Guest post by Denis Faye
Protein Pile-up: Some science regarding everyone's favorite macronutrient

Got Protein? As of late, this macronutrient has become the darling of the sports world. As the battle rages on regarding the merits of carbs and fat, everyone seems to agree that you can't go wrong with protein. The problem is, as is frequently the wont of Americans, we've decided that if a little bit is healthy, a lot must be awesome! Like, you're totally going to get ripped, man, if you pile on those amino acids!

Unfortunately, this just isn't the case. While nutritional science tends to shift and evolve, at this writing, there's simply no credible research indicating that excessive protein consumption increases muscle mass. Let's have a look at the facts.

Protein is made up of various smaller components called amino acids, which function countless ways, including acting as the body's primary building blocks. Your muscles, bones, and skin are all made of protein.

There are twenty amino acids, nine of which are essential, meaning that your body can't convert them so they must be present in your diet. They're all present in animal protein, including eggs and dairy. There are also plenty of non-animal sources of the essential nine, but you need to be a little more strategic when you're a vegan or vegetarian. Hemp and soy contain all eight. Grains are a good source of half the eight and legumes are a good source of the other half, so a combination of the two works well. You don't need to eat them both in the same meal; you're fine if you just consume both over the course of a day.

Protein works its way through the digestive tract, being progressively broken down into amino acid components, until it hits the small intestine where these acids are absorbed into the blood stream. At that point, the body re-assembles the amino acids into different kinds of proteins that do an assortment of things, such as provide structure, regulate fluids and pH, and build muscle.

Contrary to popular demand, excess amino acids are not peed out. They do one of two things. If the body is low in dietary carbs and fat, they're converted to ATP (cell energy) either via the liver, which converts it to glucose, or directly via a process called oxidation. If the body already has enough dietary energy, amino acids are converted to fat and stored in adipose tissue (body fat) – albeit not as readily as carbs.

What is peed out are used-up amino acids as well as the waste products created when amino acids are used as energy. It's called urea and the kidneys filter it.

So you see, excess protein doesn't go dog-piling to your muscles. It just doesn't happen. On average, a body can absorb about 30 grams of protein per meal for protein-specific purposes (http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(09)00769-X/abstract). Anything beyond that goes to energy. Normal people should consume about .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily (as opposed to pound of body weight). According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, athletic types may benefit from upping that number to 2 grams per kilogram (http://www.jissn.com/content/4/1/8).

There's even some research suggesting that weight-training athletes need less protein because their bodies are more efficient at using the stuff (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15212752).

So now I've "scienced" you up. While I'm sure you're thankful for that, there's still a rather large gap in this explanation. If "protein piling" doesn't make you buff, why do body builders who eat a bunch of protein get so huge?

The reason for this, in my opinion, isn't which calories they're eating. Rather, it's how many calories they're eating. When bodybuilders want to add mass, they eat a ton of food – protein, carbs, and fat. Not only are they hitting the required protein, they're taking in energy in general, which fuels their workouts, making sure they get the most out of those reps. Sure, that extra protein benefits them, but mostly when it's converted to energy.

But if you're really hell-bent on overdoing protein, it's probably okay. It's generally accepted that healthy kidneys can cope with the load brought on by a high-protein diet. The trick, however, is to maintain balance. When you sacrifice other nutrients for protein, you start to have problems, as demonstrated in a study on Korean bodybuilders who experienced metabolic acidosis (overly acidic bodily fluids) due to high-protein diets (http://www.jissn.com/content/8/1/10). As the study indicates, potassium and calcium supplementation offset the problem, but I'm wondering if the issue would have occurred to begin with had these guys made sure to maintain a balanced diet filled with plenty of vitamins and minerals.

So if you're looking to build muscle, maybe it's time to stop thinking high-protein and start thinking high-healthy-and-balanced. You'll be, like, ripped in no time!

Formerly "weight challenged," Denis Faye shed 50 pounds following a 5-year jaunt through Australia, a trip that helped him become the extreme fitness and sports enthusiast he is today. He's been a professional journalist for 20 years, writing for GQ, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Wired, Surfer, Outside, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Pacific Longboarder. His sports include trekking, rock climbing, mountain biking, spelunking, swimming, scuba, swimming, and — most importantly — surfing. Denis currently writes for Beachbody, which provides effective home workout dvds including the popular P90x program and exercise dvds for the new Insanity: Asylum workout.

Everyone knows getting an ample amount of protein is important to the health of the average person. If you are looking to build muscle, though, you will want to make sure that you add in more protein so that your body has the resources it needs when it comes to building muscles. When your body has a steady stream of protein, it can more easily convert that protein to energy in order to build muscle.

Whey protein should be thought of as a complement to a well-balanced and healthy diet. In order to make sure your body has what it needs to stay healthy and fit, you will need to make sure you eat the right way. This means lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and water. When you are choosing your sources of meat and protein, make sure you choose those that are low in fat and calories. Good choices for this include lean cuts of beef and pork, as well as chicken and turkey.

You can also cut back on your intake of animal proteins. By doing so, you will be reducing the amount of fat that is in your diet. You can then add in more meals and snacks that use whey protein. This will ensure that you will not miss out on the protein that is necessary for your muscles to maintain their mass as well as increase it.

Snacks are an important part of your daily meal plan. Be sure that you make the bulk of your snacks low in fat and high in protein. This will provide your body with the energy it needs without weighing you down with high fat foods that can make you feel sluggish. In addition, eating small meals or snacks throughout the day will enable your body to have the nutrients necessary for the demands that you make of it. This article is by George Tempa from MyProtein.com.
 

Guest post by Brett Warren

Change in the world of strength training seems to evolve at exponential paces. Maybe we don't notice it on a day-to-day basis – one session at the gym is never very different from the day before – but step back for a moment and contemplate how far we've come.

Our history of exercise for the sake of building muscle dates back two-and-a-half millennia. Milo of Croton, a 6th century BC war hero and famous wrestler in Ancient Greece, was said to have carried a newborn calf on his back every day, until it was fully grown. That's not unlike adding weights to our lifts as we progress in the gym.

By the 2nd century AD, evidence exists of rudimentary dumbbells. Egyptian hieroglyphs depict men lifting and tossing bags of sand. A rod supporting two church bells became a dumbbell in old Europe, replacing stones as the primary lifting object. In Persia, meels developed an ancient version of the clubbell.

Still, 2,500 years of development can't even compare to the progress we've made in the last century. (Of course, with all the focus on things like heirloom crops and romanticism about returning to traditional ways of life, someone today might make a killing opening a gym that features stones and meels instead of machines!)

By the 1960s, gyms began to open in the U.S., and weight-resistance machines were developed. Nautilus machines opened the door for regular exercisers to engage in weight training, building strength without trying to emulate the hulks in popular films like Pumping Iron.

Unfortunately, with the progression of more accessible weight training came the development of a sedentary American lifestyle. Before a half-century ago, most of our jobs required us to move around. Even people who never considered exercise as an end-unto-itself were able to stay in shape, through the movement required by their daily tasks.

Conversely, it's easy today to sit at a desk all day (even writing blogs about exercise!), eat a few less-than-healthy meals, and then veg out in front of the TV all night because we feel crummy from not moving around enough! For many people, especially with office jobs, incorporating weight training into their lives requires going out of our way to some degree.

But it's not just in the gym where change happens. Our lifestyle carries over to every moment of our day, from when we open the fridge in the morning to when our head hits the pillow. And fortunately, it's in that holistic approach to training that evolution has really sped up lately. We know more today about how to build muscle mass than ever before in history!

A few key things we've come to learn in recent years:

1. The kitchen is more important than the gym.
   It goes without saying that you can't just eat right, sit around all day, and build muscle. But you also can't build muscle mass if you're not feeding them properly. It's been said that 80 percent of body sculpting work happens in the kitchen. Eat chicken, brown rice, whole grains, fish, egg whites, potatoes, and plenty of produce. Shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, every day. Pass on the pizza, beer, and ice cream!

   What we've learned in the last 20 years about the importance of avoiding processed foods, in favor of whole foods, makes a bigger difference in the gym than any other development.

2. Understand the science.
   When muscles grow, it's called hypertrophy. You know the 'pump' you feel after working out? That's a temporary boost, called 'transient hypertrophy,' due to the accumulation of fluids in the intracellular spaces of our muscles. We want to create chronic hypertrophy through long-term weight training, which requires consistent workouts. Once a week won't cut it for sustained muscle growth.
    
3. Challenge Yourself
   To make our muscles grow, we have to confuse them! If your body becomes accustomed to a lift, it'll stop growing. Switch things up and slowly add weight to your reps. Your body will adjust and build more muscle. Bring a notebook to the gym to help with this, and don't worry about looking silly. Keeping track of your weight and reps will not only help you progress, but it'll serve as motivation to stay on course. The big thing to remember: You can't just stick with one routine and do it for longer and longer. You won't get results. You've got to vary your regimen!
    
4. Rest Up
   It's funny how our society doesn't always realize the value of something until we start to miss it. With our 24/7 lifestyles, sleep has never come at such a premium. But it's also never been so important. Your muscles grow while they're resting. Take at least one day a week off from your workout routine. And get that eight hours of sleep every night – it'll pay off in the results to your physique.

Try telling a weight lifter 100 years ago that the keys to success include eating their vegetables and sleeping, and you'd likely get a laugh! But there's a reason that records keep getting broken. We're evolving more all the time.

Brett Warren is a fitness and weightlifting enthusiast from Boston, Massachusetts. He is passionate about nutraceutical science and loves his job developing workout supplements for Force Factor. Brett's extensive background in biochemical engineering means he's one scientist you don't want to mess with. When Brett is not crushing it in the gym or working at Force Factor, you can find him spending time outdoors with his family.

By  Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic, PhD, RD

They’re a common lunch item, especially among “weight-conscious” 9 to 5’ers because they’re quick, convenient, and boast low calories and sodium. They have no preparation required unless you count taking them out of their box, which is why people buy them.

Frozen vegetables are also now taking this quick-preparation route and are touted as easier to eat due to “steamer” technology plastic bags. In fact, two-thirds of our frozen vegetable aisle is now these plastic bags of veggies.

But just how safe are these plastic-contained microwave meals and vegetables anyhow? Even containers that claim to be BPA-free still have unknown health effects.

What is BPA?

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical produced in large quantities, mostly for the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.

Read more about how to protect your health from plastic meal containers here.

This stuff could be liquid dynamite. It could be your ticket out of "fat pants." Check it out at the jump–it's called Prograde Fusion.

Here's an excerpt from the article I got from the creators of Fusion.

The Shocking Truth About “Hydration” Sports Drinks
And How They Prevent You From Losing Weight!

So-called “hydration sports drinks” are mostly sugar-only beverages that do little else than make you fatter and unhealthier.

All that sugar you drink simply gets converted to body fat and does nothing to sustain your energy levels.  

It also wreaks havoc on your blood sugar levels and insulin production, which can set the stage for pre-diabetes or full-blown diabetes.

What you need instead is a beverage higher in protein (to sustain your energy levels) and fiber (to fill you up and keep you hunger-free for longer).

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