By Scott Flear
The bodybuilding world in growing year on year, the desire to achieve an above average physique is ever growing in the modern world. People are now more image conscious than ever and magazines are taking full advantage by feeding you lies every month with the new ''Get Shredded in 30 days with this supplement!'' articles.
Questions that occur frequently in gyms, fitness debates and general chat about well-being are: "How much protein do you eat a day?'' ''How many meals do you eat a day?'' These questions will be addressed in this article to clear up the confusion.
Protein
Protein is the most popular macronutrient. High protein diets have been gaining popularity ever since body image was taken seriously by the general public. Many people tend to consume far too much protein for their requirements. Remember, protein also contains calories, eating too many grams of protein could mean consuming too many calories! The RDA recommended amount of protein per day is around 0.8g/kg of body weight. This is based on the minimum amount needed to achieve short term nitrogen balance. An athlete or a person trying to increase muscle mass would need more, roughly 2g-3g per kg of body weight is a good guideline.
MPS (Maximum Protein Synthesis)
Optimal Meal Frequency
The goal when eating protein is not to just build muscle but how to build muscle in the quickest way. Meal frequency is a main contributor to this and the amino acid Leucine. To go against the grain is an understatement which the recent studies showing what the optimal meal frequency is. A popular misconception is that 6-10 meals a day every 2 hours is optimal. Studies show that 3-5 larger meals are superior and protein choice is important. Before we discuss the best protein sources we need to explain the importance of Leucine.
Leucine
Studies have shown that Leucine is the main trigger behind protein synthesis. It has been shown to stimulate protein synthesis to nearly the same extend as a full meal! This shows that Leucine is likely to be the major contributor for the anabolic effect of a meal.
Leucine is shown to stimulate protein synthesis which means that MPS could be dependent on levels of concentration of Leucine in a meal or protein source.
A study done by Padden-Jones tells us that an EAA (essential amino acid) supplement containing 2.8g of Leucine increased MPS by around 60% in adult humans! Also 4.4g - 8.3g Leucine to increase MPS by 50-70%. Looking at these figures it is likely that the optimal intake of leucine is 3-4g.
Optimal levels of leucine = 3-4g. This means every meal we should intake 3-4g of leucine. Leucine is an essential amino acid which means the body does not create it which means we must consume leucine from foods or supplements.
Here is a few examples of 3-4g of leucine in food. The amount of food in grams vary as the percentage of leucine in different protein sources is different.
An intake of 3-4g of Leucine per meal should be optimal. Leucine is an essential amino acid which means the body does not create it, we must consume Leucine from our diet or supplementation. Here are a few examples of how much of a certain protein source you need to consume to reach the 3-4g of Leucine level.
(Visit link in the author bio to see table)
By looking at that table you can have a rough idea of how much food you will need to intake to get the 3-4g of leucine. MPS duration lasts around 2 hours which could explain the reasoning on why most people recommend 6-8 small meals a day every 2-3 hours as the MPS duration only lasts 2 hours, logic now tells us that if we keep eating 2 hours and cause MPS we could ideally cause the body to be in MPS state all day. But unfortunately this is un-true as plasma Leucine levels last up to 6 hours and MPS cannot be stimulated until Plasma Leucine levels are back down to baseline, which takes up to around 6 hours.
The table shows roughly how much of the most popular protein sources are needed to reach 3-4 grams of Leucine. MPS will last roughly 2 hours, this explains the reasoning why most people recommend 6-8 small meals a day. The issue with this is that plasma Leucine levels last up to 6 hours and MPS cannot be stimulated until Plasma Leucine levels are back to baseline, this can take up to 6 hours!
Recap
- It is unlikely that consuming small amounts of protein over many meals will produce sustained elevations in MPS and muscle growth
- Plasma Leucine levels need to fall before they can be stimulated again.
Conclusion
MPS cannot be stimulated every 2-3 hours. It will take around 4-6 hours.
The study by Paddon-Jones tells us that consuming 2.8g of Leucine in-between meals could help improve MPS. He showed that a group consuming 2.8g of Leucine in-between meals had increased levels of MPS compared to a group just consuming the meals.
Supplement with Leucine in between meals to help optimize MPS.
Example
200lb male
5 meals ( 4-6 hours apart )
Goal: 4g leucine per meal
Protein Sources:
2x meals: whey (33g per meal)
2x meals: chicken (54g each meal)
1x meal: beef (51g)
Total daily protein = 225g
Scott Flear
Owner RugbyWarfare.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Flear
The bodybuilding world in growing year on year, the desire to achieve an above average physique is ever growing in the modern world. People are now more image conscious than ever and magazines are taking full advantage by feeding you lies every month with the new ''Get Shredded in 30 days with this supplement!'' articles.
Questions that occur frequently in gyms, fitness debates and general chat about well-being are: "How much protein do you eat a day?'' ''How many meals do you eat a day?'' These questions will be addressed in this article to clear up the confusion.
Protein
Protein is the most popular macronutrient. High protein diets have been gaining popularity ever since body image was taken seriously by the general public. Many people tend to consume far too much protein for their requirements. Remember, protein also contains calories, eating too many grams of protein could mean consuming too many calories! The RDA recommended amount of protein per day is around 0.8g/kg of body weight. This is based on the minimum amount needed to achieve short term nitrogen balance. An athlete or a person trying to increase muscle mass would need more, roughly 2g-3g per kg of body weight is a good guideline.
MPS (Maximum Protein Synthesis)
Optimal Meal Frequency
The goal when eating protein is not to just build muscle but how to build muscle in the quickest way. Meal frequency is a main contributor to this and the amino acid Leucine. To go against the grain is an understatement which the recent studies showing what the optimal meal frequency is. A popular misconception is that 6-10 meals a day every 2 hours is optimal. Studies show that 3-5 larger meals are superior and protein choice is important. Before we discuss the best protein sources we need to explain the importance of Leucine.
Leucine
Studies have shown that Leucine is the main trigger behind protein synthesis. It has been shown to stimulate protein synthesis to nearly the same extend as a full meal! This shows that Leucine is likely to be the major contributor for the anabolic effect of a meal.
Leucine is shown to stimulate protein synthesis which means that MPS could be dependent on levels of concentration of Leucine in a meal or protein source.
A study done by Padden-Jones tells us that an EAA (essential amino acid) supplement containing 2.8g of Leucine increased MPS by around 60% in adult humans! Also 4.4g - 8.3g Leucine to increase MPS by 50-70%. Looking at these figures it is likely that the optimal intake of leucine is 3-4g.
Optimal levels of leucine = 3-4g. This means every meal we should intake 3-4g of leucine. Leucine is an essential amino acid which means the body does not create it which means we must consume leucine from foods or supplements.
Here is a few examples of 3-4g of leucine in food. The amount of food in grams vary as the percentage of leucine in different protein sources is different.
An intake of 3-4g of Leucine per meal should be optimal. Leucine is an essential amino acid which means the body does not create it, we must consume Leucine from our diet or supplementation. Here are a few examples of how much of a certain protein source you need to consume to reach the 3-4g of Leucine level.
(Visit link in the author bio to see table)
By looking at that table you can have a rough idea of how much food you will need to intake to get the 3-4g of leucine. MPS duration lasts around 2 hours which could explain the reasoning on why most people recommend 6-8 small meals a day every 2-3 hours as the MPS duration only lasts 2 hours, logic now tells us that if we keep eating 2 hours and cause MPS we could ideally cause the body to be in MPS state all day. But unfortunately this is un-true as plasma Leucine levels last up to 6 hours and MPS cannot be stimulated until Plasma Leucine levels are back down to baseline, which takes up to around 6 hours.
The table shows roughly how much of the most popular protein sources are needed to reach 3-4 grams of Leucine. MPS will last roughly 2 hours, this explains the reasoning why most people recommend 6-8 small meals a day. The issue with this is that plasma Leucine levels last up to 6 hours and MPS cannot be stimulated until Plasma Leucine levels are back to baseline, this can take up to 6 hours!
Recap
- It is unlikely that consuming small amounts of protein over many meals will produce sustained elevations in MPS and muscle growth
- Plasma Leucine levels need to fall before they can be stimulated again.
Conclusion
MPS cannot be stimulated every 2-3 hours. It will take around 4-6 hours.
The study by Paddon-Jones tells us that consuming 2.8g of Leucine in-between meals could help improve MPS. He showed that a group consuming 2.8g of Leucine in-between meals had increased levels of MPS compared to a group just consuming the meals.
Supplement with Leucine in between meals to help optimize MPS.
Example
200lb male
5 meals ( 4-6 hours apart )
Goal: 4g leucine per meal
Protein Sources:
2x meals: whey (33g per meal)
2x meals: chicken (54g each meal)
1x meal: beef (51g)
Total daily protein = 225g
Scott Flear
Owner RugbyWarfare.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Flear
No comments:
Post a Comment