Theres an article in the Dec. Ironman Magazine by Michael Gundii called Protein Pulse, its part 1 of a series and seems intriguing. It talks about studies w/ amino acid infusion, and theres an anabolic response from 30-120 min, then after that it stops to zero, eating protein after that has no effect on anabolism. He says that there are amino acid receptors on muscles that once stimulated downregulate. He says that only 2 meals are anabolic, the 1st meal and post-workout, that we’re only in an anabolic state for about 4 hours and not the remaining 20, and that only 2 meals are anabolic while others are wasted, at least in terms of protein. He also said the only way to resensitize receptors or increase receptors on the muscles is from a protein fast, or lifting weights. The article really got me interested and seems to be a case for eating more protein less frequently, a Warrior type Diet. Anyway, anyone else read the article and find it interesting???
I read that, and I’m VERY anxious to read the second part. It seemed to me that he was almost advocating two-a-days indirectly in order to increase the number of anabolic times periods. Of course, I don’t agree with training that much, but it was interesting nonetheless. I’m pretty pissed off that we have to wait until next month to read the rest, though. Oh well, that’s effective marketing for you…
You gotta be careful with this one, guys. The body is not a light or a computer that “switches on and off” between anabolism and catabolism. In fact, it is in a constant state of physiologic (and DYNAMIC) flux, in which anabolism and catablism are continuouly going on.
That being said…yes…there are periods of time when the equilibrium shifts MORE toward anabolism or catabolism, but to say that those processes are “on” at one time and “off” at others can lead you down a wrong path. It’s MUCH better to keep an adequate amino acid pool floating around in the blood stream (via increased protein intake) so that the body can pull from those pools when it requires additional protein synthesis (anabolism).
Yay more science backing the Warrior diet (well… in that direction)! Also… two meals a day sounds better than only eating at night! Did he mention how much protein to consume at these two meals? As much as possible?
Jagin, he didnt specify how much, but starts the article by talking about how most people ingest 30g every 2 to 3 hours, and this amount may be too much or too little based on when ingested. Based on the article, it seems that only large amounts are going to be recommended, but obviously less frequently. It seems that once you have protein, receptors become non-receptive for some time, so I would assume the best way to handle this is to pound as much protein as possible in a given meal. It also reminds me of a recommendation given by an author from this site some time ago, about taking in 50% of protein needs after working out, gotta look up the article again. Anyway, i’m utilizing a 1-2 meal diet right now, based on paleolithic eating. I’ll have some greens during the day, and a 2-2.5 lb. steak and some chicken right after I work out, be it afternoon or night. People have commented i’m looking more muscular, and ask how I stay so big eating only 1 meal a day, so, so far the feedback has been good. Its 100,000x more convenient than frequent eating and if it works i’m never gonna go back to it. Again, frequent protein meals havent been proven by science, and the article even supports the idea that frequent protein feedings are a waste, maybe worse, counterproductive to muscle gain and fat loss.
Pete, I remember while on the Warrior diet I could lose a lot of fat while even gaining muscle, so I hear you on that one. Unfortunately I decided to bulk up (got greedy) and ending up gaining much more fat than muscle (although John’s Massive Eating would have helped, but it wasn’t out at the time). Any how, I thik I’m gonna give this two meal deal a try. Pete – I noticed you said you eat chicken/stake after a workout. But what about high glycemic carbs for insulin to shuttle the protein to the muscle?
I know what your saying about the carbs to raise insulin levels, but I’ve heard that amino acids have their own mechanism to cause muscle hypertrophy, the exact meachanism i’m still unsure of. Even so, i’m getting leaner while building muscle, so there must be some reason. The real reason is i’m trying to be healthy while looking good as well, and I believe in Paleolithic eating. I dont think humans were designed to eat large amounts of carbohydrates, and that the insulin release is like poison to the body. If u have the time, check out an article by Dr. Ron Rosedale “Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects”, type it in the google search, its an incredible article on what insulin really does to us.
In general, I think one should be dubious when confronted with exercise and/or nutrition claims that seem to contradict established wisdom radically. Not that established wisdom never changes; it’s just that people have been at the iron game long enough to have a generally good idea of what works and what doesn’t. The only changes to established wisdom that are worth a darn, the only field-altering ones if you will, are minor. It seems highly unlikely that “Eat only once per day!” or “train only once every two weeks!” is going to be proven worthwhile at this point, whereas something like “get your post-workout nutrition from rapidly digestible sources!” is quite believable.
Joey, I totally agree with you. I’m not one to normally take advice from the muscle magazines, but once in a while an article catches my eye, and i’m always VERY skeptical about alterior motives. I also agree the article is a chance to plug their Recover-X product. But I still find the research interesting and supports what Dr. Marcus Jones wrote as well as Ori for his warrior diet. Zev, I understand what your saying but I still believe there is much to learn about nutrition and exercise. Theres still a lot of people who struggle with fat loss, even when they do follow their frequent protein feedings. I dont disagree with you, but I love to experiment w/ my body, i’m a human ginnea pig, and test out new theories. Thats why i’m giving this type of diet a chance. But everyone is different, I for one have lived on a (CKD, Anabolic Diet, Atkins) type diet for a VERY long time, believing it would work, but it did NOTHING for me but keep me fat. So sometimes revolutionary approaches arent suited for everyone, but if this plan continues to work I have no desire to eat frequently. I feel GREAT on an empty stomach and believe that detoxification does take place in an empty stomach, as well as elevated GH. I find it easier to eat strictly for 1 or 2 large meals, rather than 6x a day, where I have a tendency to crave more, lose control, lose my social life b/c I always need food available, and binge late at night. BTW, I’m on a mission to altering my body composition, and if i’m successful, I plan on writing a diet book.