I thought this would be a good thread since this shake is so essential to weightlifting (and I have a little question of my own). I am completely lost about whether you need carbs in a post workout shake. I read a few websites which strongly supported maltodextrose in a post-workout shake, but then came across this article which basically says it is useless and may be counter productive. The people who support it say that it causes an insulin spike, and the insulin spike allows you to extend your post workout phase and direct nutrients/protein directly to your muscle cells, basically replenishing your glycogen stores and remove the risk of burning muscle for energy duringthe recovery phase. Any thoughts? Would love to hear what kind of post workout shakes people are drinking - right now i'm leaning towards these ingredients: Protein (hydrolized and isolate mixed) Creatine Glutamine 1 teaspoon olive oil Maltodextrose (Still considering) Any experiences with this? thanks.
2 cans of tuna FTW. That's 44 grams of straight protein. Natural protein is always better than these shakes. Also, chicken breast has a massive amount of protein as well.
I'm no expert on the subject, but I bolded the part of your post that is mythology. This is impossible to do with a post workout meal/shake. If you can, then it's also possible to lose fat in selective areas of your body based on the exercise you do. Nah. Post-workout nutrition is important in recovery but let's be real about what it can accomplish.
Carbs don't cause an insulin spike. The body naturally becomes very insulin sensitive post workout. This means that the carbs you take in post-workout are processed to rebuild your glycogen stores. This is medically/scientifically proven. Insulin is a hormone stimulates the conversion of glucose (sugar) to glycogen (stored sugar). Insulin does not magically track nutrients/protein to your muscles. If you don't take in carbs after a workout, you won't replenish your glycogen stores. Thus you'll either be tired later or have less energy for the next work out. The increased insulin sensitivity allows you to replenish glycogen stores rapidly, otherwise it would take significantly longer to do so. Sugar is also very important post-workout because sugar molecules are co-absorbed in the gut with sodium, thereby restoring electrolyte balance. Furthermore, water absorption follows the sugar and sodium absorption so you rehydrate better with some sugar. This is the idea behind gatorade: fluids, electrolytes, sugars. The best recovery meal would have proteins, carbs, and fats in it. Ideally it would be a solid meal not a drink. A PB&J sandwich with yogurt (not nonfat) is much more ideal than a protein shake with added nutrients. /says the med student in the middle of a GI and Nutrition course.
For diabetic or pre-diabetic (Type II) people who're working out, how do you suggest they approach a post workout meal etc.? Moe
This is tricky and I honestly don't have a good answer for you. I don't know enough about DMII to make such a suggestion. Apologies.
This sounds like great info, however, consider these two things, the first one is basically universally accepted among bodybuilders: 1) Meal won't do the trick because it will take time to digest, at which point your body will already be feeding off muscle for energy. It would be awesome if you could also answer this question for me: Once the glycogen stores are depleted, does the body go after a specific form of energy (muscles/fat) or does it just break down anything? 2) See bolded:
I've learned recently that nothing in a can can really be considered "natural" lol I try to stay away from anything canned. Not always succesful but I would be weary of having two cans of tuna every single day. Plus, your body won't receive that protein exactly when it needs it I think. While it may work, I'm not sure it will be as effective as a shake. If you're happy to have canned tuna, I don't understand why you're not happy to have whey protein derived from vegetables. There is lots of this around.
Are you not getting gains now or do you think you're not getting enough? I just put a variety of fruit into a blender....add some soy milk, water, protein mix and that's my post workout shake, but i usually eat something with it that's not that heathy, but its when i like to cheat
To address point one, its incredibly unlikely that you would exhaust glycogen stores and deplete the level of circulating glucose to hypoglycemia levels after just one workout. One moderate workout will not have you 'feeding off' muscles in any significant way if you eat right afterwards. A sandwich and yogurt take hardly any time to digest. Food spends an average of 15 seconds in the esophagus and 15 minutes in the stomach before moving on to the small intestine for absorption. The carbs in bread are broken down into glucose by enzymes in both the mouth and stomach. 15 minutes is well within the period of post-workout insulin sensitivity. In the event of glucose deprivation, the body will go after protein before fat because a certain metabolite of protein is the same as a metabolite of glucose. Thus the body can process the metabolites the same way. Fat's get broken down to a different end-product and has to be utilized by the body differently than sugar or protein. Protein digestion doesn't take that long either. The human body doesn't hold you hostage after a workout saying "I need X amount of protein NOW!". Tuna is a perfectly acceptable protein source. Animal protein is always better than plant protein. Not all protein is equal. The amino acid balance in animal protein closer resembles that in human protein than plant protein. That means animal protein is more useful for building human muscle than plant protein. That makes sense, right? I think the bodybuilding supplements trend is getting out of hand. Normal food is just as good if not better for you than protein shake and vitamin supplements and a ton cheaper. People are being brainwashed to think some powder in bottle is better for their body than a regular meal. That's ridiculous.
Exercise, eat with consideration about the number of carbs, take blood glucose after eating, and then use an insulin to carb ratio that works for you.
i should add that know i don't really lift for size as much as i used to...so i can't say it's great for that, but my recovery is never a problem and i dont feel tired later on....when i used to lift heavier i didnt have a shake as often and would just eat "real food" that had the protein, fats, carbs and i'd have a glass of orange juice with it. That worked well for me. The most important thing has always been getting enough calories in.
When you know how to make tuna like 4 different ways, you won't get sick of it. I'm lactose intolerant, so I can't have whey. Never heard of whey protein derived from vegetables...
You can custom build your protein at www.TrueProtein.com I've been using it for a few years now and it is great stuff, especially if you are very specific as to what you want in your protein. I usually eliminate all artificial sugars and so forth.
