By Poliquin Group™ Editorial Staff
1/2/2014 2:40:48 PM
The year 2013 was marked by new heights of nutrition insanity. You’re
not alone if you found yourself more confused than ever about what to eat in
light of the obscure nutrition recommendations from the government and
outrageous claims from food marketers.
What’s the solution to all this nutrition madness?
You need an individualized nutrition approach that speaks to your
energy needs and genetics, but that is based on science. This article will give
you six nutrition rules for a sane and simple way of eating.
Before we get to the rules, let’s look a bit closer at why good
nutrition has become such a demanding endeavor. In fact, nutrition never has
been especially simple.
We often get nostalgic, thinking that nutrition was easier in another
era. For example, a lot of people are turning to the Paleo diet for leanness
and health as seen with the fact that it was the most searched nutrition term
on Google in 2013.
The Paleo diet can provide a practical, simpler approach to eating.
Yet, a lot of people make the mistake of idealizing the way our ancestors ate
or assuming that all cavemen had access to pure, abundant food. Not so.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors spent the vast majority of their days
searching for food to survive. Not only was finding food a huge time
investment, chewing took hours because they subsisted partly on raw and
extremely fibrous foods, such as uncooked root vegetables, such as potatoes.
With present-day understanding of how our genes are affected by diet
and a “paleo-template,” here are six nutrition rules to be lean and muscular
life.
#1: Understand Why High-Protein Diets Promote Leanness
Do you have to eat a high-protein diet to lose fat?
There are other fat-reducing methods, but high-protein, lower carb
whole food diets consistently work well for the majority of people who try
them. You should be familiar with the four primary reasons higher protein diets
improve body composition:
• If your goal is fat loss,
preserving lean muscle mass should be a primary focus of nutrition because it
is critical for maintaining your metabolism. If you lose muscle, your body
burns fewer calories daily, which is a main contributor to rebound weight gain
on the typical calorie-restricted diet.
For example, a recent study that compared the effect of three different
protein intakes (the RDA of 0.8 g/kg, double the RDA of 1.6 g/kg, and triple
the RDA of 2.4 g/kg for protein) as part of a calorie-restricted diet
illustrates this.
All groups lost about the same amount of weight. The double the RDA
dose of 1.6 g/kg of protein effectively protected lean muscle mass. The higher
triple RDA dose of 2.4 kg didn’t have any additive effect, whereas the RDA dose
of 0.8 kg led to muscle loss over the 3 week study.
• It costs the body more
calories to process protein than carbs or fat, which is referred to as
thermogenesis. Quality is paramount here: A study showed that when subjects ate
animal protein (meat) they had 17 percent higher increase in resting energy
expenditure than a group who ate vegetable protein (beans and plant sources).
• Protein is filling. When
people eat a greater percentage of their diet from protein, they feel more
satisfied and eat fewer calories overall. A review of the issue found that for
every 1 percent increase in protein intake, people naturally decrease calorie
intake by between 32 and 51 calories daily.
• High-quality protein helps
manage blood sugar and insulin, decreasing cravings for sugar.
The easiest way to lose fat is to eat a fairly high-protein diet. The
ratios of protein, carbs, and fat are variable and based on all those unique
traits that make you different from your peers: genetics, current body
composition, fitness, goals, stress level, preferences, and so on.
Take Away: Increasing your protein intake is the best place to start if
your goal is leanness because it protects muscle muss, increases energy use,
and is sustainable because it reduces hunger.
#2: Focus On Protein Quality For Fat Loss: Get 10 Grams of EAAs Per
Meal
High-quality protein is defined as a protein source that provides at
least 10 grams of essential amino acids (EAAs) at every meal. The EAAs must be
present in the body for muscle tissue repair to occur, and they can’t be stored
in the body, which is the reason you need a steady supply of these building blocks.
Research shows that eating the 10-gram-threshold of EAAs per meal is
associated with having less body fat and more muscle mass in people of all
ages. For example, over the course of a 5-year study, individuals who had
higher quality protein intake had the greatest reductions in waist
circumference.
In another study, scientists found that those who ate the EAA
“threshold” of 10 grams per meal in a 24-hour period had significantly less
visceral belly fat.
In another approach, a German study identified metabolic markers that
were associated with body fat percentage and found that the higher the serum
level of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), the less body fat subjects had.
BCAAs include three of the most important EAAs, leucine, isoleucine, and
valine.
The association between higher BCAA levels and less body fat was
consistent for both men and women and was independent of exercise
participation. BCAA levels were also associated with greater lean muscle mass.
Eating high-quality protein is so effective at optimizing body
composition because providing a consistent stream of 10 grams of EAAs will
maximally stimulates protein synthesis to keep you body repairing tissue and
building muscle.
Of interest, researchers believe that overweight, sedentary people have
dysfunctional BCAA metabolism and an inability to stimulate fat burning. They
experience a “derangement in muscle metabolism that favor the development of
obesity and metabolic diseases.”
This is one reason that, although we often say “fat loss starts in the
kitchen,” exercise is absolutely essential to achieve it because it optimizes
metabolism for protein synthesis and the burning of fat for energy.
Take Away: For leanness, plan your diet so that you achieve the
threshold 10 grams of EAAs per meal. Eggs, fish, beef, milk, and whey protein
are the highest EAA containing foods.
#3: Enhance Fat Metabolism With Balanced Macros & Whole Food
In order to lose fat or simply maintain your body composition, your
body must be capable of metabolizing the dietary fat you eat and the fat you’ve
got stored.
First, you need your body to effectively metabolize the fat you eat so
that it can be used to make hormones, optimize brain health, and absorb
essential vitamins. Something as simple as a stressed out liver or chronically
poor sleep will impede metabolism of dietary fat.
Second, your body must be “metabolically flexible” so that it is able
to readily mobilize and burn stored body fat as well as glucose (carbs). A
failure in metabolic flexibility leads to fat gain and insulin resistance.
How do you ensure healthy metabolism of the fat you eat and the ability
to burn the fat you’ve got stored?
Two methods of improving fat metabolism are exercise and replacing carb
intake with fat. When you reduce the percentage of your calories that come from
carbs, you decrease insulin and shift the body to burn fat rather than blood
sugar. However, obese people don’t respond to this strategy as effectively as
lean people.
In one study, 12 lean and 10 obese men were given a high-fat diet (70
percent fat, 15 percent protein, 15 percent carb) for three days. The lean
subjects increased the amount of fat their bodies burned for energy, whereas
the obese subjects did not. Researchers think that over the longer term, obese
people would respond to the shift in macronutrients, but the process is
uncomfortable because energy levels are compromised.
Using exercise to teach the body to burn fat is more effective for
obese people. In the study just mentioned, the same two groups of men went
through a washout period, then did 10 days of aerobic exercise (1 hour a day at
70 percent of maximal). This time, both the lean and obese subjects increased
fat burning, indicating that exercise is a catalyst for the overweight to
become more metabolically flexible.
A contributing factor to optimal fat metabolism is the amino acid
carnitine. Carnitine is a potent fat burner because it is responsible for the
transport of fats into the cells to be used for energy in the body.
In the German study mentioned in #1, along with BCAAs, subjects with
higher free carnitine levels had significantly less body fat. The researchers
interpret this link between carnitine and lower body fat to be evidence that
people with more muscle mass will have an enhanced ability to burn fat.
Take Away: If you’re overweight, you must exercise because this is the
most effective tool you have to improve their body’s ability to burn fat for
energy. Eat a higher fat, lower carb diet with high-quality protein to supply
carnitine and EAAs.
#4: Don’t Get Confused By Protein Backlash
In a high-carb culture, protein backlash is understandable. Nutrition,
medical professionals and the media incorrectly warn us that a high-protein
diet will tax kidney function, cause kidney stones, and leech bones of calcium,
increasing the risk of osteoporosis.
In fact, protein intake up to 2 g/kg/body weight a day is completely
safe for healthy kidneys and appears to improve bone health. A study of
competitive athletes concluded that daily protein intake, as high 2.8 g/kg
won’t damage the kidneys in healthy athletes. The National Kidney Foundation
recommends that the one group that should not eat a high-protein diet is those
who have clinical kidney dysfunction or who are on dialysis.
Meanwhile, a large-scale analysis in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition of 31 studies found a small but significant benefit from greater
protein intake on bone strength at several skeletal sites including the lumbar
spine in every category of the population, from children to elderly men and
women.
In addition to observational evidence that higher dietary protein
benefits bone strength, we know that bone building requires a steady pool of
amino acids in the body and over 50 percent of bone is made of protein. Eating
more protein increases levels of insulin-like growth factor-I, which is a major
regulator of bone building.
So you fully understand how it works, higher protein diets do tend to
increase acid formation in the body, which leads to a loss of calcium (this is
calcium that’s already been absorbed). However, calcium absorption during
digestion is increased with diets higher in animal protein, which may offset
that loss.
In addition, there’s a wealth of evidence that other factors such as
lean mass percentage and muscle strength are more important for bone health
than the calcium issue.
For example, sports scientists are well aware that the most effective
way to strengthen bone is with activities that load the spine with heavy
weights. Weight-bearing exercises that produce a large ground reaction force
such as jumping also build bone.
Take Away: Don’t get confused by the misinformation about protein
intake in a high-carb culture. Higher protein diets are safe for healthy people
and they convey benefits for bone strength, muscle maintenance, and fat loss.
#5: Improve Gut Health to Optimize Protein’s Benefits For Muscularity
Do you remember the media storm that reported that carnitine and red
meat were associated with heart disease? Although these reports completely
missed the boat, there are some dangers to a high-protein intake that have to
do with gut health.
Gut bacteria will live off of what you eat. People who eat more animal
protein tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables and consume less fiber, though
this tendency may not be typical in people who follow a Paleo-type diet.
Low-fiber, higher animal protein diets have been found to increase inflammatory
gut bacteria.
For example, a recent study from Tufts University of young (ages
18-35), normal-weight healthy people found that those who had more lean muscle
mass had higher levels of biomarkers of inflammatory gut metabolism. These
markers are considered metabolic toxins that have been linked with adverse
health conditions, including gastric cancer, obesity, and type II diabetes.
The Tufts researchers suggest that although a high dietary protein
intake is important for the optimization of muscle mass, an overconsumption of
dietary protein that leads to the growth of inflammatory gut bacteria is
dangerous.
A possible solution is to support the growth of beneficial
anti-inflammatory gut bacteria with a diet high in vegetables, fruit, and
something called resistant starch, which is found in foods such as bananas,
oats, peas, maize, and potatoes. According to Mark Sisson, one of the easiest
ways to improve gut flora is to consume raw unmodified potato starch.
This approach is supported by what we know about present day
hunger-gatherers such as the Kitavan Islanders in Oceania who eat an ancestral
diet that is high in resistant starch and other fibers that stimulate the
production of anti-inflammatory bacteria in the gut. The Kitavans eat no
Western foods (grains, flour, sugar, oil) and are lean and virtually free of
heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
Take Away: Don’t let a blind spot such as lack of fiber in your higher
protein diet compromise health. Support gut health with a variety of
vegetables, fruit, probiotic foods, and resistant starches.
#6: Balance High-Quality Protein With Fruits and Veggies
You won’t be surprised to learn that the Tufts University study also
found that higher metabolic markers of BCAAs were associated with greater lean
mass and insulin sensitivity. However, the news was not consistently positive
for subjects who had better body compositions.
There was strong evidence that subjects with more lean mass had more
oxidative stress and inflammation. Scientists were concerned with this
association and suggest that people who eat diets rich in protein should
increase fruits and vegetables because they are well documented to increase
blood antioxidant capacity and reduce inflammation.
A related benefit of phytonutrient-rich foods is that they support
mitochondrial health, which is suppressed on a high-protein diet. You may recall
from elementary biology that mitochondria turn energy from food into ATP to
provide energy for cells to fuel activity. The byproduct of this process is
free radicals, which bounce around, damaging everything in sight, and
accelerating aging.
The best way to avoid free radical production is to not eat. No joke!
This is the reason calorie restriction and fasting are beneficial for longevity
since they improve mitochondrial health and prevent aging.
A more practical method is to get your carbs from plants, and eat the
rest of your energy from high-quality protein and beneficial fats. The
nutrients in plants eliminate free radicals that cause inflammation. Favoring
fat at the expense of carbs provides a “cleaner” burning energy source,
generating fewer free radicals than carbs.
Take Away: Get your carbs from protective phytonutrient-rich foods such
as blueberries, grapes, kiwi, tart cherries, raspberries, blackberries, leafy
greens, peppers, pomegranates, and some starches. Avocado, olives, coconut oil,
whey protein are other antioxidant-rich foods to include as you go high in fat
and protein.
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