Exercise nutrition - Hydration & Protein shakes

With regards to hydration: caffeine, sugar, salt and alcohol levels will all have an effect on fluid balance whilst sometimes even food can contribute to overall hydration levels.

When considering how much water you will need to maintain sufficient levels within cells and blood (optimises function), there are certain factors that need to be considered such as the amount of lean muscle mass in the individual, the environmental temperature and also the intensity, type of frequency of the exercises performed. Lots of health professional recommend that drinking half your body weight in water is a good guide to how much you need. To make more sense of this, here are estimated figures for the daily amount of water into by body weight: 55kg = 1.70 (litres), 60kg = 1.85, 65kg = 2.00, 70kg = 2.15, 75kg = 2.30, 80kg = 2.45, 85kg = 2.60, 90kg = 2.75, 95kg = 2.90 and lastly 100kg = 3.05.

Moving onto protein shakes, here are a few facts: Found in milk is whey protein (6.5% protein). 20% of the 6.5% is whey protein. There is a massive concentration on amino acids making whey protein the highest biological value to the body of any protein.

Here are a few more facts about whey protein: whey is a waste liquid by-product from cheese manufacture, it is often dried at high temperatures which helps speed the manufacturing process however anything above 60% means the fragile proteins become denatured and essentially destroys their ability to function. Also, manufacturers use colours, flavours, sweeteners and sugar which improves palatability. It's also often very low in fat although proteins need fat for proper metabolism use and lastly it's often only backed up by self-funded research.

When thinking about purchasing a protein powder, it's important to consider the following: to look for cold processed protein powders that are manufactured below 50 degrees, have no added sweeteners, flavours, colours or sugars and that it is mixed with whole organic milk due to the fact that fats are essential for protein metabolism.

Exercise nutrition - Pre/Post-exercise meals

It is thought that a release of insulin will occur due to a high rise in blood glucose when GI foods are chosen before exercise. There are however feared side effects of high GI carbs, these are when the insulin causes a big fall in glucose levels before the exercise workout has begun (rebound hypoglycaemia) and also and increased rate of early glucose oxidation. It is thought that better performance in exercise occurs when glycogen sparing occurs with the low glycaemic trial. There is however no clear benefit that research has found. It is mainly thought that low GI foods and high GI foods eaten before exercise show no major differences regarding performance levels.

Drinks containing carbs are highly recommended during exercise for athletes. It has been shown that ingesting carbs is acceptable if the race/match is no longer than 90 mins, the session is longer than an hour or if a pre-exercise meal isn't possible. It can also help improve performance during exercise when consuming isotonic drinks as it delays the onset of fatigue. This can be as effective as consuming a pre-exercise meal. It is also an advantage that fluid is replaced by an isotonic drink.

In particular, during the 2 hours after a training session, the muscles are a lot more sensitive to the effects insulin produces creating a more reliable replacement for the lost glycogen. Immediate consumption of GI carbs helps the high synthesis of muscle glycogen.

The reasons why high GI (glycaemic index) carbs post-exercise are recommended is due to increased glucose availability/uptake, insulin and glycogen synthesis. There are also recommended guidelines, they are as follows: post-training = 1 gram carbohydrate per kg of body mass every 2 hours or 50 grams per meal, the 1st intake to be within 15 minutes of the workout ending and intake over a day = 7-10 grams carbohydrate per kg or 500-700 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Nutrition - Vitamin & Mineral supplementation

Some supplements are made in laboratories whilst other supplements get their nutrients from foods (A and D). Supplements made in laboratories are made from natural precursors meaning they may be labelled as natural. Vitamins A, D, E and K are best from natural sources as they're in oils and fats.

Some people may think with vitamin B supplements that they are getting all the needed vitamins although this isn't always true as the supplements only contain 8-12 different types. A lot of vitamin C supplements are made in laboratories and usually are pharmaceutical grade ascorbic acid. Rutin/other analogs (minerals) help to buffer the vitamin and to increase the bioavailability in vitamin C that comes from natural foods.

With other nutrients and substances, minerals in the food appear a lot in complexes and supplements (minerals) are there in engineered complexes. Calcium hydroxyapatite is the only form of a natural food extract when it comes to the most popularly taken mineral supplement which is calcium.

Vitamins B, D, E and K are not present in multivitamins meaning that it can mislead people into thinking they are getting all their vitamins from multivitamin supplements. It's also worth noting that although vitamin supplementation can help, but they only help to support a diet and not make one.

Nutrition - Hydrogenation, Trans Fats and Cholesterol

Hydrogenation and trans fats is where amounts of vegetable oils (unsaturated) are made into more solid fats e.g. margarine and shortening. The formation of saturated fatty acids occurs when the heating, catalysing and the pumping of hydrogen happens. Single bonds replace the double bonds which are again full of hydrogen. A very waxy hard substance is made when vegetable oil is fully hydrogenated. Although there are some amounts of vegetable oil that still contain unsaturated double bonds, they will have been converted into trans fatty acids.

The following foods contain trans fats - pies and pastries, cakes, crackers, biscuits, margarine (many), pre-prepared food, low fat processed foods (many) and take away foods.

Cancer, diabetes, obesity, birth defects and low birth weight babies, sterility, lactation difficulties, atherosclerosis, difficulties with tendons and bones and also decreased visual acuity are diseases that have been linked in with the consumption of hydrogenated fats. It can also affect blood lipid levels as well as decreasing healthier HDL cholesterol and increasing LDL cholesterol. The effect is double that of saturated fat. Lastly, it has been shown that 30,000 premature CHD deaths per year could be linked in to the consumption of trans fatty acids.

Cholesterol has no calories, it can't be used as energy in the body and it is a large lipid molecule though it is used in the tissues. This is for essential functions and structure.

Cholesterol produces steroid hormones, is the synthesis of vitamin D and bile acids whilst being an essential part of cell membranes.

75-80% of the body's own supply of cholesterol is synthesised by the liver though dietary cholesterol plays only a small part of meeting a persons daily needs. The amount the body synthesises increases when dietary cholesterol intake is low. Cholesterol production falls as the dietary intake increases.

Nutrition - Fats/Lipids - structure of Lipids and Triglycerides

So 1st of all, what are the physiological functions of lipids?

Many things... it provides protection for the internal organs, assists in regulation of enzymes, constitutes the majority of the central nervous system and the spinal cord, the formation of all cell membranes, formation of the myelin sheath within the nervous system, the transportation, storage and utilisation of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, a fuel source during lower intensity work loads, storage of energy within adipose tissue, insulation through subcutaneous adipose tissue and lastly the synthesis of steroid hormones.

Lipids that are solid at room temperature are called fats whilst lipids that are liquid at room temperature are called oils.

There are chains/rings of carbon atoms that join together with other atoms which a lot of dietary lipids consist of. These are most commonly oxygen and hydrogen. Smaller units of fats are called fatty acids. Double strength bonds are present, these change the shape of the molecule and allow the lipids to become versatile.

3 fatty acids are attached to a carbohydrate backbone which is called glycerol. Fatty acids are broken off during digestion and used as needed. This happens when fatty acids occur naturally as triglycerides.

Tomorrow I'll move onto the rest about fats/lipids!

A brief insight to my New Diet

Hello!

So, I stated in my previous blog that I'd talk more about the skeleton and the bones in the body... well I'm going to do that tomorrow now (busy day) but I'll leave you with a picture of my dinner tonight!

I started a new diet last week. I lost around a stone in weight over Christmas and I'm looking to put that on whilst doing some not too strenuous exercise. So far it's going well... I'll be sharing my diet when I've got my website sorted which will probably be here towards the end of the year as I'm not really up to it at the moment, plus I want to see some good results to show the rest of you too to prove the diets and workouts I follow do work!

Before Christmas, I weighed around 15 stone, I've now gone down to around 14 stone (morning weight). It's ALWAYS best to weigh yourself in the morning as your body isn't carrying any food or water weight! That's the most accurate time of day to weigh yourself, unless of course you work nights!

I'm 6ft 3 too so for someone of my height and weight, the recommended amount of calories to have on a bulk is around 3300... I've cut this down to 3000 as I'm not as active as a regular person due to my M.E.

Anyway... here's the picture...

There we go... not the best presentation but it's all about getting the calories in! What's the point in a good presentation if you're going to eat it anyway??!! ;)

It tastes good!

Chicken fillets, cherry tomatoes, brown rice, spinach, feta cheese and baked potatoes. :)



Hope you're all having a great week so far!

Barry. :)