Alcohol and Your Body --- Paying the Price for Partying

Pay the Price to Party – Alcohol and Bodybuilding

It’s Friday night, I’m in the club, and everyone is drinking. I did everything right during the week. I worked out and followed my diet to the “T.” So I can have a “few drinks” right? Wrong! Unless I want to halt my progress and limit the results I’ve worked so hard for, I won’t drink. I order water with a lime, to create an illusion that I’m drinking.

Alcohol is the world’s oldest and most widely-used drug. Alcohol is used to relax, facilitate social events, and liven up a party, but who’s really paying the price for you to party? Let’s take a closer look.

Alcohol stimulates appetite and loosens inhibitions. This is a great combination if your only goal is to have a fun time and get lucky, but a horrible combination for the physique conscious. In its purest form, Ethyl Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. Unlike calories from protein, fat, and carbohydrates, alcohol provides no nutrients or energy. This is why we call these 7 calories “empty calories.” On average a light beer contains 110 calories, a shot of 80 proof liquor contains 65 calories (don’t forget about the mixer), and red and white wines contain 120 calories. Factor the increased appetite and poor judgment and without even thinking about it you’ll be eating the typical “thousand calorie meal” establishments serve. The price being paid is already exceeding the physical dollar amount paid.

Alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, but one standard drink takes around 10 hours to process. Assuming you had more than one drink, athletic performance may be affected up to 48 hours after the last round. When alcohol is being metabolized, glycogen metabolism decreases. Glycogen is converted into glucose, which provides energy to the body. For every one day of drinking your reaction time, balance, coordination, thought process, energy levels, and overall abilities may be negatively affected for the following two days.

Keeping your muscles hydrated results in a much higher anabolic environment. Some even take creatine to over hydrate the muscles, creating an even higher anabolic environment. Your kidneys regulate electrolytes and fluids in the body. Electrolytes and fluids supply nutrients and remove cellular waste. Alcohol forces the kidneys to process massive amounts of water from all over the body, including the brain, to break down alcohol. The kidney’s go into overdrive to get rid of the “toxins” leading to dehydration. This explains why drinkers have to go to the bathroom frequently when drinking.

Alcohol hurts muscular gains and recovery. Your body utilizes alcohol for fuel before any other nutrient. The nutrients you eat before, during, and after drinking aren’t absorbed efficiently and sit around while the alcohol is being metabolized. Alcohol interferes with the absorption, storage, and use of vital nutrients. Slower protein absorption will directly diminish your gains and recovery. After a night of drinking you may fall asleep easier but, the quality of sleep (especially Rapid Eye Movement aka REM) is reduced. REM is believed to be the period during sleep that bodies do the greatest amount of repair. A disturbance of REM sleep may ultimately diminish recovery. Recovery and gains can also be affected by missed meals the following day due to either waking up late or feeling sick/ hung-over the next day.

Most know that anabolism increases with increased testosterone production and decreases with increased estrogen levels. Some even choose to take steroids to drive their testosterone levels to unnatural levels to achieve unnatural results. Alcohol lowers testosterone by interfering with its production and raises estrogen levels. Testosterone levels can drop up to 25% while being intoxicated. Overtime, men that are heavy drinkers often develop gynecomastia (aka man boobs) because alcohol speeds up the aromatization of androgens into estrogens.

To fully understand the effects of alcohol on fat burning and metabolism, take a look at how it’s metabolized. After being consumed, alcohol gets absorbed into the blood stream through the stomach and intestines. Around 98% of the alcohol is then processed by the liver. The liver converts fats into usable food and is a critical element that maintains a healthy body composition. The liver converts alcohol into an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, which converts into acetaldehyde, then into acetate. Carbohydrates turn into acetate as well, but through many steps, providing muscles with glucose and energy. Alcohol, on the other hand, converts into acetate fast and easy and provides no nutrients for energy. A sharp rise in acetate will result in increased fat storage. Alcohol is a by-product of yeast. The digestion of yeast irritates and weakens the lining of the stomach. When the stomach is weakened, food is digested slower and less efficient, making weight loss harder. Alcohol impairs pancreatic enzymes that are needed to metabolize fat, which can result in a high blood lipid (fat) level.

All living things are composed of cells. Bioplasm is the matter that forms the bulk of the cell. Bioplasm is the only living matter that can take up food, grow, multiply, divide, and move. In the book “Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why” by Martha M. Allen, an experiment was published on bioplasm. Different solutions were introduced to the bioplasm. A stimulant solution was added and the bioplasm increased in activity and divided more rapidly. An astringent was then added, causing the bioplasm to move more slowly and contract into a spherical shape. A relaxant was then introduced and the bioplasm spread in all directions barely moving, but when a stimulant was added again, it acted more vigorous than ever. Alcohol (also a stimulant) was then added and instantly the bioplasm contracted into a ball-like mass. They tried to stimulate and relax the bioplasm again, but nothing happened, it was completely dead.

“Alcohol destroys the very life force that alone keeps the body in repair.” If you want to perform at your best, build maximal muscle, or increase the potential for fat loss, alcohol should be avoided. The old saying goes “abstain and get them gains.” Who is paying the price for you to party? Your body is paying the price!

Reference: Martha M. Allen et al., Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why, pg 64-104, 1900.

4X Boost Juice! Certified Nutrition Staff Recipes for what we put in our water jugs to keep us recovering, building muscle, burning fat, energizing us, hydrating and generally feeling better everyday!

If you have ever been in the store or seen any of our Certified Sports Nutritionists at the gym or an event, then you will also see our Gallon Jugs of Boost Juice right by our sides.  We get the question, "What's in the jug?", all the time.  So we decided to have each Nutritionist share their favorite Boost Juice recipe with all of you.  

Carrying the jug around with us gives us an easy way to make sure we get the fluid we need each day and since we are drinking all that fluid gives us an opportunity to re-fuel our bodies with a formula to accomplish many different goals we may have for our fitness and health.  Everyone has different goals, but staying properly hydrating is shared by everyone so this is a quick easy way to speed up your results no matter what your goal.  Come in the store or email us today and we can help you put your personal Boost Juice recipe together!

MARC SCHARPHORN, CERTIFIED SPORTS NUTRITION SPECIALIST:
I call mine  Marc's Go-go Juice...   :)  

The main ingredients I use in the water are:

NutraKey Envie - Multi Vitamin and Minerals plus digestive enzymes to supply me with all the crucial nutrients and antioxidants  throughout the day - being in powdered form I know it will enter my system faster and being in the jug it will be working in me all day. 1 scoop

Choice Recover Blend or Cellucor Alpha Amino - (Fruit Punch or Icy Blue Razz) - both give me the recovering matrix of BCAA's and Glutamine I need for the active lifestyle of working out, softball and work. Increases my protein synthesis as well as combats muscle soreness and enhances muscle growth. 2 scoops

Condense Pre-Workout by PurusLabs - I find that one serving provides me with a nice sustained energy for the day.  With out the crazy amped up feeling or crash.  Condense is my favorite because it has no Creatine in it!  I typically will use Fruit Punch Flavor. 1 scoop

Occassionally  I will add Define8 to increase fat burning - 1 scoop

For added flavor I usually add a packet of Crystal Light Lemonade Flavor.

DAVID POLK, CERTIFIED SPORTS NUTRITION SPECIALIST & PERSONAL TRAINER:

Recovery Blend

I used AMINO D Strawberry Limeade Flavor by Puris Labs for muscle recovery.

Lemonade (with sugar that gives me extra carbs) to replenish glycogen levels with extra Choice Nutrition Systems powdered unflavored L-Glutamine through out the day before during and after workouts to improve digestion, sleep, reduce muscle soreness and fatigue.

SETH CAIRNS, CERTIFIED SPORTS NUTRITION SPECIALIST & PERSONAL TRAINER:

My Pre-Workout "Beast Juice"

Fruit Punch GAT Nitraflex & BPI Sports Beta-Alkaline to start

And then half-way through my workout I add BCN Amino-X Any Flavor with BCAA's and electrolytes and other vitamins and minerals to power me through the rest of my workout and set-up my recovery.

PAPA STACE HOUK, CERTIFIED SPORTS NUTRITION SPECIALIST:

Mine is called, "How an old guy keeps up with guys half his age boost juice deluxe!"

I sip mine all day in a gallon jug and strive to drink at least half of it while at the store and then get the rest of my water throughout the day.

2 scoops Alpha Amino Fruit Punch BCAAs and Electrolytes

1 scoops D-Fine 8 (any flavor) - for removing excess water, giving me fiber, and giving me mental focus and energy to get through the day while burning fat without making me jittery

1 scopp Nutrakey Inno-Flex - powdered lemon flavored joint and connective tissue repair with Collagen, Glucosamine, MSM, Chondroitin and essential minerals and vitamins to keep my old bones and joints in good repair so I can keep training.

1 scoop Choice Unflavored L-Glutamine to improve digestion, sleep, reduce muscle soreness and fatigue and improve growth hormone levels.

1 scoop Beauty Greens - I don't eat enough fruits and raw vegetables so I get the equivalent of two pounds of each in once tasty scoop along with digestive enzymes and probiotcs for good gut health.

My recipe is definitely the ugliest looking version of everyone's but one just lasts me two days and keeps me going strong even at my age!

Come in today and we can make your recipe today!  Thanks to our staff for sharing their secrets!

Improving the Amount & Quality of Your Sleep to Recover, Refresh and Feel Great!

Are you getting enough sleep?  Are you training hard at the gym, eating a healthy diet and staying active?

All the training and healthy eating you are doing along with the supplements you are taking can all be for nothing if you’re not getting the rest the body and mind needs to recover.

In today’s busy world our schedules rarely give us time for 8 hours of sleep a night and even if we do have the time are we really getting the proper sleep?  Less than eight hours a night of sleep can be ok if you are getting the right sleep.  

What is the right sleep? There are two types of sleep,  nR.E.M.  and R.E.M. 

The first type nR.E.M. (non Rapid Eye Movement) has 4 stages:

Stage 1 – between awake and asleep or light sleep,

Stage 2  - Onset of sleep, disengaged from surroundings, breathing/heart rate are regular and your body temperature drops.

 Stage 3 & 4 – Deep restorative sleep, blood pressure/breathing slows, blood supply to the muscles increases, tissue growth, repair and hormone release occur.

The second type of sleep is R.E.M – (Rapid Eye Movement).  R.E.M. sleep first occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep and recurs about every 90 minutes, getting longer later in the night.  It also provides energy to the brain.  During this stage the brain is active and dreams occur.  It also supports daytime performance.

Resurrect PM by Ronnie Coleman Signature Series has the ingredient make up to help you obtain the necessary sleep and recovery you need as an active person to stay on top of your fitness program and help you succeed in your goals.

Let’s look at some of these ingredients and how they help you obtain the necessary rest and recovery.

Some of the Vitamins and Minerals found in Resurrect PM are key to its success as a recovery and rest product.

Vitamin A is an important antioxidant that can enhance the immune system and also aids in protein utilization. 

Vitamin B-6 aids in the health of the nervous system and Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant to assist in a healthy immune system.

The lack of Magnesium in your system can cause you to wake up and not allow you to go back to sleep during the night so this is another ingredient found in Resurrect PM that helps prevent this and makes sure you are getting the proper sleep cycle.

Zinc another mineral found in Resurrect PM has many advantages. Zinc is the number one mineral for raising testosterone levels it also protects against prostate problems. It is a powerful aromatase inhibitor making it an extremely effective anti-estrogen. Finally, Zinc is crucial for the immune system and will help you to train harder without over-training and it balances copper in the body leading to greater energy levels and clearer thought processes.  All key to a bodybuilder or fitness regimen.

The other main ingredients of Resurrect PM are designed to aid in the neurological health, mood enhancing and growth hormone production areas to again assist the bodybuilding and fitness persons recovery and well being. 

GABA or Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter that helps nerve impulses communicate. GABA supports the nervous system as well as natural hormone production. GABA has been linked to supporting stable mood, relaxation and restful sleep.  It may also help support the production of hormones that can build lean muscle and metabolize fat.

Mucona Pruriens or otherwise known as Velvet Beans are a tropical legume.  This herb has a high L-Dopa content and converts into dopamine, an important brain chemical involved in the support of mood, sexuality and movement.  It also may help with the natural production of GH and Testosterone in the body.

Creatine Gluconate is an amino acid and is linked to increased GH release during sleep and is paired with Arginine for even more support of GH Levels. 

L-Ornithine which is also found in Resurrect PM helps increase the efficiency of energy consumption and promoting the excretion of ammonia.

The last of our Growth and repair ingredients is HICA.   HICA is an amino acid packed with Leucine that has also been linked to increased natural GH release during sleep.

Resurrect PM is what you are looking for in a supplement to enable you, the athlete to get the necessary sleep and recovery needed to reach your goals. On sale this month at 4X Nutrition for $39.99 through July 31, 2014.

Deep Sleep, G-H Support, Anti Catabolic, Recovery, Anabolism and Relaxation. 

Hot Peppers Can Help Fat & Weight Loss - Happy Cinco De Mayo

Hot Peppers’ impact on Fat & Weight Loss

If you adore spicy jalapenos in your tacos or fiery Thai chilies in your stir fry, keep piling on those peppers--and if you fear the heat, you may want start learning to warm up to the cayenne shaker. That's because hot peppers may help you manage your weight, making them the perfect accompaniment to your diet plan. Although the scorching fruits alone won't make the pounds fly off, they could make the difference of a pound or two over time--which most dieters are sure to appreciate.

How it Works

The secret to pepper's fat-blasting power lies in an alkaloid substance called capsaicin, which is also the source of the hot flavor. Not only does capsaicin ignite your mouth, but it may actually cause your body to heat up so that you burn calories faster. 

The capsaicin/temperature link may be explained by the activity of brown fat. Most of the fat in our bodies is white, and excess levels of white fat are what cause people to become overweight or obese. In contrast, brown fat makes up a very small percentage of total fat (not all people may even have it), and is highly active as it works to regulate body temperature. Experts used to think that only babies have brown fat and they lose it growing up; now we know that adults also have brown fat, and can even build new brown fat cells. 

In animal studies on hot peppers and weight loss, subjects demonstrated higher levels of brown fat activity after exposure to capsaicin. Although animal studies do not accurately predict results among people, it's possible that hot peppers also increase human metabolism by activating brown fat. 

There also may be hope for people who desire similar effects without having to eat spicy foods, although research is still in the beginning stages. A small study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that young men who had previously demonstrated brown-fat activity burned slightly more calories in the hour after taking capsinoids, which are capsaicin-like substances found in a unique variety of sweet pepper. Capsinoids don't taste hot, but this study suggests they may have similar thermogenic effects as spicy foods. 

Regardless of the mild metabolism-boosting effects of peppers, the most effective way to slim down is to reduce caloric intake and increase physical activity. Peppers won't make up for overeating, just give you a minor boost.

Other Benefits of Hot Peppers

Weight loss aside, hot peppers come with plenty of health benefits. They contain even more vitamin C than citrus fruits, and more vitamin A than carrots. The capsaicin also induces a rush of endorphins, creating a boost in mood that keeps many pepper-lovers coming back for more. Capsaicin is also widely used as a topical pain reliever, and some research shows that ingesting the substance may help stave off prostate cancer. 

Ranking the Heat

Heat from peppers is ranked using the Scoville scale: the higher the Scoville number, the higher the capsaicin content. Peperoncinis and pimientos are at the bottom rung with scores of 100 to 500, while the hottest peppers, such as ghost chilies, rank among 1 million Scoville units. Jalapenos, as hot as they may appear, lie near the bottom of the chart with 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville units.

Next time you are in the store, we can show you were the ingredients mentioned in this blog are located in many of our fat burning products.  Pretty cool stuff.

Thanks to Nina Kate for this great blog, follow Nina at:

Nina Kate is a certified fitness nutrition specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). She also studied journalism at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and has contributed to numerous major publications as a freelance writer. Nina thrives on sharing nutrition and fitness knowledge to help readers lead healthy, active lives. Visit her wellness blog at BodyFlourish.com.

Parents, skip weight talk and focus on eating advice, study suggests !

 Melissa Healy gives us some great advice on how to talk to children about healthy eating and weight!

There's a growing list of things that clearly do NOT work in helping someone who's carrying too much weight trim down. Shaming, teasing and hectoring stand a good chance of backfiring, and it remains to be seen whether treating obesity as a disease -- as the American Medical Assn. voted to do last week -- will induce obese patients to lose weight. But a new study finds that when it comes to adolescents, especially those who are overweight or obese, even talking about diets and weight loss is a counterproductive strategy.

The study, published online first on Monday by the journal JAMA Pediatrics, asked parents of 2,348 adolescents, roughly half of whom were overweight, how they talked to their kids about the issue and food, intake and weight. The kids were drawn from high schools and middle schools around St. Paul, Minn., and were roughly equally divided among different races and ethnicities.

Not being overweight was no assurance that a kid would not get "diet and weight" talk from mom or dad: About 1 in 3 such kids heard suggestions to lose weight and how to do it. Among the parents of overweight adolescents, 60% of mothers and 59% of fathers reported having conversations about dieting and weight loss and the child's need to do it. Only 15% of mothers and 16% of fathers with overweight kids, by contrast, kept the focus on healthful eating. About 20% of the parents kept their mouths closed on the subject.

The overweight kids who got a good dose of healthful eating advice from parents were significantly less likely than those who heard diet-and-weight talk to engage in dieting and unhealthful weight-control behaviors such as fasting or laxative use. Among the 15% of those overweight kids whose parents focused on healthful eating, about 4 in 10 reported dieting or unhealthful weight-control behaviors. But that figure rose to 64% among overweight kids whose parents urged them to diet and lose weight.

Binge-eating, at least, did not appear to be more common among adolescents whose parents urged diet and weight loss than among those with parents that focused on healthful eating.

Fathers' voices on the diets versus healthful eating issue carried particular weight. While most of the parents and caregivers who reported conversations with their child were women, researchers were able to survey fathers of roughly half of the kids to see how they spoke to their kids on the subject. Compared with kids whose fathers were silent on the subject or who championed healthful eating, adolescents whose dads talked about weight loss and diets showed an even greater likelihood of engaging in unhealthful weight-loss behaviors.

These findings suggest that parents should avoid conversations that focus on weight or losing weight and instead engage in conversations that focus on healthful eating, without reference to weight issues, the authors write. This approach may be particularly important to parents of overweight or obese adolescents.

And dads? Whether or not their kids are overweight, the researchers suggested, they should probably just shut up.

"It may be important to educate fathers to avoid any form of weight-related conversation with their adolescents," the authors added.

As always be sure to stop by and speak with our highly trained and certified staff of sports nutritionist if you have any questions about healthy eating for you or your little one!

Til next time,

Mikie 

5 Ways Yoga Can Help Boost Athletic Performance

 This is a great article from Brook Robert of Muscle & Fitness we just had to share! Check it out!

Ahh, yoga. Crunchy, serene, woo-woo yoga. But we've got news for you: It’s not just for hippies or girls in yoga pants anymore – just ask the Seattle Seahawks. If you think yoga is a waste of your precious lifting time, think again. Developing a steady practice can actually help you get stronger.

The dirty truth of the matter is that putting your body through any repetitive movement (even weightlifting) will eventually create muscular imbalances and lead to injury. So hard-chargers take note: Incorporating yoga into your existing routine might be exactly what your body needs in order to improve.

Here are five ways yoga can benefit even the most muscular among us.

1. Increased Power

Flexibility keeps muscles and joints safe. Chances are, if you've just been using the same muscles for repetitive movements, they’re going to be pretty tight. Top-flight bodybuilders and dedicated weekend warriors alike love a good massage for this reason. Maybe you've even noticed a one rep max plateau, or a speed block. If a muscle is so tight that injury is imminent, your body will start to recruit other muscles to help out with certain moves. And if those muscles are under trained, you’re looking at a torn muscle and -gasp- down time. Elastic muscles and supple joints move more efficiently, recover more quickly and continue doing their jobs. Increasing your flexibility will also increase range of motion, which means an increased power output due to greater muscle recruitment, and more efficient movements.

2. Better Muscle Function

Yoga is a lot of things but it is basically all about breath and movement, movement and breath. To fully be present and to full articulate each posture in yoga, a strong, focused breath is essential. Doesn't hurt that it tames busy brain or helps take the edge off your pre-workout drink. Getting in touch with your breath can help establish better breathing patterns and access parts of your respiratory system that you didn't even know you could control. Get ready for more efficient oxygen intake, more complete exhalation, and better muscle function. Hello, gains. Goodbye muscle fatigue, symptoms of asthma, ragged breathing, and side stitches. Just like you wouldn't restrict precious nutrients and protein from your muscles, you should also be feeding your muscles with more delicious blood flow and oxygen. This is also certain to develop positive respiratory habits that you can carry into the rest of your training endeavors.

3. Mental Toughness

One of the biggest benefits of yoga is its emphasis on the connection between body and mind. Whether through meditation, or through the holding a headstand for an extended period of time, your mental toughness and focus are likely to improve. This might be the hardest benefit to achieve but once you begin to get your head in the game the benefits are almost unlimited.

4. Control   

“Pull your belly button to your spine,” “feel your lungs expanding,” “roll down your spine, one vertebrae at a time,” are all common phrases in yoga classes. It’s this constant cuing to pay attention to the smallest of sensations that helps build the neurological connections between our brains and our muscles (See No. 3). Yoga builds body awareness, and this can help you analyze your form during your workout to both optimize your lifting techniques, and help prevent compensation based injury. Again, this carries over into your normal cadre of sets-and-reps: the better you are able to “connect” mind and muscle, the more focused (read: efficient) each rep will be. Tough to think about the burn when you’re laser-focused on the effort.

5. Active Recovery and Muscle Repair

Active recovery typically means a light workout on an off day. These low-key days are a perfect way to slide yoga seamlessly into your schedule. Using specifically yoga as a form of active recovery can actually repair muscle fibers more quickly than other common forms, as the combination of stretching and relaxing muscles encourages blood flow to broken down muscle tissues. Do yoga, lift again sooner.

If you think yoga is just for slim, prissy girls with hot yoga pants on, think again. A great many of you out there likely have at least some familiarity with yoga through your TV-ordered set of P90X DVDs. Through yoga, you learn to control your body and your mind. And when it comes to building a stronger, leaner, more functional physique, that control can truly provide next-level results. 

Along with yoga a good nutritional diet will help keep your body balanced and ready for the next workout. Come see one of our certified nutrition specialist and let them help you balance out your diet!

Til next time,

Mikie

Women and Protein: The Truth!

Seeing as today is Valentines day we wanted to drop a little info just for the ladies. Fellas, you can keep your ears open too as this might help you understand your body and it's protein needs a little better!

Shannon Clark holds a degree in Exercise Science and Sport Performance from the University of Alberta in Edmonton and gives us a great break down on just what the big deal is about protein for ladies.

We've all experienced it. After a week of rigorous exercise and dieting—and Tupperware containers full of broccoli, brown rice, and chicken—you feel an uncontrollable urge to stray from your carefully planned meal plan. You measured and weighed all your meals but, alas, you hear ice cream and pasta calling your name. As it turns out, that voice could be especially loud if you're a woman.

According to a study published in the "International Journal of Eating Disorders,"1 women tend to crave sugary snacks like chocolate, ice cream, and donuts. Men, on the other hand, prefer to sink their teeth into a well-marbled porterhouse. Women seem to lack protein in their diets, even when it comes to cheat meals! A lack of protein can be problematic for anyone, but it's especially troubling for women in the gym!

While your body needs carbs and healthy fats for energy, protein is essential for tissue growth and repair. If you're in the gym knocking out tough sets of squats and Romanian deadlifts, a lack of protein in your diet can hinder your body's ability to recover and grow!

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTEIN

The reasons for adding more protein to your diet plan are numerous. Of the 20 amino acids that make up protein, nine are essential. "Essential" means that your body can't manufacture these aminos on its own. The only way they can be consumed is through food. Dietary protein supplies the building blocks of muscle tissue. It also supplies the materials needed for neurotransmitters and hormones.

WOMEN TEND TO CRAVE SUGARY SNACKS LIKE CHOCOLATE, ICE CREAM, AND DONUTS. MEN, ON THE OTHER HAND, PREFER TO SINK THEIR TEETH INTO A WELL-MARBLED PORTERHOUSE.

Each time you hit the gym for a workout, you break your muscle tissues down. You actually build them outside the gym. To do that, however, you need enough fuel. With proper protein intake, amino acids come to the rescue of your damaged muscle, repairing those tissues so they grow back even stronger.

Protein provides other key benefits to the hard-working, fit female.

PROTEIN: STABILIZES YOUR ENERGY LEVELS AND APPETITE

If you're constantly ravenous throughout the day, you're probably not eating enough protein at every meal. Compared to carbohydrates, protein takes longer to break down and digest.

This slow digestion time means you'll stay fuller longer and keep hunger at bay, making it easier to hit your caloric intake and macros for body weight maintenance.

PROTEIN: HELPS YOU BURN CALORIES MORE EFFECTIVELY

IF YOU'RE CONSTANTLY RAVENOUS THROUGHOUT THE DAY, YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT EATING ENOUGH PROTEIN AT EVERY MEAL.

Protein has the highest thermic effect of food (TEF), which is the amount of calories it takes your body to process and utilize a nutrient. At 20-35 percent, protein has the highest TEF.

This means that your body actually uses 20-35 percent of the energy from protein consumed just to digest and absorb it!

Out of every 100 calories you get from protein, 25-30 are burned in the digestion process.

Since your body expends more energy to process proteins than it does to digest carbohydrates and fats, people who consume more protein throughout the day might see faster fat-loss results than people on a lower-protein diet plan.

PROTEIN: SAFEGUARDS AGAINST THE LOSS OF MUSCLE

As your caloric intake drops, and carbohydrates and fats become scarce on a strict diet, there's a greater chance that your body will turn to incoming protein for energy. This leaves less protein for various bodily functions.

If insufficient amino acids are present, your body will start breaking down muscle tissue to get individual aminos. For you, this could mean a loss in muscle and a slower resting metabolism. Protect against this by prioritizing protein!

PROTEIN: BOOSTS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Oh, the wonders of whey. If you choose to add whey protein powder to your diet, you'll be taking in more than muscle-building strength gains. You get an immune boost, as well. Whey protein contains glutathione, a tripeptide that helps strengthen immune function.2

2. MYTHS ABOUT PROTEIN

One of the reasons that some women shy away from protein is because they believe the myths. Don't let false rumors cost you gains. Clear up confusion by separating fact from fiction.

MYTH: PROTEIN WILL CAUSE YOU TOO LOOK BULKY

PROTEIN WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER. IT WON'T TURN YOU INTO AN "OVERLY RIPPED" VERSION OF YOURSELF.

Protein will make you stronger. Associate it with powerful, lean muscle gains, not a masculine physique. Choosing chicken over chocolate and hitting the weights hard won't turn you into an "overly ripped" version of yourself. Put your mind at ease and know that this simply won't occur.

Ladies, remember that your body contains just a fraction of the testosterone needed to build up lean muscle tissue. Even with the addition of protein, you're not going to pack on muscle the same way your male counterpart might.

Your body can also only make so much lean muscle per day. Excess protein won't necessarily increase your muscular development. Excess protein gets broken into amino acids to be used as fuel or excreted, so don't worry too much about this myth.

MYTH: A HIGHER-PROTEIN DIET IS HARD ON YOUR KIDNEYS

If you have pre-existing kidney problems, then you definitely want to be a little more careful about adding protein to your diet plan. But, provided you're an active woman in good health, you can safely increase your protein intake.

Just remember that increased protein can be dehydrating, so you'll want to increase your water consumption at the same time.

MYTH: HIGHER-PROTEIN DIETS COMPROMISE BONE HEALTH

There's no definitive proof that high-protein diets cause the excess acid load that's been linked to bone loss and poor health.

In fact, according to the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," studies found that high-protein diets had a small but significant benefit to the lumbar spine.3

3. YOUR ESSENTIAL PROTEIN INTAKE

So, how much protein do you need? The suggested number differs depending on the source.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the standard food guide recommendation for the average individual is set around 46 grams per day for women and 65 grams per day for men.4

Keep in mind, however, that this is the recommendation for the average, semi-sedentary individual. If you're constantly exercising and breaking down lean muscle tissue, your required protein intake needs to increase. Likewise, if you diet and consume fewer calories from carbs and fats, the macros you consume from protein will need to increase.

PEOPLE WHO JUST EXERCISE AND DO NOT DIET SHOULD AIM TO CONSUME SOMEWHERE AROUND 0.8-1 GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER POUND OF BODY WEIGHT DAILY.

People who just exercise and do not diet should aim to consume somewhere around 0.8-1 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily.

If you're dieting and exercising, aim higher—between 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of your body weight per day. As your caloric intake decreases, your protein needs will actually increase, so keep that in mind as you plan out your diet.

Focus on eating high-quality protein sources such as chicken, fish, lean red meat, eggs, low-fat dairy products, and quality whey protein powder.

As always, feel free to stop by and speak with our staff of certified nutrition specialist if you have any questions about how much protein YOUR taking in and if its the right amount for your goals!

Til next time,
Mikie