Post by Tim Wescott on May 2, 2006 6:38:11 GMT -5
Carbs: It's All About How Your Body Handles Them !!
There's many ways to change your metabolism - to get the body to burn more fat or add more muscle tissue. One way involves getting the body to make more muscle glycogen. With enhanced glycogen formation, the body experiences a corresponding derease in bodt fat formation. Here are my best tips to change your metabolism.
We never stop hearing of the muscle building benefits of protein. It plays a direct role muscle development by providing the foundation for growth; amino acids. However, looking at the larger picture, muscle growth is not 100% dependent on protein. Carbohydrates play an active role. In fact, the amount of carbohydrates stored inside muscles – called muscle glycogen – can determine whether muscles remain in an anabolic, muscle building state, or not. How vital is glycogen? You can take in above and beyond what any reputable nutritionist says is “enough” in the protein department, yet fail to grow if glycogen stores are too low! On the other hand, if glycogen stores are full, your chances of improved recovery and growth markedly increase.
So why not simply load up on carbs in hopes of getting huge? Because they have the potential to make you fatter. Taking steps to ensure carbs are stored in muscles rather than triggering fat storage is half the battle in building mass without turning into the Pillsbury dough boy. This month, I’ll show you how to build glycogen stores without building body fat stores.
Step 1: Eat 6 meals
Multiple meals lead to greater glycogen storage with less fat storage. Let’s say you eat 500 grams of carbohydrates daily. If you eat that in 3 meals, your body will split those carbs up. Some will head towards muscles to make muscle glycogen and some will be sent down fat storing pathways. Taking the same carbs and splitting them evenly over 6 meals will take away from their ability to uptick fat storage; leaving a greater number to be stored in the muscle. The result of 6 meals: greater glycogen storage for better growth with less body fat.
Step 2: Honor your Training
Carbohydrates eaten before training power your workout and spare the breakdown of muscle tissue. Therefore, pre-training carbs have a job to do – power your training – so few are ever stored as body fat. Carbohydrates eaten after training have to refill muscles with glycogen before having any ability to increase body fat storage. The result of eating more of your daily carbs before and after training; they protect against muscle breakdown and support glycogen levels ultimately helping your body to grow. When carbs are performing an anabolic role – supporting growth – rest assure, they are not making you fat.
Step 3: Determine Your Insulin Sensitivity.
No you don’t have to take some intricate blood test. Insulin sensitivity is a fancy description for the body’s ability to handle carbohydrates. If carbos make you tired or tend to quickly smoothen your physique, you’re likely more “insulin resistant” which for our purpose means your body likely outputs more insulin than, say, someone who gets a lot of energy from carbs or does not gain body fat quickly from eating them. In either case; if your insulin resistant, then you should stay away from sugar, juices, refined carbs like rice cakes, cold cereals, mashed potatoes, and white rice. Instead choose slower burning carbs like red potatoes, yams, brown rice, pasta and buckwheat noodles. Their slower burning character tends to facilitate the storage of glycogen instead of the storage of body fat.
Step 4: Alter Your Carb Intake
When you eat fewer carbs, the body undergoes all kinds of changes. One interesting alteration: muscles start to crave carbohydrates. When carbs decline, the muscles ability to utilize carbohydrates – rather than store them as body fat – actually increases. When you go back to eating more carbs, virtually all carbohydrates are stored in the muscles making your muscles look fuller and rounder.
The other benefit: greater glycogen stores actually trigger and support protein synthesis- muscle growth. So pulling back on your carb intake for 2-3 days can actually help you grow. Just be sure to keep your protein intake a little higher when you do drop the carbs to protect against potential muscle breakdown that is sometimes associated with a decrease in carbohydrate intake.
Step 5: Bitter orange.
Bitter orange is sometimes marketed as synepherine – a cousin to ephedrine. Bitter Orange increase thermogenesis – the burning of calories rather than the storage of body fat. It also, increases a muscle’s ability to uptake glucose, the basic unit of carbohydrates, from the blood.
The benefit; carbs are more readily removed from the blood and stored in muscles as glycogen. Greater glycogen storage not only translates into better energy and supports muscle growth, but also “starves off” the storage of body fat. By that I mean anything – diet tricks or supplements- that facilitates the storage of muscle glycogen also helps minimize the storage of body fat.
Step 6: Acetic acid
Acetic acid is found in vinegar, the simple stuff you can use on salads ort even to deodorize your home. Turns out, Vinegar has some folklore benefits. It has been used to increase the appetite, off set fatigue and increase the absorption of minerals. Vinegar actually increase the absorption of calcium and, with animal studies, it increases the formation of glycogen- so there in lies the “off sets fatigue” idea.
Vinegar likely helps prevent fatigue by improving the body’s ability to take carbohydrates and load them into muscles rather than allowing carbohydrates to flow down fat storing pathways leading to an increase in body fat, which contributes to a lack of energy and vitality. Try using 3-4 tablespoons of vinegar in the pre and post training meals to get a benefit you can see and feel.
Step 7: Use Omega-3’s
Omega-3 fatty acids, the special fats in fish oils and flax seed oil help muscles become more accepting to the anabolic effects of insulin. Insulin is released with carbohydrates consumption and it is anabolic – it helps push carbohydrates into muscles but it is also fat storing in nature, it can push carbohydrates down fat storing pathways and increase enzymes that help manufacture body fat.
Omega-3 fatty acids can help create an anabolic effect by allowing muscles to sort of “pull” carbs in – with the help of insulin – which not only increases glycogen storage but also minimizes insulin’s ability to store carbs as body fat. Try 5-6 grams a day.
There's many ways to change your metabolism - to get the body to burn more fat or add more muscle tissue. One way involves getting the body to make more muscle glycogen. With enhanced glycogen formation, the body experiences a corresponding derease in bodt fat formation. Here are my best tips to change your metabolism.
We never stop hearing of the muscle building benefits of protein. It plays a direct role muscle development by providing the foundation for growth; amino acids. However, looking at the larger picture, muscle growth is not 100% dependent on protein. Carbohydrates play an active role. In fact, the amount of carbohydrates stored inside muscles – called muscle glycogen – can determine whether muscles remain in an anabolic, muscle building state, or not. How vital is glycogen? You can take in above and beyond what any reputable nutritionist says is “enough” in the protein department, yet fail to grow if glycogen stores are too low! On the other hand, if glycogen stores are full, your chances of improved recovery and growth markedly increase.
So why not simply load up on carbs in hopes of getting huge? Because they have the potential to make you fatter. Taking steps to ensure carbs are stored in muscles rather than triggering fat storage is half the battle in building mass without turning into the Pillsbury dough boy. This month, I’ll show you how to build glycogen stores without building body fat stores.
Step 1: Eat 6 meals
Multiple meals lead to greater glycogen storage with less fat storage. Let’s say you eat 500 grams of carbohydrates daily. If you eat that in 3 meals, your body will split those carbs up. Some will head towards muscles to make muscle glycogen and some will be sent down fat storing pathways. Taking the same carbs and splitting them evenly over 6 meals will take away from their ability to uptick fat storage; leaving a greater number to be stored in the muscle. The result of 6 meals: greater glycogen storage for better growth with less body fat.
Step 2: Honor your Training
Carbohydrates eaten before training power your workout and spare the breakdown of muscle tissue. Therefore, pre-training carbs have a job to do – power your training – so few are ever stored as body fat. Carbohydrates eaten after training have to refill muscles with glycogen before having any ability to increase body fat storage. The result of eating more of your daily carbs before and after training; they protect against muscle breakdown and support glycogen levels ultimately helping your body to grow. When carbs are performing an anabolic role – supporting growth – rest assure, they are not making you fat.
Step 3: Determine Your Insulin Sensitivity.
No you don’t have to take some intricate blood test. Insulin sensitivity is a fancy description for the body’s ability to handle carbohydrates. If carbos make you tired or tend to quickly smoothen your physique, you’re likely more “insulin resistant” which for our purpose means your body likely outputs more insulin than, say, someone who gets a lot of energy from carbs or does not gain body fat quickly from eating them. In either case; if your insulin resistant, then you should stay away from sugar, juices, refined carbs like rice cakes, cold cereals, mashed potatoes, and white rice. Instead choose slower burning carbs like red potatoes, yams, brown rice, pasta and buckwheat noodles. Their slower burning character tends to facilitate the storage of glycogen instead of the storage of body fat.
Step 4: Alter Your Carb Intake
When you eat fewer carbs, the body undergoes all kinds of changes. One interesting alteration: muscles start to crave carbohydrates. When carbs decline, the muscles ability to utilize carbohydrates – rather than store them as body fat – actually increases. When you go back to eating more carbs, virtually all carbohydrates are stored in the muscles making your muscles look fuller and rounder.
The other benefit: greater glycogen stores actually trigger and support protein synthesis- muscle growth. So pulling back on your carb intake for 2-3 days can actually help you grow. Just be sure to keep your protein intake a little higher when you do drop the carbs to protect against potential muscle breakdown that is sometimes associated with a decrease in carbohydrate intake.
Step 5: Bitter orange.
Bitter orange is sometimes marketed as synepherine – a cousin to ephedrine. Bitter Orange increase thermogenesis – the burning of calories rather than the storage of body fat. It also, increases a muscle’s ability to uptake glucose, the basic unit of carbohydrates, from the blood.
The benefit; carbs are more readily removed from the blood and stored in muscles as glycogen. Greater glycogen storage not only translates into better energy and supports muscle growth, but also “starves off” the storage of body fat. By that I mean anything – diet tricks or supplements- that facilitates the storage of muscle glycogen also helps minimize the storage of body fat.
Step 6: Acetic acid
Acetic acid is found in vinegar, the simple stuff you can use on salads ort even to deodorize your home. Turns out, Vinegar has some folklore benefits. It has been used to increase the appetite, off set fatigue and increase the absorption of minerals. Vinegar actually increase the absorption of calcium and, with animal studies, it increases the formation of glycogen- so there in lies the “off sets fatigue” idea.
Vinegar likely helps prevent fatigue by improving the body’s ability to take carbohydrates and load them into muscles rather than allowing carbohydrates to flow down fat storing pathways leading to an increase in body fat, which contributes to a lack of energy and vitality. Try using 3-4 tablespoons of vinegar in the pre and post training meals to get a benefit you can see and feel.
Step 7: Use Omega-3’s
Omega-3 fatty acids, the special fats in fish oils and flax seed oil help muscles become more accepting to the anabolic effects of insulin. Insulin is released with carbohydrates consumption and it is anabolic – it helps push carbohydrates into muscles but it is also fat storing in nature, it can push carbohydrates down fat storing pathways and increase enzymes that help manufacture body fat.
Omega-3 fatty acids can help create an anabolic effect by allowing muscles to sort of “pull” carbs in – with the help of insulin – which not only increases glycogen storage but also minimizes insulin’s ability to store carbs as body fat. Try 5-6 grams a day.