Whey Protein Can Reduce Muscle Loss in Older Adults
Loss of muscle mass with age (sarcopenia) may be caused by a reduction of muscle protein synthetic response to food intake. A group of researchers set out to find which milk protein was the best for muscle protein accretion, and would therefore help stave off sarcopenia.
The older you get, the faster your muscles atrophy if you’re not regularly engaging in appropriate exercise. Additionally, older muscles do not respond well to sudden or intense bouts of exercise, so the key to avoiding sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is to challenge your muscles with intense exercise on a regular basis throughout your life-although it’s never too late to start.
Protein is essential for healthy muscle growth and maintenance, but as you age, your body becomes increasingly less able to utilize the protein in your food for building muscle, which makes the following information all the more important.
According to the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
“Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle, this effect is attributed to a combination of whey’s fast digestion and absorption kinetics and high leucine content.”
What Seperates Good Protein from Bad
There’s no shortage of whey products on the market, but unfortunately most of them will NOT give you the health benefits associated with high-quality whey.Most whey proteins are processed from ultra pasteurized milk and many are exposed to acid processing. Heat and acid damages the protein and makes it insoluble in water. Many cheap whey protein products are produced from acid cheese; they’re byproducts of acid processing, which is a cheap way to separate whey from the curd. Most of these whey products are rated below pet foods because of the inferior quality of the protein, which is actually more of a nitrogen waste product than one that will produce health benefits that are associated with whey.
In order to make these powders soluble in water they must add chemical flavors and detergents to restore flavor and solubility.
Overheated whey protein is a clearly an inferior form of whey that also changes its molecular shape. If you have taken biochemistry you will be familiar with optical isomers. Proteins in foods and in your body are in the L form, but processing used to produce some whey products produces damaging D optical isomers, which are not designed to be in your body. Depositing this D protein in your bone, brain and muscle is associated with accelerated aging. Accumulation of D proteins in the brain has been linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson.
If you are looking for a high quality whey and a good value stick with trusted brands like Optimum Health’s Pro Complete 40 or Intek Evolution Protein.
Improve Joint Function with Creatine and Resistance Training
Older adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA) may want to try a combination of creatine supplementation and resistance exercise, which was shown in a recent study to improve muscle strength and quality of life.
In the 12-week study conducted at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, researchers enrolled postmenopausal women with knee OA to participate in lower-limb resistance training. Half the women took a placebo, while the other half took 20 g/d of creatine for one week and 5 g/d for the other 11 weeks of the active intervention.
Women taking creatine had a significant improvement in physical function, both compared to the placebo group, and compared to their baseline scores. In addition, subjects consuming creatine showed improvements in physical function and stiffness subscales judged on WOMAC values, significant improvement in lower limb lean mass and in quality of life. Both groups had significant reductions in pain.
The Basics of Fat Burning Supplements
The Basics of Fat Burning Supplements
Fat burning supplements are a great way to safely accelerate the weight loss process. There are a number of good products on the market which approach the fat loss process from different pathways. We broke them down in simple terms below to help you pick the best option to support your fat loss efforts.
Lipotropics
Theoretically, lipotropics don’t burn fat. But what they can do is motivate your liver to expedite the flow of bile and fat from the gall bladder while reducing the amount of fat deposited. So rather than being stored as simple sugars, fat can be used to produce readily available energy. Lipotropics include products like BioRhythm Olio, MSI Liposlim and Intek CLA/ L-Carnitine.
Starch Inhibitors
Some of the most popular starch inhibitors are standardized bean extracts from Phaseolus vulgaris. They work by inhibiting the activity of alpha amylase, the digestive enzyme in charge of shuttling the hundreds of complex carbohydrates from your super-sized #3 to your stomach, legs and rear.
Starch inhibitors prevent carbs from being utilized by normal metabolic processes, allowing them to be swept away to toilet heaven.
Solid products in this category include Irwin Naturals 3 in 1 Carb Blocker and BSN Cheaters.
Thermogenics
By definition, thermogenic translates to “creating heat”. And where there’s heat, there’s hope. They work by stimulating and speeding up the bodies metabolic processes. This ultimately affects how many calories the body is able to use in the production of energy. Thermogenic formulas usually contain supplements such as7oxo DHEA, Bitter Orange, Guarana, Geranium extract and a long list of others.
Among the best thermogenics are Intek Thermogenic, MSI Diet Revolution, and BioRhythm Adrenalean.
Cortisol Suppressors
Judging by today’s high stress, road rage-centric way of life, it’s a miracle that we all don’t weigh in somewhere above the 300 lb range. When you get stressed, be it from exercise, bar brawls or being chased by your boss with a machete, your body releases a stress-induced catabolic hormone called cortisol. Not only does it have an influence on how much fat you store, it can also leave you depressed, sluggish and unmotivated. Supplements such as phosphatidyl serine help balance how much cortisol your body releases after stressful situation.
To reduce cortisol and keep your body from storing fat try NOW Foods phosphatidyl serine, BioRhythm Relax and Chill or BioRhythm Synthrolean.
Essential Fatty Acids
We haven’t become such a grossly obese nation because we’re eating too much fat. It’s because we’re not eating enough. At least, not enough good fat. Yes, there is such a thing as good fat. And without it, your body becomes prone to storing the overwhelming amounts of saturated fats you scarf down on a daily basis. Mono and polyunsaturated fats (especially the essential fatty acids Omega-3 and -6) actually make it possible for your body to utilize the total fat from your diet more effectively, provided that you’re getting them in balance.
For fat loss purposes try BioRhythm Olio, or MSI Liposlim both of which use the ideal blend of EFA’s with CLA and other potent ingredients for mobilizing stubborn body fat.
Appetite Suppressants
Do you have an appetite that just won’t stop? If so, it’s more than likely you’re struggling to have success with weight loss since you can’t stop eating! Many people deal with this issue, not only because of a high physiological hunger, but also because of psychological factors at work with our appetite. Ever walk through the food court in the mall and find yourself feeling slightly hungry? Odd how you were not hungry beforehand.
Appetite suppressants typically have some level of stimulants in them so make sure you understand your tolerance to stimulants before choosing a product. Some of the best in this group are MSI Diet Revolution, Rocket Fuel, and Intek Fat Burner Evolution.
Thyroid Regulating Fat Burners:
For other individuals, their thyroid may not be producing enough of the hormones to keep their metabolism working at an effective rate. When this happens, a slowed metabolism results, often accompanied by a weight gain, feelings of fatigue, and feeling cold all the time. Thyroid regulating fat burners serve to fix this issue by supplying the two main substances that the thyroid would normally produce, guggulsterone and forskolin. They also often contain a combination of other ingredients that help to increase the metabolic rate and keep the thyroid working effectively.
Best in class products for optimizing thyroid performance include BioRhythm Synthrolean, Tri Pharm Incinerate, and Ultra Lean FX from BioRhythm.
Why Recovery Matters for Results and How to Improve It through Post-Workout Nutrition.
Three physiological events must be addressed for optimal recovery as it applies to strength training, power training or endurance training. Unfortunately, no trainee is immune to the following post-exercise phenomena. These three factors are as follows:
1. Glycogen Stores are low
2. Protein Breakdown is increased
3. Muscle Protein Balance is negative
For those not well versed in physiological jargon, here’s a little explanation of each:
Glycogen is muscle energy. Low glycogen stores mean that there’s less cellular energy for daily life and certainly less energy for subsequent workouts. In this situation, training and performance suffer.
Protein Breakdown indicates that body tissues (which are made of protein) are being degraded. Increases in protein breakdown can lead to losses of muscle mass.
Muscle Protein Balance is regulated by the balance between Protein Synthesis and Protein Breakdown in the following way:
After a hard workout your muscles are torn down, glycogen is depleted, and you may have even entered catabolism. The only way to stop this is by feeding them the nutrients that they need. Studies show that carbs are stored as glycogen 125% more efficiently directly after working out than any other time during the day. Also, protein synthesis (the building of new muscle) is highly elevated. It only makes sense to take advantage of this time and feed your muscles what they need to repair.
Studies have also shown, that athletes who take in carbs and protein after working out have increased levels of growth hormone and insulin versus those who just drank water. As many probably already know, these are two out of the three main hormones needed for muscle growth (testosterone being the third). By taking in carbohydrates after working out you elevate these hormones and prevent protein breakdown and excretion thus maintaining a more positive nitrogen balance. Post workout is also when your body can best absorb and utilize amino acids and supplements like creatine.
As a result of these three post workout phenomena, a failure to rapidly bring the body back into recovery mode (i.e., to increase glycogen stores, to increase protein synthesis, and to prevent protein breakdown), has several potential consequences:
-Prolonged muscle soreness and fatigue.
-Poor subsequent performances on the track, field, and/or in the gym.
-Symptoms of and or full-fledged staleness and overtraining.
-Minimal gains in muscle mass despite a well-designed training program.
-Losses of muscle mass and a secondary lowering of metabolic rate can occur if volume and intensity get high enough
It is also interesting to note that too much protein could be counterproductive. A very high protein meal can actually cause a release of glucagon. Glucagon is a hormone that antagonizes insulin release. So if you eat some protein with carbs, insulin shoots up. If you eat too much protein with carbs, the insulin release may actually be lower. And if this weren’t bad enough, glucagon also has another function that we want to avoid. The darn stuff causes the body to convert amino acids into glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis). So take in too much protein and say goodbye to that special amino acid ratio. Instead those aminos become carbs to be used for energy.
Recovery comes down to taking very specific nutrients at the right time. After Glow by BioRhythm is an ideal post workout recovery product based off of research done at the University of Texas. After Glow addresses all three of the post workout recovery components outlined above and is one of the best tasting products you will ever come across.