protein

People who want to build a lean, muscular physique go through a kind of nutritional evolution: STAGE 1 First, they start to actually pay attention to nutrition. After the newbie gains fizzle out, they realize they need to improve their diet strategy... or, you know, actually have one. They...

While conventional diets may be fine for the average person, they definitely don't work for bodybuilders. It takes an extraordinary nutrition plan to build an extraordinary physique. After lots of reading, research, and speculation (followed by more screwing up than you'd want to know about) I...

Workout waffles? WOD waffles? Protein waffles? Wait... proffles! #Proffles better start trending. Whatever you want to call these, they're delicious. Waffles don't have to be a cheat day thing either. Make them like this and you can have 'em every day. INGREDIENTS 1 whole egg 1/4 cup Egg...

To paraphrase Tom Jefferson, all protein powders are not created equal, and there are no self-evident truths to prove otherwise. Just as an example, whey and sodium or calcium caseinate are very much different from micellar casein. You wouldn't ideally use the whey or the sodium or calcium...

FANCY HOTELS AND COLD FOOD Do this: Book a weekend stay at a really nice hotel that offers a breakfast buffet. Take a close look at the cold selections and you may find something interesting, like... cold oatmeal? Sounds weird, but that's exactly what I saw (and reluctantly tried) fifteen years...

Protein is more filling than fat or carbohydrate. Studies show that protein is the most satiating while fat is the least satiating. Carbs fall in the middle. Protein has an influence on CCK (cholecystokinin) and ghrelin. Protein may stimulate CCK and decrease ghrelin. CCK acts as a satiety...

When it comes to making muscle, it takes two to tango. First we need the stress of exercise to stimulate the need to build muscles and then we need the extra protein to make sure that happens. In other words, you can’t expect to build thick, 3D biceps by neglecting to eat enough of this macro...

STEROID USERS AND YOU If you're a drug-free lifter, it's highly likely that you've been duped steroid users. They didn't do it intentionally, but you've suffered nonetheless. Here's what they did: They made you, the natural lifter, assume that drugs simply enhanced the response to training. You...

There's a lot of talk today about soy. Turn on the news and its soy, read a diet book and you'll find soy, go to your local gym and a personal trainer will recommend soy. What is it about soy that has captivated this nation? Well for starters it has many health benefits backed up by good...

Combining sports nutrition and training for maximum benefit The ultimate goal of any bodybuilder is of course to increase muscle mass. Trouble is, once you’ve passed the ‘newbie gains’ stage the rate of muscle growth begins to decline, making it increasingly difficult to maintain consistent...

When we were young lifters, searching for answers usually meant imitating the workouts of the biggest guy in the gym or flipping to page 36 of a magazine to see our favorite bodybuilder's nutrition suggestions. Our naïve minds soaked up rivers of bro-science without even knowing it. To us, it...

Sometimes it can be confusing determining which nutrition experts you can trust. When it comes to eggs, one study finds them good for you, and then next one calls them dangerous. So which ones are right. Although this back-and-forth, widely-debated topic can be confusing, determining whether an...

NO YOLKS, NO HAM, SAM-I-AM Back in the 1990's, the sewers ran yellow with discarded egg yolks. The specter of high, artery-clogging cholesterol had risen above the land and health-conscious citizens everywhere began discarding their yolks. Restaurants quickly caught on and started featuring...

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... The nutrition you consume around your workout can greatly increase your rate of progress. Pre-workout and intra-workout nutrition is more important that post-workout nutrition. By ingesting protein before and during a workout, you spare muscle protein, negate...

PROTEIN INTAKE: WHAT WE KNOW The three major factors regulating muscle protein net balance and muscle protein synthesis are: Quantity of protein Quality of protein Timing of protein Science has pretty much got factors one and two nailed down. As far as quantity, the current, best...

Ahh, the lean bulking diet; say what you want about the merits of trying to add pounds of muscle without adding a single ounce of extra bodyfat, but as a nutritional consultant I can tell you one thing: some of these lean bulking diets are the most meticulous and repetitive things the world has...

Should We Eat It Every Day? Eggs Are Tired, Boss Hey, do you remember John Coffey from “The Green Mile”? (“I’m tired, boss…”) It’s a stretch, but I see a similarity between Coffey and chicken eggs. No, really. To begin with, both were wrongly accused of horrible crimes. In the case of Coffey...

Was Rocky Right After All? Rocky Drinks Raw Eggs. Should You? I don’t remember a lot about the first Rocky movie. Sure, I have some vague recollections about Rocky’s pet turtles, Apollo Creed, and the scene in the ring where Rocky begs Mick to cut his swollen eyelid open so the blood can drain...

Why Food Isn’t Enough Health Supplements: Supplemental Or Fundamental? “Don’t take health supplements. Food can give you everything you need!” You’ve heard that before, and it sounds right. If supplements weren’t supplemental to food, we’d call them something else. The name implies they’re...

Take This, Forget About That Health Supplements: What to Take, What You Can Probably Skip When America wants nutrition advice, they generally defer to medical doctors. Why that is, I don’t know. Most medical schools only spend about 15 minutes teaching nutrition. As such, I’m always skeptical...