic repair cycles such as DHEA-S. Most physical repair happens between 10pm – 2am – don’t workout and go to bed at 1am. Most psychogenic repair (nervous system repair) happens between 2am – 6am.

Another thing to consider is to avoid full spectrum lighting in the hours before sleep. Light stimulates the pineal gland which stimulates the RAS (Reticular Activation System) which “turns you on” again. As cortisol levels drops during the day, melatonin increases. Melatonin is the hormone that puts you to sleep and makes you tired. So when you come home with full spectrum lighting in your house, it jacks up your cortisol levels again, interfering with your sleep and repair cycles.

Consider what happens when you come home late at night and have coffee with your full spectrum lighting. Guess what… your body’s hormonal cycle is totally confused, ramped and ragged, you sleep poorly and you are not repairing. Next morning you feel awfully tired and like many people do, you drink another cup of coffee! Be smart. If you’re reading this it means you are smarter than most people. So live up to it. We need to be parasympathetic while we sleep. Bear in mind, that just because you are not a fan of caffeine, it does not mean that you’re safe. A high level of stress elevates cortisol just as effective as caffeine.

This discussion gets more technical so take a look at the picture here while reading:
http://www.freakygrowth.com/images/chem-process.gif

Your anabolic hormones are mainly produced from Pregnenolone. When your stress levels are high, your sleep is poor, your exercise habits are wrong and you consume the wrong metabolic stimulators (stuff that stimulate a sympathetic response), your body overproduces cortisol and cortisone. Since both your anabolic hormones and your stress hormones are produced from Pregnenolone, which production do you think the body takes away Pregnenolone from in order to compensate for the overproduction of catabolic hormones? It steals the Pregnenolone which should have been used to create testosterone, Androstenediol, Aldosterone among other anabolic hormones. This syndrome called “Pregnenolone steal” or “Cortisol Escape” will steal 60% of your Pregnenolone to compensate for the overproduction of cortisol (or stress in your life), which will mean 60% less anabolic hormones in your body. That’s a tough fact.

If you want to gain weight and gain muscle, you must be more parasympathetic than sympathetic. It is really that simple. So take some time of for yourself, relax, get to bed before 10pm, stay away from metabolic stimulators (such as caffeine), avoid full spectrum light before bed hours and give it all you’ve got when training.

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