Free Nutrition and Supplement Articles

Are You Cheating Yourself Out Of 50% or More Of Your Hard-Earned Results?

By Nick Nilsson

What Every Trainer, From Beginner to Advanced, NEEDS To

Know About Post-Workout Nutrition and The Four-Hour

Window of Opportunity.

I have one question for you. What is your post-workout nutritional regimen?

If you answered "nothing," you are cheating yourself out of results that are rightfully yours. You may be wasting as much as 50% of your effort in the gym by not maximizing your post-workout nutrition!

When you exercise, your body burns carbohydrates for energy and breaks down your muscle tissue (especially if you are weight training). Immediately after a workout, the body has an enhanced ability to utilize nutrients such as glucose (sugar) and protein (your body's main building blocks) in order to rebuild and recover from your exercise.

What this essentially means is that your body is turbocharged and ready to grow! This period of power lasts for approximately four hours after a workout, hence the name "Four-Hour Window of Opportunity."

Taking in nutrients immediately after exercise helps you to recover faster and feel better after a workout. This can help you to not only gain muscle faster, but also keep your metabolism fueled so that you lose fat at a faster rate too!

But what happens if you don't eat immediately following a workout? Let me put it this way: it's definitely a situation you want to avoid.

First, your body starts breaking down muscle tissue in undamaged areas of your body in order to get raw materials to help repair the areas you just worked. Over time, this will result in a loss of muscle from your whole body.

Stress hormones in the body (primarily a hormone called cortisol) speed this process along. The stress hormones are produced because working out is a stress on the body - it's a totally natural but results-stopping reaction. How do you control the effects of cortisol? You eat as soon as you can.

But what do you eat after a workout to maximize your results? Both protein and carbohydrates are important for fast recovery.

Protein - Immediately following a workout (within a few minutes of completion) take in some protein. The easiest and best way to do this is in the form of a protein powder (whey is an excellent choice), though a food source such as milk will do.

Taking protein gives your body something to rebuild with instead of tearing down its own muscle tissue for raw materials. Do not take protein right before a workout as it will just sit in your gut and possibly cause bloating. Try to get about 30 to 40 grams of protein in as soon as you can after you're done.

Carbohydrates - Take in about 60 to 100 grams of carbohydrates to help the body refuel. Your body is most efficient at rebuilding its carbohydrate stores immediately after a workout. It's important to take advantage of this period.

A few common examples of healthy carbs to take after a workout include juices, fruits, and sports drinks. Examples of protein foods include milk, eggs, poultry, fish, meat, or soy products. Flavored yogurt is an excellent example of a post-workout snack. It contains carbs, protein and calcium all in one.

Post-Workout Meal - About one hour after your workout, take in a high quality source of protein (as in the examples above) and a good supply of carbohydrates such as grains, potatoes, cereals, etc. At this time, the body has settled down from the stress of the workout and is looking to rebuild.

If you're looking to get as much from your workouts as you possibly can, you can see that post-workout nutrition is critical. By supplying an ample amount of raw materials right after you're done, you will be preventing the body from breaking itself down in order to recover. This means more results from the effort you put into your workouts!

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

I Didn't Realize How Important Protein Was For Fat Loss Until I Discovered Something That Blew My Mind...

By Nick Nilsson

Learn why protein is the often-forgotten critical factor in fat loss.

The year was 1992. I had just finished a long cycle of weight gain whereupon I had moved my bodyweight up from about 150 pounds to about 215 pounds. And let me just tell you, it wasn't all muscle!

I hadn't been all that careful about my diet previously but I thought I knew pretty well what I was doing. It was time to lose some of that fat.

The first thing I did was make the biggest mistake a dieter can make: in my focus of trying to eat only low fat foods, I unwittingly and drastically reduced the amount of protein that I was eating.

The result? I lost weight and plenty of it. The problem was, I lost mostly muscle! I was smaller, weaker, lighter and nearly as fat as I was before. Not quite the results I was looking for.

In retrospect, I know exactly what I did wrong and it's something I'll never do again.

I FORGOT ABOUT PROTEIN!

Protein is an extremely important nutrient whether your goal is to lose fat, gain muscle or just tone yourself up. It is the main structural nutrient in your body, making up the bulk of your muscles and organs. Protein is essential for proper hormone function and immune system health. Most importantly, for our purposes, protein is used for building and repairing muscle tissue.

When you are trying to lose fat, you reduce your calories. Unfortunately, your body views fat stores as more precious than your muscle tissue and will tend to eat up muscle tissue before it goes to fat for energy. This physiological adaptation used to protect our ancestors from famine but works against us now.

This is very unfortunate because muscle tissue is a great calorie-burner. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you're doing absolutely nothing! Protecting your muscle tissue makes fat loss so much easier, it will amaze you. Not only that, it will help you keep that fat off permanently!

What can you do to protect your muscle tissue?

The first thing you can do is exercise. Exercise, especially resistance training, provides a stimulus for your body that sends it a signal saying "keep this muscle, you're going to need it."

The second thing you can do is provide your body with enough protein. This can be in the form of food or supplements.

Good food sources of protein include chicken, fish, eggs, lean meats, legumes (beans), soy, and dairy products. Protein supplements are derived from food sources but are concentrated for convenience and effectiveness.

How much protein do you need?

The standard recommendation for athletes is between 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (or 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound of bodyweight per day), though some research indicates a ratio as high as 2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (0.9 grams per pound) is beneficial. This means if you weigh 150 pounds, you should try to eat between 75 and 105 grams and up to around 135 grams of protein per day.

Essentially, you should experiment with your protein intake to find out what works best for you. As far as importance in your supplement program goes, I would rank protein as next in importance to a good multi-vitamin.

When I made my first grand attempt at fat loss, I made the mistake of neglecting protein and it cost me. Don't make the same mistake I did!

How to Maximize The Results You Get From Your Protein Powder. Timing Is Everything!

Whether it be for fat loss or muscle gain, I always recommend taking a good protein supplement. The reason for this is simple: it is a convenient way to get high-quality protein without excess calories.

Be aware, however, that in no way am I advocating that you live on protein powder (like the dangerous Liquid Protein diets that used to be popular) alone. The key point to understand here is that a protein supplement is exactly what the name suggests: a supplement. It should be taken in addition to a nutritious diet in order to achieve a certain purpose, in this case increased protein intake.

Protein powders and protein bars can also be used as meal replacements on occasion, especially when you are on the go. They are far more nutritious than a fast food meal and more convenient.

The most popular and highest quality protein powder is whey protein. Whey is very digestable and is used efficiently in the body.

You can maximize the effects you get from your protein supplement simply by knowing exactly when to take it. Here is a list of the when, why and how of effective protein supplementation, ranked in order of importance.

1. Immediately After A Workout

If you only take protein once per day, this is the absolute best time to take it. Immediately after you finish your workout, your body needs raw materials to rebuild and recover with. If you don't supply the raw materials through eating, your body will break down muscle from elsewhere in your body in order to rebuild the damaged areas. This is very counterproductive as you can well imagine.

By taking in some protein (20 to 30 grams or so) within minutes after exercise, you provide your body with the raw materials it needs to recover without breaking down it's own muscle tissue.

2. An Hour After A Workout

About an hour following a workout, your body has settled down from the excitement and is ready to really start rebuilding. The protein that you took in immediately following the workout has been metabolized and your body is looking for more. Another protein shake at this time is a good way to help speed recovery. Try to take in another 20 to 30 grams about an hour after working out.

3. First Thing In The Morning

Immediately upon waking, or as soon after that as you can manage, take a scoop of protein powder. Your body has just been through an (approximately) 8 hour fast and is hungry for nutrients. Feed your body!

Protein powder is more quickly assimilated than solid food and gets into your muscles faster. This protein shot gives your metabolism a boost, which can help with fat loss. Be sure to follow it with a good breakfast, of course.

4. Last Thing At Night

Prepare your body for the long overnight fast by giving it a little something to work with. A good combination for this purpose is to mix a scoop of whey protein in with a small glass of milk.

Whey is what's known as a "fast" protein, meaning that it's digested quickly, while milk protein (casein) is what's known as a "slow" protein, meaning it's digested relatively slowly. At night, you want your protein to be metabolized slowly so that your body gets a more even supply over the course of the night. By mixing "fast" and "slow" proteins, you get the benefits of the higher-quality whey with the slower digestion time of the milk.

5. In-between Meals

A quick protein shake can be a great snack in between meals. It helps keep your body supplied with protein all day long. This is especially useful if you tend to have long periods of time in-between meals. It could mean the difference between losing muscle and building or keeping muscle!

6. With Meals

Taking a protein supplement with meals is a handy way to increase the protein content of a meal. This is perfect for when you ake

a meal that is somewhat low in protein.

7. In The Middle Of The Night

This is a trick that bodybuilders sometimes use in order to keep their muscles supplied with protein throughout the night. Keep a pre-mixed protein shake right beside your bed. Although some trainers have been known to set alarms to wake up to drink it, I prefer to have it there waiting just in case I wake up, but I don't try to wake up on purpose. If I don't wake up, it's right there ready for me to drink first thing in the morning! This strategy is more targeted for muscle growth rather than fat loss.

WARNING!

Never drink a protein supplement immediately before working out!

Some people do this thinking that it will give them an energy boost or give them a head-start for post-workout recovery. Basically, all it does is sit in their stomach and bloat them up. Valuable blood that should be going to working muscles gets sent to the digestive system to try and digest it. The same warning goes for taking protein during a workout. Don't do it!

By following these protein-intake recommendations, you will increase the effectiveness of your supplementation. Even if you choose to take advantage of only one or two of these timing techniques, you will certainly see an improvement in your recovery ability.

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The Atkins Diet - Separating Fact From Fiction

By Nick Nilsson

Have you ever wished for a diet where you ate bacon, eggs,

red meat, butter and sausage all day? Surprise!

It's not the Atkins Diet.

The Atkins Diet has been in existence for over 30 years and has enjoyed a surge in popularity over the last few years.

Pioneered by Dr. Robert Atkins, the theory behind the Atkins Diet is simple. Your body prefers to utilize carbohydrates (such as in grains, cereals, breads, etc.) for energy and will burn them first prior to body fat. By cutting down dramatically on carbohydrates in your diet, you force your body to burn fat for energy.

Reducing the carbohydrates in your diet puts your body into a state called "ketosis." This word is derived from the "ketones" that are used by your body for energy when sugars/carbs aren't available. When you are in this state of ketosis, your body is producing ketones from your fat that is being burned for energy. Ketones are essentially the leftovers from this process and are used in place of sugar in the body.

One of the major misconceptions about the Atkins Diet that has been widely reported is that you can or should eat extremely unhealthy, fatty foods all the time. This is not actually true. Dr. Atkins recommends that you limit your intake of these types of foods (e.g. butter, sausage, bacon, etc.) and instead focus on healthy fats such as olive oil, fish oil, nuts, etc.

The Atkins Diet has many positives and negatives that have been associated with it. Some of the positives include:

Rapid Weight Loss - though the first couple of days the majority of weight lost is water, your body does become more efficient at fat burning and you do lose fat.

Reduced Mood or Energy Swings - eating carbohydrates (especially sugary ones) can lead to mood and energy swings. This is often seen as the post-lunchtime or afternoon energy crash. When you eliminate the carbs, you eliminate the source of this problem.

Reduced Consumption of Refined Foods - highly refined foods are the source of many health problems. The more processed a food is, the less nutrients are generally in it. The Atkins Diet encourages a focus on the consumption of more natural state foods such as vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs and healthy oils.

Some of the negatives that have been associated with the Atkins Diet include:

Rapid Regaining of Lost Weight - this can happen when a person comes off the Atkins Diet. They regain all the weight they lost. One of the major reasons for this is that when you eliminate the carbs from your diet for a long period of time, your body becomes more sensitive to them. When you go back to your regular eating habits (which may not have been great to begin with), your body reacts more strongly to the sugar and carbs in foods, leading to weight gain. This weight gain can be reduced by easing off the Atkins Diet gradually rather than by feasting on carbohydrates.

Lack of Food Choices - it can be difficult to find things to eat that are low carb. Most grocery stores are primarily stocked with carbohydrate-laden foods and it can get boring eating the same things over and over again. Luckily, with the popularity of the Atkins diet and other low carb diets, there are many delicious recipes available to help alleviate this boredom.

The Atkins Diet may not be for you but by incorporating some of the principles in it, such as lowering your carbohydrate intake and eating more natural-state foods, you may find that you can achieve great results without ever having to restrict yourself. It may take a little longer but the results will be more permanent as it is more of a lifestyle change than a diet.

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Low-Carb Backlash - Is the Low-Carb Cookie Crumbling?

By Nick Nilsson

The Low-Carb Diet has seen a tremendous upsurge in

popularity, but are its days numbered? The answer and the

reasons may surprise you.

Low-Carb Diets, such as the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet, can be extremely effective for fat loss and weight control. You've no doubt known or heard of someone going on a low-carb diet and dropping 10 pounds or more in a week. Low-carb diets are very popular for their rapid results. Who wouldn't want fast results like this?!

As popular and effective as low-carb diets are, how can there possibly be a significant downturn in the low-carb diet's popularity? After all, aren't low-carb diets supposed to allow people to eat as much low-carb food as they want still lose weight?

Low-carb backlash (people turning against low-carb dieting) and low-carb diet failure is a reality and I'm going to tell you the reasons why. Before I do, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: I believe low-carb diets do have their place in nutritional science. They can be a very valuable dietary strategy and can be very effective for fat loss. I actually incorporate proper low-carb eating into my fat loss program "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss!" It's the misinformation and bandwagon profiteering currently becoming associated with low-carb diets that really create the problems we're seeing now with low-carb diets.

1. Manufactured Low-Carb Junk Foods Are Sabotaging Low-Carb Diets

One of the major reasons people used to lose so much weight on low-carb diets was that there was a very limited selection of foods to choose from. These foods (like fish, meats, poultry, salads, vegetables, etc.) are primarily unprocessed and natural.

Enter: big business. Spying the chance to make a profit, big food manufacturers (and even little ones) saw a way to create a whole new market for themselves in the form of manufactured low-carb foods. Out came the low-carb cookies, cakes, chips and desserts. Basically, all the garbage foods that a person wasn't previously allowed to eat on a low-carb diet suddenly became available to eat again.

So we're right back to square one with people eating junk food. The problem is, now people think they can eat as much of it as they want because it's "low-carb!" If this sounds to you like the "I can eat all the ice cream I want because it's zero fat" attitude commonly found with low-fat foods, you're absolutely right.

Just because a food is "low-carb" doesn't necessarily mean it's good for you or that you can eat as much of it as you want. It's most likely not going to be low-calorie and don't be fooled...even on a low-carb diet, calories do count. If you take in more calories than you burn, you're not going to lose fat, you're going to gain it.

The next time you're at the grocery store, look at the nutritional information on the label of a low-carb food package, specifically serving size. One small low-carb cookie could give you 10 grams of carbs with another 10 grams in sugar alcohol. The person who is buying low-carb cookies to satisfy their craving for carb foods is not going to eat just one cookie. A few cookies later, they've eaten their entire carb allotment for the day and what nutritional redemption do they have to show for it (and creme-filled goodness doesn't count)!

With the current tremendous availability of low-carb junk food, a person doesn't have to eat fish, meat, eggs, salads and vegetables, which should be the focus of a low-carb diet. They can eat the same garbage that got them fat in the first place.

This is one of the main reasons low-carb diets are starting to fail and why there is a growing resentment towards low-carb dieting. Unknowingly, people have undermined their dieting efforts by supporting food manufacturers who make highly-processed, low-carb junk food. People want to believe that they can continue to eat the same foods they're comfortable with and still lose fat.

The problem is, you just can't keep doing the same things you're doing and expect different results.

As an aside, not only are these foods sabotaging low-carb diets, they actually cost a lot more than their normal counterparts (I've seen a small loaf of low-carb bread for six dollars)! People are paying more money for products that are screwing up their diets.

2. Too Much Emphasis on Unhealthy, High-Calorie, Fatty, Low-Carb Foods

A low-carb diet is not a "bacon and butter diet." A low-carb diet is not a "sausage and Diet Coke diet." Granted, the fat in these foods is not as much of a problem when eating low-carb, but you should NOT base your eating habits on preservative-loaded, saturated-fat-packed, high-sodium foods. Just because you CAN eat them doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Dr. Atkins, in his diet program, actually discourages overuse of foods like this. He focuses more on unprocessed meats, fish, poultry, eggs, salads and vegetables, etc., rather than the bacon, butter and sausage. The general public seems to only get the sound-bite message from the "don't-confuse-us-with-the-facts" popular media, which is "eat all the bacon and butter you want and still lose weight." This is not and should not be the focus of any low-carb diet.

Why is eating fatty foods like bacon and sausage contributing to a downturn in low-carb dieting? Because when it comes right down to it, these foods will never be healthy and should not be consumed in quantity. Not only are they full of saturated fat and preservatives, the high fat levels mean they are very high in calories. As I mentioned before, calories do count, even on a low-carb diet. If you take in more calories than you burn (which can easily happen when you eat 500 calories worth of bacon for breakfast) you're not going to lose, you're going to gain.

3. Turns Out Carbs Are Not Actually Evil

Carbs are everywhere. They're in many of the foods we love to eat. They're also in many of the very nutritious foods we SHOULD be eating. There is no denying that the human body is designed to efficiently use carbs for energy. Carbs are NOT inherently evil nor do all carbs need to be avoided like the plague.

The problem most people have with carbs is that they eat the wrong types of carbs. Enriched, pulverized, processed, sugary carbs are the carbs people have fattened themselves up on for years. These are the carbs that should be avoided and/or minimized.

Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are not the problem. They contain nutrients that are extremely important to the body and contribute to health and athletic performance. Look to high fructose corn syrup and enriched white flour and you'll find the source of the problem.

Most people truly WANT to eat carbs and SHOULD eat (proper) carbs, which makes it that much harder to stick to a low-carb diet. This is another major reason we're seeing resentment towards the low-carb lifestyle.

4. Missing Nutrients

The low-carb diet is a very unbalanced diet. Only eating from certain food groups will catch up with a person in the long run (potassium deficiency can be a BIG problem with low-carb diets). The body functions best when fed a variety of healthy foods and people on low-carb diets should be very careful to be sure they're getting enough varied nutrition. Unfortunately, as we know, most people aren't that careful.

If what you're eating is not giving your body the nutrition it needs, it will let you know. You will get strong cravings for the foods you're missing and you may even develop nutrient deficiencies. Not a good situation. For most people, a diet that can leave you vulnerable like this, if you're not careful, is not going to be effective in the long run.

*** If you are currently on a low-carb diet, be absolutely sure you are at the very least taking a good multivitamin! ***

5. Sugar Alcohol - The Great Pretender

Sugar alcohols simply DO NOT exist in nature in the quantities found in low-carb foods these days. When a body ingests a large amount of a substance it's not familiar with in large quantities, what's its reaction? Bingo - flush it out the other end as quickly as possible.

In fact, if you read the small print on some of the foods that contain sugar alcohols (such as maltitol and sorbitol), you'll see a little notice that reads: "Warning: excess consumption of this product may have a laxative effect."

Maybe it's just me but in my opinion, unless you're eating something like prunes where you know what you're getting into, the foods you eat shouldn't have a laxative effect (and "laxative effect" is the nicest way of putting it!). This reaction is the body's way of saying something is not supposed to be there.

Another point is this: foods that contain sugar alcohol also contain calories, which need to be accounted for in a fat-loss diet. Even though the "impact carb" count may be low, those non-impact carbs still have calories [the term "impact carb" only refers to carbs that affect insulin levels in the body] that can make you fat if you eat too many. You may be looking at a low-carb bar that contains 200 calories yet has only 1 gram of "impact" carbs! Those calories have to go somewhere.

For more information on "impact" and "net" carbs, read the following article:

Impact Carbs, Net Carbs and Effective Carbs - Is Marketing Slang Messing With Your Low-Carb Diet?

http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru&l=1049

You can just imagine there being resentment towards a diet that has you eating foods that have you sitting on the toilet half the day. You'll lose weight, certainly, but it's not going to be how you thought. Move over Olestra!

6. The Dreaded Low-Carb Plateau

What is the main reason people go on a low-carb diet in the first place? Results. So what happens when the results slow down and stop? That major motivation for being on the low-carb diet in the first place is gone.

If you're on a diet that is not only not working but is actually uncomfortable, expensive and, depending on how you're doing it, unhealthy, chances are you're not going to stick it with very long.

And this is what we're seeing quite a lot of. People are making the mistakes that I've outlined here by eating manufactured low-carb foods filled with sugar alcohol. They're missing carbs (and the nutrients associated with carbs) both mentally and physically. Their results are slowing down and stopping.

A significant downturn in the popularity of low-carb dieting is on the way and, unfortunately, it's leaving a lot of people more confused than ever about how and what to eat to lose fat and stay healthy.

My advice to you: if you're on a low-carb diet, leave the low-carb manufactured foods on the shelf and focus on unprocessed, natural foods. If you're not on a low-carb diet, do the same thing! Regardless of what type of diet you're on, a focus on foods that are unprocessed and closer to their natural state will help you burn fat and keep your body healthy.

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Common Sense Protein FAQ - Get Answers To Your Most Frequently-Asked Questions About Protein

By Nick Nilsson

How much protein do you need? How much protein can your

body absorb at once? Will excess protein make you fat?

Learn these answers and more!

Protein: it's the nutrient that is most commonly associated with weight training, yet it's also one of the most misunderstood! When it comes right down to it, when you train with weights, your body NEEDS protein.

But when it comes to using protein (both in supplement form and in food), there is a lot of confusion. In this FAQ, you're going to get common sense answers to some of the most controversial questions that people have about protein.

QUESTION #1:

How Much Protein Does Your Body Really Need?

ANSWER:

At its simplest, your body has a baseline protein requirement that depends on a two main factors: lean body mass (muscle) and activity (type and amount).

The more muscle your body carries, the higher your protein requirement. Also, the more intense, the more frequent and the longer the activity you perform, the more protein you need.

Studies on protein requirements that demostrate a greater need for protein often meet with much controversy in scientific literature. It seems sometimes, for some reason, that many in the scientific and nutritional community are actually anti-protein! In fact, you may have even witnessed a similar prejudice when it comes to supplements as simple as vitamins as well!

Bottom line: if you train with weights, your body is breaking down protein and you need to provide it with extra protein to help rebuild. Though the exact amounts that different sources recommend varies widely between 0.7 grams per pound of bodyweight (140 grams for a 200 lb person) to levels as high as 2 grams per pound of bodyweight (400 grams for a 200 lb person), there is a solution...

Experiment for yourself! Start with a moderate protein intake of 0.7 grams per pound of bodyweight and see how you feel and how your results are. The next week, increase your protein intake a little, adding about 20 to 30 grams to your daily total. See if that makes a difference. The following week, add a little more protein.

You may find that you need more protein than you've been taking or you may find that you don't need as much protein as you think!

QUESTION #2:

How Much Protein Can The Body Digest At One Time?

ANSWER:

There are many who suggest your body can't digest and use more than 30 to 40 grams of protein at a time. I've not seen convincing research on it to say if that's true or not.

Personally, using a common sense approach, I think we need to consider a few things.

1. Think about what state your body is in. If your body needs the protein (like after workout), I think it will use and digest more of it if it's available. Your entire metabolism is accelerated after a workout and protein use in the body shoots up. If protein is just eaten during the day, smaller servings of around 40 grams may well be better.

2. It's better to have more than you need than not enough when you need it. After a workout, I take in about 60 grams of whey protein, simply because, even if my body can't use it all, I'd prefer to have a little bit more than not have enough, which would slow down recovery.

The same can certainly apply during the day. A little extra protein that your body burns up or excretes is not going to have any appreciable negative effects. But, not having protein available when your body needs it can slow and stop muscle growth.

3. Protein doesn't digest all at once, especially with meals. Think about it this way, your stomach doesn't process and send out everything it digests all at once. It works on some, then sends some on its way. This applies more to meals than protein drinks but the fact remains, your body doesn't digest a whole meal all at once. It digest a little at a time. Think of it like time-release vitamin - your body doesn't use the whole all at once but uses it over the course of the entire digestion process.

4. Different people can handle different doses of nutrients other than protein. Does it makes sense that a 250 lb bodybuilder can only digest the same amount of protein as a 110 lb woman at one time? Different metabolic systems require and can handle different dosages.

Bottom line: The limit of 30 to 40 grams of protein at once? It could be right, it could be wrong. Just make sure you're getting plenty if and when your body needs it.

QUESTION #3:

Will Eating Too Much Protein Make You Fat?

ANSWER:

The quick answer to that question is yes. However, an excess of ANY nutrient (protein, carbs or fat) has the potential to make you fat. Of the three major nutrients, protein is the LEAST likely to do so as it's primarily a structural nutrient rather than an energy nutrient.

A common sense approach to answering this question would be to break it all down by numbers.

Consider this:

1 gram of protein contains 4 calories. Your body uses approximately 40% of the calories stored in protein to break it down and digest it.

Say you eat 300 grams of protein per day and your body only needs 150 grams. That's 150 extra grams of protein per day. Of those 150 grams (which yields 600 calories), the equivalent of 60 of those grams (240 calories) will be burned digesting the extra protein.

This leaves you with 360 extra calories. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. It's going to take a LOT of excess protein to fill up a pound of fat. Even then, if you're training hard, excess calories are burned to fuel activity (not necessarily from the protein itself but also from carbs and fat).

Bottom line: the fat-gaining effects of eating extra protein are negligible. You're better off making sure your body is getting enough protein when you're training hard.

QUESTION #4:

Do I Need To Take Protein Supplements?

ANSWER:

The answer to this question is both yes and no.

You DON'T need to supplement with protein if you're getting enough quality protein in your food in your regular diet. You also don't need to supplement if you are able to get your protein conveniently and when your body needs it (especially after a workout).

If you can get enough protein and get it when your body needs it, there's no need to supplement with it! Food sources of protein are absolutely fine and you can build and support muscle with them.

But here's the big "BUT!"

Food sources are good for daily protein requirements BUT you SHOULD supplement with protein if you're not able to get enough quality protein in your diet WHEN your body needs it.

The very best example of this is after a hard workout. Protein supplements are easily digested by your body and very convenient to simply drink after a workout. This is the time when your body needs protein the most and getting it to your muscles quickly is a top priority. Food sources of protein are just not digested as quickly as supplements for post-workout use. Supplements are an easy way to make sure your body has the protein it needs after a workout.

Also, if you have trouble getting enough protein on a regular basis throughout the day, a protein supplement is ideal for keeping your muscles supplied consistently. It's much easier to drink a protein shake than cook and eat a chicken breast!

Bottom line: while you don't always HAVE to take a protein supplement, sometimes it's a very good idea to. If nothing else, take a protein supplement IMMEDIATELY after a workout to maximize recovery and results.

QUESTION #5:

Will Eating Too Much Protein Harm My Kidneys?

ANSWER:

Only if you already have trouble with your kidneys. No studies have demonstrated damage to the kidneys with increased protein intake unless the kidneys are already damaged.

Drinking plenty of water can help the kidneys do their job of processing waste products, though! Keep in mind that there are many other variables at work in the body as well, including other bodily processes that could affect protein metabolism and excretion. If you have any concerns about protein and how your body uses it, I would definitely recommend you consult with your physician.

CONCLUSION:

These common-sense answers to frequently-asked protein questions should help you get a better idea of how you should look at and structure your protein consumption.

If you have any questions about protein intake or supplementation, including which supplements are recommended, please don't hesitate to contact me at betteru@fitstep.com.

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The Glycemic Diet - Does This "Heir-Apparent" to the Fading Low-Carb Diet Boom Hold The Key to Effective Fat Loss?

By Nick Nilsson

Learn the facts about how the Glycemic Diet works, how

well it works and if it's something that can help you

drop your extra fat quickly.

With the popularity of the Atkins/Low Carb diet fading rapidly, it was only a matter of time before the next "big thing" came along to replace it. Enter: the Glycemic Diet.

The premise of the Glycemic Diet is simple: carbs are not the bad guys-it's the TYPES of carbs you eat that are most important.

What Is It?

The Glycemic Diet is based on a scale called the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index (or G.I. for short) charts how quickly a food is converted into sugar in the body. Foods that have a higher G.I. number are converted into sugar more quickly than foods that have a low G.I. number, based on a scale of 1 to 100.

For example, straight glucose (which is straight sugar) has a G.I. number of 100, whereas a whole grain like barley has a G.I. number of 27. Proteins and fats, which have neglible impact on blood sugar, are generally not listed on the Glycemic Index, only carbohydrate containing foods.

So why is the G.I. number important? Insulin is secreted by the pancreas in response to increases in blood sugar in your body. Insulin is the primary storage hormone in your body and is used to help get nutrients into the different cells of your body. When blood sugar goes up, insulin is released to bring blood sugar back down by storing the sugar until a normal baseline is reached.

The faster a food is converted into blood sugar (e.g. with high G.I. foods), the higher the blood sugar levels get and the more insulin is secreted by the pancreas to help the cells of your body absorb the sugar. Your blood sugar decreases and your pancreas stops sending out insulin.

It's a simple "stimulus-response" system that works to keep blood sugar levels in balance in the body.

Now, that's all well and good but how does that affect your fat loss?

First, when insulin is present in the bloodstream, the body is in STORAGE mode and will NOT release fat from your fat cells to burn. So while blood sugar and insulin levels are high, your body isn't burning fat.

Next, while your blood sugar is up, your body is using that blood sugar for energy instead of fat. Sugar is the preferred fuel for your body because it's metabolically easier to use. This is why if you eat a carb-containing food before training, your body is going to be using primarily the sugar from that food for energy rather than your bodyfat AND, since insulin and blood sugar are present, your body is in STORAGE mode, not fat-burning mode.

[Quick Lesson - put away the Gatorade if you want to burn fat during your workout! Sports drinks have a G.I. number very near 100!]

Now comes the REAL fat loss killer...

When you eat a high G.I. food and your blood sugar levels rise very quickly, your body doesn't really know how much insulin to send out so it sends out quite a lot and keeps sending it out. The result: soon your body has sent out TOO MUCH insulin and your blood sugar levels drop BELOW normal levels.

When your blood sugar drops below normal levels, you may feel dizzy, nauseous, and (the killer for fat loss) immediately hungry for sugary foods. This is a natural defense mechanism as your body wants to get your blood sugar back up into the normal range as quickly as possible!

But then the vicious cycle starts. When you eat the sugary food to get the levels back to normal, blood sugar goes up again and BEYOND normal levels, which sends insulin levels back up again.