Part 3
We digest protein into amino acids which are transported through our bloodstream to repair our damaged muscles. Amino acids circulating in our bloodstream need to be let into the cells they are trying to repair to do their job – our bodies must secrete insulin in order for this to happen. For example, if we were to drink some branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) we immediately absorb these into our bloodstream, but without producing an insulin secretion, we cannot use these BCAA’s to repair our muscles. Our previous recommendation for BCAA consumption prior to fasted training works because resistance training elicits an insulin response.
Once amino acids are circulating in our bloodstream, it takes about 3-4 hours for this amino acid concentration to reach baseline again. Once we reach baseline, we will not be repairing our muscles anywhere close to what we were right after eating. For this reason, it is best practice to eat at least 25g protein every 3-4 hours (25g has been found to be the minimum threshold to “maximally” stimulate MPS). Protein sources that come from animals are our best bet, as we know our bodies produce more testosterone (testosterone is the MOST useful hormone with regards to strength improvements and body fat loss) by eating animal fats. It can be difficult to always have access to animal sources of protein, so we recommend eating something easy to prepare like a protein bar, Greek yogurt, or drinking a protein shake when we are unable to get a full meal at this 3-4 hour mark.
If you are someone who truly wants to maximize their nutrition and recovery strategies, at this point you may be wondering “if we want to always keep MPS elevated above baseline by eating a minimum of 25g protein every 3-4 hours, aren’t we wasting a large portion of the day by not keeping these levels elevated when we sleep?” The answer is: yes, we are wasting time. In order to combat this, we can use casein protein right before bed. Whey protein is very similar to animal sources of protein where MPS remains elevated for ~3-4 hours but casein actually doubles this to 6-8 hours before MPS returns to baseline – almost a full night of sleep! This slower circulation also comes with a slower absorption rate so while 25g of whey “maximally” stimulates MPS, you need twice as much casein (50g) to accomplish the same goal. Drinking a protein shake with 50g of casein right before bed will allow us to keep MPS elevated for most if not all of the time we spend sleeping – this way we can actually be consistently recovering for every minute of every day. Although for different reasons, this process of slower nutrient digestion and absorption also occurs when we eat large meals.
As previously mentioned, 25g of whey protein maximally stimulates MPS. This elevation in bloodstream amino acids lasts for 3-4 hours – the same applies for 25g of protein (3 Oz.) from chicken breast. This changes when we eat anything other than just protein in a meal. Most of the time we eat we are not exclusively eating protein. When our stomach needs to concentrate its efforts to digest carbs and fat in addition to protein, this process takes slightly longer and the increase in MPS is smaller in magnitude (this means we do not “maximally” stimulate MPS). So what this means for us, is that on average, when eating well-balanced meals consisting of protein, carbs, and fat, we should aim to eat between 45-70g of protein as this will allow us to still maximally stimulate MPS regardless of our bodies rate of absorption. When eating meals with mixed nutrient absorption, the previously mentioned MPS elevation of 3-4 hours, now changes to 4-5 hours. This is something we need to consider for instances like fueling strategies where if we eat too much too soon before an activity, our performance can decrease due to nausea and stomach cramps.
To this point we have discussed how much protein to eat but only briefly mentioned which protein sources and how often we should be trying to eat. Piecing together the information presented above, we should be trying to eat at least 25g of protein per meal to maximally stimulate MPS (45 – 70g protein for larger meals). We want to try to eat every 3-4 hours with any size meal. Even though MPS does not reach baseline at 3 hours with larger meals, we still want to keep MPS elevated as much as we can throughout the day. If you are someone who has a hard time eating every 3-4 hours, a good strategy is to alternate what you eat with each protein “feeding”. We can have a full meal, then around the 3-4 hour mark, if we are not hungry, we can have a protein snack like a protein bar, shake, or Greek yogurt (as long as it has at least 25g of protein). This way, we can keep MPS elevated throughout the day and don’t let our hunger stop us from meeting our goals! The amount of protein we eat in a day might be the most important part of eating for strength gain or muscle growth, but the type of protein we eat is also incredibly important.
Part 4
Our body digests protein sources into amino acids that are circulated through the bloodstream. Of the 20 amino acids, 9 are essential, meaning that our bodies cannot make these on its own. Because of this, we need to ensure we consume protein sources with complete amino acid profiles (consisting of essential amino acids). For the most part, it is relatively easy to get plenty of complete protein sources because all animal sources of protein have complete amino acid profiles. Specifically, leucine and isoleucine are the two most important amino acids we need to make sure we are eating – without these, our body will not understand how to utilize these amino acids to repair our muscle cells. Most of us will not have a hard time eating plenty of complete proteins but for those who practice a vegetarian or vegan diet, it can be tricky.
When investigating plant sources of protein, it can be easy to think that we are getting some protein in because we are literally eating protein. The difficult part comes when we realize that the protein source we just ate does not contain leucine or isoleucine. Below is a list of some of the protein sources that are either complete or incomplete to help guide your decision-making process:
Incomplete:
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Whole Grains
- Legumes (lentils, peas)
- Beans
- Rice
- Vegetables
Complete:
- Meat
- Poultry
- Fish
- Eggs
- Dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese)
- Whey
Complete Vegan/Vegetarian Options:
- Soy
- Buckwheat
- Quinoa
- Chia seed
- Spirulina
- Tempeh
- Amaranth
This is not an exhaustive list, but a good place to start. Just because protein sources are incomplete, that does not mean we cannot complete them ourselves. For example, let’s say for lunch you eat rice and chicken. If you were to eat the rice alone, our body would be unable to utilize those amino acids to repair our muscle cells, however, if we were to eat the same amount of rice in addition to chicken, the leucine and isoleucine from the chicken will then allow us to utilize the amino acids from the rice to repair our muscles and make us stronger. For those who do not eat meat, we can still utilize the same strategy of completing our amino acid profiles ourselves, but this will require considerable knowledge of amino acid profiles regarding a wide range of vegan and vegetarian food options. An easy way to complete our amino acid profiles is to make sure that we are eating at least 1 complete protein source with each meal (reference list above). To this point, we have discussed general timing strategies, but what nutritional strategies can we take before and after our training sessions to maximize our recovery?
In the past article titled: “Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition Strategies for Strength Training” we discussed why it is a good idea to train in the “fed state” and how we have increased nutrient absorption following exercise. For these reasons, we recommend that you have a meal before training to begin recovery at the onset of training (25g protein and ~33g carbs -1 hour before training, for full meals, give at least 2-2.5 hours). We experience increased nutrient absorption, much like how MPS remains elevated, for 3-4 hours depending on the intensity of our training. This timing works out perfectly because if we have a protein shake immediately following training, MPS level will begin to dissipate around 3 hours so we can get two “protein feedings” in this “anabolic window” following exercise.
If we implement all the nutritional strategies discussed in this article, we will ensure that we are maximizing your recovery with what we eat! If you or anyone you know wants to improve their training, diet, or body composition, give us a call (312-666-7147) or send us an email (info@performancetrainingsystems.com) and one of our many qualified professionals will be happy to help in any way we can!
