Beware of Synthetic Vitamins
If you shop for your supplements at discount stores you may be seriously shortchanging yourself because those products typically use cheap synthetic isolates.
Millions gorge themselves on synthetic vitamins, only to acquire and die from degenerative diseases.
You see, isolated vitamins are partial vitamins, combined with other chemicals. They’re a low-end alternative to whole, real complete food. When you remove a part from the whole, you get ‘Synthetic,’ ‘Isolated,’ or ‘Fractionated’ pieces of the whole, but it’s simply not the same.
There are four problems with synthetic vitamins…
- Nature intended for you to consume food in WHOLE form because all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes are together in one package. They work synergistically to give your body the nutrition it requires for optimal health.
- Your body only absorbs a small percentage of an isolate form of vitamins and minerals – and it utilizes even less. You get the best bioavailability in whole food form.
- Synthetic vitamins often give you massive quantities of some nutrients (usually the most inexpensive ones) and insufficient quantities of others, not balance.
- You can experience side effects of synthetic isolates from the additives and the unnatural state of the synthetic supplement.
You’ve heard it before… Fast food and a sedentary lifestyle can be a disaster for your health.
Don’t let your multivitamin add to the collateral damage. In fact, you want to be sure it makes a real and significant contribution to your health, especially if you’ve already adopted healthy lifestyle practices.
Check out ANS Natural Vita Greens for a good whole food based multivitamin.
The Importance of Nutrient Timing
The importance of nutrient timing has been one of the most important concepts discovered by sports nutritionists in the last 40 years. More recently, scientists discovered that feeding protein-carbohydrate supplements before or after resistive exercise caused greater increases in strength and muscle mass than training alone. At first, we thought that supplemental protein provided amino acids for increased muscle protein growth. Research show that amino acids from protein act as signaling chemicals that activate genes involved in protein synthesis. High-quality protein supplements fed immediately before and after training increased muscle mass and some measures or strength more than placebo or weight training alone. Whey protein supplements consumed before and after weight training are best for increasing muscle strength and size.
Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Can Increase Insulin Response
Insulin is a powerful anabolic hormone that increases muscle growth. It speeds the movement of amino acids into muscle cells and activates signaling chemicals that promote protein synthesis. Blood glucose is a powerful insulin stimulator, but amino acids can also trigger insulin release. Many athletes take protein or amino acids supplements before or after weight training to boost muscle mass and strength. The amino acids from protein act as building blocks for muscle repair and protein synthesis. Hydrolyzed whey protein has been shown to increases insulin release more so than regular whey protein. Hydrolyzed whey protein contains protein hydrolysates which are small packets of amino acids produced by breaking down proteins with acids or enzymes. Insulin release was 28 percent greater following ingestion of HWP compared to WP. The body absorbs HWP better than WP, which results in higher blood levels of specific aminos and greater potential for muscle protein synthesis.
For a great tasting product that uses Hydrolyzed whey protein try Intek Isolate Evolution.
Low Carb Diets May Reduce Inflammation
Inflammation promotes blood vessel disease, heart attack and stroke. Researches found that a low-carbohydrate diet reduced markers or inflammation and blood fats better than a low-fat diet in people with MS. MS is a group of symptoms linked to poor metabolic health that include insulin resistance, abdominal fat deposition, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low HDL (the good cholesterol), inflammation, type 2 diabetes and blood-clotting abnormalities. Low-carb diets reduced inflammation and improved blood-clotting regulation better than low-fat diets in people with MS.
Protein Supplements Shown to Increase Protein Synthesis
Protein supplements taken before or after weight training increase protein synthesis and decrease protein break-down. Research has found that consuming protein and carbohydrates every 15 minutes during a 2-hour weight-training workout reduced protein breakdown by 8.4 percent and increased protein synthesis by 33 percent compared to when they took a carb alone. Consuming the supplement during exercise increased blood levels of critical amino acids, such as BCAA’s phenylalanine and tyrosine. This still worked even when test subjects had eaten recently. In conclusion consuming protein during weight training stimulates full-body and muscle protein synthesis.
Arginine May Reduce Fat and Promote Lean Muscle
Overfeeding gradually leads to increased fat mass. Arginine supplements prevented fat accumulation in rats fed high-calorie diets. In a study genetically obese rats were fed diets high or low in fat. Fat pad weights were 74 percent higher in rats fed a high-fat diet. Supplementing their diet with arginine reduced fat increase by 50 percent. Arginine treatments resulted in lower blood levels of leptin (weight controlling hormone), glucose, triglycerides, urea, glutamine and branched-chain amino acids. The arginine-fed rats also had higher levels of nitric oxide, an important marker of metabolic health. If these results apply to humans, taking arginine supplements might be useful in athletes trying to gain quality weight.
Soy and Male Reproductive Health
Soy foods, such as tofu, soy meat substitutes, soymilk, soybeans and soy ice cream contain chemicals called isoflavones that bind weakly with estrogen receptors on the male reproductive system. Most studies showing negative effects on the male reproductive function used animals. A study found that men who ate two servings or more a week of soy foods had lower sperm counts than men who ate less soy. The soy had no effect on ejaculate volume, sperm structure or sperm activity. The most effected were obese men. The effects of soy protein on male reproductive function and testosterone levels are highly controversial.