Bulletin #91 – Zap the Fat Permanently

Perhaps you’ve leaned out as a result of competing in a contest recently or you’ve been maintaining a ripped physique over the summer .Now, ask yourself this question: How can I maintain most of that leanness, so that next time, I don’t have to diet so hard to zap the body fat?While losing body fat is a challenge, keeping it off can be more difficult. One point to remember is: Don’t restrict or cut calories to manage your body fat levels. It simply won’t work. If you fall off that wagon, you’ll regain your weight, plus a lot of extra weight. In fact, nearly 95 percent of those who go on low-calorie diets regain their lost weight, plus some, within five years. Not a resounding endorsement for low-calorie dieting. Why do people put weight back on so easily following a low-calorie diet? There are several possible answers. First, 25 to 50 percent of body weight lost by cutting calories is muscle .

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Be-cause muscle is the body’s most metabolically active tissue, losing so much of it slows the me-tabolism down. Also, cutting calories tricks your body into thinking it’s starving. This perceived famine speeds up the activity of a special enzyme that primes your body to store fat. Once you go off your diet and start eating again, the food is converted more easily to fat. In fact, fat stores stand first in line to be replaced after a period of dieting. You return to your original body weight or above, this time with even more body fat than before.Restricting calories affects this relapse in other ways too. Less food energy is given off as body heat and turned into weight in-stead. Low-calorie diets also suppress the activity of certain thyroid hormones, further slowing down the metabolism.One of the major keys to achieving permanent fat loss is “nutrient partitioning” - the assignment of food to either fat stores or muscle stores .To understand how nutrient partition-ing works, it’s helpful to think of the body as being divided into a fat compartment and a lean compartment .

Food goes to either of these compartments or is burned for energy.One of the factors that has a signifi-cant effect on nutrient partitioning is your endocrine system. It’s involved in such processes as metabolism, energy production, and growth. The endocrine system consists of several organs in the body, including the pituitary gland, the thyroid gland, the para-thyroid gland, the pancreas, the testes or ovaries, and the kidneys. This specialized system is like a chemi-cal “messenger service” in the body; it transmits messages in the form of hormones, carried by the blood to specific targets (organs, tissues, or cells) in the body. The messages sent are things like “build muscle proteins,” “store fat,” “burn fat,” or “store carbohydrates.”Once these messages are received by the targets, the commands are carried out by enzymes, special proteins that control chemi-cal reactions inside cells . Through these reactions, enzymes can make or break down proteins or fat.Two of the most im-portant hormones involved in muscle growth and fat loss are insulin and glu-cagon, both produced in the pancreas. They regulate carbohydrate metabolism and fat metabolism by exerting control over the enzymes that carry out these processes .When blood sugar (glucose) levels rise - usually after carbohydrates are eaten - insulin is released. It transports glucose into cells where it is burned for energy or stored as glycogen.

If carbohydrates are released into the bloodstream too fast, an overproduction of insulin occurs. Consequently, some of the carbohydrates are deposited as fat - instead of being stored as glycogen. Simple sugars and refined carbohydrates are rapid-release foods that trigger too much insulin. This channels calories to the fat compartment of the body - not the avenue of nutrient par-titioning you want.Interestingly, insulin is involved in muscular growth because it transports certain amino acids into muscle cells. To make this happen, you need carbohydrates. The key, however, is eating the right kinds of carbs, in the right amounts .Glucagon opposes the effect of insulin. When blood sugar is low, glucagon is re-leased, and this typically occurs several hours after a meal is eaten. Glucagon then activates the conversion of glycogen to glucose in the liver in response to low blood sugar levels. It also signals the body to start burning fat for energy, because the body is running low on carbohydrates, its preferred fuel source.The ratio of insulin to glycogen in your body largely determines whether you will gain fat or lose it. You can control this ratio naturally by adjusting the protein and carbo-hydrate proportions in your diet and combin-ing foods in the proper manner. Here’s how you can partition your food more effectively, so it can be used to burn fat (and keep it off), plus build fat-burning muscle tissue:1.

When trying to gain lean muscu-lar weight, you want a higher ratio of insulin, so you would increase your carbohydrate intake, perhaps as high as 400 to 500 grams or more a day.  A carbohydrate supplement such as ProCarb™ or 50/50 Plus™ that is formulated with the complex carbohydrate maltodextrin is a good way to increase carbohydrate con-sumption. At the same time, be sure to meet your lean protein requirement by eating 1.25 to 1.5 or more grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. At least 1 gram should come from chicken, fish, turkey, or egg whites, with at least another .25 or .5 gram of additional protein per pound of body weight from vegetable sources, which contain some protein as well. Consult the Parrillo Nutrition Manual™ for instructions on how to plan protein-rich meals .2. To lose body fat and keep it off, decrease insulin and increase glucagon by eating slightly less carbohydrate and more protein. A good rule of thumb is to adjust your carbohydrate-to-protein ratio to between 1 to 1 or 1.5 to 1. One problem with reduc-ing carbohydrate intake is the potential decline in energy levels.

To compensate, try supplementing your diet with CapTri®, our medium-chain triglyceride supplement . This is a special type of lipid that provides quality calories and, unlike conventional dietary fats, it has very little tendency to be stored as body fat.3. Don’t take nutrient partitioning to extremes by going on a “zero-carb” diet in an attempt to burn more body fat.  Under extremely low-carb conditions, muscular growth is impossible. There’s not enough insulin available to transport amino acids into muscle cells . Furthermore, the body begins to break down its own proteins into amino acids for conversion into glucose, needed by the brain for fuel.4. Rate of digestion is important. Your meals (five, six, or more a day) should include the proper combination of lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates. This combination of foods slows your digestion to keep car-bohydrates from being released into the bloodstream too fast, thus preventing an overproduction of insulin.

Bulletin #92 – Boost Endurance Naturally–and Safely

The spotlight at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was not only on the games’ amazing athletes, but also on what has turned out to be one of the most abused performance-enhancing drugs ever - eryth-ropoietin (EPO).EPO is a synthetic version of a natural hormone in our bodies that is produced in the kidneys and stimulates the formation of red blood cells. Synthetic EPO is used medi-cally to treat certain types of anemia and other diseases. But as a black market sports drug, EPO is used by athletes to increase the body’s production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen to muscles. The net effect is to boost endurance - a job EPO does well, by 5 to 15 percent. Synthetic EPO, however, has trouble-some side effects when not taken under medical supervision. It thickens the blood, increasing the risk of heart failure and stroke, particularly during intense exercise.

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The drug is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 26 athletes.1But this bulletin is not about EPO. It is about how to increase endurance through nutrition and supplementation, without re-sorting to dangerous drugs . I’ve seen amazing results from ath-letes who are willing to take the natural route. Case in point: I once worked with a pro triathlete who regularly consumed 6,000 calories a day from lean proteins and natural carbohydrates. In a qualifier race for his third Ironman, the toughest, most grueling triath-lon in the world, he was able to maintain a sub-six minute pace and turned in the third fastest race of the day.Once in the Ironman, he was fueled by a breakfast of egg whites and oatmeal with CapTri®. During the first half of the bike race, he consumed 32 ounces of a special carbohydrate drink (Pro-Carb™), mixed with a medium-chain triglyceride supple-ment (CapTri®). He dismounted his bicycle in 240th place (out of 1,450 professional competitors).

At the 19th mile marker, he had moved up to 110th place. With seven miles to go, he picked up his pace and fin-ished in 79th place - his strongest Ironman showing everIf that’s the kind of endurance and stamina you’re looking for, no matter what your sport, here’s what to do to get it.Eat a Natural Carb-Laden Diet. Carbohydrate is the body’s preferred fuel source during exercise. It is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen. More than 99 percent of the carbohydrates you eat are used by the body to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is a molecular fuel used by the muscles to power contractions. The more carbohy-drates you include in your diet, the better your muscles run . In 1967, a now-classic study was per-formed to look at the effects of carbohydrate intake on glycogen levels and endurance. Endurance was measured by exercise time to exhaustion, with the subjects training at 75 percent of their maximal aerobic capacity. The researchers found a direct relation-ship between carbohydrate content of the diet and endurance time.

A low-carbohydrate diet (5 percent of calories) provided enough muscle glycogen stores to sustain one hour of exercise. A moderate carbohydrate diet (50 percent of calories) resulted in glycogen levels to sustain 115 minutes of exercise. The high-carbohydrate diet (82 percent of calo-ries) supported 170 minutes of high intensity exercise. Clearly, a high-carbohydrate diet is beneficial for endurance.2The best source of carbohydrate to meet the energy demands of the body are starchy carbs and fibrous carbs. I recom-mend that you eat at least one to two servings of starchy carbs and one to two servings of fibrous carbs at each meal, along with a lean protein source. For guidelines on how to do this, see The Parrillo Nutrition Manual™.Fuel Your Body with Carbohydrate SupplementsThe longer and harder you train, the more depleted your glycogen reserves become, and the sooner you fatigue. One way to prevent the onset of fatigue and help extend energy is to use a powdered carbo-hydrate supplement in your diet .Select a formulation that contains low DE dextrines, either maltodextrin or rice dextrin. These are slow-releasing carbo-hydrates derived from grains that provide sustained energy levels. This type of formu-lation is found in Parrillo ProCarb™ and Parrillo 50-50 Plus™.For even greater energy and endur-ance, sip that carbohydrate beverage during your workouts.

This provides a source of carbohydrate other than muscle glycogen. With glycogen spared, fatigue is delayed. Mix in CapTri®CapTri® is a me-dium-chain triglycer-ide (MCT) supplement. MCT oil is preferen-tially used as fuel for energy, instead of be-ing stored by the body. Medium chain fatty acid fragments can dif-fuse into the cell very quickly, where they are burned immediately for energy - at the same time as glucose . The ability of MCTs to enter the cells in this manner has a glucose-sparing effect, mean-ing that glucose and its stored counterpart, muscle glycogen, last longer without being depleted. The longer glycogen reserves last, the more energy you have. To boost your endurance during exercise, take CapTri with a carbohydrate sports drink. At the University of Capetown Medical School in South Africa, research-ers mixed 86 grams of MCT oil (nearly 6 tablespoons) with two liters of a10 percent glucose drink to see what effect it would have on the performance of six endurance-trained cyclists. The cyclists were fed a drink consisting of glucose alone, glucose plus MCT oil, or MCT oil alone. In the labora-tory, they pedaled at moderate intensity for about two hours and then completed a higher-intensity time trial.

They performed this cycling bout on three separate occasions so that each cyclist used each type of drink once. The cyclists sipped the drink every ten minutes. Performance improved the most when the cyclists supplemented with the MCT/glucose mixture. The researchers did some further biochemical tests on the cyclists and confirmed that the combination spared glycogen while making fat more ac-cessible for fuel.3Supplement with Endurance-Enhancing Nutrients. These include the following inosine, L-phenylalanine, D-phenylalanine, ferulic acid (FRAC), and magnesium and potassium aspartates, which is the formulation in our Max EnduranceT Formula. Inosine improves oxygen utilization for better stamina, possibly by forcing ad-ditional production of ATP. L-phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that acts as a potent mental stimulant for improved concentra-tion during workouts. The mirror image of L-phenylalanine is D-phenylalanine, an amino acid that inhibits the breakdown of endorphins (a protein-like substance with analgesic properties) for a higher pain threshold. Ferulic acid (FRAC). stimulates the endocrine system to aid recovery and boost workout capacity.4Hard training produces certain waste products, including ammonia .

By turning ammonia into uric acid, aspartates help filter waste products from the system, giving you extra stamina and extending endurance.5Supplement with Liver Tablets. Among the most crucial supplement for anyone who wants to increase endur-ance is desiccated and defatted liver, the basis for our Liver-Amino™ Formula. I can’t overemphasize the importance of this supplement, because defatted liver is an excellent source of heme iron. Iron is essential for the manufacture of two important proteins in the body: he-moglobin, a constituent of red blood cells that gives them their color; and myoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein in muscle cells. Hemoglobin picks up oxygen from the lungs and transports it to the body’s cells where it is used to produce energy from the foods you eat. Myoglobin allows oxygen to be consumed inside muscle cells. Without adequate iron, the oxygen delivery system won’t work well, nor will oxygen be burned properly inside the cells . Clearly, iron has a central position in produing energy .For best results, I recommend that you take several Liver Amino™ Formula tablets with each meal. Along with ample calories from high-density foods, desiccated liver supplements should help you reach peak levels of performance. There you have it - ways to boost endurance, naturally and safely - as long as you’re willing to go the extra mile nutrition-ally, and not take short cuts.

References

1. Dunn, A. 2000. “Olympics again put oft-abused Amgen drug under scrutiny.” Los Angeles Times, September 18.

2. Bergstrom J., et al. 1967. Diet, muscle glycogen and physical performance. Acta Physiology Scandinavian, 71: 140-150 .

3. Van Zyl, C. 1996. Effects of me-dium chain triglyceride ingestion on fuel me-tabolism and cycling performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 80: 2217-2225.

4 . Murray, M .T . 1996 . Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements. Rocklin, Cali-fornia: Prima Health.

5. Wesson, M., et al. 1988. Effects of oral administration of aspartic acid salts on the endurance capacity of trained athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 59: 234-239 .

Bulletin #90 – Doing Carbs Right: Controlling Insulin Release

These days you can’t pick up a magazine or look at the best seller list in the bookstore without seeing something about low carbohydrate diets. Low carbohydrate ketogenic diets have their primary applica-tion in facilitating fat loss. Such diets work to help you lose weight in part by reducing insulin levels. Insulin is a storage hormone and promotes the storage of carbohydrate as glycogen as well as promoting the use of carbohydrate as fuel. What many people don’t realize is that insulin also inhibits lipolysis, the release of stored fat from fat cells. Insulin shifts the body’s metabolism into a carbohydrate mode and shuts off fat burning. This all makes perfect sense if you think about it. The role of body fat is primarily to store energy for times when food is not available. When you eat, insulin is released in response to the carbohydrate content of the meal and acts to promote the utilization of that carbohydrate for energy. If carbohydrate is available as a fuel source your body will prefer to use it instead of fat, since it wants to save body fat as an insurance policy against starvation.If your only goal is fat loss, reduced carbohydrate diets do make some sense. We’ve used this strategy with our bodybuilders for years, hav-ing them progressively reduce starch intake before a contest to help get them ripped.

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During this time we have them increase their intake of CapTri® to make sure energy levels don’t suffer. CapTri® is a proprietary medium chain triglyceride (MCT) formula that is used immediately for energy-more rapidly than glucose in fact. CapTri® has minimal effects on insulin so it is an ideal energy source during reduced carb dieting. Using CapTri® in place of some portion of your normal starchy carbohydrate intake will reduce insulin levels and shift your metabolism into a fat-burning mode. CapTri® itself is used immediately for en-ergy and is not stored as body fat. CapTri® is a dieter’s dreams come true .While reducing carbohydrate intake works well to assist fat loss, it’s not the best diet for all situations. Athletes, particularly endurance athletes and team sports players, need the quick energy that carbohydrates provide.

Bodybuilders are equally as inter-ested in gaining muscle as they are in losing fat, and carbs provide energy for muscular growth. Bodybuilders also enjoy having full, hard muscles, and that comes, in part, from glycogen stored in the muscle cells . Athletes, whether they are aware of it or not, want to store glycogen in their muscles in order to look and perform their best, and glycogen storage requires eating carbohydrates. Is there some way we can derive the benefit of carbohydrates and still get leaner?Yes, there is . You can include a sig-nificant amount of carbo-hydrate in your diet and still lose fat-if you do it right. The strategy behind a reduced carbohydrate diet is not to avoid carbohydrates per se-but rather to reduce insulin levels. Carbs don’t make you fat-it’s the insulin release fol-lowing carbohydrate ingestion that is the culprit. This biochemical sequence prevents you from losing the stored body fat you already have. At Parrillo Performance we have developed a dietary plan that allows you to eat carbohydrates while minimizing the insulin response.

This gives you the best of both worlds: the benefits of carbohydrate in providing energy for growth and athletic performance-plus the benefit of reducing insulin levels.Understanding how the Par-rillo diet works is really not too complicated once you understand some basics about metabolism. Both protein and carbohydrate stimulate insulin release from the pancreas, but carbs are a significantly more potent stimulus than protein is . And not all carbs are created equal. Gram for gram, some carbs elicit a much stronger insulin response than others. We divide carbs into four cat-egories . First are simple sugars and refined carbohydrates, then there are starches and fiber. You want to avoid simple sugars and refined carbs since these are the most potent insulin se-cretors. Simple sugars are found in desserts and sweets and are major in-gredients in soft drinks. Last month I stated that the average American consumes a staggering 153 pounds of refined sugar per year. Most of this is concealed in processed foods, convenience foods, soft drinks, and sweets. Many cereals also are very high in sugar. When you’re reading the labels to check for sugar content remember that high-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener loaded with the sugar fructose, which is even more potent in promoting fat storage than table sugar.You might be surprised to learn that fruit, fruit juice and milk are high in sugar. Almost all of the calories in fruit and juice derive from natural fruit sugars.

Although milk is an outstanding protein source, it contains more calories from sugar than from protein. Fruit and dairy products have many healthy attributes but are relatively high in sugars and the fact that these sugars occur naturally doesn’t make it any better for you. So for people seeking to achieve ultimate leanness, I strongly suggest they avoid fruit, juice, and dairy products. Refined carbohydrates are made from grains milled to produce flour. The problem is that in the manufacturing process the fiber is removed from the grain, leaving only starch. Then the grain is pulverized to produce a fine powder. This greatly increases the surface area of the starch, thus increasing it’s rate of digestion and absorption. Refined carbs are absorbed as quickly as sugar, and thus have essentially the same effect on insulin levels as eating sugar does. Anything made from flour is a refined carbohydrate. This includes bread and pasta and baked goods like cakes and muffins. Most snack foods (including pretzels, commonly misconstrued as being a healthy snack) are made from refined car-bohydrates. Most cereals are made from a mixture of refined carbohydrate and sugar. If you want to reduce insulin levels and still be able to eat carbohydrates, start by eliminating the carbs that are the most potent insulin releasers . This includes simple sug-ars, sweets, refined carbs, fruit, milk, bread, pasta, and most cereals . Eliminating these foods from your diet will make you notice-ably leaner.

The best carbohydrate choices are unrefined, complex carbohydrates and fibrous vegetables. Good starchy carbs are oatmeal, whole grain rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, lentils, beans, legumes, and any whole grain. While primarily starch, these foods are natural and unrefined and are high in fiber. The presence of fiber in the stomach reduces the rate of digestion and absorption of the carbohydrate, thus reduc-ing its insulin response. Good examples of fibrous carbohydrates include salads and other greens, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, green beans, onions and peppers. The Parrillo Performance Nutri-tion Manual™ contains a food composition table giving an extensive list of this type of category, and the best food choices, along with the nutritional breakdown of the indi-vidual food.If you want to do carbs right the first step is to avoid the carbohydrate sources which elicit a big insulin release and instead select foods that are digested more slowly. Two important concepts are meal structur-ing and meal patterning . Meal structuring is simply the proper construction of each individual meal. Each meal should contain a protein source, an unrefined complex car-bohydrate to provide starch, and a fibrous vegetable. (The exception to this is the pre-contest diet in which starch is eliminated from some meals, particularly those late in the day.)

The presence of protein in the stomach slows the rate of digestion and ab-sorption of carbohydrate, as does fiber. The exact ratio of protein to carbohydrates varies among individuals depending on what are the specific training and dietary goals. If you want to do carbs right the first step is to avoid the carbo-hydrate sources which elicit a big insulin release and instead select foods that are digested more slowly.As a good rule of thumb, during a weight gain period eat one to two grams of protein per pound of body weight each day and supply the rest of your calories from unrefined, complex starchy carbs and fibrous vegetables. Minimize fat intake. For weight loss, most people get good results by increas-ing their protein intake and simultaneously decreasing carbohydrate intake. The ratio of protein to carbs will change depending on whether your goal is weight gain or fat loss. This will vary from individual to individual. People who store fat easily do better with less carbs and more protein. People who are naturally thin and want to get bigger achieve better results by consuming more carbohy-drates. Some people are more sensitive in their metabolic response to carbohydrates than others . Thin people generally tolerate more carbs without getting fat.

The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual goes into extensive detail in teaching about food com-bining and meal structuring and does a more complete job than I have room for here.Meal patterning refers to how many times you eat per day. Eating small, frequent meals gives better results than eating a few larger ones. That’s because a large meal supplies more calories and generates a larger insulin response. By eating small, frequent meals you never get that big insulin release. Also, you have a more uniform energy level. I recommend eating six small meals per day spaced out evenly every two-and-a-half to three hours. Try to get at least a minimum of five meals. If you have trouble eating regular food meals that frequently, make two meals a day supplement meals. Our 50-50 Plus drink mix and the Parrillo Nutrition Bars are ideal for this purpose. Implementing these dietary concepts will allow you to eat carbohydrates while also moderating insulin levels. You will feel better, have more energy and get leaner and stronger. Eliminating sweets and refined carbs makes most people feel more energetic, not less . For more detailed information re-fer to the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual™.

Bulletin #89 – Creatine Update

Few sports supplements have been more intensely researched in recent years than creatine monohydrate . Already this year, significant findings on this amazing supplement have been pub-lished in leading scientific journals - findings that can help you achieve that ultimate physique. Before I share those findings with you, here’s some background information on how creatine works.

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Inside muscle cells, creatine helps produce and circulate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the main energy-producing molecule of all living cells. By taking supplemen-tal creatine, you can build the volume of creatine in your muscle cells. Inside cells, creatine increases levels of a high-energy compound called creatine phosphate, which serves as a tiny fuel reserve, enough for several seconds of action. Creatine phosphate also allows more rapid production of ATP. The more ATP that is available to muscle cells, the longer, harder, and more powerfully you can work out. Thus, creatine can indirectly help you lose body fat, since longer, more intense workouts help demolish fat and build lean muscle. The more muscle you have, the more efficient your body is at using energy and burning body fat. Additionally, in many studies, creatine has been found to affect protein synthesis - which ultimately leads to muscle growth.1 Now, here’s a look at some creatine news you can use:Build Bigger Arms If you’re familiar with the Parrillo Train-ing Program, you know that I recommend some very specific techniques for building arm mass.

Exercises such as drag curls for the biceps, preacher curls with elbows pressed toward the center of the pad, vari-ous triceps exercises, and, of course, fascial stretching between arms sets. In addition to these training techniques, make sure you’re supplementing with creatine. A recent study found that supplementation with creatine monohydrate produced remarkable ef-fects on arm mass. In this study, 23 male weight-trainers took either a placebo, or five grams of creatine, four times a day, for five days. After five days, they took two grams of creatine a day, while the other group continued to take the placebo. All the men trained their arms twice a week, starting with six-rep maximums and progressing to two-rep maximums. The experimental period lasted six weeks. At the end of six weeks, the creatine-takers experienced ex-traordinary gains. Combined with weight training, creatine supplementation produced greater arm strength, boosted muscle mass, and increased upper arm girth . Those in the placebo group had no such gains whatsoever, even though they were exercising.2Creatine can indirectly help you lose body fat, since longer, more intense workouts help demolish fat and build lean muscle.

The more muscle you have, the more efficient your body is at using en-ergy and burning body fat.Aerobic Power The ability to train longer without feel-ing pooped is certainly a plus when you’re trying to build quality muscle. Time and again, creatine has proven its merit in de-laying the onset of fatigue. One of the most recent studies to look into this involved 14 men who were tested on stationary bicycles at varying levels of exercise intensity after having supplemented with 20 grams of creatine daily for five days. Half the group took a placebo. Some interesting effects were observed in the creatine-supplement takers. First, creatine appeared to decrease ammonia build-up in the body. This is significant. Ammonia is a waste product generated during intense exercise. It is very toxic and will stop energy production in the cell. When your body can eliminate it efficiently, you have more energy to train. Creatine may help the body clear ammonia from the system. Second, creatine enhanced “oxygen uptake.” This represents your body’s maximum capability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles. With greater oxygen delivery, you can increase your aerobic performance.

Third, the creatine-supplement takers had more endurance and could train longer before becoming tired.3More get-up and Go It’s a fact of life: Some people just naturally slow down physically with age and can’t last as long in the gym as their younger counterparts. Creatine to the rescue. In a re-cent study, twenty men (aged 60 to 82) took either a placebo or 20 grams of creatine daily for 10 days, followed by either four grams of creatine or a placebo daily for 20 days. Researchers measured the subjects’ exercise performance on leg and arm exercises and found that creatine supplementation reduced muscle fatigue.4 How to Supplement With Creatine Probably no other sports supplement (to date) has been as thoroughly researched as creatine. In addition to its performance advantages, creatine has virtually no side effects according to research. Building the levels of creatine and cre-atine phosphate in your muscles gives you another fuel source in addition to glycogen from carbohydrates. The question is, how much creatine do you need?  To use creatine in your supplement program, I recommend taking four 5-gram doses a day for five days. This is known as the “loading phase.” From there, five to ten grams a day will keep your muscles saturated with enough extra creatine.

This period is called the “maintenance phase.” One of the best times to supplement with creatine is with your meals. That way, you can load it into your muscles at just the right time to start replenishing muscular reserves and restocking ATP. Taking it after your workout is a good idea too. Creatine enhances the movement of amino acids in cells for tissue growth and repair following exercise. Creatine has no flavor, and you can mix it with plain water or a sports drink. Coffee is not a good choice. Research shows caffeine counteracts creatine and blocks its strength-producing benefits. I recommend that you take the Parrillo Creatine Mono-hydrate™ with our ProCarb Formula™. Scientific research shows that taking cre-atine with a liquid carbohydrate supplement boosts the amount of creatine accumulated in muscles by as much as 60 percent.5 This is not to say, however, that taking Creatine with an exorbanent amount of sugars would be beneficial. It would not. Diet is critical too. To support muscle growth, creatine works best if you follow the Parrillo Nutrition Program™, which supplies ample calories from the proper categories of lean proteins and natural, high-fiber carbohydrates.

References

1. Kreider, R.B. 1999. Dietary supplements and the promotion of muscle growth with resistance exercise. Sports Medicine 27: 97-110 .

2. Becque, M.D., et al. 2000. Effects of oral creatine supplementation on muscular strength and body composition. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32: 654-658 .

3. Rico-Sanz, J., et al. 2000. Creatine en-hances oxygen uptake and performance during alternating intensity exercise. Medi-cine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32: 379-385 .

4. Rawson, E.S., et al. 1999. Effects of 30 days of creatine ingestion in older men. European Journal of Applied Physiology 80: 139-144 .

5. Editor. 1994. The promise of creatine supplements. Penn State Sports Medicine Newsletter, January, 1-3.

Bulletin #88 – Build Muscle While Simultaneously Stripping Off Body Fat–Part 2

Bulletin #86 discussed some of the basic concepts of nutrition and training used to lose fat and gain muscle. Losing fat and gaining muscle are separate and distinct physiologic processes and were initially dis-cussed separately for just that reason. When you are gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time your body weight doesn’t change much, which is a bit deceptive. When your caloric intake roughly matches your energy expenditure, nothing hap-pens to your body weight yet you are undergoing an incredible transformation. Ideally, the energy cost of building new muscle tissue will be met at the expense of stored body fat. While body fat does not provide the protein needed to build new muscle, fat can supply the energy needed to fuel the anabolic process.

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The net result is fat is burnt off while new muscle tissue is built.The energetic cost of building a pound of muscle tissue is not pre-cisely known, but has been estimated to be about 2,800 calories. This agrees with our experience in prepar-ing bodybuilders for com-petition. We at Parrillo Performance have discov-ered that in order to gain a pound of muscle in a week without adding to fats stores, the process should be slow and steady. Most bodybuilders, regardless of age or gender, need to consume an ad-ditional 300 to 500 extra calories per day - these are calories above and beyond your current energy expenditure level. Split the difference and 400 additional calories daily, multiplied for each of the seven days in a week, equates to a weekly caloric increase of 2,800 calories. Muscle is mostly water (which contains no calories) and protein. There are roughly 100 grams of protein in a pound of muscle tissue. At four calories per gram, that accounts for 400 calories. To build a pound of muscle tissue we suggest you intake 300-500 or an average of 400 additional calories a day.

It takes a lot of energy to build a house and it takes a lot of energy to assemble the protein and cells that make up a pound of muscle tissue. A pound of stored body fat yields 3,500 calories upon oxidation. This is enough energy to supply the metabolic cost of building a pound of muscle and to power daily activities. When a person adds muscle and looses fat at equal rates, the energy intake will roughly match the energy expen-diture. The net result is confusing; despite no change in your body weight, you have undergone an astounding transformation. So how do we do it? The first question out of everyone’s mouth when they ask me how to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time is - how many calories should I consume? The answer is whatever number of calories you would normally consume to maintain your current constant body weight. Although this is not a precise methodology, it is a good starting place . Supplying enough calories to maintain your current body weight is re-ferred to meeting your maintenance energy requirement. You ingest enough calories to maintain a constant body weight, yet not too many, as the excess will be directed into weight gain.Although gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is certainly possible (we see it happen all the time) it is not easy.

There’s not much room for error. You have to do everything right and I strongly suggest you read The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual if you haven’t already . There is simply too much information for me to summarize it all in a short ar-ticle like this. More important than how many calories you eat is, what kind of food do you eat? The Nutrition Manual has a detailed list of the foods you should be eating to build muscle and lose fat. The Manual also comes with a food composi-tion guide and a food scale so you can precisely control your nutrient intake. To build muscle while stripping off fat you need to keep your protein intake high, carbohydrate intake moderate and fat intake low. You should increase protein intake and decrease carbohydrate intake, compared to the way you normally eat. A good rule of thumb would be to in-gest one to two grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. Fat intake should be limited to 5-10% of calories. Unrefined, complex carbohydrates should be used to meet the remainder of your caloric require-ment. I recommend that you keep your protein intake level and adjust your caloric intake by modulating the carbohydrates in your diet. Try and keep your body weight constant throughout the process .

The Parrillo Performance Body Stat Kit™ is an invaluable tool here. Following scale weight doesn’t tell you how much muscle you’ve gained or how much fat you’ve lost. Gaining ten pounds of muscle and losing ten pounds of fat will change your appearance and body composition dramatically, but your body weight will remain unchanged. The Body Stat Kit™ al-lows you to monitor body composition and this allows you to follow muscle gain and fat loss. The instruction manual that comes with it tells you exactly what to do to keep progress moving in the right direction. By increasing the protein-carbohydrate ratio in your diet, you’re supplying calories that are more prone to be stored as muscle than as fat. Also, by decreasing carbohydrate intake you induce hormonal and metabolic changes that encourages the use of stored body fat as fuel. Rely on lean protein sources such as skin-less chicken or turkey breast, white fish and egg whites. Most people find it impossible to consume two grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from conventional foods. It’s simply too much food. This is where a high quality protein supplement is very useful. Our Optimized Whey Protein™ is an excellent choice here. It contains high levels of glutamine and the branched chain amino acids that help to maximize protein retention .In training you really have to go all out.

You have to train hard and heavy to stimulate muscle growth. This means basic, heavy exercises giving 110%. When doing low rep work, concentrate on explosive contractions that generate a lot of power. In the higher rep ranges concentrate more on moving the weight slowly, especially dur-ing the concentric (lowering) phase of the contraction. “Time under tension” refers to the amount of time a muscle is under tension during a set. In a low rep set, the muscle gets worked very hard, but doesn’t spend much time under tension. Low rep sets are more intense and this is a very potent stimulus for growth. Time under tension is another important growth stimulator and you’ll need to do more reps at a slower pace, which will require the use of lighter weight. High rep sets should be carried to failure. I suspect you’ll find they’re more painful than the low rep sets. The combination of both training styles is very effective at stimulating muscle growth.Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time can bring about rapid and dra-matic changes in your appearance and body composition. It’s hard work. You have to be very strict on your diet and train harder than you normally do .

As a rough guideline I would recommend weight training an hour a day, and possibly more, five or six days a week. Instead of worrying about over-train-ing, worry about under-training. If anything you want to err on the side of over-training here. Occasional, brief periods of over-train-ing can actually help break plateaus and stimulate new growth. Most people will need to do an hour of aerobics each day. If you have some stubborn fat that’s slow to come off, don’t be afraid to do more. Push yourself on your aerobics. You need to work hard enough to break a sweat and breathe hard. Any type of aerobic activity is acceptable however, just so you do it hard.Generally I wouldn’t recommend a program like this for more than eight or ten weeks at a time. It’s very intense and you’ll probably need a break after that long. With all training programs, you’ll eventually reach a plateau. After ten weeks on this program I’d suggest taking a break. Shift into a mode designed to gain muscle, as I discussed last month . Stay strict on your diet but eat a few more calories each day, say 300 more, than you have been. Reduce the aerobics down to 30 minutes a day. This will help you gain a pound or two of muscle. Train hard and good luck!

Bulletin #87 – Build Muscle While Simultaneously Stripping Off Body Fat–Part 1

With summertime fast approaching, shedding any excess fat you might have put on over the winter is a hot topic. How would you like to get into super shape by summer? Now is the time to start. There are specific strategies of diet, exercise, and supplementa-tion that maximize fat loss while retaining hard-earned muscle. When I use the word “diet” I’m NOT referring to classical “low calorie” diets. Restricting calories will work over the short term but always fails in the long run. The body has specific defense mechanisms in place to defend against body weight loss (specifi-cally fat stores) and these biologic mechanisms are triggered when a drastic reduction of calories oc-curs. During severe caloric restriction you lose as much muscle as fat - and this bodybuilding nightmare reduces the metabolic rate like slamming into a wall. It aslo brings fat loss to a screeching halt. Reduced caloric intake primes your enzymes and hormones to preferentially replenish fat depots after normal caloric intake is resumed.

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Rather than restricting calories and call into play the body’s starvation response, we need to work with our bod-ies, giving them the nutrients and energy they require - but in a clever way that pro-motes fat loss while retaining hard-earned gym muscle . There is no magic here and it’s really not too complicated once you know what to do.The single best move you can make - if you want to lose fat and gain muscle - is to purchase the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual. This amazing book dis-cusses my philosophy and introduces you to the method by which you can make it all happen. Food is the foundation of good nutrition and you will derive the maximum benefit from your supplements and training only if they are combined with a proper and plentiful diet of wholesome foods. The foundation of our diet is based on the idea that in order to maximize fat loss you need adequate amounts of protein. Protein helps prevent muscle loss while you are losing fat and protein generates a hormonal and thermodynamic milieu that is optimal for fat loss.

Normally I recommend protein consumption of around 1.5 grams per pound of body weight per day. During a serious fat loss program I would suggest you increase that: take in up to two grams or more of protein per pound of body weight, per day. To avoid increasing your caloric intake while increasing your protein consumption reduce your starchy carbohydrate intake by an equivalent amount of calories. Exchange starch calories for protein calories and you will jump-start the fat loss process. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and normally consume 200 grams of protein per day, to facilitate fat loss while minimiz-ing muscle loss, you would increase your protein intake to 400 grams per day and decrease your starch intake by 200 grams per day to compensate. Since a gram of protein and a gram of carbohydrates generate the same caloric amount, 4 calories per gram, the net result is no change in the total amount of calories you consume. Our research and knowledge gleaned in preparing some of the best bodybuilders in the world indicate that you benefit tremendously by tilting the ratio of calories contributed by protein and away from carbohydrate. Detailed information about how to precisely adjust this ratio is provided in the Parrillo Nutri-tion Manual. Upping protein has several metabolic effects. Increased protein reduces insulin levels. Insulin is not a bad thing and is required for many vital functions but the problem is that too much insulin blocks the use of fat as an energy source . And that is a bad thing.Carbohydrates stimu-late insulin release and by reducing the amount we take the brakes off the fat-burn-ing process.

This is why low carb/high protein diets are so popular these days . Another consequence of increasing the protein-carbohydrate ratio has to do with thermodynamics. Every time you eat a meal a certain percentage of the calo-ries are lost as body heat during the process of digestion and metabolism. This is called the thermic effect of feeding, or TEF. Whatever calories are lost as body heat are no longer available for storage as fat. These calories are no longer available for use as fuel by the body to perform its work and the body is forced to rely on stored fat for fuel. This procedure automatically promotes fat loss without reducing calories or lowering the metabolic rate. The TEF for dietary fat is 2-3%. This means 2-3% of the fat calories you eat will be lost as body heat during the process of digestion and metabolism. Under conditions of normal caloric consumption the rest of these calories are retained as body fat. The TEF for carbohydrate is 8%, while the TEF for protein is 25%. This means that 25% of the calories you consume as protein “go up in smoke” before they can be used as fuel to perform work - or be stored as fat. That’s a good thing. Protein’s high TEF makes it roughly 23% better than fat insofar as TEF efficiency.

An-other benefit of increased pro-tein intake during weight loss is that protein reduces the loss of muscle tissue. Usually (but not always) when you lose fat you lose some muscle as well. By increasing protein intake we minimize this undesirable result. Why? Protein, in addi-tion to having a high TEF also provides essential amino acids that muscle needs to maintain itself. The higher the protein intake the more likely the hard dieting athlete has of retaining muscle mass throughout the process . By increasing protein, reducing fat intake and lower-ing starchy carbohydrates, we minimize muscle loss and end up leaner and more muscular as a result. We “trick” the body into burning fat as fuel and keep our metabolic rate elevated.Good protein sources include skinless chicken or turkey breast, egg whites and most fish. Our Nutrition Manual includes a food scale and a nutrition composition table listing the nutrient breakdown of all the foods you should be eating. Many people have trouble eating enough protein in food form so we manufacture two excellent protein powders, Optimized Whey™ and Hi-Protein™. Each supplies 31-33 grams of pure protein per serving.

This is the way top bodybuilders, strength and professional athletes ingest high amounts of “clean” protein without having to eat and cook all that food. Parrillo Performance Hi-Protein™ Powder and Optimized Whey™ Protein are both ideal for this application. Good starchy carbohydrate sources include oatmeal, corn, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, le-gumes, and brown rice. Examples of fibrous vegetables include lettuce, spinach, squash, zucchini, spinach, greens, green beans, broc-coli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. See the Nutrition Manual for a comprehensive list of preferred foods as well as their indi-vidual nutritional profiles.A common misconception is that when you want to lose fat you should shift your weight training from training heavy to training with lighter weights for high reps. This is a big mistake and has no basis in physiology . The reasoning commonly pre-sented is that you’ll burn more calories if you train lighter, longer and for higher reps: this might be true but it is irrelevant. Weight lifting doesn’t burn many calories no matter how you do it and by training for high reps you may burn a few more calories but not enough to notice. Weight lifting is an an-aerobic exercise fueled almost exclusively by carbohydrates. Fat cannot be used as an anaero-bic fuel. It can only be oxidized in an “aerobic” metabolism. Whatever few extra calories you might burn by training with high reps will be supplied by carbs anyway.

The main issue is how do we maintain muscle mass while shedding fat? Intense training with heavy weights provides the stimulus necessary to increase muscle mass - and is also the best stimulus to main-tain muscle mass while you’re losing fat. Your body will adapt to heavy training by increasing muscle mass. If you back off on the intensity of your training, or the amount of weight you lift, your body will realize it no longer needs hypertrophied muscles and you will experi-ence varying degrees of muscle wasting.To promote fat loss, add or increase your aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise. Aerobic exercise is fueled in large part by fat, especially while on a reduced carbohy-drate diet. If you couple aerobics with a low fat diet whatever fat you use to fuel your aerobic exercise must be derived from stored body fat. A good rule of thumb is to keep weight training hard and heavy as usual, but double your aerobic exercise. Thirty minutes of aerobics in the morning before breakfast and another 30 minutes before bed works very well for most people. The advantage of doing aerobics before breakfast is at that time of day glycogen stores are at the lowest level and more energy will be derived from stored body fat.Use the protein powder as needed to obtain your required number of protein grams. Use CapTri® if you are going low in carbs and feel a loss of energy or strength.

The proper way to use CapTri® in our shape-up scenario is as a replacement for calories derived from conventional fat or starch. Replace the equivalent number of calories from CapTri®, which has a very high TEF and has almost no capacity to be retained as body fat. It is used-up, almost immediately as an energy source (as rapidly as glucose) while having little effect in terms of increas-ing insulin levels. Unlike conventional fats, CapTri® is not stored as body fat and unlike carbohydrates CapTri® does not block the use of body fat as energy. It is an ideal energy source to use while losing fat.You may also want to consider our Muscle Amino Formula™ and Advanced Lipotropic Formula™. Muscle Amino Formula™ provides the ideal balance of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), leu-cine, isoleucine, and valine. These amino acids are used as fuel by muscle cells and supplementing the BCAAs has been shown to decrease muscle catabolism. This is a high-tech product that can help you maintain muscle mass while losing fat, resulting in a leaner, more muscular physique. Advanced Lipotropic Formula provides l-carnitine along with several other nutrients required for fat metabolism. L-carnitine works as a transporter molecule to shuttle fat into mitochondria, the tiny furnaces inside cells where fat is burned. I hope this article spurs you into action. Hopefully, by the time the summer arrives you will have a total physi-cal makeover. Best of luck!

References

1. Nelson KM, Weinsier RL, James LD, Darnell B, Hunter G, and Long CL . Effect of weight reduction on energy expen-diture, substrate utilization, and the thermic effect of food in moderately obese women. AM. J. Clin. Nutr. 55: 924-933, 1992.

2. Levin BE and Sullivan AC. Regu-lation of thermogenesis in obesity. Novel Approaches and Drugs for Obesity, Sullivan AC and Garattini S, Eds. p. 159-180. John Libbey and Co. Ltd., 1985.

3. Kern et al. The effects of weight loss on the activity and expression of adipose tis-sue lipoprotein lipase in very obese humans. New Engl. J. Med. 322: 1053, 1990.

4. Baba N, Bracco EF, and Hashim SA . Enhanced thermogenesis and di-minished deposition of fat in response to overfeeding with diet containing medium chain triglyceride. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 35: 678-682, 1982 .

5. Bach AC and Babayan VK. Me-dium chain triglycerides: an update. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 36: 950-962, 1982.

6. de Castro JM, Paullin SK, and DeLugas GM. Insulin and glucagon as determinants of body weight set point and microregulation in rats. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 92: 571-579, 1978.

7. Mabrouk GM, Helmy IM, Thampy KG, and Wakil SJ. Acute hormonal control of acetyl-CoA carboxylase: the roles of insulin, glucagon, and epinephrine. J. Biol. Chem . 265: 6330-6338, 1990 .

8 . Westphal SA, Gannon MC, and Nuttall FQ. Metabolic response to glucose ingested with various amounts of protein. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 52: 267-272, 1990.

9. Hill JO, Peters JC, Yang D, Sharp T, Kaler M, Abumrad N, and Greene HL. Thermogenesis in humans during overfeed-ing with medium chain triglycerides. Metab. 38: 641-648, 1989 .

10. Flatt JP. Dietary fat, carbohydrate balance, and weight maintenance: effects of exercise. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 45: 296-306, 1987 .

11. Leibel RL, Rosenbaum M, and Hirsch J. Changes in energy expenditure resulting from altered body weight. N. Eng. J. Med. 332: 621-628, 1995.

12. Piatti PM, Monti LD, Magni F, Fermo I, Baruffaldi L, Nasser R, Santam-brogio G, Librenti MC, Galli-Kienle M, Pontiroli, and Pozza G. Hypocaloric high-protein diet improves glucose oxidation and spares lean body mass: comparison to hypocaloric high-carbohydrate diet. Metab. 43: 1481-1487, 1994 .

13 . Astrup A, Buemann B, Western, Toubro S, Raben A, and Christensen NJ. Obesity as an adaptation to a high-fat diet: evidence from a cross-sectional study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 59: 350-355, 1994.

14. Horton TJ, Drougas H, Brachey A, Reed GW, Peters JC, and Hill JO. Fat and carbohydrate overfeeding in humans: different effects on energy storage. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 62: 19-29, 1995.

15. Swinburn B and Ravussin E. Energy balance or fat balance? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 57: 766S-771S, 1993.

16 . Astrup A . Dietary composition, substrate balances and body fat in subjects with a predisposition to obesity. Int. J. Obe-sity 17: S32-S36, 1993 .

17. Miller WC, Lindeman AK, Wal-lace J, and Niederpruem M. Diet composi-tion, energy intake, and exercise in relation to body fat in men and women. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 52: 426-430, 1990.

18. Hill JO, Peters JC, Reed GW, Schlundt DG, Sharp T, and Greene HL . Nutrient balance in humans: effects of diet composition. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 54: 10-17, 1991 .

Bulletin #86 – Carbohydrates: The Bodybuilders Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

Your body needs fuel to power its activities. During low level activity, like casual walking, fat serves as a pri-mary fuel source. As exercise intensity increases your body comes to rely more heavily on carbohydrates for its source of energy. During prolonged endurance activities such as aerobics (and especially after glycogen reserves become depleted), amino acids can contribute significantly to the fuel mix, accounting for as much as ten percent of oxidized substrate. Since most of us exercise intensely, we are de-pendent on carbohydrates for optimal performance. This is true for both body-builders and endurance athletes. Of all the ergogenic (performance enhancing) substances available, evidence suggests that carbohydrates and water work best for powering through a workout. Without these critical nutrients the body cannot generate power and perform work at the optimal level.

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When endurance athletes “bonk” or “hit the wall” glycogen stores are depleted and blood sugar levels start to drop . This causes a dramatic reduction in muscular power output and causes fa-tigue of the central nervous system. The human body can store roughly 400 grams of glycogen, which is the storage form of carbohydrates. This amounts to about 1,600 calories and is not enough energy to last most of us even one day. Since we can’t store very much, it is critical to maintain an adequate supply of carbohydrates. The optimal carbohydrate intake varies from person to person, de-pending on athletic goals, body size and training pattern. Endurance athletes burn the most fuel and thus have the highest carbohydrate requirements. Bodybuilders who follow our Parrillo prescription of high intensity aerobics and weight training should consume a diet fairly high in carbo-hydrates. During the growth season, while the emphasis is on gaining lean muscle, a diet relatively higher in carbohydrates will help support weight gain. During pre-contest dieting, when the goal is fat loss, a reduction in carbohydrates works bet-ter. Carbohydrates are almost exclusively derived from plant sources.

Meat is a very poor source of carbohydrates. We divide carbohydrates into several categories. The first two are simple sugars and refined carbohydrates. Simple sugars include sugar and honey as well as fruit and fruit juice. Fruit is sweet because it contains the sugars glucose and fructose. It is advisable to avoid simple sugars and refined carbo-hydrates because they readily promote fat storage. To some extent they are converted into fat, but more importantly they cause a big insulin release from the pancreas and this blocks the use of fat as fuel. If you don’t burn any fat as fuel then it slowly accumulates. Fructose is found primarily in fruit but also in artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup – which is especially bad since it is preferentially converted to fat in the liver. Examples of refined carbohydrates include bread, pasta and anything made with flour. That would include muffins and cookies, cake, crackers, pretzels and so on. Chips, even the low fat kind, will fall into this cat-egory since their carbohydrates are refined. During refining the grain which supplies the carbohydrate is pulverized and the fiber is removed. The carbohydrates are ground into a fine powder and this increases its surface area-to-mass ratio .

These factors, taken together, result in certain carbohydrates being di-gested, entering the bloodstream very rap-idly and triggering a powerful release of insulin. Refined carbohydrates behave in the body much like simple sugars and we recommend that athletes trying to get in shape avoid all simple sugars and refined carbohydrates, including sugar, fruit, fruit juice, bread and pasta. Milk is not a good bodybuilding food since it is rich in the simple sugar lactose. A glass of milk ac-tually contains more sugar than protein, something a lot of people don’t real-ize. Starches and fibrous vegetables are “good” carbohydrate sources and we en-courage our athletes to eat these . Starch is a long chain of glucose. Glucose is sugar released into the bloodstream and a primary fuel for muscles. Glucose is the storage form of carbohydrates in plants. Glycogen is very similar to starch and is the storage form of carbohydrates in animals. The difference between starch and glycogen has to do with the branch-ing pattern and starch is a good energy source that is digested slowly compared to refined carbohydrates. This results in a more favorable insulin profile for starch.

Starch is the best food source of carbohydrate for athletes. Good examples of starchy carbs include oatmeal, corn, peas, rice, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lentils, legumes, and whole grains. Fibrous vegetables don’t supply many calories but are the prime sources of fiber, a critical nutrient for bodybuild-ers. Fiber slows the rate of release of glucose into the bloodstream thus helping to moderate insulin levels. Good fibrous vegetables are lettuce, spinach, aspara-gus, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, beans (not canned), lentils, peas, turnip greens, squash, zucchini, okra, oatmeal, oat bran, All-Bran cereal or Fiber-One cereal (check to make sure these have no sugar), cabbage, celery, peppers, sweet potatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, onions and whole grain brown rice. Generally any other vegetable is acceptable. I would stay away from avocados, olives and nuts, as they are high in fat. It is important to combine foods properly when you prepare a meal. We call this “meal structuring.” Each meal should contain a protein source, a starchy carbohydrate and a fibrous vegetable.

By combining protein and fiber with your starch, and by avoiding simple sugars and refined carbohydrate, the rate of release of glucose into the bloodstream is greatly reduced. This helps keep insulin levels low which permits the continued use of fat as fuel. This style of eating encourages ingested nutrients to be stored as muscle or glycogen rather than compartmentalized in fat storage. How many carbohydrates should you eat in a day? This varies from person to person, so I can’t give you some magic number, but I can teach you how to figure it out for yourself. The first thing to con-sider is your daily caloric requirement. If you don’t already know what that is, start weighing your food and use a calorie chart to calculate how many calories you are consuming each day. The Parrillo Per-formance Nutrition Manual comes with a food scale and diet trac sheets along with detailed instructions.

Next, construct your diet so that fat is limited to 5-10% of calo-ries consumed and eat one to two grams of clean (low fat) protein per pound of body weight each day. If you’re lean and are try-ing to gain weight add more carbohydrates. If you are trying to strip off fat try eating two grams of protein per pound of body weight each day and cut back on your carb intake. Establish your daily intake of calories from fat and protein and derive the rest from quality carbohydrates. Include starchy and fibrous carbs at each meal, avoiding the other carb sources.Did you ever wonder how carbo-hydrates are metabolized in the body? The starch is broken down into glucose units inside the small intestine and absorbed into the bloodstream. From there it is carried to the liver by the portal vein. Much of it is retained in the liver where it is converted into glycogen. Once liver glycogen stores are filled to capacity the remainder of the glucose load is released into the gen-eral circulation where it is taken up by the muscles, brain, or other organs and used as fuel. As long as blood glucose levels are normal, glucose is (generally) used pref-erentially as fuel over fat or amino acids. Muscle has the ability to store glycogen, so whatever glucose is taken up by muscle - but is not needed immediately for fuel - is retained as glycogen .

Under normal conditions not much glucose is converted into fat, although this can happen during prolonged periods of over-eating. Glucose can be used as fuel or stored as glycogen by liver and muscle. Several hours after the meal, when blood glucose levels start to drop, liver glycogen is broken down and the stored glucose is released into the bloodstream. You can maintain fairly uni-form blood glucose levels without having to eat constantly .Parrillo’s Pro-Carb Powder™ and 50-50 Plus™ are both excellent sources of Carbohydrates: The Bodybuilders Best Friend or Worst Enemy?slow-release carbohydrates and ideal for both improving exercise performance and providing post-workout glycogen replace-ment. In terms of convenience it’s impos-sible to beat Parrillo Bars. Keep some in your gym bag and have one when you finish your workout to start replenishing glycogen right away. Try and get a handle on the different types of carbohydrates. Eliminate the refined carbs and those that contain sugar . Manipulate your starch and fiber intake to achieve your desired results. Keep tabs on your carbs and how much you ingest. You will be well on your way to achieving the physical goals to which you aspire .

References

1. Flatt JP. Dietary fat, carbohydrate bal-ance, and weight maintenance: effects of exer-cise. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 45: 296-306, 1987.

2. Flatt JP. Use and storage of carbohydrate and fat. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 61: 952s-959s, 1995.

3. Acheson KJ, Flatt JP, and Jequier E. Gly-cogen synthesis versus lipogenesis after a 500 gram carbohydrate meal in man. Metabolism 31: 1234-1240, 1982 .

4. Liebman M and Wilkinson JG. Carbohydrate metabolism and exercise. Chapter 2 from Nutri-tion in Exercise and Sport, edited by Wolinsky I and Hickson JF, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1994.

5. Miller GD. Carbohydrates in ultra-endurance exercise and athletic performance. Chapter 3 from Nutrition in Exercise and Sport, edited by Wolinsky I and Hickson JF, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1994.

6. Hargreaves M. Skeletal muscle carbohydrate metabolism during exercise. Chapter 2 fro-mExercise Metabolism, edited by Hargreaves M, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, IL, 1995.

7. Coggan AR and Williams BD. Metabolic adaptations to endurance training: substrate metabolism during exercise. Chapter 6 from Exercise Metabolism, edited by Har-greaves M, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, IL, 1995.

Bulletin #85 – Vitamins and Minerals, Part III

So far in our series about vitamins and minerals we have discussed vitamin C, thiamin, calcium, and vitamin D. This month I am going to talk about iron, one of the most important minerals for athletes. Endurance athletes and women are particularly at risk for low iron status or iron deficiency anemia (1-6). Anemia is a condition where your body doesn’t have enough red blood cells. This com-promises the ability to provide oxygen to the tissues thereby reducing sports perfor-mance. It is well documented that anemia reduces athletic performance and that cor-recting the anemia improves performance. Anemia can be caused by a wide variety of things, including deficiency of iron, folate, or B12. Another cause of anemia in athletes is hemolysis (4). This is the destruction of red blood cells by physical stress. “Sports anemia” refers to anemia in athletes undergoing severe training. It occurs in endurance athletes such as marathon runners. It seems to be caused by a combination of iron deficiency and hemolysis .

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Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world. It is estimated that about 500 million people worldwide are iron deficient (4). The main biological function of iron is to bind oxygen. Most of the body’s iron stores (70%) are contained in hemoglo-bin. Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein in red blood cells. When the blood circulates through the lungs it binds oxy-gen, then the hemoglobin lets go of the oxygen when it circulates through the tissues. If iron intake is inadequate the first thing that happens is iron is released from ferritin, a protein that stores iron. If iron intake remains inadequate eventually body iron stores become depleted. Then the new red blood cells which are matur-ing in the bone marrow can’t make as much hemoglobin as they need, resulting in microcytic (small cells), hypochromic (pale cells) anemia. This impairs oxygen delivery to tissues thus limiting aerobic metabolism and work performance. Good dietary sources of iron include red meat and liver (2).

Vegetables gener-ally are not very good sources of iron. Although spinach contains a fair amount of iron it is not very bioavailable (not very well absorbed by the body). It is useful to consider dietary iron in two ways. It can be classified as “heme iron” or “nonheme iron.” Heme iron is iron that is already incorporated into hemoglobin. This improves its absorption dramatically. Obviously heme iron will only be found in meats or liver. The fact that red meat is a good source of iron is no doubt one of the reasons for its reputation for making you stronger. Non-heme iron is found in plants and most iron supplements . Our Liver-Amino Formula™ contains liver extract and is an outstanding source of heme iron. It should be considered a core supplement for endurance athletes (particularly women), for anyone with a known anemia, and anyone who doesn’t eat red meat. If you seem low on energy it might be worth a try. Iron deficiency is surprisingly common in athletes . Iron has several other important func-tions besides its role in hemoglobin. No-tably it is also found in myoglobin, a protein similar to hemoglobin that is found in muscle. It’s function is to help transport oxygen inside muscle cells.

In addition to decreased work performance, iron deficiency is also associated with impairments in cognitive performance, thermoregulation (maintaining body tem-perature), thyroid hormone regulation, glucose metabolism, nervous system function, immune function, and growth (4). Iron deficiency seems to inhibit normal growth in children. One study demon-strated that 56% of iron deficient children were below the tenth percentile of weight for their age (4). It seems iron status plays some role in modulating growth rates in children. While it is clear iron deficiency negatively impacts sports performance, it is not known if iron deficiency hinders muscle growth in adults, but it seems pos-sible. A group of iron deficient children were treated with either just vitamin C or vitamin C plus iron. The group receiving iron had more of an increase in height and weight than the group receiving only vi-tamin C. Interestingly, this effect seemed not mediated through increased food in-take, suggesting some direct effect of iron in regulating growth (4). In addition to its central role in oxygen transport iron is also important to many basic processes of energy metabolism.

Iron deficient animals are characterized by increased metabolic rate and increased glucose oxidation (4). They rely more heavily on glucose as fuel, meaning they burn less fat. Overall, iron deficiency re-sults in reduced growth, increased meta-bolic rate, lower feed efficiency, and increased reliance on glucose as fuel (4).    Iron status also affects thyroid hormone. Iron deficient human beings are func-tionally hypothyroid . When cold stressed these individuals fail to adequately ther-moregulate and core temperature drops . Studies in iron deficient rats show they have half as much active thyroid hormone as control rats. Normal thyroid hormone function is required for growth hormone function. This might be one reason low iron status negatively affects growth. You may be wondering why iron deficiency results in increased metabolic rate. This is mediated by an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity and is thought to represent a compensatory step in response to impaired thermoregulation secondary to low thyroid status. Not only does iron status affect exer-cise performance, but exercise affects iron status too.

There is quite a lot of evidence showing that intense exercise causes iron loss and decreased hemoglo-bin. This seems to affect mainly distance runners. The mechanism behind it is not fully understood. Some people have sug-gested increased iron loss through sweat-ing, increased gastrointestinal blood loss, or red blood cell rupture from footstrike (trauma). For whatever reason, it would appear intense, prolonged exercise has a negative impact on iron status (4,5). Most iron supplements you see at the store are ferrous sulfate – a form of nonheme iron. Parrillo Performance Liv-er-Amino Formula™ contains heme iron which is much more efficiently absorbed. I usually recommend 10 to 15 tablets a day or up to 40 tablets for serious athletes. It doesn’t matter if you take them all at once or in divided portions. This should be a core supplement for any endurance runner. Other people who might benefit from it include any menstruating female and anyone who has anemia. Symptoms of anemia include fatigue and weakness and a decrease in performance. Also, if you have anemia, I would suggest eating red meat or liver once or twice a week. If you have true anemia you should also take a multiple vitamin supplement. Be-sides iron, you also need folate and B12 and protein to make red blood cells.

So I would suggest two servings a day of Hi-Protein Powder™ or Optimized Whey Powder™. Of course, if you’re treating anemia the most important product is the Liver-Amino Fromula .™ That in itself is a good source of heme iron, protein, and B vitamins. Take your Vitamin C at the same time you take your iron, since Vitamin C improves iron absorption (2). If after a month or two you still are fa-tigued you might want to see your doctor to establish if there is another reason for the problem. The recommended daily allowance of iron is 15 mg per day (2). Only about 10% of nonheme iron is absorbed, so this would provide about 1.5 mg of non-heme iron. (In comparison about 20% of heme iron is absorbed.) This is thought to be enough for most of the population ex-cept for women with exceptionally high menstrual blood losses. Also, female en-durance athletes are likely to need more. Daily iron losses average about one mg per day in men and 1 .4 mg per day in women. Pregnant women are generally encouraged to take extra iron, about twice the normal daily amount. The RDA for children is 10 mg . These guidelines are developed for people who normally eat 30 to 90 grams of meat, poultry, or fish Vitamins and Minerals, Part IIIper day. Vegetarians may need a higher intake because of the decreased avail-ability of iron from those sources. Also, adequate vitamin C intake is important.

References

1 . Macroelements, Water, and Electro-lytes in Sports Nutrition. Judy Driskell and Ira Wolinsky, CRC Press, 1999.

2. Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th edition. National Research Coun-cil. National Academy Press, 1989.

3. Sports Nutrition: Vitamins and Trace Elements. Ira Wolinsky and Judy Driskell. CRC Press, 1997.

4. Sports Nutrition: Minerals and Elec-trolytes. Constance Kies and Judy Driskell. CRC Press, 1995.

5. Nutrients as Ergogenic Aids in Sports and Exercise. Luke Bucci. CRC Press, 1993 .

6. Nutrition In Exercise and Sport. I. Wolinsky and J.F. Hickson. CRC Press, 1994 .

Bulletin #84 – Vitamins and Minerals, Part II

Last month we discussed vitamins and minerals and took a long look at vitamin C and thiamin, two vitamins both very important for athletes. This month I want to talk about calcium. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth and also plays a central role in the activation of mus-cular contractions . Many people don’t get enough calcium, especially women.

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Women are at risk for a very common dis-ease, osteoporosis: a condition in which the bones slowly lose calcium and weak-en as a result. A simple fall can result in a fractured hip and something as minor as stepping off a curb can crush vertebrae. Human bone lacking in calcium becomes brittle. Osteoporosis is most common in post-menopausal women. The problem is the reduction in estrogen production . Es-trogen helps keep bones strong. It is im-portant to have plenty of calcium in your bones when you enter menopause because if you start into menopause with low min-eral density (“thin bones”) then problems can occur quickly. To help in preventing osteoporosis, or reduce its impact, take in plenty of calcium to make sure your bones are strong. Though osteoporosis is more common in women, men can get it too. Build a strong skeleton when you’re young so you’ll have a strong skeleton when you’re old (1).Dairy products are high in calcium .

Milk, yogurt, and cheese are all rich cal-cium sources. This is a problem in that milk and cheese are forbidden for serious bodybuilders. We like the calcium and protein content of dairy products but the fat and sugar create disadvantages that far outweigh the advantages. Milk has an ample amount of protein but contains lactose, a simple sugar that promotes fat storage. These naturally rich sources of calcium are out of bounds. Still, we need calcium. Some vegetables contain a fair amount of calcium, especially the green leafy vegetables like spinach (1-5), but the intestines do not absorb the calcium from vegetable sources very efficiently. Vegetables contain oxalic acids, which bind to calcium and reduces its bio-availability. Bodybuilders generally avoid dairy products and vegetable calcium has absorption problems, so supplementation becomes very important. Calcium carbonate and calcium citrate are both good supplemental forms of calcium but avoid oyster shell calcium since it does not absorb well. Anyone with a history of kidney stones should probably choose calcium citrate since it is less prone to form kidney stones. The adult human body contains 1,000 – 1,200 grams of calcium, 99% of which is in the skeleton. If calcium intake is inadequate the skeleton serves as a pool from which calcium will be withdrawn for other pur-poses.

Bones are in a state of continual turnover and are constantly being re-placed and remodeled. Existing bone is reabsorbed and new bone built. Three hormones are directly involved in cal-cium metabolism: parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT), and vitamin D (vitamin D functions like a hormone) (1-3). Parathyroid hormone acts to release calcium from bone to increase the plasma calcium level. Calcitonin has the opposite effect, causing calcium uptake into bone. A daily intake of 1,200 mg per day of calcium is recommended - unless a person has a diagnosis of osteoporosis, in which case 1,500 mg per day is usually recom-mended (2). It is virtually impossible to obtain this amount of calcium without the use of dairy products or supplements. No problem, we at Parrillo Performance recognized the importance of calcium for athletes long ago and our Mineral-Electrolyte Formula™ provides 250 mg of elemental calcium per tablet. Two tablets of Mineral-Electrolyte Formula™ taken with five meals (or shakes) per day will yield 1250 mg of calcium per day. At less then a 8¢ per tablet, can you afford not to calcium supplement? Statistically, most women consume only about half the recommended daily amount of calcium, making it one of the most common nu-tritional deficiencies among the female population .

Osteoporosis is an insidious disease that presents few clinical signs or symptoms until a fracture finally oc-curs and then it is too late to do anything about it. It is very important for women to maintain a regulated, adequate calcium intake during their youth and middle age in order to avoid osteoporosis in later years .Vitamin D has several actions that in-crease plasma calcium levels. Vitamin D increases the efficiency of intestinal cal-cium absorption, acts to decrease urinary calcium excretion, and promotes the re-lease of calcium from bone. Since vitamin D increases calcium absorption, vitamin D deficiency will lead to low calcium. Vi-tamin D is an interesting compound that in some ways acts more like a hormone than a vitamin. It was originally classified as a vitamin because it is associated with specific deficiencies: rickets and osteo-malacia (3). Unlike other vitamins, your body is able to make its own vitamin D. It is a derivative of cholesterol called 7-dehydrocholesterol and is converted to pre-vitamin D3 in the skin during expo-sure to ultraviolet light.

As an interesting side note, in northern climates where it is cold in the winter and people don’t spend much time in the sun, inhabitants some-times develop low vitamin D levels which lead to low calcium levels. 25-hydroxyvi-tamin D3 is further metabolized in the liver and then the kidneys to produce its active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. The dietary form of vitamin D is also a pre-vitamin and must be converted into the active form by sequential reactions in the liver and kidney (1,2).The main function of vitamin D is to help regulate calcium and phosphorus me-tabolism. Both calcium and phosphorous are required for bone formation, nerve and energy function, and other cellular processes . When calcium or phosphorous levels are low it causes the kidneys to make more of the active form of vitamin D, which in turn goes to the intestines and stimulates the synthesis of binding proteins for calcium and phosphorous. These binding proteins increase the ab-sorption of the minerals by the intestine (3). Vitamin D also acts on the kidneys to reduce urinary excretion of calcium and phosphorous. It stimulates the release of calcium and phosphorous from bone (a good thing) and acts to maintain normal calcium and phosphorous concentrations . Vitamin D seems to have no direct value as an ergogenic aid.

There seems to be no performance boost from “extra” amounts of D but a vitamin D deficiency will certainly decrease performance. Actually, megadoses of D could be toxic if calcium levels exceed the normal range. Vitamin D deficiency in children causes rickets; a wasting disease in which in bones weaken and go soft, legs become bowed and growth is stunted. Vitamin D deficiency in adults is called osteomalacia and pro-duces skeletal weakness and pain (3). Your body can make enough vitamin D to meet your needs if you receive ad-equate sunlight exposure. Many people, workaholics, the aged and sick, do not get a lot of sun. Supplementation is highly recommended for these groups. In this country, milk and other dairy products are fortified with vitamin D and this represents the main dietary source (1-6) for most Americans. Serious bodybuild-ers and fitness enthusiasts usually won’t drink milk or eat dairy. In order to pre-vent calcium or vitamin D shortfall they should supplement. The RDA for vitamin D is 200 IU for adults beyond 24 years of age, and 400 IU for people between six months and 24 years of age (2). The solu-tion is an easy one: take our Essential Vi-tamin Formula™ and Mineral-Electrolyte Formula™ as proscribed and get on about the rest of your muscle building business. The calcium/vitamin D base is covered. We’ll talk again next month!

References

1 . Macroelements, Water, and Elec-trolytes in Sports Nutrition. Judy Driskell and Ira Wolinsky, CRC Press, 1999.

2. Recommended Dietary Allow-ances, 10th edition. National Research Council. National Academy Press, 1989.

3. Sports Nutrition: Vitamins and Trace Elements. Ira Wolinsky and Judy Driskell. CRC Press, 1997.

4. Sports Nutrition: Minerals and Electrolytes. Constance Kies and Judy Driskell. CRC Press, 1995.

5. Nutrients as Ergogenic Aids in Sports and Exercise. Luke Bucci. CRC Press, 1993.5. Nutrition in Exercise and Sport. I. Wolinsky and J.F. Hickson. CRC Press, 1994 .

Bulletin #83 – Vitamins and Minerals, Part I

Vitamins and minerals are not the most exciting supplements, but to the body-builder, fitness enthusiast or serious weight trainer they are among the most important . Many governmental, medical and nutri-tional authorities suggest that vitamin and mineral supplementation is not necessary, and that you can get all the nutrients you need from eating a balanced diet, and while this might be true in the strict sense it is senseless in the practical sense. If you eat perfectly and do not engage in any strenu-ous exercise, then adequate vitamins and minerals may be derived from the foods we eat but think how much easier it to obtain all we need by taking a few inexpensive tablets each day?

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And what about those of us who diet? How does the strict dieter make up for vitamin deficiencies? The an-swer is to supplement. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are relatively common. Most people don’t eat a “balanced” diet and this is true even for Parrillo-style bodybuilders who typically avoid fruits and dairy prod-ucts because of the high content of natural-ly occurring sugars. Eliminating fruits and dairy from your diet is one of the smartest things you can do to strip off bodyfat and maintain mass, but eliminating these two food groups removes some of the richest sources of natural vitamins and minerals. People who eat a balanced diet, as defined by the FDA, are still at risk for deficiencies because so many of our foods are refined, bleached and processed. In my opinion virtually every serious strength athlete or bodybuilder should be on a “core supplement” program that in-cludes vitamins and minerals, a high qual-ity protein supplement and Creatine Mono-hydrate.

I strongly believe (and continu-ally remind athletes) that wholesome food should serve as the bedrock foundation of any serious nutritional program. Body-builders will obtain astounding results in very short order if they use wholesome foods in combination with a core supple-mentation program . Supplemental protein for the serious weight trainer is a no-brainer. The scientific evidence is strong, persuasive and plentiful that those athletes who exercise vigorously need extra pro-tein. This is common sense backed up by decades of empirical data from the gym and scientific data from the lab. Tremen-dous gains in size and strength occur when high intensity weight training is combined with heavy protein supplementation. Two scoops of my Optimized Whey protein contain 33 grams of high biological-value protein, zero grams of fat, 3 grams of car-bohydrates and zero sugar – plus it tastes incredibly good. I usually recommend that the serious bodybuilder start by consuming 1 to 1½ gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight, spread as evenly as possible over 5-6 meals each day. When you pla-teau in training (poundage or muscle size) jump up to 2 or more grams per pound of bodyweight.

This plateau-busting method has worked for over a thousand individuals I have worked with personally in my 25 years of contest prepping top bodybuild-ers . So serious protein supplementation is a requirement if you are serious about progressing . Creatine Monohydrate is another nu-tritional supplement that is clearly valu-able to virtually everyone who trains with weights. The science is plentiful and the enthusiastic adherents are everywhere. It would be nearly impossible to consume enough Creatine Monohydrate from whole foods to consume the quantity necessary to trigger growth. Besides, with our modern high technology processing methods we can offer you a Creatine Monohydrate product so powerful that two small scoops contain the nutritional punch of several 6-ounce steaks without the saturated fat or the hassle of cooking. You can derive all the Creatine you need with a couple of scoops taken daily. The cost is pen-nies a day and the results are sensational .

Creatine Monohydrate has had the fastest growth curve of any natural supplement in the nation over the last few years, largely on word-of-mouth advertising by the users. The word is out: Creatine Monohydrate works! Many athletes have vitamin and min-eral deficiencies and aren’t even aware of it. Restricted diets, though effective at stripping fat, are often woefully short on vitamins and minerals. Your system needs vitamins and minerals to operate at peak efficiency and the solution to this problem is convenient, cheap and easy: use vitamin and mineral supplementation. I recom-mend one tablet of each of my products, Mineral Electrolyte Formula™ and Essen-tial Vitamin Formula™ to be taken with each meal. This way, the body is being continually refueled with the trace miner-als and potent vitamins it needs for growth and recovery from hard, mineral-leeching workouts. And at about $.10 a tablet, these products are one of the most economical supplements available on the market. Vitamins are divided into two general categories based on their solubility prop-erties (1-4).

The water-soluble vitamins include vitamin C and the B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, and cobalamin), folic acid, pantothenic acid, and biotin. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, E, D, and K. Generally speaking, the water-soluble vitamins function as co-enzymes that bind to enzymes and make them active. Mostly they are involved in biochemical pathways that produce energy.  The fat-soluble vitamins function (primar-ily) without binding to enzymes. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a critical vitamin for the serious weight trainer. Per-formance deficiencies for those who lack ascorbic acid have been documented for centuries. Sailors up until the 1800’s would routinely contract scurvy, a horrible wast-ing disease, as a result of diets lacking in vitamin C. They discovered that packing dried fruit on long voyages cured the prob-lem but until that fateful discovery many sailors died from vitamin C-depletion. (1). Vitamin C deficiency can cause shortness of breath and reduce endurance. Vitamin C has multiple functions in the body and many of these relate to physical activity. Vitamin C is required for collagen synthe-sis. Collagen is a structural protein within the body, the primary component of carti-lage, tendons, and ligaments. Weakness in these structures will reduce performance as well as predispose the individual to injury.

A little known fact is that vitamin C is required for the production of carnitine, a molecule that is required for fatty acid oxidation. Vitamin C deficiency can lead to impaired fatty acid utilization (1). Neu-rotransmitters require vitamin C for their formation and a deficiency can result in reduced nervous system function. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects cells from damage by oxygen radicals that are gener-ated in greater number during exercise. The current “recommended” daily allow-ance of vitamin C is 60 mg per day. This is sufficient to prevent the symptoms of overt vitamin C deficiency but is somewhat lacking for the hard working bodybuilder. Stress increases the requirement for vi-tamin C (1) and infection, smoking, and extremes of temperature or altitude (1) will deplete vitamin C within the body. It is suspected that exercise would also increase vitamin C requirements, although official recommendations for athletes do not ex-ist. Furthermore, C seems to be the best antioxidant protection. Food sources for vitamin C include specific fruits and veg-etables. Strawberries and oranges are fruits loaded with C and the best vegetables for C are green: bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, collared greens, spinach, and broccoli. One interesting scientific study tried to determine C requirements for athletes and found that athletes consuming 100 mg of the vitamin per day still had decreased blood levels after hard training. By up-ping intake to 300 mg per day normal blood levels returned (1).

Several studies have reported decreased urinary excre-tion of vitamin C in athletes, suggesting a relative deficiency. Several studies have shown an increase in exercise performance after vitamin C supplementation. One in-volved comparing supplemented and pla-cebo groups on a cycle ergometer. The group given 1000 mg of vitamin C per day had increased mechanical efficiency and wasted less energy than the placebo group. Other studies have shown vitamin C to reduce oxygen consumption, oxygen debt, VO2 max, and total energy expenditure. Vitamin C seems to play a major role in exercise endurance and prevention of fa-tigue. If your vitamin C level is low or mar-ginal, correct it and you will derive benefit. Supplemental vitamin C is a must! There is convincing data to show defi-ciencies in vitamins - thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine (B6), C, E, and iron are also detrimental to exercise performance (1). Thiamin, also called vitamin B1, is re-quired for energy production. Significant numbers of athletes and young people are thought to be low or marginal in thiamin (1). Exercise increases thiamin require-ments and thiamin is required for energy production.

The Krebs citric acid cycle needs thiamin and this critical vitamin is needed for the breakdown of branch chain amino acids. The Krebs cycle is the primary energy-producing pathway in cells and its smooth function is required to produce energy from carbohydrates, protein, and fat. The branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) are unique in that they can also be converted to energy within the muscle cell. Without thiamin, energy production comes to a standstill . The present guidelines suggest 0.5 mg per 1000 calories. This works out to be between 1.1 to 1.5 mg per day for most people . Food sources high in thiamin include pork, whole grains, beans, peas, and orange juice (1). Most other foods contain only small amounts of thiamin unless the food has been fortified with added vitamins. The Parrillo Performance Essential Vi-tamin and Mineral-Electrolyte Formulas are specifically designed for athletes and provide high levels of the B vitamins needed for cellular energy production. These supplements also contain high lev-els of the antioxidant vitamins C and E. The Parrillo formulations are a rich source of calcium, especially important for women. The scientific logic for vitamin and mineral supplementation is irrefutable, the cost negligible and the benefits are in-credible. So what are you waiting for?

References

1. Sports Nutrition: Vitamins and Trace Elements. Ira Wolinsky and Judy Driskell. CRC Press, 1997.

2. Sports Nutrition: Minerals and Elec-trolytes. Constance Kies and Judy Driskell. CRC Press, 1995.

3. Nutrients as Ergogenic Aids in Sports and Exercise. Luke Bucci. CRC Press, 1993

4. Nutrition In Exercise and Sport. I. Wo-linsky and J.F. Hickson. CRC Press, 1994 .

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