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Bodybuilders & Protein, Part 1
Author: Tom Ventuno
Why are bodybuilders infatuated with protein?
Bodybuilders are infamous for their love affair with protein.
The way iron-pumpers see it, muscle is protein, so they associate eating more
dietary protein with gaining more muscle. Devouring egg whites by the dozen,
meat by the pound and protein powder by the bucketful is the norm for hard
training physique athletes. But is all this carnivorism really necessary? Why
the infatuation with eating huge amounts of protein? Are bodybuilders correct
in their habitual practice of pounding down the protein or is this immoderation
unfounded? To answer these questions, it is first necessary obtain a solid
understanding of what protein is and how it is used in the body. Only then can
we objectively look at the protein consumption practices of bodybuilders and
compare them to what the scientific evidence says in order to make some
sensible and productive recommendations.
Protein Turnover; the dynamic human body
Although your body appears quite solid, it is always in a constant state of
flux. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, "You cannot step in the same river
twice." What he meant was that a river may look the same every day, but it
never is the same because of the constant flow of new water running through it.
This is also true of the human body. Body protein is constantly being turned
over as old cells die and new cells replace them. Best-selling author and
mind-body expert Dr. Deepak Chopra describes this ongoing cellular renewal
process like this:
"It is as if you lived in a building whose bricks were
systematically taken out and replaced every year. If you keep the same
blueprint then it will still look like the same building. But it won't be the
same in actuality. The human body also stands there, looking much the same from
day to day, but through the process of respiration, digestion, elimination and
so forth, it is constantly and ever in exchange with the rest of the world."
Quantum physicists have proven that 98% of the atoms in your
body are replaced within one year. In three months your body produces an
entirely new skeleton. Every six weeks, all the cells have been replaced in
your liver. You have a new stomach lining every five days. You are continually
replacing old blood cells with new ones. Every month you produce an entirely
new skin as dead cells are shed and new cells grow underneath. The proteins in
your muscles are continually turned over as muscle is broken down and new
tissue is synthesized. Every cell in your body is constantly being recycled.
Where do all these new cells come from? The answer of course, is
from the protein foods you consume every day. That's why the saying, "You are
what you eat" is literally true from a molecular standpoint. Once you've
accepted this maxim, you'll start being awfully careful about what you put in
your body every day.
Protein 101: What is protein anyway?
Its not surprising that bodybuilders put so much emphasis on protein. After
all, protein is construction material for the human body like bricks are for a
building. Body structures made from protein include skin, hair, nails, bones,
connective tissue and of course skeletal muscle. Other proteins in your body
include antibodies, enzymes, hormones such as insulin, and transporters such as
hemoglobin. Next to water, protein is the most abundant substance in the body,
making up approximately 15-20% of your weight. Of most interest to the
bodybuilder is the fact that 60-70% of all protein in the body is located in
the skeletal muscles. In order for muscle growth to occur, every day you must
consume more protein than your body utilizes.
Like fats and carbohydrates, proteins are also composed of
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The difference is nitrogen. Only protein can bring
nitrogen into the body. Because muscle tissue contains most of the body's
protein and protein contains nitrogen, scientists can study the effect of
dietary protein on muscle growth by comparing the amount of nitrogen consumed
with the amount excreted (in feces, urine and sweat). If the intake of nitrogen
is greater than the amount excreted, then we know that protein is being
retained and new muscle is being synthesized. This is known as positive
nitrogen balance. If more nitrogen is excreted than consumed, you are in
negative nitrogen balance, indicating that protein is being broken down and
muscle is being lost.
Amino acids: The building blocks of protein
The smallest units of a protein are called amino acids. Like
bricks in a wall, amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Just as
glycogen is formed from the linkage of numerous glucose molecules, proteins are
formed from the joining of numerous amino acids. There are 20 amino acids that
are required for growth by the human body. From these 20 amino acids, there are
tens of thousands of different protein molecules that can be formed. Each
protein is assembled from the bonding of different amino acids into various
configurations. Growth hormone, for example, is a protein chain of 156 amino
acids.
"Amino acids are somewhat like letters in the alphabet. If you
had only the letter G, all you could write would be a string of Gs:
G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G. But with 20 different letters available, you could create
poems, songs, or novels. The 20 amino acids can be linked together in an even
greater variety of sequences than are possible for letters in a word or words
in a sentence. The variety of possible sequences for polypeptide chains is
tremendous." -Eleanor Whitney and Sharon Rolfes, "Understanding Nutrition."
Essential vs. Non-essential amino acids
Out of the twenty amino acids, the human body can make eleven of
them. These are called the non-essential amino acids (also known as
"dispensable amino acids). The other nine amino acids are called "essential
amino acids" or (indispensable amino acids). Essential amino acids are those
which cannot be manufactured by your body and must be supplied from your food.
Essential (indispensable) amino acids
Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Valine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Non essential (dispensable) amino acids
Alanine
Arginine
Asparagine
Aspartic Acid
Cysteine
Glutamic acid
Glutamine
Glycine
Proline
Serine
Tyrosine
Why bodybuilders must eat "complete" proteins every three hours
Foods that contain a balanced combination of all the essential
and nonessential amino acids in the exact amounts required by the body for
growth are called "complete proteins." In order for the body to synthesize
muscle, all the essential amino acids must be available simultaneously. Any
non-essential amino acids that are in short supply can be produced by the
liver, but if an essential amino acid is missing, the body must break down its
own proteins to obtain it. To prevent muscle cell breakdown, dietary protein
must supply all the essential amino acids. If your diet is missing any
essential amino acids, protein synthesis will be inhibited.
Carbohydrates have a storage depot in the body called glycogen.
Glycogen can be stored in the muscles and liver and then drawn upon hours or
even days later when it is needed. Proteins cannot be stored in the body. There
is only a very small and transient amino acid pool in the bloodstream. To
maintain the optimal environment for muscle growth (positive nitrogen balance),
complete proteins must be eaten with every meal. This explains the rationale
behind the common bodybuilding practice of eating six protein-containing meals
per day (one about every three hours.)
Protein Quality: Complete vs. Incomplete proteins
Protein isn't just found in meat, eggs and milk. There is also
protein in vegetables, beans, legumes, and grains. However, the protein in
these foods is not considered "complete" because it lacks one or more of the
essential amino acids. Generally speaking, proteins from vegetable sources are
lower in quality and that's the reason they are eschewed by bodybuilders. The
complete proteins are those that come from animal sources such as eggs, milk
and meat.
Many grains and legumes contain substantial amounts of protein,
but none provide the full array of essential amino acids. Beans, for example,
are very high in protein with about 15 grams per cup, however, they are missing
the essential amino acid Methionine. Similarly, grains are lacking the
essential amino acid Lysine. It has been frequently pointed out that combining
two incomplete sources of vegetable protein such as rice and beans provides you
with the full complement of essential amino acids. This may be true, but
there's a decided difference between simply meeting your minimum amino acid
requirements for health and consuming the optimal quality of protein for
building muscle. Combining complementary vegetable sources of protein just
doesn't cut it for the serious bodybuilder.
Is "Vegetarian bodybuilder" an oxymoron?
A pure vegetarian (vegan) diet is not conducive to building
muscle. One thing you will never see is a rock-hard, massive and muscular
vegan. Lacto-vegetarians (those who use dairy products) and
ovo-lacto-vegetarians (those who use eggs and dairy products) can build
excellent physiques. Bodybuilding champion Bill Pearl is just one example.
Pearl is well known for his lifelong aversion to eating meat, but he does use
complete proteins from eggs or dairy products. With this semi-vegetarian
approach, Pearl won the Mr. America and Mr. Universe tittles and became a
legend in the bodybuilding and fitness world.
The bottom line is that you can get fit and healthy without
consuming animal proteins, but unless you include eggs or dairy products, you
will never develop a physique worthy of the bodybuilding stage. If a hard and
muscular physique is what you're after, then heed the advice of Robert Kennedy,
publisher of Muscle Mag International and author of "Rock Hard, Supernutrition
for Bodybuilders:"
"The bodybuilder would be ill-advised to adopt a true vegetarian
diet. You can be one of the millions who are eating less meat and more
vegetables. You may even want to drop all flesh entirely. But is would be a
mistake to try for pure vegetarianism. Only 3.7% of Americans consider
themselves to be vegetarians, and of those only a fraction of 1% are purists.
In the bodybuilding world of champions, that percentage is currently.... ZERO!"
Lean sources of complete proteins
Complete proteins come from animal sources including meat, eggs
and dairy products. The obvious problem with animal proteins is that they also
contain large amounts of saturated fat. To stay lean, bodybuilders must always
keep fats in the diet low. Fortunately, fat from animal proteins can easily be
avoided simply by making the correct choices. For example, use egg whites
instead of egg yolks, lean meats such as turkey breast and chicken breast
instead of fatty cuts of meat, and 1% low fat or non-fat dairy products instead
of whole milk dairy products. These are some of the best sources of lean
protein for bodybuilding purposes:
Chicken breast
Turkey breast
Fish
Shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab, clams, etc)
Egg whites
Lean red meats (top round, lean sirloin, and flank)
Nonfat or low fat dairy products
Protein powders (Whey protein, for example).
The great debate; The RDA vs. the "protein pushers"
For years a heated controversy has raged over whether or not
extra protein will boost muscle development. On one side of the debate you have
the conservative dietitians and medical community who stubbornly insist that
the recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is all you need to develop muscle. The
RDA's are the official government guidelines set by the national research
council. Currently the RDA for protein is based on body weight and is set at .8
grams per kilogram of body weight (that's .36 grams per lb. of body weight).
For a 172 lb. man that equates to a paltry 62 grams per day. It is important to
note that the RDA's were developed for the "average" sedentary person to avoid
deficiency, not for athletes in hard training to gain muscle and strength. In
fact, the RDA handbook even says, "no added allowance is made for stresses
encountered in daily living which can give rise to increases in urinary
nitrogen output."
On the other side of the debate, you have the "protein pushers"
who claim that megadoses of protein are the key to muscular growth. These high
protein fanatics often suggest intakes of 400-500 grams a day or more. More
often than not, the protein pushers are in some way affiliated with a
supplement company and have a vested interest in selling you protein powder. In
other cases, these high protein advocates may be professional bodybuilders who
are taking large amounts of anabolic steroids, which can allow the body to
utilize more protein than normal.
So who is right, the conservative medical and scientific
community or the protein pushers? The answer is neither; the optimal intake is
clearly somewhere in between the two extremes. An "optimal" protein intake for
bodybuilders is still unknown at this time and will require further research,
but one thing is for certain: The RDA is not enough to support the added
requirements for intense bodybuilding training. Even the RDA handbook itself
says, "No added allowance is made here for stresses encountered in daily living
which can give rise to transient increases in urinary nitrogen output. It is
assumed that the subjects of experiments forming the basis for the requirement
estimates are usually exposed to the same stresses as the population
generally." If bodybuilding isn't an "unusual stress" beyond what is normally
encountered in daily living then I don't know what is.
What the current research says about protein and bodybuilding
Research has conclusively proven that exercise increases protein
needs. Dr. Peter Lemon is the world's leading researcher on protein
requirements and athletes. In the journal "Medicine and Science in Sports and
Exercise" (19:5, S179-S190,1986) Dr. Lemon writes;
"Several types of evidence indicate that exercise causes
substantial changes in protein metabolism. In fact, recent data suggests that
the protein recommended dietary allowance might actually be 100% higher for
individuals who exercise on a regular basis. Optimal intakes, although unknown,
may be even higher, especially for individuals attempting to increase muscle
mass and strength."
Dr. Lemon's most recent research published in "Nutrition
Reviews," (54:S169-175, 1996) indicates that strength athletes need up to 1.8g
of protein per kg. of body weight to maintain positive nitrogen balance. That's
.8 grams per lb. of body weight or almost 140 grams a day for someone who
weighs 172 lbs. This is very close to the long-held belief of bodybuilders that
1 gram per pound of body weight is optimal. Some studies have shown that even
higher protein intakes may be necessary in hard training strength athletes. In
one study of Polish weightlifters (Nutr. Metabolism 12:259-274), 5 of 10
athletes were still in negative nitrogen balance even while consuming 250% of
the RDA.
So much research has been done on protein and athletes that it's
amazing that so many conservative registered dietitians and medical
professionals still cling to the outdated notion that the RDA for protein is
sufficient for muscle growth. The biggest irony is the fact that many of these
"RDA pushers" are overweight, flabby, out of shape professors, researchers or
white lab coat types. I don't know about you, but I have a very hard time
taking advice from "armchair experts" who don't walk the walk. After years of
being criticized by the academic and scientific communities for their "excess"
protein intakes, bodybuilders today have received their vindication; It is no
longer a theory that protein intakes higher than the RDA are more effective for
building muscle, it is now scientific fact.
Now that we've established these facts, that still leaves one
burning question: How do you determine the precise amount of protein that is
right for you? Read part two to find out.
Don't even THINK about buying any supplements or going on a diet
until you read my revealing, no-holds barred fat loss report... Click here to
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