Now how many times have you been embarrassed to have got a comment of being skinny too much. Your painful days are over. First, you should let go of the embarrassment thing and concentrate on improving your overall look out. Its possible very much. Anthony Ellis-left-3 months transformation speaks about the potential. Go out there, show the world you can actually do it. Here are some tips I know of which everyone uses to motivate themselves. Challenging Yourself For The Motivation- Try increasing the amount of weight after each set or day. This can be possible by training to failure.
Nutrition- Eat the correct diet. You need lots of good nutrition with lots of water to stay healthy and fit and gain weight. Egg-whites, Whey Protein, Chicken etc. Grab em all. Eat a high protein, high calorie diet pre and post workout and should be under 1 hour of both.
Compound Exercises man- Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that rely on the coordinated actions of several muscle groups to move two or more joints through a range of motion. Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that rely on the coordinated actions of several muscle groups to move two or more joints through a range of motion. Examples are press, squats etc. These are much more beneficial than isolation exercises especially for skinny guys. Like I mentioned earlier, get those training for use.
Supplements-Only supplements won't do you any good if you just happen to sit at house and do nothing. Everything should go hand in hand to work.
Routine- Follow that routine which suits you and which is right for you. Not the one which pro body builders use. You are likely to end up hay-wire. Frustration- Remember, frustration is a bad thing. Don't quit too early. Be Positive. Rome was not built in a day.
Proper Training- Using less no. of reps with heavy weight mostly does the trick for growth. Rely on this theory and you are sure to get rewarded. You should always take a day-off between workout days. Stretching is very important folks. Don't neglect this part. Stretching after each workout is important. Concentrate on free weights not machines. It's always a good idea to book a session with a personal trainer to get set up on your first program until you have a better understanding of all the concepts involved with weight training. After that point, you can start playing around with your own program, implementing advanced training principles to help kick your results up a notch.
Since obesity is so common, most of the articles written about weight have to do with losing weight, but some people want or need to gain weight. Being underweight increases your risk for osteoporosis and can weaken your immune system. The best way to gain weight is to choose healthful higher calorie foods and carry healthy snacks with you. You shouldn't load up on greasy burgers and fries or other high-calorie junk foods. Here are some foods for gaining weight that are higher in calories so you can gain weight and be healthy.
How many of you know that eating and putting in fat go together for most of us. We know it very well. But there are ways that you can avail of, like putting in lean mass and not getting fat. Today I came across an article about it. I am posting it for you. Here it goes.
1. Double It Up
If you aren't growing, the solution is simple - get in more calories. What's the easiest way to bump your calorie intake through the roof? Double up on all your servings. For example, if you're having one chicken breast for dinner, from now on, make that two.
Toasting a slice of bread for breakfast? Double that as well. This takes all the thinking out of it for you. Whenever possible just aim to eat twice as much as you normally would to double your calorie intake. Since you have to prepare the food anyway, it's not really any extra effort to prepare twice as much.
2. Focus On Food Timing
Next, don't let yourself be distracted during the day. You have to eat and eat frequently - once every 2-3 hours would be your best bet if you really struggle to get those calories in.
If you find you forget to eat when it's time, get a timer and set it to go off. Or, buy a watch that has a beeper. This includes breakfast as well. You must get quality nutrients into your body within fifteen minutes of waking up if you want to go grow. Don't ever let your body turn to present body mass as fuel or you'll be digging yourself out of a hole.
3. Find Big Eating Equipment
Another sneaky trick I have many of the guys in my program do is just purchase bigger plates. Just like many diet books will tell you to cut the size of your plate in half to consume fewer calories, for building muscle you want to do the exact opposite. Once you have that bigger plate, make sure you fill it - FULL. It will take less mental effort to clean one large plateful of food compared to two whole smaller plates of food.
4. Don't Skimp On Post-Workout Nutrition
Next, you also must be absolutely sure you're eating good food immediately after your workout. If you let yourself suffer at this point, you're not maximizing the true potential of the effects of that workout.
The body is in a state where it will literally suck up any calories you supply it immediately following a workout, so failing to give it a huge dose of carbs and protein shorts the recovery process. If there is one time you want to slam back a higher calorie shake, this will be it.
Also, if you're someone who can only train in the morning, don't think this means you can get away without eating beforehand. It doesn't. Just like everyone else you must fuel the body before the coming workout. If you cannot tolerate a full food meal, then you should instead use a liquid shake to get the calories in.
5. Find Calorie Dense Foods
For guys who do require the very high calorie intakes to build muscle tissue, you must get your hands on the most calorie dense foods available. If you waste your time eating foods that have too much volume, it's going to be a real struggle to meet your calorie requirements, and this will hinder your ability to build muscle.
Good, high-calorie dense foods include peanuts, peanut butter, raw oats, lean red meat, bagels, and dried fruit. The more of these you can include in your diet, the faster you'll see results. Avoid eating foods such as whole vegetables (blend them into sauces or drink V8 juice for nutrition), bowls of cooked oatmeal, popcorn, and low calorie soups. These have too much volume and will fill you up quickly.
6. Track, Track, Track
Now, since you are going to be taking an aggressive approach to your diet and getting those calories up there, you also need to be tracking. You don't want to wind up a fatty and the best way to prevent this is by monitoring how many calories you're taking in daily. If you're pushing the limits too far, you're going to start gaining body fat. If you see this happening, then all it takes is for you to cut back on your calorie intake by about 200 calories a day or 10% and fat gain should stop.
If you aren't tracking, you never know how many calories you're taking in daily and if you do start gaining fat, you don't know how much to cut. Most guys who start gaining body fat really reduce back on their calorie intake, which is a huge mistake because then they stop building muscle as well.
There has to be a very careful balance. Go too low and you won't gain muscle. Go too high and you'll start getting fat. Once you've found the sweet spot you'll know because you'll be getting bigger and may even appear to be leaner as well.
7. Consider Some Cardio
Finally, you may also wish to consider adding a bit of cardio to your program. Don't make the mistake most guys make though and think you can do cardio every day and prevent fat gain whatsoever. Too much cardio training will limit muscle building as well, so it has to be done at moderate levels.
What cardio can help to do is boost your appetite, increase your recovery rate (if kept to lower intensity levels), and get the metabolism running a little faster. When my diet is perfect I only need a 10 minute warm up on the treadmill and 20 minute cool down after my weights to squeeze out any last drip of glycogen. I walk at around 4.0 mph and a 8.0-12.0 grade which prevents you from getting a double chin and won't put the breaks on your muscle gains. Anything more and you may be consuming too many calories.
Conclusion
Gaining weight is not an excuse to get fat and schedule daily visits to all-you-can buffets. I suggest you begin implementing one principle each week and watch your body stack on more muscle to your frame each week.
Jay Cutler - professional bodybuilding's true mass monster! Charging around at a ground-shaking 290 lbs. in the off-season, Jay sure knows how to pack on the mass. But what really gets him to this sun-blocking stature when he's not preparing for a show? How does he get so much muscle packed onto his 5'9" frame? Meal #1:
If you've ever heard the term "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," after reading what Jay Cutler eats every morning you've quickly realized that he's a firm believer in this rule. Jay starts off his day by throwing back enough food that would normally feed a family of four. But when you're as big as a house, you need to consume enough nutrients to ensure your muscles are constantly growing. Jay's morning carbohydrate of choice has switched from oatmeal to Ezekiel bread over the years because he believes that Ezekiel bread follows a more healthy "blood-type diet" that helps him bring his body into better shape come competition time.
What Is Ezekiel Bread?Ezekiel bread is a product inspired by Ezekiel 4:9:
"Take also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..." There are several commercially prepared versions of this bread, but one can find many recipes available online as well.
One of the most beneficial foods for bodybuilders to consume for maximum muscle growth is beef. Beef provides essential nutrients such as creatine to help your muscles grow at optimum levels. Jay Cutler is well aware of the muscle-building benefits of this food choice and that's why he incorporates it into his nutrition plan every day. In addition, he also includes rice in his food consumption because the benefits of complex carbohydrates, such as increased strength, when hitting the weights.
This is usually Jay's last meal before he trains mid-afternoon. The combination of chicken and rice feeds his muscles with the exact amount of protein and carbohydrates he needs before his relentless workouts. In the off-season Jay opts for white rice over brown in order to keep his calories high, maximizing his muscle mass.
Over the past few years buffalo has quickly become one of the most sought-after protein choices for top athletes all over the world. The reason for this is because it's packed with vital nutrients for peak performance while still remaining one of the leanest protein sources available.
Once again, to ensure his muscles are saturated with complex carbohydrates, Jay takes in another two cups of white rice, which brings his carbohydrate count up to well over 350 grams in only four meals.
Supplements: 530 Calories, 84g Carbohydrates, 40g Protein, 3g Fat: Jay Cutler also believes in the importance of incorporating supplements into his off-season nutrition plan. Not only because of their extreme convenience but because he attests to the vital role they have played in helping him attain two Mr. Olympia crowns.The two key nutritional supplements that help him maximize muscle growth in the off-season are protein and carbohydrate supplements. Once again, the combination of these two macronutrients plays a vital role in helping Jay Cutler attain the most muscular body in the world.
Consuming all of this on a daily basis may seem like a daunting task to some, but to hardcore bodybuilders like Jay Cutler this is the necessary way to ensure you pack on as much mass in the off-season as possible. Three square meals a day is not the way a bodybuilder lives his life.
Jay Cutler is the ambassador of the supplement brand MuscleTech which he himself uses.
Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness Also Included In: Heart Disease; Men's health Article Date: 06 Oct 2011 - 0:00 PDT window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId: 'aa16a4bf93f23f07eb33109d5f1134d3', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true, channelUrl: 'http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/scripts/facebooklike.html'}); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); email to a friend printer friendly opinions Men who do vigorous exercise three times a week were found to have a significantly lower risk of having a heart attack, compared to those of the same age who did not, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health wrote in the American College of Sports Medicine. The authors added that other important markers included hemoglobin A1c, apolipoprotein B and vitamin D.
Lead author, Andrea Chomistek, Sc.D. and team gathered data on activity levels and biomarkers from adult males from the Health Professional Follow-Up Study (HPFS). Included in the data were insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels and markers of inflammation. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire twice a year, in which they wrote about how long they spent each week on leisure-time physical activity.
Andrea Chomistek said:
"We studied vigorous exercise because of its stronger association with coronary heart disease. While we discovered that vigorous-intensity exercise decreases a man's risk of heart attack, we also were able to partially determine why. The benefits of exercise on a man's levels of HDL-C, or 'good' cholesterol, account for approximately 38 percent of that decrease. Other important markers included vitamin D, apolipoprotein B and hemoglobin A1c."
Blood samples were collected from 18,225 adult males, of which 454 had suffered a non-fatal heart attack or had died form coronary heart disease between 1994 and 2004, the period of the study. 412 of those with coronary heart disease were compared to 827 controls and matched for smoking status, age and date of blood donation.
Chomistek said:
"As expected, traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors were more common among cases than controls. Men who suffered a nonfatal heart attack or died from coronary heart disease had less 'good' cholesterol, more 'bad' cholesterol and were more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes."
Even though they had identified some biomarkers that could explain the link between physical activity and a lower chance of developing coronary heart disease, the authors stressed that further research on other mechanisms by which physical activity impacts on cardiovascular risk are needed.
Heart disease causes more premature adult male deaths in the USA than any other illness or condition, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). From 70% to 89% of all sudden cardiac events occur in males. Almost half of all men who suffer a heart attack before they are 65 years old do not live more than eight years.
In an Abstract in the journal, the authors wrote:
"Participating in 3 h•wk-1 of vigorous-intensity activity is associated with a 22% lower risk of MI among men. This inverse association can be partially explained by the beneficial effects of physical activity on HDL-C, vitamin D, apolipoprotein B, and hemoglobin A1c. Although the inverse association attributable to these biomarkers is substantial, future research should explore benefits of exercise beyond these biomarkers of risk."
Hemoglobin A1C is monitored to assess the long-term control of diabetes mellitus.
Apolipoprotein B, also known as APOB or ApoB is the main apolipoprotein of LDL (low-density lipoproteins or "bad cholesterol").
HDL-C, also known as high-density lipoprotein is what is often termed the good cholesterol. Higher HDL-C levels are generally associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease.
Written by Christian Nordqvist Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
Christian Nordqvist. "Vigorous Exercise 3 Times Weekly Reduces Men's Heart Attack Risk By 22%." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 6 Oct. 2011. Web. 9 Oct. 2011. APA
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
posted by Milind on 7 Oct 2011 at 10:28 am
Appreciating the arena of the sports-medicine, I feel the experts in this field can surely come out with prescription of particular sports activities as the medicine for particular illnesses. This, I think, would benefit the interested people more than the traditional ones, because of their immense effectiveness, its beauty being that there are no adverse side effects; the side effects are there, but they are only beneficial!
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Home » Weight Gain Supplements » Weight Lifting Supplements - The Best Supplements For Gaining Muscle Mass | Comments
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If you want to build muscle, one thing that you've likely considered is which weight lifting supplements you should be using to take your progress to the next level.
Before I go any further let me just cut to the chase and give you my top recommended weight lifting supplements. You can click on each of them for more information: Creatine - This basically allows you to work out harder and longer resulting in more muscle gains. It has also been shown to help with protein synthesis. Whey Protein - This is great to ensure you're getting enough protein in your diet each day. It's not so easy to get all your calories in each day. Whey protein powder gives you a quick and easy fix of protein when you need it. Glutamine - Supplementing with glutamine can help keep your immune system in check and increase growth hormone levels. Essential Fatty Acids - You can get these through products like fish oil capsules and flax seed oil. High quality fat sources like these are necessary to build quality muscle mass and produce optimum levels of testosterone in your body. Multi Vitamins - When you work out in the gym your body will most likely need more vitamins and minerals than you can get through your diet alone. Supplementing with a multi-vitamin can speed up your recovery from a workout.Now you may be wondering, "Is that it?" Isn't there some fancy supplement out there that I haven't heard of before that will produce some amazing results?
Listen, many weight lifting supplements out there aren't much more than hype and fancy marketing.
Truth be told, many companies put more money into their marketing budget than they do their research and development budget because they know hype sells. Once you've bought the product, they've accomplished their mission.
So with this said, how can you tell which products will deliver and which won't?
If you do a bit of background research on a particular product before making your purchase, you can increase the chances of choosing one that will deliver and produce the desired effects it claims to.
Let me give you a quick guide as to what to look for when selecting your weight lifting supplements.
The very first thing that you'll want to have a brief look at is the background of the company that is producing the supplement. How long have they been in the industry? Have they had other best-selling products before or does it appear as though they have very few products to speak of?
Have they had any negative feedback in the media or is their track record pretty clean?
Some of this may take some digging around to find, but if you can do some reading up on them and how long they've been in the supplement game for, that can really put your mind at ease as to whether their products are legitimate.
If a company is brand new on the market, this doesn't necessarily mean their products won't work, but it does mean you need to be a little more leery of them.
The second thing that you'll want to look for when assessing weight lifting supplements is whether there are good user testimonials to go with them.
Have others found good results from them? If not, again, this throws up a red flag. If the particular supplement is brand new then that could be the primary reason for the lack of testimonials, but if it has been around for a while, you should be able to find something on it if it's worth the money.
Most people who do get good results from a particular supplement will speak up about it to give others awareness about the benefits it has to offer.
Likewise, if it has a slew of negative reviews, this really should make you think twice about the results it produces - or lack thereof as the case may be.
The next thing that you should check for when considering purchasing a particular supplement is if any research studies have been cited by the company during the research and development process.
Products that are backed by positive research have really proven themselves in the lab and it's more likely that when used properly with your diet and workout, it will lead to positive effects.
Supplements that have no research done on them or don't reveal any ingredients that have been included in research studies before are highly questionable and you should steer clear of these completely. It's hard to know with certainty whether those ingredients will bring about any of the desired results you're after.
If you do come across a supplement that has gone through extensive research processes, then you also want to take this one step further and see if you can read up on the research that was performed. As you read through the research, check to see if it was a sound study that was performed.
Was the sample size utilized relatively large? Research performed on a group of 5 people won't be quite as conclusive as research that was performed on a group of 50 simply due to the small sample size that was used.
Likewise, if there seems as though there could have been other variables at play influencing the results that were achieved, that also will make the particular ingredient studied more questionable.
Proper study procedures will be planned so that they are doing everything they can to minimize this so that's what you really want to be looking for.
Moving along, the next important thing that you'll also want to think about is the validity of the claims made by that supplement company in general.
Does the company promise that you'll gain 20 pounds in a month by using their product? If so, that immediately should throw up some red flags in your mind.
Even under the best of circumstances pure muscle gain will not happen this quickly, even if you were on steroids… So if that's their claim, they're out to lunch.
The best supplements on the market often have no claims whatsoever about the rate of weight gain you'll experience as the products simply are aimed at influencing one of the factors that goes into the process of weight gain.
Good companies realize that the rate of weight and muscle gains will be highly unique to each individual and what kind of weight gain program they're on. Therefore, a quality supplement company won't make any fancy claims stating otherwise.
So once you've done your background research and have found a few products to try out, it's imperative that you make sure you're using these correctly.
This means taking them at the appropriate times during the day as well as using them in a correct dosage. Don't think that just because you want faster results, this means you can double or triple your dose.
If you do that, all you're doing is putting yourself at risk for side effects. Always start off with the lowest recommended dosage and build up from there depending on the results you see.
That is the sure-fire way to see safe and effective results.
These are a few of the important points that you should be considering when looking at weight lifting supplements to add to your muscle building protocol. If chosen properly and used correctly, they can definitely help boost your rate of muscle growth.
Whey protein is a milk protein that is the liquid by-product of cheese production. In supplement form, whey protein comes in three main forms:
1. Whey Protein Concentrate: Contains some fat and lactose and between 29% - 89% protein depending on the specific product. Whey protein concentrates often have more bioactive compounds.
2. Whey Protein Isolates: Contains minimal fat, cholesterol and lactose and 90% or more protein.
3. Whey Protein Hydrolysates: Are often used in clinical nutrition applications because they are predigested and partially broken and therefore easier to absorb.
Whey protein has the highest protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAA) - a measure of both how well a protein is digested and how well it supplies the amino acids needed by an adult. In addition, it is a complete protein meaning it contains all essential amino acids. Whey also contains more branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) than any other source of protein and more leucine than other types of protein.
Several studies indicate that whey protein is beneficial for increasing muscle protein synthesis. Consume whey pre- or post-training and you'll tip the scale in favor of muscle growth and strength gains over time. But, there are a number of other benefits associated with whey protein.
How Bodybuilding Supplement Whey Protein Can Help You Shed Body Fat:
Add whey and drop weight? It sounds too good to be true but it may work.
* Whey Protein Is Rich in Leucine: Leucine plays a key role in protein synthesis, a process that burns through quite a few calories. In addition, it stimulates fatty acid oxidation.
* Whey Satiates Your Appetite: Studies show that whey may satiate your appetite better than some other types of protein. Milk proteins contain glycomacropeptide - a peptide that stimulates the cholecystokinin (CCK). CCK is an intestinal hormone that is released after eating a meal and it signals satiety.
* Studies Show Supplemental Whey Helps People Drop Body Fat: There are at least two studies where scientists examined whey protein supplementation and weight loss. In one study at the University of Oklahoma, scientists told both groups of participants not to change their diet. However, one group was given a nutrition supplement containing whey (300 calories, 40 grams of protein) once per day for two weeks and twice a day for the remaining eight weeks of the study. Both groups engaged in a supervised resistance and endurance-training program for 10 weeks.
After the 10-week study, both groups decreased fat mass but the exercise + food supplement group showed a significantly greater decrease in fat mass (-9.3% versus -4.6% in the exercise-only group). The supplemented group also showed significant gains from pre- to post-test in muscle mass and significant decreases in total and LDL cholesterol.
A 2006 study found that adding 60 grams of whey protein per day, in comparison to 60 grams of soy protein or 60 grams of carbohydrate, led to significant decreases in body fat and weight after 6 months.
Adding Whey Protein Led To Significant Decreases In Body Fat Compared To Soy Protein And Carbohydrate. Adding Whey Protein Led To Significant Decreases In Body Fat Compared To Soy Protein And Carbohydrate.
Additional Tips To Help Shed Body Fat:
* Use a food journal and write down everything you eat. Studies show that people who log their food intake every day are more likely to lose weight than those who do not.
* Seek the advice of a sports nutrition expert who has the education (a degree in nutrition or nutrition biochemistry) and experience in nutrition to help you.
* If you are having problems losing weight yet you feel you are doing everything right, talk to your physician. Low levels of certain hormones, hypothyroidism and other conditions can make weight loss more difficult. Additional studies have been done on animals regarding cancer-causing chemicals to see what effects whey protein concentrate would have on cancer prevention or treatment. Scientists fed rats various proteins and then subjected them to the powerful carcinogen dimethylhydrazine.
As with the previous research, the rats fed whey protein concentrate showed fewer tumors and a reduced pooled area of tumors (tumor mass index). The researchers found whey protein offered "considerable protection to the host" over that of other proteins, including soy. 1
Even more exciting, in vivo research on cancer and whey showed whey protein concentrate inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells at low concentrations (Baruchel S. and Vaiu G., Anti Cancer Research, 1996). Finally, and most importantly, a fairly recent clinical study with cancer patients showed a regression in some patient's tumors when fed whey protein concentrate at 30 grams per day. 2
Whey and Glutathione
This new research using whey protein concentrate led researchers to an amazing discovery regarding the relationship between cancerous cells, glutathione (GSH) and whey protein concentrate. It was found that whey protein concentrate selectively depletes cancer cells of their glutathione, thus making them more susceptible to cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.
It has been found that cancer cells and normal cells will respond differently to nutrients and drugs that affect glutathione status. What is most interesting to note is the fact that the concentration of glutathione in tumor cells is higher than that of the normal cells that surround it. This difference in glutathione status between normal cells and cancer cells is believed to be an important factor in cancer cells' resistance to chemotherapy.
As the researchers put it, "Tumor cell GSH concentration may be among the determinants of the cytotoxicity [poisonous to cells] of many chemotherapeutic agents and of radiation, and an increase in GSH concentration appears to be at least one of the mechanisms of acquired drug resistance to chemotherapy."
They further state, "It is well-known that rapid GSH synthesis in tumor cells is associated with high rates of cellular proliferation. Depletion of tumor GSH in vivo decreases the rate of cellular proliferation and inhibits cancer growth."
The problem is, it's difficult to reduce glutathione sufficiently in tumor cells without placing healthy tissue at risk and putting the cancer patient in a worse condition. What is needed is a compound that can selectively deplete the cancer cells of their glutathione, while increasing, or at least maintaining, the levels of glutathione in healthy cells.
This is exactly what whey protein appears to do. In this new research it was found that cancer cells subjected to whey proteins were depleted of their glutathione, and their growth was inhibited, while normal cells had an increase in GSH and increased cellular growth.
These effects were not seen with other proteins. Not surprisingly, the researchers concluded, "Selective depletion of tumor GSH may in fact render cancer cells more vulnerable to the action of chemotherapy and eventually protect normal tissue against the deleterious effects of chemotherapy." The exact mechanism by which whey protein achieves this is not fully understood, but it appears that it interferes with the normal feedback mechanism and regulation of glutathione in cancer cells.
It is known that glutathione production is negatively inhibited by its own synthesis. Being that baseline glutathione levels in cancer cells are higher than that of normal cells, it is probably easier to reach the level of negative-feedback inhibition in the cancer cells' glutathione levels than in the normal cells' glutathione levels.
Whey and LDL Cholesterol
The positive health benefits of whey protein concentrate does not end with its effects on immunity and cancer prevention and treatment. Whey protein concentrate also was found to be a potent inhibitor of oxidized low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Current research suggests that the conversion of LDL to oxidized LDL is the trigger that leads to atherogenesis... the formation of the plaque and lesions associated with atherosclerosis.
Therefore, any substance that prevents the oxidation of LDL is thought to be anti-atherogenic. Though animal-based proteins have traditionally been implicated as being pro-atherogenic, whey proteins appear to be an exception to the rule. whey protein is made up of several minor and major fractions, such as beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, albumin, lactoferrin and immunoglobulin. It was discovered that the minor constituent responsible for the ability of whey protein concentrate to prevent the oxidation of LDL appears to be the lactoferrin fraction of the protein. 3
Lactoferrin In Whey
When the lactoferrin was removed from the protein, the ability of the whey-protein concentrate to prevent LDL oxidation was greatly reduced, leading the researchers to speculate, "Our results suggest that LF (lactoferrin) is the main factor responsible for the inhibitory effect of whey protein (on LDL) and it may function synergistically together with other factors in the whey protein, for example, alpha-lactalbumin."
Another study using rats examined the effects of whey protein concentrate and casein on cholesterol and the risk factors of heart disease. Though casein (another milk-based protein commonly used in research) is known to raise cholesterol in humans and animals, whey protein has the opposite effect, leading the researchers to note, "At the high dietary protein level [300 gram per kilogram of feed] , whey protein significantly lowered plasma and liver cholesterol and also plasma triacylglycerols." 4
The cholesterol-lowering effects of whey protein concentrate in this study also was associated with a reduction in LDL cholesterol. Most interesting was the fact that this effect on cholesterol was not seen when the animals were fed amino acid mixtures that simulated whey protein, so it is clear that there are properties within the whey that have these effects beyond that of its amino acid profile.
Whey and Bone Growth
Finally, whey protein appears to play a direct role in bone growth. Researchers found that rats fed whey protein concentrate showed increased bone strength and bone protein such as collagen. This discovery led researches to test whether or not whey protein directly stimulated osteoblast (bone cell) growth in vitro.
Whey protein was found to stimulate, dose dependently, total protein synthesis, DNA content, and increased hydroxyproline contents of bone cells. 5
It should be noted that not all whey protein concentrates are created equal. Processing whey protein to remove the lactose and fats without losing its biological activity takes special care by the manufacturer. The protein must be processed under low temperature and low acid conditions so as not to "denature" the protein. Maintaining the natural state of the protein is essential to its biological activity.
These research findings, combined with the previous decade of study on whey protein, should convince anyone that whey protein concentrate is truly the life-extension protein.
Higher Glutathione Levels and Whey
A decade-and-a-half of findings on the benefits of whey protein are far-reaching.
Previous Studies Include The Following:
* Whey protein concentrate dramatically raises glutathione levels. Glutathione is an essential water-soluble antioxidant in the body that protects cells and serves as a primary detoxifier of harmful compounds such as peroxides, heavy metals, carcinogens and other toxins.
* Glutathione also is intimately tied to immunity, and reduced glutathione levels have been associated with disease such as AIDS, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, to name only a few. In fact, glutathione levels appear to be one way of modulating immunity. 6
* Whey protein concentrate was found to consistently raise this extremely important immune stimulating antioxidant beyond that of any protein studied (including soy) to higher than normal levels in multiple animal studies. 7
A small pilot study with HIV-positive men who were fed whey protein concentrate found dramatic increases in glutathione levels of all the study participants, with two out of three men reaching their ideal body weight. 8
In fact, there have been several U.S. and international patents granted for the treatment of AIDS and improving immunity with whey protein concentrates.
* Whey protein improves immune function and fights infections. Animals fed whey protein concentrate consistently showed dramatic enhancement of both the humoral and cellular immune response to a variety of immune challenges, such as salmonella, streptococcus pneumonia 9 and extreme cancer-causing chemicals. This effect on immunity was not seen with other proteins.
* Whey protein concentrate fights cancer. Animals fed whey protein.
Weight training increases lean body mass via several factors. One being microscopic tears in muscle fibers. Once we consume the ideal post workout meal (containing carbohydrates and protein) insulin levels rises. Once this hormone is elevated it's extremely effective at shuttling nutrients into cells, in this case nutrients will be shuttled off to repair the microscopic tears. This results in enlarging of the muscle (hypertrophy) and strengthening the fibers in order to prevent this tears from reoccurring.
Since whey protein has a fast absorption rate and a high biological value. It makes perfect sense to use whey protein post workout. Its' high amino acid content, makes it an ideal supplement to increase protein synthesis and aid in hypertrophy.Whey protein is a relatively safe supplement but no more than 30 grams of protein should be taken at one sitting as excessive single doses could overload the liver. The safety of whey protein has been well documented in many scientific studies and there is clear proof that taken consistently, coupled with regular exercise, it will result in meaningful muscle gain.