Eating to gain size and mass is a juggling act between several
important nutritional states. Energy balance, or calories in and out,
is only one concept. You also need to focus on the acute effects of
what you eat on hormones, metabolism and energy storage.
The goal of eating to grow muscle mass is to maximize the muscle gain
to fat gain ratio. The worst case eating scenario for someone with
these goals is to have high blood levels of carbs, fats and insulin at
the same time.
Chronic levels of insulin are harmful to fat loss because they increase
the transport of fat into fat cells. If you always have high insulin
and high blood fats, your muscles will slow their intake of insulin and
excess fat and carbs will end up in your fat cells.
Before you decide to completely remove insulin from your diet, remember
that it can also be a very anabolic compound. It's responsible for the
carb and amino acid delivery that muscles need for growth and recovery.
Different types of nutrient combinations will produce different actions
on insulin.
HERE ARE SOME MEAL COMBINATIONS TO AVOID:
* Meals containing many fats and carbohydrates. This is the typical
western meal. This is the worst possible scenario for an unwanted
insulin surge.
*Meals high in carbs alone. Because the liver converts excess carbs
into fat, your blood profile will look like you just at a high fat meal
when in reality you ate carbs. High carb meals easily promote high
blood levels of fat, carbs and insulin too.
COMBINATION MEALS TO EMBRACE:
*Eatings protein with your carbs promotes the type of insulin release
you need to build muscle. If you eat some protein with each meal you
will remain in a more anabolic state all day long. This meal
combination is especially effective as a post workout meal, but you
should try to eat some protein with each meal.
*Eat meals containing protein and fat, but minimal carbs. Although it's
desirable to remain anabolic and create an insulin spike a few times a
day, as well as during the post workout meal, most of your meals should
not involve a lot of carbs. This was discussed in relation to insulin
spikes and prevention of fat burning. Protein, healthy fats and lower
carbs release energy and amino acids without causing great lipolysis
thus preventing insulin spikes. Also, after meals with higher fat and
lower carbs the body shifts to greater fat burning as an energy source
versus carbs. Basically, you'll be burning fat for fuel and storing
carbs in the muscles as glycogen.
INNDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:
* To keep blood sugar levels normal and fat loss optimal it is usually
recommended that most people eat six smaller meals about 2-3 hour
apart. For training purposes split three meals into protein and carb
meals and three into protein and healthy fat meals. You will have to
experiment a little with the exact amounts of carbs, protein and fats
to get your best ratios.
*There are many factors that can govern your response to these
nutrients including insulin and glucose tolerance. Insulin sensitivity
seems to be the most relevant factor regarding how the body handles
carbs. If you are extremely sensitive, even small amounts of carbs will
give small surges of insulin which will act anabolically to create
muscle growth. Those with lower insulin sensitivity can eat large
amounts of carbs with insulin levels well beyond the anabolic state and
into the fat promoting state.
Here's a pop quiz:
A. Most people succeed in their workouts well enough to grow in size, but often fall short with their nutritional efforts.
B. Most people follow proper nutritional plans for growth, but they don't train hard enough to grow.
Many of you may lean towards B, but A has proven more true than B. What
you eat can double your success at growing size and mass in the
weightroom. It's all about knowing the physiological effects nutrients
such as carbs, proteins and fats have on hormones, metabolism and
energy storage mechanisms of your body.
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