There are two types of carbs Paul complex carbs and simple sugars. Simple sugars would be the kind of carbs that you would find in a soft drink for instance. Although these are not good for you most of the time your body will dispose of them within an hour or so. The complex carbs are what is found in bread, white rice, pasta, etc.......This is what alot of obesity is blamed on because most people eat way too much bread and pasta and so forth. Carbs are fine in the proper amounts and are used to make energy for the body to run, but when taking in too much the body turns the extra carbs into stored fat to be used later.
Protein is essential for anyone that is looking to put on muscle, but you should watch your intake levels. Most doctors with tell you not to take more than 1g per pound of bodyweight, but for someone who is in a serious weightlifting program and doing alot of physical activity should really go more. I weigh in at around 240lbs. and on average I take in about 250g-300g daily of protein. I take in different kinds of protein though, and you don't want you diet to consist mainly of just one protein. You see alot of bodybuilders that eat tuna fish all the time and this is fine and all but due to recent studies the FDA is not sure how safe this is because of the alarmingly high levels of mercury in tuna fish. I like the whey protein supps for when I don't have time and for before and after workout because the whey protein absorbs really fast into the body and that is what you need before and after workout. Food protein is better say for during the day and before bedtime because it absorbs much slower. A good idea (what I like for work when I don't have time) is to get some of the swanson canned chicken. It's already cooked and everything all you have to do is pop the top and eat, and it's pretty good too!!!
Whey protein is usually sold these days in concentrate or isolate. Really the only difference is the isolate is a little more ingestable so that is what I always suggest. Whey should be taken before and after workouts if you work out like me. Usually I don't hit the weight for more than about 45min. or an hour because if you do more than that (PAUL) you will never see results. I usually try to take in about 25g before workout and then about 40g after workout. It is important to remember though that the body can only handle about 32-34g of protein at one time and the rest is turned into stored fat just like excess carbs. The reason I take about 40g after workout is because the muscles are tired and worked to their max and they are scavenging for some protein and amino acids to rebuild with so they can use the extra few grams. I hear alot of people tell me that they take whey protein shakes with water and this is something that should never be done, all whey should be mixed with milk. Not only is the taste much better but there is a big diffence in how much you really get to use......You see water when in the stomach is passed through extremely fast whereas milk is passed through kinda slow. So what you end up getting is that most of your protein is lost when mixing with water because you system takes it in and shoots it back out again.
Food protein has it's place too, and I feel it should have a much bigger place than whey protein supps. Most of my protein is taking in food throughout the day. I eat about 6-8 meals of food protein daily and you pretty much have to if you want to get big. The good thing about food protein is because of it's make-up it takes a fairly long time to digest so it's in your system being used for a while. This is good for throughout the day when my muscles are still trying to rebuild from the day before. Food protein should be taken instead of whey before bed because the body breaks down more protein in your sleep than any other time of the day. Being that whey protein will break down and be dispensed in about an hour (give or take a little) the food protein is much better (takes a couple hours to break down).
One should also considering adding a fair amount of fiber to your diet if you are gonna go high protein. The high levels of protein can cause verious problem with you organs and stuff like constipation as well. The fiber helps to get stuff moving and releive some of the stress on your liver and so forth. I like flax seed (the seed itself). I get it and grind it up and put it in with my shakes. Flax has also been proven to help at maintaining weight among other various things it helps and prevents against.
Sorry, I wrote so much but I would have wrote more if my fingers were not tired........Just trying to clear up some things about a good protein diet.
As far as the gelatin....throw that crap away and go get you some chicken or a good lean steak!!!! |