Posts Tagged ‘diet’
No matter what you may have heard from various fitness experts, a body building diet doesn’t have to include huge amounts of protein. The average currently suggested is one gram of protein per pound of body weight. That means a 200 pound man would have to consume around 200 grams of protein per day. This is actually a low number compared to what a lot of the body building magazines recommend.
The Recommended Daily Allowance for Protein consumed by the average adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
So that would be roughly 64 grams for a 175 pound person. So why do these numbers vary so widely? Well first of all the RDA’s sugestion is based on research studying college aged men. This was the amount of protein needed to keep the nitrogen balance in these young men stable. However, nitrogen balance has not proven 100% effective in predicting muscle loss or gain. This would indicate that the RDA’s protein intake estimate wouldn’t be appropriate for the body building diet.
The AMDR recommends that 10%-35% of daily calories should be protein.
This makes the amount of protein you eat dependent upon how many calories you consume in a day. The AMDR stands for Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range and it was established by the Institute of Medicine in 2005. The main problem with the AMDR’s recommendation is that it covers a rather large spread. This is something not taken into account by this recommendation or by the RDA. Someone who trains hard would need to take their activity levels into consideration for their body building diet.
So when it comes to creating a good body building diet, neither the RDA nor the AMDR seem very helpful.
You’ll find some of the various body building magazines will suggest going as high as 2 grams of protein for every pound of body weight. However, that would end up being 350 grams per day for just a 175 pound male! The problem with body building magazines are that they aren’t exactly unbiased. Their main source of income is by selling advertising. And the number one product advertised in body building magazines is protein supplements. So it seems logical that 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight is far more than you really need.
The More Protein You Are Eating, The More Protein You Will Be Able To Digest
The weird thing about protein is that your body will be able to absorb high amounts of protein at every meal, if it is used to high amounts of protein at every meal. If you are used to eating less, then a high protein meal will simply cause an upset stomach due to the body’s inability to digest that protein. You would think that digesting more protein would mean building more muscle, but it isn’t that simple.
Digesting Ten Time More Of Protein Will Not Result In Ten Times More Muscle
Research has shown that the more protein you eat, the more your body switches to using amino acids as fuel. Your body uses protein, fat, and carbs for fuel. Depending on what goes into your system, your body adjusts its fuel burning needs to output energy. So at a certain point it doesn’t make sense to eat more and more protein, but how much is enough?
There are studies which show that consuming 70-120 grams of protein per day is optimal for muscle gain.
This topic has been covered in a book by Brad Pilon called “How Much Protein.” He compared several studies and found that between 0.55 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight would be enough for exceptional muscle gains. In fact he quotes several studies that show that anything over 120 grams of protein per day didn’t contribute to any additional muscle gain. So you can believe the supplement companies or scientific research. It’s up to you. My own suggestion would be to just average about 100 grams of protein over your day, which will be easy without having to add the protein shakes to whatever body building diet you’re on.
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Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found among the lipids (fats) in the bloodstream and in all your body’s cells. It’s an important part of a healthy body because it’s used to form cell membranes, some hormones and is needed for other functions. But a high level of cholesterol in the blood — hypercholesterolemia — is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack.
Cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers called lipoproteins. There are several kinds, but the ones to focus on are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
What is LDL cholesterol?
Low-density lipoprotein is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. If too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the walls of the arteries feeding the heart and brain. Together with other substances it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog those arteries. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. A clot (thrombus) that forms near this plaque can block the blood flow to part of the heart muscle and cause a heart attack. If a clot blocks the blood flow to part of the brain, a stroke results. High cholesterol reflects an increased risk of heart disease. If you have heart disease, your LDL cholesterol should be less than 100 mg/dL and your doctor may even set your goal to be less than 70 mg/dL. That’s why LDL cholesterol is called ‘bad’ cholesterol. Lower levels of LDL cholesterol reflect a lower risk of heart disease.
What is HDL cholesterol?
About one-third to one-fourth of blood cholesterol is carried by HDL. Medical experts think HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s passed from the body. Some experts believe HDL removes excess cholesterol from plaques and thus slows their growth. HDL cholesterol is known as ‘good’ cholesterol because a high HDL level seems to protect against heart attack. The opposite is also true: a low HDL level (less than 40 mg/dL in men; less than 50 mg/dL in women) indicates a greater risk. A low HDL cholesterol level also may raise stroke risk.
Who says there’s no such thing as an easy healthy diet? If you are one of those who do not believe in this, then you are definitely in the wrong side of the bridge. Healthy eating is actually not about staying unrealistically thin, strict nutrition philosophies, or not eating any of the foods you love and enjoy. Rather, it is simply about having more energy, feeling great, and keeping yourself as fit and healthy as possible. The good news is all these can be achieved by getting yourself familiar to some basics of nutrition and using them in such a way that is effective and best for you. In other words, it’s about taking an easy healthy diet, which actually involves choosing the types of foods that can greatly improve your health and avoiding the foods that can raise the risk for illnesses such as cancer, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and others. Read on and learn some tips and strategies for a diet that is certainly easy and healthy to take.
1. Take in enough calories
An easy healthy diet involves maintaining a proper balance between calorie consumption and calorie expenditure. This means you should not eat more food than what your body uses or burns. The average RDA is 2,000 calories; however, this may change depending on your gender, age, weight, height, and physical activity.
2. Eat different varieties of foods
Healthy eating is actually a great opportunity to expand and widen your range of food choices by trying different varieties of foods, especially whole grains, vegetables, or fruits ? foods that you don?t usually eat.
3. Keep food portions moderate
Nothing beats moderate eating particularly foods with high calories. These days, it is noticeable how much the food serving sizes have increased. One contributor to this was the introduction of fast food restaurants that even sell their foods in big or super sizes. It can be hard to resist these types of foods but you’ve got to take the challenge especially if you want to lose weight and become healthier. One way to make this possible is to limit yourself from ordering an entrée and replace this with a starter. You may also go to a fast food restaurant with a friend or diet partner who can share the food with you. Of course, the most important thing is avoid taking orders in big or super sizes.
4. Increase intake of grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes
This is perhaps the simplest and easiest way to achieve easy healthy diet. Eat more foods that are good sources of vitamins, carbohydrates, fiber, and minerals; however, these foods must be zero-cholesterol and low fat.
5. Drink plenty of water
It is said that our body is approximately 75% water. It is a very important part of an easy healthy diet because water helps flush out toxins and waste products from our system.
6. Limit intake of salt, refined-grain products, and sugary foods
If you really want to lose weight, it is best to limit your intake of foods with sugar. Do you know that in a year, a one 12-ounce-can of soda a day can add 16 pounds to your current weight? The same thing goes for salty and refined-grain products.
7. Get moving
A diet is never healthy without the help of physical activities. Adding regular exercise and physical activity will make your diet plan work more effectively..
8. Take it one step at a time
Do not rush because an easy healthy diet is indeed easy if your take it slowly but surely.