I'm beginning to hate protein. I know it sounds funny, but
it's true. Protein could be one of the most popular and
controversial topics in all of nutrition.
Protein has become the golden child of muscle building and
fat loss. Wanna build big muscles? Eat your protein. Wanna
lose fat and look like a fitness model? Eat your protein.
After all, every one knows you need to eat a minimum of 30
grams of protein every two to three hours.
Back in my earlier years, I drank my protein shakes and ate
my protein bars. I would constantly keep my protein intake
up around 250 grams per day. Why? Because I thought it
scientifically PROVEN that more protein equaled more muscle.
But now I'm not so sure.
Let's take a look at one of the research studies that the
'super-high protein advocates' always use to 'prove' that
eating protein after a workout makes you build muscle.
If you were in this study, this is how your day would have
gone...
You would show up at a research lab around 10 PM, and you
would go to sleep (no eating). The researchers would wake
you up around 6 AM and start poking and probing you (again
no eating). After a bunch of weighing and measurements, you
would start working out around 9 AM.
This would be one of the toughest workouts you have ever
done.
Most likely you would do 10 sets of 8 reps on the leg press
machine, followed by 8 sets of 8 reps on the leg extension
machine. All of your reps would be done at 80% of your one
rep max. Like I said, one brutal workout.
After your workout you would be given a drink that contains
3 to 6 grams of essential amino acids (the equivalent of a
glass of milk).
After that, the researchers would take measurements for the
next 4 hours and measure your rate of 'protein synthesis'.
This is pretty much the standard protocol for these types
of studies.
You know what they would find? An increase in protein
synthesis over those four hours.
What does this prove? that if you haven't eaten since 10 PM
the night before, do a brutal workout at 9 AM then drink a
glass of milk, you will increase your protein synthesis for
four hours!
So much for needing 30 grams of protein, and so much for
needing protein every couple hours.
You know what else?..the only reason I say protein
synthesis increases for 4 hours is because after 4 hours
the researchers stopped measuring! who knows how long you
would have stayed in a muscle building state. Some
researchers have estimated that a single workout can put
you into 'muscle building mode' for as long as 48 hours
after your workout!
Even more interesting is that researchers have found
similar results when they made people drink the amino acids
before their workout, and even when they made them wait and
drink the amino acids a couple hours after their workout!
Protein has a role in everyone's nutrition plan. And, it is
a very important nutrient that does play a role in building
and repairing muscles. From my understanding of the
research I think it makes sense to try and consume a small
amount of protein somewhere around the time you workout. I
just don't think we need to be paying good money for tubs
and tubs of the stuff, if the amount we get in our diets
will serve our purposes just fine.
----------------------------------------------------
Brad Pilon is a strength training and nutrition
professional and author of Eat Stop Eat. You can learn
about his new book "Eat Stop Eat" that is quickly changing
the way people think about dieting, by visiting
http://www.eatstopeat.com Brad Pilon is an expert
contributor at eFit-Today
http://www.efit-today.com/public/department59.cfm
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