Bulletin #171 – The Real Superfoods

There’s a lot of talk these days about “superfoods” – foods that give you extra nutrients, provide energy, help fight disease and aging, and for body-builders and athletes, build muscle. Obviously, superfoods are the way to go to get the most health- and mus-cle-building nutrition for your time and money. And fortunately, the Parrillo Nutrition program is packed with superfoods. For example:Lean ProteinsProteins are found in all cells and tissues and are required for the structure and function of every part of the body. And of special interest to bodybuilders, muscles are made of protein. Protein is required in the diet to maintain tissues and organs and to supply building blocks for growth. Proteins from animal sources such as meat, eggs, and milk, are called “complete” proteins because they supply all the essential amino acids. Animal proteins provide a balance of amino acids similar to that of human tissues. Plant proteins have a profile of amino acids different from hu-man proteins.

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For this reason animal proteins are considered to be higher quality protein foods. Most vegetable proteins are deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids and are therefore called “incomplete” pro-teins. However, if vegetable proteins are combined properly, the balance of amino acids in the combination can approach the amino acid profile found in animal proteins. Superfood protein sources in-clude skinless turkey breast, skin-less chicken breast, fish, and egg whites. Fish, in particular, is vital in terms of heart disease. Salmon and other fatty fish – like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines and tuna – are rich in omega-3 fatty ac-ids that decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke, and may cut your risk of death from coronary artery disease in half. Omega-3 fats also have immune-enhancing and anti-inflammatory effects, reduce the risk of prostate and colon cancers, and ease the symptoms of rheuma-toid arthritis and some psychiatric disorders.

Starchy CarbohydratesCarbohydrates are energy foods. During digestion, they are changed into glucose (blood sugar), which circulates in your blood and is used as energy for the red blood cells and your central nervous sys-tem. Glucose not used right away is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen, which provides an ad-ditional reservoir for energy. Carbohydrates also supply an amazing fat-fighting nutrient – fi-ber, the non-digestible remnant of plant foods. A growing body of re-search shows that high-fiber eating helps peel off pounds and banish them for good. How exactly does fiber work this weight-loss magic? When eaten with other nutrients like protein, fiber slows the rate of diges-tion too, stabilizing your blood sugar between meals so that it is not con-verted to fat stores.The superfood carbohydrates found in the Parrillo Nutrition Program in-clude certain types of whole grains, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, legumes (beans and lentils), and non starchy vegetables (see be-low), from broccoli and green beans to cauliflower to salad vegetables (what we call “fibrous carbs”).

Non-Starchy VegetablesYou can’t go wrong with vegetables; every one is a superfood. But here are a few stand-outs:BroccoliThis amazing vegetable is rich in sulforaphane, an antioxidant linked with a reduced risk of a number of cancers, especially lung, stomach, colon and rectal cancers. The nutri-ents in broccoli also have an-ti-in-flammatory properties, and we know that an important factor in reducing the risk of disease is to decrease in-flammation.SpinachImprove your vision and protect against cancer with spinach, one of the richest dietary sources of an an-tioxidant called lutein. Lutein helps protect against heart disease and some cancers, and has been shown to reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Spinach is also rich in beta-carotene, which may protect against cancer. Other lutein-rich foods include kale, collard greens, chard and beet greens.

TomatoesThese are loaded with lycopene, an an-tioxidant that reduces the risk of pros-tate, breast, lung and other cancers, and has heart-protective effects. Research shows that the absorption of lycopene is greatest when tomatoes are cooked with olive oil. Good FatsGood fats are superfoods. They fall un-der a general classification called un-saturated fats. There are two types of unsaturated fats: polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Oils such as saf-flower, sunflower, corn, soybean and fish oils, evening primrose oil found in Parrillo Evening Primrose Oil 1000™ and Parrillo Fish Oil DHA 800 EPA 200™ are polyunsaturated fats.

They contain “essential fatty acids,” or EFAs for short. Required for normal body function, EFAs must be supplied by your diet since the body cannot make them on its own.From EFAs, your body synthesizes two other important fatty acids, eicosapen-taenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaeno-ic acid (DHA). These fatty acids, along with alpha linolenic acid, are referred to as omega-3 fatty acids, a term that describes their molecular structure. You can also obtain EPA and DHA directly from cold-water fish, flaxseed and omega-3 enriched eggs (eggs from chickens fed fish meal or flax meal).Monounsaturated fats are plentiful in olive, canola and peanut oils; they are also found in shellfish and cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, halibut, black cod and rainbow trout.So if you’re looking for what re-ally works for optimal health and disease prevention, focus on super-foods. The Parrillo Nutrition Pro-gram is filled with them.

Bulletin #170 – Back on the Wagon: My 2-Day Undo Diet

If you’re like millions of Ameri-cans right now, you indulged over the holidays – and that’s okay and that’s normal. You probably don’t even have to jump on the scales to confirm that you’re heavier. A quick look in mirror says it all: yes, you look bloated. But hold on. Don’t throw in the towel yet. With the holidays over, you can start again with a clean slate and get your momentum going with my 2-Day Undo Diet. Start it on Monday and continue on Tuesday. It will re-energize you, help flush out salt and processed sugar, leave you feeling full, and prep you for dropping fat pounds. Time is of the essence, so let’s get started!Pre-Breakfast AerobicsWhen your alarm goes off that morning, start with 16 ounces of pure, fresh water. Then get into your exercise clothes for pre-breakfast aerobics.

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That’s right, do your aer-obics on an empty stomach. Then your glycogen levels are somewhat depleted from your overnight fast and insulin levels are low. This in-ternal situation forces your body to start drawing on your fat reserves for energy. With pre-breakfast aero-bics, you’ll start stripping away fat. Do pre-breakfast aerobics Monday and Tuesday mornings – for 30 to 60 minutes each time. You should do moderate to fairly high intensity aerobics, so that you’re breathing hard and sweating. While it’s true you burn a higher percentage of calories from fat dur-ing low intensity aerobics, you will burn more grams of body fat if you perform high intensity aerobics, because you’ll burn so many more total calories. Also, if you do rea-sonably intense aerobics you will get the added benefits of increased vascular density and enhanced fat burning capacity. Increase the vol-ume of aerobics progressively as you get leaner.

If your fat loss plateaus, the first thing to try is to increase the intensity of your aerobics, while increasing your calories to get your metabolism going again.Mon. & Tues. Weight TrainingIn addition to aerobics, lift weights 45 to 60 minutes a day on Monday and Tuesday. On this program I would recommend a two-day split, which means you train your upper body on Monday and your lower body on Tuesday. That way, you hit your entire body and all your mus-cles.Multiple MealsDivide your food choices evenly over five or six meals. Most people get better results if they keep food selections relatively simple for this program. You will get good results using egg whites, skinless chicken breast and low-fat tuna for protein sources. Have generous portions of vegetables and salad at each meal. You can have essentially all the veg-etables and salad you want. It’s very difficult to eat too many calories from vegetables.

I’m talking about things like broccoli, cauliflower, as-paragus, spinach, green beans, and so on. Refer to the Parrillo Perfor-mance Nutrition Manual for a more extensive list, as well as the nutrientbreakdown.Some tips for taste: Use green leaf lettuce with fresh peppers and on-ions, tomatoes and some fresh cilan-tro. Balsamic vinegar or lemon juice make tangy dressings with practi-cally no calories. Grill your chicken outside to keep things flavorful. Or have some fresh grilled salmon or swordfish instead of tuna. Add some fresh mushrooms and chopped pep-pers to the egg whites. It doesn’t take too much effort to make this diet en-joyable. You will enjoy it even more once you see how fast the results come.Limit Starchy CarbsStarches are things like potatoes, oatmeal, corn, peas, beans and rice.

Treat yourself to a cup of oatmeal inthe morning and maybe one other starch during the day. By supplying most of your carbs as vegetables and salad instead of starch, you will findit easier to drop pounds and flush your system of toxins. The bulk willhelp fill you up, the volume of food will be more satisfying and the veg-etables will produce a smaller insu-lin response.Eat BreakfastAnother important point is to al-ways eat breakfast – this gets your metabolism going first thing. This is why breakfast is probably your most important meal. You have the whole day to burn off any excess calories you consume at breakfast – any excess calories you consume right before bed are likely to be stored as fat.Add in CapTri®Since you’re temporarily reducing starchy carbs to promote fat metabo-lism, it makes sense to replace thosecalories with another fuel source, namely CapTri®. CapTri® is a good choice because it is readily burned as fuel and won’t be stored as body fat. CapTri® actually has a higher “ther-mogenic effect” than carbohydrate, meaning that more of this dietary energy will be lost as body heat with less energy available for storage. This further promotes additional fat loss.

Include up to 3 tablespoons of Cap-Tri® daily over the two-day period.Supplement!In addition to CapTri®, there are foursupplements that really help on this program. First are the Essential Vi-tamin™ and Mineral-Electrolyte™ formulas. Since you are avoiding fruit and milk, you will need a vitamin and mineral supplement. It is difficult to supply your body’s requirement for calcium without using a lot of dairy products, unless you use a supple-ment. Next is Parrillo Creatine Mono-hydrate™, which is in a class by itselfin terms of supplements. You cannot be your most muscular and lean with-out using creatine. No matter how good you look, you’ll be better if you add creatine. Last is Optimized Whey Protein™. We started with the finest quality whey protein and then fine tuned the amino acid profile by adding extra glycine, glutamine and branched chain amino acids. I would con-sider this a “must have” supplement while dieting strictly. The high lev-els of glutamine and BCAAs act toprotect muscle tissue during energy restricted diets.SleepAlways try to get enough sleep. If you are unable to sleep optimally, your recovery will suffer and you won’t be able to train each muscle group as frequently.

During sleep, your body releases growth hormone (GH), a protein hormone made by the pituitary gland, a small secre-tory gland at the base of the brain that enhances protein synthesis and other functions.Keep Your MomentumYou probably have a long-term ob-jective of losing a certain number of fat pounds and gaining muscle. After the two-day diet, keep going! Renew your commitment daily to yourself and to the Parrillo Nutri-tion Program. Do this, and you’ll guarantee long-term results.Okay – Get ready to take action! I know you can do it.

Here’s the diet:Monday Undo Diet

Meal 1• 5 to 6 scrambled egg whites• 1 cup oatmeal• Water or black coffee

Meal 2• 1 serving Parrillo Optimized Whey Protein Powder™

Meal 3• 2 cups mixed-greens salad with 4 to 6 ounces tuna, with balsamic vinegar and 1 – 2 tablespoons Cap-Tri®• 1 large baked potato• Water, black coffee or unsweet-ened tea

Meal 4• Parrillo Hi-Protein Bar™

Meal 5• Skinless chicken breasts• Plenty of steamed fibrous vegeta-bles (broccoli, green beans, cauli-flower, summer squash, etc.) with 1 – 2 tablespoons CapTri®•

Parrillo Protein Ice Kreem™ – Frozen Protein Dessert or Parrillo Pudding™ (Protein Ice Kreem™ is easy to make, just add 4 scoops of mix and 2 cups of water to your Ice Cream Maker and follow the machine’s directions. In only 25-30 minutes your Ice Kreem™ is ready to enjoy!)• Water

Tuesday Undo Diet

Meal 1• 5 to 6 scrambled egg whites• Pancakes (Made with Parrillo Hi-Protein Pancake and Muffin Mix™)• Water or black coffee

Meal 2• 1 serving Parrillo Optimized Whey Protein Powder™

Meal 3• 2 cups mixed-greens salad with 6 ounces skinless chicken breasts, with balsamic vinegar and 1 – 2 tablespoons CapTri®• 1 large baked sweet potato or yam• Water, black coffee or unsweet-ened tea

Meal 4• Parrillo High Protein Bar™• Water, black coffee or unsweetenedtea

Meal 5• Baked salmon• Plenty of steamed fibrous vegetables (broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, summer squash, etc.) with 1 – 2 table-spoons CapTri®• Parrillo Pudding™• Water, black coffee or unsweetened tea

Bulletin #169 – Amino Power

Take your amino acids! A supplement – amino acids – that has been around for ages is getting a fresh look from science and the news for athletes and exercisers has never been better. Case in point: Investigators at the Col-lege of New Jersey studied the effect of a pre-exercise energy sport drink on the acute hormonal response to re-sistance exercise in eight experienced resistance-trained men. The subjects were randomly provided either a pla-cebo (a carb drink) or the supplement (a combination that included branched chain amino acids and creatine) and they drank it 10 minutes prior to exer-cising.

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The men then performed 6 sets of no more than 10 repetitions of the squat at 75 percent of their 1 repeti-tion maximum (1RM) with 2 minutes of rest between sets.The men who supplemented with the amino acid formula could do more repetitions and lift heavier weights than those on the carb-placebo drink. Equally impressive, the enhanced exercise performance resulted in a significantly greater increase in both growth hormone and insulin concen-trations, indicating an augmented anabolic hormone response from sup-plementing with the amino-acid for-mula. (1) There is more: amino acid supplementation works as a treatment for “cachexia,” the life-threatening muscle loss that occurs with cancer and other diseases that cause muscle- wasting. Nutritional supplementationwith amino acids has been shown to significantly improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity in poorly controlled elderly subjects with type 2 diabetes. And, amino acids are being studied in cardio-vascular diseases, which show it might improve well-being, en-hance physical function, and im-prove recovery from exercise.

(2)For years, Parrillo Performance has recommended that active peo-ple, from bodybuilders to endur-ance athletes to exercisers, sup-plement with amino acids. Here is an overview of what a solid amino acid supplement program should entail – and why: Incorporate BCAA’s Parrillo Performance provides an important mixture of amino acids – the branched chain aminos – in its Muscle Amino Formula™. The time to use this product is imme-diately before and after training as well as with meals. Hard dieting is a great time to supplement with branch chain amino acids. Dur-ing times of energy insufficiency (dieting), your body will actually break down its own muscle to use as fuel if no other is available. Catabolism is a dreadful meta-bolic state that occurs when gly-cogen stores have been depleted and fat oxidation has maximized. Metabolically, your body requires a certain level of glucose (blood sugar) to be maintained in order for the brain to function. While body fat provides a long-lasting energy supply, fat cannot be con-verted into carbohydrate by the human body. But protein (amino acids) can. Under adverse condi-tions, carbohydrates are exhausted and your body breaks down pro-tein stores (muscle tissue) to con-vert into carbohydrate to supply energy.

Branched chain amino acids are effective because they form a substrate for growth and are metabolized as fuel directly within muscle cells. A handful of Muscle Amino Formula™ cap-sules will help prevent the onset of catabolism and has both anabolic and anti-catabolic properties. Hi- Protein™ and Optimized Whey™ are fortified with extra BCAAs for just this reason. We suggest two or more with every meal. Rememberthat BCAAs require insulin for ab-sorption into muscle cells so take them with food or a protein and/orcarb drink rather than on an empty stomach!Don’t Forget Growth Hormone Releasing AminosCertain combinations of specific amino acids, such as those found in Enhanced GH Formula™, are shown to enhance GH release (8). Probably the best way to use these is on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning, right before a workout, and before bed. (MCTs, like CapTri®, can be a potent stimulus for GH release.)

Our supplement contains arginine pyroglutamate and lysine mono-hydrochloride, two potent amino acids, when isolated and grouped together and taken on a regular ba-sis have been shown to promote the secretion of growth hormone in the body. Growth hormone is the might-iest of all hormonal secretions as it increases mass and decreases body-fat simultaneously, and aids in joint repair!Arginine has a number of other im-portant functions in the body, includ-ing the fortification of the immune system. In studies with animals and humans, arginine has been found to improve wound healing and bolster immune responses, plus reduce the incidence of infection following sur-gery. Arginine has other duties, as well. It is required to manufacture creatine, an important chemical in the muscles that provides the energy for contractions. In addition, Argi-nine apparently helps prevent the body from breaking down protein in muscles and organs to repair itself when injured. Meat, poultry, and fish are good sources of arginine, as are numerous supplements, including our Enhanced GH Formula™ and our Ultimate Amino Formula™.

Glutamine & Ultimate Amino Formula™Glutamine is another important ami-no acid. It is the favored fuel of your immune system. This means you need it when you’re ill, stressed, or recovering from surgery. Researchers have discovered that many athletes are deficient in glutamine – a short-age that makes them vulnerable to infections. Glutamine is technically described as a “glucogenic,” mean-ing that it assists your body in manu-facturing glycogen, the chief muscle fuel. Also, supplemental glutamine has been shown to elevate growth hormone levels – and may even curb the desire for sugary foods.Each capsule in our Ultimate AminoFormula™ contains 103 milligrams of glutamine. We recommend that you take two or more capsules of this supplement with each meal. That should supply a gram or more daily – which is appropriate for athletes and active individuals. So – there are plenty of wonderful benefits to supplementing with amino acids, especially if you want to maximize performance, muscle development, and overall well-being.

References

1. Hoffman, J.R., et al. 2008. Effect of a pre-exercise energy supplement on the acute hormonal response to resistance exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 22:874-882.

2. Strasser, F. 2007. Appraisal of current and experimental approaches to the treatment of cachexia. Current Opinions in Supportive and Pallia-tive Care 1:312-316.

3. Isidori A, Lo Monaco A, Cappa M. 1981. A study of growth hormone release in man after oral administra-tion of amino acids. Current Medical Research and Opinion. 7: 475-481.

4. Valls E, Herrera F, Diaz M, Bar-reiro P, and Valls A. 1978. Modifica-tion in plasmatic insulin and growth hormone induced by medium chain triglycerides. Span. Ana. Ped. 11: 675-682.

Bulletin #168 – MCT Oil Really Is A Fat-Burning Fat!

I love it when research confirms what we at Parrillo Performance have known for decades. Yet another study has shown that MCT oil really is a fat-burning fat. Of course, you know MCT oil as CapTri®, one of our flag-ship supplements. MCT oil was first formulated in the 1950s by the phar-maceutical industry for patients who had trouble digesting regular fats. It is processed mainly from coconut oil but does not have any of the adverse effects associated with tropical oils.

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Here’s the latest, greatest news on MCTs: A 2008 study published in Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that substituting mod-erate amounts of MCT oil for other fats in a weight-loss program resulted in fat loss, including around the waist, with no adverse impact on cardiovas-cular risk factors.In the 16-week study, 31 overweight patients consumed either olive oil or MCT oil in muffins. All of the subjects participated in dietitian-led weekly group weight-loss counseling sessions that stressed following a prudent diet, and encouraged healthy eating pat-terns. The oils accounted for roughly 12 percent of participants’ calorie prescription.

At 16 weeks, the MCT group had lost significantly more weight: an average of 7 pounds, or 3.8 percent of their baseline body weight, compared with 1.7 percent in the olive oil group. That’s 200% better than the control group for all you math whiz-zes. That’s over twice the weight loss of the control group. The MCT group also had a 1.5 percent decrease in total fat mass as measured by CT scan, including a reduction in intra-abdominal fat. (1) Unlike conven-tional oils, MCT oil gets burned im-mediately by the liver before it even has a chance to get stored as body fat, and many researchers feel that it has a place in weight management. Of course, I agree!CapTri® is a unique high thermo-genic ultra pure MCT available exclusively from Parrillo Perfor-mance. CapTri® comes unflavored for cooking or making salad dress-ings, etc. or butter flavored for driz-zling over vegetables, fish, popcorn and more. CapTri® contains around 115 calories per tablespoon. I have very specific recommendations for how to use CapTri® in a weight-loss program, and it is Parrillo Perfor-mance’s own version of the low-carb diet (but without the side effects of typical low-carb diets).

The calo-ries from CapTri® provide the en-ergy you need to keep training hard, while you’re trying to lose body fat. Also, by substituting CapTri® for an equivalent number of calories from carbohydrates you avoid the slow-down in metabolic rate which inevi-tably results from calorie-restricted diets.My approach to low-carb dieting al-lows you to utilize the power of the low carb diet without resorting to using regular fat as a food source. Instead of regular fat, you use high thermogenic CapTri®, which be-haves more like a carbohydrate in the body, except that it doesn’t in-crease insulin levels. This means you can use CapTri® in place of carbs to decrease insulin levels and shift your metabolism into a fat-burning mode. This is very similar to the strategy of low-carbdiets except without relying on conventional fat as an energy source.To use CapTri® for fat loss, con-tinue to keep your protein intake high at about one to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight per day, then reduce carbohydrate intake and provide an equivalent number of calories from CapTri®.

For ex-ample, if you normally consume 300 grams of carbs per day (1200 calories worth), reduce that to 150 grams per day and add 5 table-spoons of CapTri® per day (pro-viding 570 calories). By reducing carbs and always combining your starches with protein, vegetables, and CapTri® at each meal, you will dramatically reduce insulin levels and maximize fat loss. One more point: Unlike conventional fats, CapTri® also works well dur-ing weight gain because it doesn’t contribute to fat stores (2, 3).Of course, CapTri® isn’t just for weight loss; it’s also for building and maintaining lean mass, since it has a positive effect on your me-tabolism. CapTri® is very thermo-genic and dramatically increases the rate of oxygen consumption after a meal. It’s no accident that we’ve incorporated CapTri® at the core of our supplement program. The reason? As you know, CapTri® is a very con-centrated source of calories – calories that can be used for energy and to support weight gain. The increase in oxygen consumption that occurs after you eat CapTri® means that it is be-ing burned very fast (4, 5).

Remember, foods are burned by reacting with the oxygen we breathe, so the reason oxy-gen consumption increases after you eat is to supply enough oxygen to burn the food to produce energy. Some of the energy from CapTri® is converted into body heat in a process known as thermogenesis (4, 5).This is the single most important rea-son why excess calories from CapTri® have less of a tendency to make you fat than excess calories from other foods. CapTri® is burned so fast that excess calories from it are turned into body heat instead of being converted into fat. This is why I’ve called CapTri® the best supplement ever developed for active people – it’s an excellent way tosupply extra calories but has very little tendency to make you fat. CapTri® is available exclusively from Parrillo Performance. You can use CapTri®: 1. To maintain energy levels while diet-ing. 2. To add clean calories for gain-ing muscle. 3. To replace regular fat with healthier CapTri®.

References

1. St. Onge, M.P. et al. 2008. Mediumchain triglyceride oil consumption as part of a weight loss diet does not lead to an adverse metabolic profile when compared to olive oil. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 27(5):547-552.2. Baba, N., Bracco, E.F., and Hashim, S.A. 198

2. Enhanced thermogenesis and diminished deposition of fat in response to overfeeding with diet containing medium chain triglycer-ide. American Journal of ClinicalNutrition 35: 678-682.

3. Bach, A.C. and Babayan, V.K. 1982. Medium chain triglycerides: an update. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 36: 950-962.

4. Hill, J.O., et al. 1989. Thermogen-esis in humans during overfeeding with medium chain triglycerides. Metabolism 38: 641-648.5. Seaton, T.B., et al. 1986. Welle, Warenko and Campbell, Thermic effect of medium chain and long chain triglycerides in man. Ameri-can Journal of Clinical Nutrition 44: 630-634.

Bulletin #167 – Older Means Better

If you’re an older athlete – say over 50 – and want to stay competitive, do you have different nutritional needs than your younger counterparts? Most research to date suggests that your nutritional needs are not significantly different. However, there are definitely ways you can optimize your diet and supplement program to help you keep your edge. The following tips can help you stay competitive.The most important thing you can do is routinely eat quality calories from nutrient-dense, health-protective foods that support top performance, enhance recovery from hard workouts and reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and other debili-tating diseases.

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The Parrillo Nutrition Program is designed to supply quality calories in amounts to keep you well-fueled. It consists of lean proteins, starchy carbs, and fibrous vegetables. Com-bine these at each meal and you’ll ob-tain an excellent nutritional base for performance and health. Consult your Parrillo Nutrition Manual for details on how to plan your diet. Recovery is the process of regeneration that takes place in the aftermath of a workout. To appreciate its importance, con-sider what happens inside your body as a consequence of intense exercise: Energy-giving glycogen stores are de-pleted; muscle protein is dismantled; microscopic tears in muscle fibers oc-cur; energy-producing compounds are lost from cells; and fluid and electro-lytes dwindle.Older athletes sometimes recover more slowly, so you’ll need to helpthe process along by supplying your body with all the nutritional building blocks it needs to restore what’s lost and repair what’s dam-aged. Of all the nutrients neces-sary for optimal recovery, dietary carbohydrate takes precedence for two reasons. First, carbohydrate restocks your body with muscle and liver glycogen, which can be depleted during exercise. Replen-ishing these stores allows you to train harder on successive work-outs for greater gains.

Second, carbohydrate reduces the need for muscle protein breakdown to pro-vide energy for resistance exercise, leading to a more favorable protein balance in the body. Carbohydrate also triggers the release of the hormone insulin, which promotes muscle growth as well. Various re-search studies have proven that a carbohydrate/protein supplement triggers the greatest elevations in insulin and growth-hormone levels in exercising study subjects. Clearly, protein works hand in hand with post-exercise carbs to create a hormonal environment that promotes the greatest increase in muscle growth. This nutrient combination also jumpstarts your body’s glycogen-making process — faster than if you just consumed carbs. Carbs produce a surge in in-sulin levels. Biochemically, insulin is like an accelerator pedal that races the body’s glycogen-mak-ing motor. Good recovery drinks include Parrillo Pro-Carb™, 50/50 Plus™, or Optimized Whey™.

As we get older, our protein needs in-crease slightly. Nutritionally, protein is the basic, most important building material in your body, essential to high-level health because of its role in growth and maintenance. Your body breaks down protein from food into nutri-ent fragments called amino acids and reshuffles them into new pro-tein to build and rebuild tissue, in-cluding body-firming muscle. Pro-tein also keeps your immune system functioning up to par, helps carry nutrients throughout the body, has a hand in forming hormones, and is involved in important enzyme reac-tions such as digestion. Proteins found in the Parrillo Nu-trition Program include fish, white meat poultry, egg whites, and our line of protein powders and bars. Although your bones have stopped growing, you can keep them strong with weight training and daily calci-um. Yes, you can get protective lev-els of calcium from natural foods, but it’s a good idea to hedge your bets and take a mineral supplement. Per pill, Parrillo Mineral-Electro-lyte™ contains 250 mg of calcium; 5 mg of iron; 250 mg of phospho-rus; 75 mcg of iodine in the form of kelp; 250 mg of magnesium; 11 mg of zinc; 50 mcg of selenium; 500 mcg of copper; 10 mg of man-ganese; 25 mcg of chromium picolinate; 45 mg of potassium; 500 mcg of boron; along with other nu-trients.

I recommend that you take one tablet with each meal during the day for optimum metabolism and well-being. Yes, your joints may get creaky and achy with age, but don’t despair. You can help them with some natu-ral approaches, and hopefully not have to resort to over-the-counter or prescription pain-killers (un-less your physician recommends them).One option available is evening primrose oil, in particular has spe-cific benefits for athletes, body-builders – really, anyone who is interested in improving personal health and fitness. It comes from a plant that grows wild along road-sides. It is so named because its yellow flowers resemble in color real primroses, and these flowers open only in the evening. From this oil, your body can directly obtain GLA, which stands for gamma-linolenic acid. GLA is ultimately converted into the prostaglandin E1 series, a group of beneficial chemicals that helps reduce in-flammation, regulates blood clot-ting, decreases cholesterol levels, and lowers high blood pressure, among other functions.A growing number of medical ex-perts and scientists now believe that taking GLA-rich oils can ef-fectively fight the inflammation – the major cause of swollen, painful joints.

GLA is a building block of a beneficial type of prostaglandin, which exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Thus, supple-menting with GLA increases production of these prostaglandins and may help control the pain and inflammation associated with joint problems and arthritis. Parrillo Performance recognized the need for a product that counter-acts joint and inflammation prob-lems. The Parrillo Performance solution is Evening Primrose Oil™ a concentrated source of essential fatty acids, including GLA. EFA’s keep joints lubricated, hair and skin healthy, and brain neurons firing correctly. Each 1000 mg gel cap contains 30 IU’s of vitamin E, 100 mg of Gamma Linolenic Acid and 760 mg of Linoleic Acid. Take one to three capsules daily. Our ongoing research recently led us to develop the Parrillo Joint For-mula™ to assist in the rebuilding of damaged joints, tendons, cartilage, and soft tissue.

This supplement contains glucosamine, a combina-tion of glucose and amino acids that has been extensively studied for joint health and support. When you supplement with glucosamine, it gathers in the liver, kidneys and ar-ticular cartilage. Once it reaches the chondrocytes, the cells that produce cartilage, the glucosamine is incor-porated into those cells. Eventually, it forms a viscous fluid that helps protect and lubricate your joints and cartilage. This formula also con-tains chrondroiton, which appears to stimulate cartilage cells to create new cartilage and it may also slow the breakdown of cartilage; shark cartilage, with its mucopolysaccha-rides that help relieve the chronic and painful inflammation that is so injurious to joints; and green sea mussel, a nutrient that supports the restoration and maintenance of sy-novial fluid and connective tissues.

The suggested usage is one or two tab-lets three times daily. For best results, use in conjunction with the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program. Adequate fluid replacement is essen-tial for athletes of all ages. But the old-er you get, the less your thirst mecha-nism kicks in. In other words, you may need fluids but not feel thirsty. To reduce the risk of dehydration, drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of pure water every day. For the older athletes who are competing in highintensity endur-ance exercise, evidence for the useful-ness of carbohydrate-containing sports drinks, such as Parrillo Pro-Carb™, exists. Eat plenty of good calories, recover properly, protect your joints, and drink plenty of fluids – and you’ll enjoy feeling young as you keep your winning edge.

Reference

Rock, C.L. 1991. Nutrition of the old-er athlete. Clinics in Sports Medicine 10:445-457.

Bulletin #166 – Rest, Recuperation & GH

Rest and recuperation can work in conjunction with growth hormone (GH) if this relationship is properly understood. For background, growth hormone (GH) is a protein hormone made by the pituitary gland, a small secretory gland at the base of the brain. Hormones, chemical messen-gers secreted by endocrine glands into the bloodstream, are delivered to target tissues, where they exert their effects. (1) Although growth hormone is of interest to adults, its primary function is to promote growth during childhood. Actively growing children have the highest levels of growth hormone. Gradu-ally, GH release decreases with age. The decline in GH levels may in fact be the cause of some of the processes of aging. If you haven’t made good gains in awhile try to incorporate some of the following GH-releasing ideas.GH & Rest between SetsAn important exercise parameter that seems to enhance GH release is to use shorter rest intervals when training. To do this, of course, you have to use lighter weights (and more reps).

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A difficult protocol that works well to increase GH levels is to train to failure at 10 reps (use 10 rep maximum weight) combined with one-minute rest intervals (5). If you’re used to resting 3-5 minutes between sets, shorten up the rest in-terval to one minute or less; it will work wonders. Sometimes body-builders get into a rut; they plateau and can’t figure out the problem. It might be that they’re training like powerlifters: very heavy weights, very low reps with long rest inter-vals. In 1993 a scientific study compared the GH-release of 20 sets of one rep each (done maximally) to 10 sets of 10 reps (also maximum) and found the 10 sets of 10 reps resulted in greater GH release (6). Why? Prob-ably the larger volume of work, done with enough reps to result in some lactic acid production, com-bined with short rest intervals, is the best way to trigger GH release. It may prove beneficial to include some high intensity aerobics as part of your cardiovascular train-ing.

There seems to be theoretical justification to include sprinting for better results.A postscript here: Weight training is incredibly intense exercise and within seconds of the commence-ment of a heavy set, energy reserves are depleted and waste products be-gin to accumulate (1-4). Creatine phosphate serves as an energy donor and helps to maintain the supply of ATP, the molecule used by muscles to power contractions. ATP is rap-idly depleted and strength fades as a heavy set proceeds, muscular con-tractions soon stop altogether. Dur-ing the rest interval between sets ATP and creatine phosphate stores are repleted. Supplementation with Creatine Monohydrate can help the entire depletion-regeneration pro-cess as it increases intracellular Creatine pools(5-6). Supplement with our Creatine Monohydrate Formula™ and you will get a bet-ter training effect.Sleep & Stress Issues Always try to get enough sleep, es-pecially since GH is naturally re-leased at night. If you are unable to sleep optimally, your recovery will suffer and you won’t be able to train each muscle group as frequently.

You can also stimulate the release of growth hormone through the in-gestion of amino acids. Arginine Pyroglutamate and Lysine Mono-hydrochloride, two potent amino acids, when isolated and grouped together and taken on a regular basis have been shown to promote the secretion of growth hormone in the body. Parrillo Performance has grouped this amino duo in its Enhanced GH Formula™. These two aminos have been shown to stimulate the release of GH in test subjects. Growth hormone is the mightiest of all hormonal secretions as it increases mass and decreases bodyfat simultaneously, and aids injoint repair! This particular amino grouping is best taken on an empty stomach and it is suggested to take Enhanced GH Formula™ immediately upon awaking, before training and just before bedtime. Taken before bed (2 to 3 capsules), these easy to di-gest capsules will dissolve as you sleep, providing you with GH-trig-gering amino acids. Grow while you sleep! Take them in the morn-ing too, and prior to training. Muscle growth and decreased body fat are the ultimate goals of every hard-train-ing bodybuilder and strength athlete and muscle can’t grow without growth hormone. Growth hormone increases lean body mass by stimulating protein synthesis and increasing nitrogen re-tention. GH is anabolic, meaning that it acts to promote incorporation of nutrients into new body tissues (1,2).

One way to increase your natural GH levels is through supplementation with a special combination of amino acids (3), combined with adequate rest and sleep. Nutrition plays an absolutely central role in the rest and recovery process. The foods you eat supply you with the building blocks the body needs to repair itself. If you are train-ing intensely and getting enough sleep but not eating right, then your growth potential will be severely limited. You should be getting one to two grams of protein per pound of body weight ev-ery day for optimal growth and recov-ery (7-10). Most bodybuilders use a protein sup-plement as the foundation for their nu-tritional program. We think the best protein on the market is our Hi-Protein Powder™ or Optimized Whey Pro-tein™. Our whey protein is fortified with extra glutamine and branched chain amino acids. In terms of recov-ery and growth the two most impor-tant supplements are protein powder and Creatine Monohydrate. Carbohy-drates are required to maintain your muscle glycogen stores. When muscle glycogen is depleted, strength and endurance drop off markedly (1-4).

If you are no longer getting a good pump after a set, this is a sign that you are running low on glycogen. In this case, increase your carbs by using two to four scoops of Parrillo Pro-Carb™ after your workout. This is the per-fect time to supplement with carbs as they will be stored as glycogen. Don’t forget to take your vitamins and minerals. I suggest six meals a day, spaced at regular intervals. Each meal should include a pro-tein source (such as lean chicken or turkey), a starch, and a fibrous vegetable. Good starches include potatoes, rice, beans, and corn. Stay away from simple sugars and refined carbohydrates such as pas-ta or bread. Metabolically, refined carbohydrates behave much like simple sugars. Also avoid milk and fruit, which are rich in sugars. Consult the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual for detailed in-structions. Adequate nutrition and sleep are two critical ingredients in achieving optimal recovery. Don’t be afraid to vary and experiment with your rest intervals and train-ing frequency.

References

1. McArdle WD, Katch FI, and Katch VL. Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Per-formance. Lea & Febiger, Philadel-phia, 1991.

2. Wilmore JH and Costill DL. Physiology of Exercise and Sport. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1994.

3. Essentials of Strength Trainingand Conditioning, Thomas R. Baechle, editor, National Strength and Conditioning Association, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1994.

4. Guyton AC. Textbook of Medi-cal Physiology, W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1991.

5. Maughan RJ. Creatine supple-mentation and exercise perfor-mance. International Journal of Sport Nutrition 5: 94-101, 1995.

6. Greenhaff PL. Creatine and itsapplication as an ergogenic aid. International Journal of Sport Nu-trition 5: S100-S110, 1995.

7. Tarnopolsky MA, MacDougall JD, and Atkinson SA. Influence of protein intake and training sta-tus on nitrogen balance and lean mass. J Appl Physiol 64: 187-193, 1988.

8. Lemon PWR. Influence of di-etary protein and total energy intake on strength improvement. Sports Sci Exch 2, 1989.. Celejowa I and Homa M. Food intake, nitrogen, and energy bal-ance in Polish weight lifters dur-ing training camp. Nutr Metab 12: 259-274, 1970.

10. Laritcheva KA, Yalovaya NI, Shubin VI, and Shirnov PV. Study of energy expenditure and protein needs of top weight lift-ers. In: Nutrition, Physical Fitness and Health, eds. Pariznova J and Rogozkin VA, 155-163. Univer-sity Park Press, Baltimore, 1978.

Bulletin #165 – 8 Secrets to Keep Your Six-Pack Ripped

Ripped abs – every fitness-conscious person wants them, but few know ex-actly how to get them, and do so health-fully, without sacrificing lean muscle. The secrets are out – here’s how.

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Secret #1:Eat fewer starchy carbohydrates.Reducing your intake of starchy car-bohydrates – potatoes, yams, whole grains, and brown rice, for example – is an amazing way to start stripping away fat. Metabolically, this dietary reduction helps shift your body into a fatburning mode. Your body sim-ply starts burning fat for energy, since there is a deficit of carbs in your body. How much of a reduction will work? A good rule of thumb is to adjust your carbohydrate-to-protein ratio to be-tween 1 to 1 or 1.5 to 1.Be aware that one problem with reduc-ing carbohydrate intake is a potential decline in your energy levels. To com-pensate, try supplementing your diet with CapTri®, our medium-chain tri-glyceride oil (MCT oil). This is a spe-cial type of lipid that provides quality calories and, unlike conventional di-etary fats, is not likely to be stored asbody fat. Calorie for calorie, CapTri® contributes less to body weight gain (fat gain) than carbohydrates or con-ventional dietary fat. Think of Cap-Tri® as an immediate energy source that will get burned before the body has time to store it. It is an excellent metabolic-support supplement. After a few days, increase to one ta-blespoon with each meal. During hard training, many athletes go as high as two to three tablespoons per meal – a level they have found to be benefi-cial.

Secret #2:Avoid or limit alcohol consumption.Beer, wine and hard liquor are high in sugar and empty calories you don’t need. In fact, each gram of alcohol has 7 calories, compared to 4 calories per gram for other carbs. Alcohol also stimulates your appe-tite. Plus, new research shows that heavy drinkers tend to gain weight in their abdomen area, giving credence to the idea of a “beer belly.” When there’s alcohol in your system, the liver has to work overtime to process it, so it doesn’t have adequate time to process fat. A study conducted at the University of Lausanne in Swit-zerland found that the addition of only 3 oz of alcohol per day to the diet resulted in about one-third less fat being processed. You can avoid drinking alcohol and still remain so-cial by sipping on juice, seltzers, club soda or sparkling mineral water on the rocks with a citrus twist.

Secret #3:Shun fructose.Of course, I’ve been saying this for decades. Now new research shows that fructose, found naturally in sug-ar and as high-fructose corn syrup in sodas and junk food, promotes belly fat. The reason for this is because the calories from fruit come in the formof fructose, which is quickly and eas-ily converted to fat in the liver. Excess calories from any carbo-hydrate source can be converted to fat. The enzyme that regulateswhether carbs are stored as gly-cogen or fat is phosphofructoki-nase-I. The job of this enzyme is to shuttle carbs into glycogen stores until full, then switch the flow of carbs from glycogen syn-thesis to fat synthesis. Fructose, however, skips this step in the liver where it is converted to fat.

Secret #4:Manage stress.Stress churns out and elevates cortisol, a hormone. If cortisol stays elevated, it directs fat stor-age to the abdominal area. If you’re like most people, you’ll need to let off some steam dur-ing stressful times, and exercise is the perfect stress reliever. Plus, it helps to burn off fat. So why not engage in a little additional aerobics to keep stress under con-trol? Do a bit more of your usual aerobic activity or try some new types just for fun. Spend an af-ternoon at an ice or roller-skating rink. Whack a ball around the racquetball court. If the weather permits, hit the ski slopes, try your hand at crosscountry skiing or rent some snowshoes and go exploring. Or get in the pool and swim a few laps.

Secret #5:Increase the duration and/or frequency of your usual aerobic exercise routine.Duration refers to the length of time that you work out. It’s amazing how many additional calories you’ll con-sume by pushing your body just a little longer. Increase your exercise frequency too: working out more times per week to obtain a greater caloric expenditure and burn more fat. In one study, men who worked out at moderate intensity on exercise bikes six days a week, twice a day, for 100 days lost an average of near-ly 18 lbs—and most of it was pure fat. Although you don’t have to work out this much to keep your six-pack ripped, these findings demonstrate that increased workout frequency translates into more fat loss.Aerobic exercise, even something as simple as walking is great for obtaining and keeping ripped abs. Researchers at the Washington Uni-versity School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, put a group of men and women, aged 60 to 70 on a nine to 12-month exercise program that consisted of walking or jogging. On average, the subjects exercised 45 minutes several times a week. By the end of the study, both the men and the women had lost weight. But get this: Most of their weight was shed from the abdominal area. This all goes to show that a simple exercise program like walking or jogging can melt off abdominal fat, which creeps on as we get older. From a health perspective, this type of exercise — by fighting waistline flab — may reduce the risk of diseases linked to abdominal fat. Compared to other fat storage sites on the body, the ab-dominal region is “lipolytically ac-tive.” This means it gives up fat eas-ily. A group of Canadian researchers put this to the test. In their study, 13 obese women exercised moderately for 90 minutes four to five times a week for 14 months. At the end of the study, the women underwent CT scans to detect any changes in body fat patterning. More flab was lost from the abdominal region than from the mid-thigh, proving that ab fat is easily burned with a consis-tent, long-term exercise program.Always concentrate on beefing up your aerobic intensity. Make the effort count. For optimum fatburn-ing, you should exercise at a level that is hard enough to raise your heart rate to 70 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. (You can calculate your desired heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 and multiplying that number by 70 or 80 percent.)

Secret #6:Cut the bad fats.Cutting fatty foods such as red meats, other fatty cuts, butter, and margarine from your daily diet should be part of a total plan to zap tummy fat. Interestingly, when a group of 124 women reduced di-etary fat, they each lost 10 to 15 pounds, and more than half the women lost body fat mostly from their abdomen. See the Parrillo Nutrition Manual for how much fat to include in your diet, includ-ing essential fatty acids.

Secret #7:Stop yo-yo dieting.Be forewarned about dieting: Go-ing on and off a reducing diet can make your waistline look like the equator. The proof is in some in-teresting research conducted at Yale University several years ago. Researchers there studied pre-menopausal women who had gone up and down in weight many times during their lives — a result of re-peated efforts at dieting. What they found was intriguing: Those women with a history of on-again, off-again dieting and fluctuations in weight tended to gain fat mostly in the ab-dominal region. In other words: When fat returns after you go off a diet, it returns to your waistline. It’s best to not diet too drastically, but rather follow a healthy nutritional plan, like the Parrillo Nutrition Pro-gram.

Secret #8:Work your six-pack.True, waistline exercises will firm up abdominal muscles underneath the fat and wake up sluggish circu-lation so fat-burning can proceed. So don’t neglect your ab work. Oneof my favorites is the knee –up. You’ll need a dip stand to perform this exercise. Facing away from the stand, hoist yourself up between thetwo parallel dipping bars and sup-port yourself there with your legs straight. Bend your knees and pull your thighs in toward your midsec-tion. Return to the starting position and repeat. Perform as many repeti-tions as you can.Good looks aren’t the only benefit you get from your ab workout. The four sets of muscles that make up your abdominal column work to-gether with your back muscles to help you sit straight, stand tall, and move with ease. If you’ve ever had a low-back problem, you know that one of the first rules in restoring health and preventing future back ailments is to strengthen your ab muscles.  Remember too: Trimming that rollaround the middle lowers your riskfactor for heart disease, high bloodpressure, diabetes, some cancers,and many other life-shorteningdiseases. There’s a healthy payofffor anyone who gives the abdomi-nals individual attention.

References

Rodin J, Radke-Sharpe N, Rebuffe-Scrive M, Greenwood MR:Weight cycling and fat distribution.International Journal of ObesityApril 1990;14(4):303-310.Kohrt WM, Obert KA, HolloszyJO: Exercise training improves fatdistribution patterns in 60 to 70-year-old men and women. Journalof Gerontology July 1992;47(4):M99-105.

Bulletin #164 – Supplementing For The Endurance Edge

Endurance is critical in athletic training and bodybuilding. Can you increase your endurance through the use of nutritional supplementation? Science says yes. Endurance can be bumped up, regardless the degree of fit-ness, with a balanced nutrition program aided by supplementa-tion. One of the supplements we recommend is Parrillo Max En-durance Formula™. It is special-ly formulated with the following nutrients:InosineThough it sounds like one, ino-sine is not an amino acid but is classified as a nucleoside, one of the basic compounds compris-ing cells. It plays many roles, one of which is helping to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the body’s main form of usable energy. Inosine plays many other roles in the body, including re-leasing insulin, facilitating the use of carbohydrate by the heart and, potentially, participating in oxygen metabolism and protein synthesis which improves oxygen utilization.

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DL-PhenylalanineDL-Phenylalanine is an amino acid known to improve mental acuity and pain tolerance. Some interesting research has looked into whether this amino acid canimprove mental focus and alle-viate attention problems. In one study, adults with attention deficit disorder were given a 2-week double-blind crossover of DL-phenylalanineversus placebo. A significant im-provement was noted on mood and attention. Treatment with DLphenyl-alanine also appears to ease depres-sion in patients receiving opiates for chronic non-malignant pain. This amino acid is included in Max En-durance™ to help maximize focus and minimize pain for more produc-tive workouts.Ferulic AcidThe phytochemical ferulic acid is found in the leaves and seeds of many plants, but especially in cere-als such as brown rice, whole wheat and oats. Ferulic acid is also present in coffee, apples, and artichokes. As an effective antioxidant, ferulic acid helps protect the body against free radicals and bodily stress, which can otherwise cause fatigue and illness.

This lessens the total body burden of free radical damage, which is a ma-jor contributing factor as to why we age and suffer from degenerative dis-eases. Ferulic acid also helps to in-crease energy, as well as stimulate an increase in strength and lean musclemass and a decrease in body fat.In one study of 7 Olympic weight-lifters, all experienced an increase in strength and endurance, a decrease in waist circumference and reduced residual joint and muscle soreness. Studies have shown that ferulic acid can decrease blood glucose levels and can be of help to diabetes patients. In addition, ferulic acid seems to pro-tect against cancer, bone degeneration, menopausal symptoms (hot flashes). Like many other antioxidants, ferulic acid reduces the level of cholesterol and triglyceride, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.Potassium & Magnesium AspartateHave you ever noticed an ammo-nia smell in your clothes after a hard workout? This is because your body was using some amino acids as fuel but was not able to clear the waste products efficiently. When this hap-pens the carbon skeleton of amino acids is burned, leaving ammonia as a byproduct.

Ammonia is quite toxic and is converted to urea in a meta-bolic pathway called “the urea cycle,” which prepares it to be excreted in the urine. The urea cycle requires certain chemical compounds called aspar-tates, which are included in our Max Endurance Formula™. Aspartates are used by the body to detoxify the waste products of protein catabolism.They also help filter out toxic waste products your body generates during intense training. Eliminating these waste products helps you have more energy and recover faster. Ammonia is very toxic and will stop energy pro-duction in the cell. Using the aspar-tates in Max Endurance™ to neutral-ize the ammonia as soon as it forms enables you to have more energy and endurance. We suggest the product be used consistently every day, not just on days of endurance events. Take 5-10 capsules before training.  In addition to Max Endurance Formu-la™, there are other unique and power-ful nutritional supplements for endur-ance. Anyone who wants more energy, strength and stamina should consider ad-ditional supplementation.

I suggest you start with the Liver-Amino Formula™, since it provides protein and heme iron — the precise nutrients your body needs to build muscle, red blood cells and energy producing systems. If you’re not getting enough protein from conventional sourc-es, the Hi-Protein Powder™ is probably the next thing to add. If you need more calories, go with Pro-Carb™, CapTri® or any of our Supplement Bars or pud-dings. If you’re training on the edge andwant to explore the limits of your poten-tial, add in Muscle Amino™.In general, I suggest you begin using endurance supplements when training hard and definitely for at least three to six weeks before your event to build up your nutrient level reserves. This is es-pecially true for Liver-Amino™, since it takes about six weeks to build red blood cells. You’ll get better results if the nu-trition and supplements regimen is fol-lowed daily, not just around competition time. Consistency and dedication make the difference between champions and recreational athletes, and that applies to nutrition and supplementation as well as to training.P.S. Don’t forget your Essential Vitamin Formula™ and Mineral Electrolyte For-mula™, both of which can be doubled when in hard training.

Bulletin #163 – Protein Power – More Proof

The optimal amount of protein for athletes and exercisers has been de-bated ad nauseam, as have other is-sues related to protein. Finally, last year, the International Society of Sports Nutrition took a positive re-search-based position on protein, saying, really, what we have be-lieved in at Parrillo Performance for decades. Let me give you a run-down of what this information tells us – and my take on it as it relates to your nutrition and training.

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The Society has put together seven points related to the intake of protein for healthy, exercising individuals:1) Vast research supports the con-tention that individuals engaged in regular exercise training require more dietary protein than seden-tary individuals. Absolutely! What stirred the debate early on was that the National Research Council put the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein intake at 0.8 grams protein per kg body weight per day (g/kg/day). This works out to be 0.36 grams per pound body weight each day (g/pound/day), which is 56 grams per day for a typical male and about 72 grams per day for a 200 pound bodybuilder. This value was determined to be the amount required by most of the av-erage population – not for athletes or other very active people. The RDA protein recommendation may be enough for sedentary people but en-durance athletes and very muscular athletes need more.2) Protein intakes of 1.4 – 2.0 g/kg/ day for physically active individuals is not only safe, but may improve the training adaptations to exercise train-ing. On The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program, we recommend that bodybuilders consume 1.5 grams or more of protein a day per pound of body weight. At least one gram per pound of body weight should come from lean proteins, with the re-maining .

5 gram per pound of body weight coming from starchy and fi-brous carbs. We’ve seen bodybuild-ers greatly improve their physiques by following these guidelines.3) When part of a balanced, nutrient-dense diet, protein intakes at this lev-el are not detrimental to kidney func-tion or bone metabolism in healthy, active persons. True, there is no evi-dence suggesting that strength ath-letes consuming a high protein diet have an increased incidence of kid-ney disease. The data suggesting that a high protein diet contributes to the progressive nature of kidney disease come from people with pre-existing kidney problems.4) While it is possible for physical-ly active individuals to obtain their daily protein requirements through a varied, regular diet, supplemental protein in various forms are a prac-tical way of ensuring adequate and quality protein intake for athletes. Amen – which is why Parrillo Per-formance has a full range of protein supplements available to you.

To help you meet your protein needs, for example, we have developed Hi-Protein Powder™. Each serving provides 31 grams of ultra quality protein. Other high-protein supple-ments include our Protein Bars™, 50/50 Plus™ powders, Optimized Whey Protein™ supplements, and All-Protein™.5) Different types and quality of protein can affect amino acid bio-availability following protein sup-plementation. The superiority of one protein type over another in terms of optimizing recovery and/ or training adaptations remains to be convincingly demonstrated. Our protein supplements give you a variety of protein types, from whey to casein, and all have benefits. For example, research shows that whey protein diets increase the amount of glutathione in body tissues. Glu-tathione is a peptide (an amino acid derivative) that is involved in strengthening immunity. The eleva-tion of glutathione has been shown to inhibit the development of sev-eral types of tumors, according to numerous studies. Whey protein is found in the following products: Op-timized Whey Protein™, Hi-Protein Powder™, 50/50 Plus Powder™, Parrillo Sports Nutrition Bars™, Parrillo Protein Bars™, Parrillo En-ergy Bars™, Protein Chew Bars™, Pancake & Muffin Mix™ and Cake & Cupcake Mix™. We also offer our All-Protein Pow-der™, which covers just about every protein base there is.

Plus it’s fortified with amino acids: glycine, l-glutamine, l-leucine, l-isoleucine, and l-valine. Our suggested usage is one or more serv-ings (2 scoops mixed with 8 ounces or ¼ liter of water or beverage) taken as needed with or between meals, and taken before, during, and after work-outs. All-Protein Powder™ can also be mixed with food as needed.6) Appropriately timed protein intake is an important component of an over-all exercise training program, essential for proper recovery, immune function, and the growth and maintenance of lean body mass. Used to be that carbs took precedence over any other nutri-ent as a post-workout recovery agent. Not any more. Protein is equally as im-portant and pairs up with carbohydrate as a double punch for muscle building. Various research studies have proved that a carbohydrate/protein supple-ment triggers the greatest elevations in insulin and growth hormone levels in exercising study subjects. Clearly, protein works hand in hand with post-exercise carbs to create a hormonal environment that promotes the great-est increase in muscle growth.

This nutrient combination also jump-starts your body’s glycogen-making process — faster than if you just consumed carbs. Research has found that a balanced amino mixture (0.15 gm per kg of body weight) taken immediately af-ter resistance exercise will produce a better anabolic effect than when the same mixture was taken later. We think one of the best times to take our 50/50 Plus™ or protein supplements is right after you train, based on this cutting edge research. If you want to take your recovery efforts up one more notch, consider supplementation with 50/50 Plus™, Hi-Protein™, Opti-mized Whey Protein™ and All-Protein™.7) Under certain circumstances, specific amino acid supplements, such as branched-chain amino ac-ids (BCAA’s), may improve exercise performance and recovery from exercise. Parrillo Performance sup-plies BCAAS in its Muscle Amino Formula™. A good time to use this product is immediately before and after training, as well as with meals. Hard dieting is a great time to supplement with branch-chain amino acids.During times of energy insufficien-cy (dieting), your body will actu-ally break down its own muscle to use as fuel if no other is available. Catabolism is a dreadful metabolic state that occurs when glycogen stores have been depleted and fat oxidation has maximized. Meta-bolically, your body requires a cer-tain level of glucose (blood sugar) to be maintained in order for the brain to function. While body fat provides a long-lasting energy sup-ply, fat cannot be converted into carbohydrate by the human body. But protein (amino acids) can.

Un-der adverse conditions, carbohy-drates are exhausted and your body breaks down protein stores (muscle tissue) to convert into carbohydrate to supply energy. Branched-Chain Amino Acids are effective because they form a substrate for growth and are metabolized as fuel direct-ly within muscle cells. A handful of Muscle Amino Formula™ cap-sules will help prevent the onset of catabolism and has both anabolic and anti-catabolic properties. Hi- Protein™ and Optimized Whey™ are fortified with extra BCAAs for just this reason. We suggest two or more with every meal. Remember that BCAAs require insulin for ab-sorption into muscle cells so take them with food (carbs) rather than on an empty stomach!For more information on protein and athletes, read the “Internation-al Society of Sports Nutrition Posi-tion Stand: protein and exercise,” published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of the Interna-tional Society of Sports Nutrition.

Bulletin #130 – Creatine

Creatine does it all: increases muscle mass, builds strength, and enhances endurance, according to a growing body of scientific research. (1-6). We’ve been doing our own trials here as well and have seen impressive results . What is creatine, and how does it work? For background, the immediate source of energy for all cellular activity, including muscle contraction, is a mol-ecule called ATP. This stands for adenos-ine triphosphate. ATP is formed from the chemical energy contained in food. Food is oxidized, or burned, in the body to re-lease energy. This energy is used to form ATP, which then goes on to power cellular activity. The body’s stores of ATP are very limited. In fact, each muscle cell contains only enough ATP to power contractions for a few seconds. Therefore, ATP must be continuously regenerated . That’s where creatine fits in. When ATP is broken down to as part of the en-ergy-producing process, creatine (in the form of creatine phosphate, or CP) steps in and chemically regenerates ATP (1). This allows high energy muscle contractions to continue. After about 45 seconds to 2 min-utes (depending on the intensity of effort) the creatine phosphate is also used up, and power production by the muscle rapidly declines.

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This is what happens when you fail at the end of a set – you’ve used up all your ATP and CP, which means you’re out of fuel. This is also why high intensity weight lifting sets usually last about a min-ute before you fail. After the CP is used up, ATP cannot be regenerated fast enough to maintain a high level of intensity. Lower intensity exercise (aerobic exercise like bike riding) can be continued almost in-definitely because you can generate CP and ATP fast enough to keep up with the energy demands of the activity. You’ll notice supplemental creatine comes in the form of creatine monohydrate. Why isn’t creatine phosphate or ATP itself used as a supplement instead? Simply put, because it doesn’t work. Molecules such as CP and ATP are not absorbed through the intestine . Creatine monohydrate, on the other hand, is readily absorbed and does in fact reach the muscle cell when administered orally (2).

This is why it can be used as an effective supplement. Once inside the muscle cell it is converted to creatine phos-phate. What about the sublingual route? This is bogus, since the molecule still has to cross cell membranes to reach the circu-lation. What about liquid creatine? Doubly bogus, since creatine tends to break down when stored as a solution. So how exactly does creatine increase muscle size and strength? It increases strength by increasing the intracellular lev-els of creatine and creatine phosphate, which allows more rapid ATP production. This means more energy is available to the cell, allowing it to work harder. This same mechanism explains why creatine increases endurance performance too. If you increase the creatine pool inside the muscle this increases the cell’s energy reserve, allow-ing longer, as well as more powerful, con-tractions. Creatine is very popular among endurance athletes, and is widely used in track and field. Creatine increases muscle size because it attracts water. Creatine is absorbed into the muscle cell and pulls a lot of water along with it, causing the muscle to swell.

This results in larger, firmer muscles and a better pump. Please realize that creatine itself does not directly increase muscle protein. As with all supplements, it is vital that you use creatine in conjunction with a solid bodybuilding diet. You need protein to build muscle tissue and carbohydrates to provide energy. Creatine itself is not burned to produce energy, rather it acts as an energy buffer to transfer the energy derived from carbohydrate and fat oxida-tion to ATP. Creatine is not incorporated into protein. It will, however, indirectly increase the protein mass of muscles over time by allowing you to perform higher in-tensity workouts. That is, of course, if you are eating enough lean protein and quality calories to support muscle gains . What can you expect from creatine? Typically in hard-training bodybuilders, we observe an increase of 4-14 pounds of lean mass during the first month of using creatine. This is remarkable. This does not mean you have to consume 4-14 pounds of creatine. Remember, most of the weight gain and size increase comes from water.

Creatine is stored in muscle cells, where it attracts water. The more muscle mass you have to start with, the more creatine you can assimilate and the more weight you will gain from using creatine. Small bodybuilders usually gain 4-6 pounds and the really big guys gain 10-14 pounds. We have verified that this weight gain shows up as an increase in lean body mass when you do body composition testing. Remember that lean mass is a measure of everything in your body that’s not fat, including the skeleton and muscle, including water. It’s hard to imagine anybody happier than a bodybuilder who gains 10 pounds of lean mass in one month .Regarding performance, we’ve seen ath-letes experience a 5-15% increase in strength on their maximum lifts, and an increase of about 2 reps per set with their working weight. This increase in training intensity allows you to put a greater load on the muscle, which will indeed increase your gains in muscle protein mass over time. The amount of strength gain each in-dividual can make may differ considerably, because the strength of your tendons also determines how much weight the muscle can lift. While it seems clear that creatine will allow faster and greater gains in size and strength over the long-term, firm num-bers cannot be attached at the onset. A lot depends on whether you are eating enough protein and calories to support gains.

If you don’t eat enough to support muscle gain, you won’t see any, it’s that simple. But with a solid, high-calorie, high-protein diet and intense training, your muscle gains can be incredible. Regarding endurance exercise, we’ve seen athletes experience a 5-10% increase in speed and a 10-20% increase in time to fatigue. As with nearly all supplements, actual usage will vary from person to person and will likely change as your body and train-ing changes. To start out, I recommend for the first one to two weeks you use 20-30 grams a day divided into even servings taken with each meal, or with a Hi-Pro-tein/Pro-Carb drink. This is the loading phase . One scoop or heaping teaspoon is five grams, so one of these with each meal is about right. Use the lower end of these ranges if you’re 150-200 pounds, and the upper end if you’re over 200 pounds. We recommend one to two weeks, but the load-ing phase may take as many as four weeks. When you find that you’re really getting a good pump, the loading phase has filled the creatine stores in your muscle. After that, 5-10 grams a day is enough to maintain your creatine stores. Cycling creatine is of no advantage. If you stop taking creatine, you simply deplete your existing store, which takes 4-8 weeks. Creatine can be mixed in plain wa-ter too. Don’t be concerned that creatine doesn’t dissolve fully; just drink the sus-pension.

It gets absorbed very well. Don’t’ mix creatine in water too far in advance of when you take it, however, since it begins to break down. A great way to pack creatine is to take a shaker bottle with a scoop of Hi-Protein or Pro-Carb, plus a scoop of cre-atine and put it in your gym bag or cooler. Then just add water, shake, and drink. An-other convenient way to use creatine is to mix it into oatmeal. Creatine has no flavor, but it is a little grainy. Are there any medical concerns with taking creatine? If you have any blood work done you might find that creatine elevates your creatinine level. Doctors use the creatinine level in the blood as an index of kidney function. If your doctor notices an increase in your creatinine level and ex-presses some concern about your kidneys, tell him or her that you’re using creatine . Creatine does not damage the kidneys in any way, but is contraindicated if you have pre-existing severe kidney disease (for ex-ample, renal dialysis or kidney transplant patients). People with severe kidney dis-ease have trouble eliminating creatinine, and creatine supplementation would in-crease creatinine levels further.

References

1. Maughan RJ. Creatine supplementa-tion and exercise performance. Interna-tional Journal of Sport Nutrition 5: 94-101, 1995 .

2. Greenhaff PL. Creatine and its ap-plication as an ergogenic aid. International Journal of Sport Nutrition 5: S100-S110, 1995 .

3. Crim MC, Munro HN. Proteins and Amino Acids. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease 8: 9-10, 1994 .

4. Greenhaff PL, Casey A, Short AH, Harris AC, Soderlund K, and Hultman E. Influence of oral creatine supplementation on muscle torque during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. Clin. Sci . 84: 565-571, 1993 .

5. Harris RC, Viru M, Greenhaff PL, and Haltman E. The effect of oral creatine supplementation on running performance during maximal short term exercise in man. J. Physiol. 467: 74P, 1993.

6. Ernest CP, Snell PG, Mitchell TL, Rodriguez R, and Almada AL. Effect of creatine monohydrate on peak anaerobic power, capacity, and fatigue index. Med. Sci. Sports. Exerc. 26: S39, 1994.

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