Full Day Nutrition Article's. /w Post WO

[mjwild]

While some of this goes against what i agree with, it is a very good read. It could help alot of people, and provides general knowledge.

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]Breakfast[/b]

When a man first wakes up, his testosterone levels are at a natural high. At the same time, because you've not eaten for many hours, glycogen stores in the blood stream, muscle and liver are depleted, this means that insulin levels are also low. As a consequence the body is usually in a net catabolic state (ie its breaking itself apart faster than it is building itself up) but is well positioned to become anabolic after a good carbohydrate meal.

By eating a mix of simple and complex carbohydrates your blood sugar levels will rise and stay elevated for a number of hours. This will have a consequence of raising insulin levels enabling nutrients to be stored in muscle cells and the liver. (Obviously, if you eat too much and raise insulin levels too high, you will also store body fat). To understand how this mechanism works and the purpose of eating carbohydrates and the exact ratio and mixes of the carbohydrates, we suggest research and study from the following sections of this website: carbohydrates, insulin index, glycaemic index.

Studies have shown that taking protein with the carbohydrates will sustain blood sugar levels and insulin levels for longer, whilst also keeping the insulin response more moderate, making fat storage
possibly less likely. Of course you know that protein is made up of amino acids, which are assimilated by your body and used to build new muscle tissue. It is protein that is essential for repair and growth of your body of course and so it is a critical part of your breakfast nutrition. You have fasted for probably 8 hours without protein and so the body is likely to be in a net catabolic, negative nitrogen balance - this means no muscle growth and so you must rectify this as soon as possible with your breakfast nutrition. This is why you never eat carbohydrates alone at this time. A liquid whey protein supplement can enter the bloodstream much faster than any solid food that takes time to digest, making it an excellent choice at breakfast.

First thing in the morning is also the most popular time to take a vitamin and mineral supplement, although if you have a very low fat breakfast, its probably better to take it with another meal. Mineral absorption is improved when bile production is elevated through the eating of fats. Generally speaking all vitamins and mineral supplements should be taken with your biggest meal of the day. This maximises nutrient absorption. It can also be a good idea to crush or chew your micronutrient supplement a little before digestion, to make sure your gut absorbs the ingredients fully.


Mid Morning

2-3 hours after breakfast, blood sugar levels have started to decline. Similarly, 2-3 hours after each meal, amino acid profiles in the blood stream show that certain amino's will be deficient. This means that you may be entering a negative nitrogen balance and that means no muscle repair or growth. Consequently, mid morning is a good time to consume a mix of complex carbohydrates and protein. If you eat different sized meals through the day, many people taper carbohydrates through the day, this meal should be one of the larger carbohydrate meals. You tend to be more active earlier in the day than in the evening and night. Most people work through daytime hours. Make this one of the largest meals if this is so and remember your body still works on circadium rhythms (tied in with the sun and the moon and melatonin levels). So even if you have unusual waking patterns, try and fit your largest meal mid morning where possible.

Eating a meal at this time, so long as you eat the right proportions of macronutrients will release and sustain stable anabolic levels of insulin and amino acids. Assisting and improving muscle regeneration and recovery and energy levels and mood elevating side effects - which are always beneficial. Remember, if you starve your brain of the fuel it needs to function you will notice a drop in mental clarity and focus. You will also notice mood swings and energy dips. This is bad news, especially when it comes to strength training. More reasons to regularly feed your body the nutrients in needs in regular spaced meals throughout the day.


Lunch

A well balanced meal based mostly around complex carbohydrates and protein. Insulin levels will be supported and blood levels of amino acids will be restored, ensuring the body stays in a positive nitrogen balance. Once again you are returning your anabolic hormone levels to a satisfactory level, increasing energy levels, and improving your mental clarity and mood.


Mid Afternoon

A well balanced meal based mostly around complex carbohydrates and protein. Insulin levels will be supported and blood levels of amino acids will be restored, ensuring the body stays in a positive nitrogen balance.


Evening

well balanced meal based mostly around protein and complex carbohydrates. Insulin levels will be supported and blood levels of amino acids will be restored, ensuring the body stays in a positive nitrogen balance.

If you're following a diet based on tapering carbohydrates through the day, meals from this point onwards will generally be lower in carbs and higher in protein with a little more fats. Again, this is a technique to prime and maintain healthy functioning of your pancreas and insulin support. It follows logical sense that you are also going to winding up the day in the early evening, relaxing and generally far less active than the earlier portions of your waking day - typically where you will be more active, mentally and physically.

It is known that you need certain specific types of fats in your diet. Of course you want to avoid the nasty scenario of high blood sugars, high circulating levels of insulin and high levels of blood fats, so it makes very good sense to consume your fats with meals that are low or non existent in carbohydrate portions.

Many people will take their vitamin/mineral supplements with this meal as its a meal generally a little higher in fats. Absorption of minerals is likely to be improved when taken with a higher fat meal. Fat slows down the digestion process and increases the secretion of bile acids. All of these factors are important when considering taking a vitamin and especially a mineral nutritional supplement.

[mjwild]

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Dinner

A well balanced meal based mostly around protein and complex carbohydrates. Insulin levels will be supported and blood levels of amino acids will be restored, ensuring the body stays in a positive nitrogen balance. A popular choice for this meal is either:

1. Cottage cheese and whole bread, or
2. Protein and carb drink, with the protein coming from casein (preferably micellar casein)

These meals contain complex carbs to maintain insulin levels for a couple of hours, which acts with growth hormone when you fall asleep to form the powerful growth hormone IGF-1. The protein in these meals is also a very slow release form of protein, which means blood levels of amino acids remains higher for longer into the night, delaying the onset of a net catabolic state.

If you're following a diet based on tapering carbohydrates through the day, this meal is likely to be quite low in carbohydrates. For those following a low carb diet or tapering diet, you should ensure that you take your protein in a very slow release format and even take some insulin support supplements such as pinitol and alpha lipoic acid, which is used extensively through europe instead of injectable insulin, as they are that powerful in supporting insulin like actions.


Bedtime

Within an hour of falling asleep you start to produce large levels of growth hormone (even as an adult), and later into your sleep pattern, testosterone levels start to rise. To support this anabolic drive, you can support these two actions:

1. You can support testosterone production by taking ZMA. This supplement not only provides the materials for the leydig cells of the testes to produce testosterone, but also enhances deep sleep.

2. The amino acids Arginine and Ornithine, when taken on an empty stomach, may support an increase in the amount of growth hormone released. Growth hormone is an anabollic hormone itself, and when converted to IGF-1 becomes a very powerful anabolic hormone. Elevated levels of growth hormone have also shown to be a precursor for elevated levels of testosterone.


Post Workout

After training, even for relatively short times, muscle glycogen levels are depleted and liver glycogen levels fall, resulting in low blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar are terrible for mental concentration, clarity of thought, mood and energy levels. Chronic low blood sugar levels cause havoc in your system.

At the same time, training stimulates the adrenal system, which results in a range of catabolic hormones being present in the body. The consequence of which is that the body is in a net catabolic state, ie breaking itself down. So not only are you in a state of trauma from intense exercise, your body is drained, including the whole energy systems and of course the nervous system, and your body is primed for breaking its own muscle down.

However, so long as the training period has not been too long, both growth hormone levels and testosterone levels are elevated, so the body is well primed for repair and recovery. You will find that natural growth hormones and testosterone tend to elevate and reach a peak when your training lasts around 45mins. Any longer and they begin to decline, and the catabolic hormones begin to rise and place your body into a bad situation.

To make this rise of anabolic hormones happen, the body needs carbohydrates, and quite a lot of them. Immediately after a workout, simple carbohydrates are required to raise blood sugar levels. This will reduce cortisol levels, which will reduce the level of catabolic activity taking place in the body. It is ideal to raise blood sugar levels as fast and as efficiently as possible immediately post a training workout.

Fructose, which is a simple fruit sugar, will aid in replenishing liver glycogen. This maximises the amounts of carbohydrates available for muscle glycogen replenishment. In other words - once your liver is pull up with glycogen, the rest is going to be delivered directly into the skeletal muscle tissue (the storage site for glycogen). Fructose is a simple carbohydrate unit, but it's structurally different from glucose. Due to its structure, it can possibly cause GI problems and/or decrease fluid uptake with exercise. Fructose, unlike other simple carbs, has to be "treated" in the liver and it reaches the muscle slowly. Consume your fructose definitely post training.

Maltodextrin is a glucose polymer (a string of glucose units put together, similar to the protein peptide). It is therefore, by definition, a complex carbohydrate. However it's more complex nature does NOT slow digestion. Therefore, the GI and II remain high. Maltodextrin is the absolute best carbohydrate to consume during exercise for rapidly delivering blood glucose and for muscle glycogen recovery. It's also best for fluid uptake.

Dextrose (glucose) is a simple carbohydrate unit (similar to the amino acid). While it's good for exercise situations (malto is better), you're probably better off adding some dextrose to your maltodextrin formula. A little bit of dextrose may enhance the already excellent fluid uptake that occurs with maltodextrin during exercise.

Finally, sucrose consists of glucose and fructose units bonded together. Therefore, upon digestion, you get glucose and fructose in the GI (and the benefits and consequences of each).

Based on three studies reviewed (Blom et al 1987, ven Den Burgh et al 1996, Piehl et al 2000), it appears that dextrose is 72% faster than fructose for muscle glycogen resynthesis . As a result, at the end of 8 hours, muscle glycogen was 30% higher with dextrose ingestion. However, in another study, at the end of 4 hours, muscle glycogen was 15% higher with maltodextrin ingestion vs. dextrose. So bottomline is that dextrose is superior to fructose, although malto beats dextrose hands down generally..

Generally speaking, you need about 30% of your daily carbohydrates in the 4 hours after training, and because your body is producing a number of enzymes that inhibit fat storage, you are unlikely to store these calories as body fat. So, immediately after and for four hours after training eat plenty of carbohydrates, the majority of the days allowance, or at least 30%.

Similarly, immediately after a workout, rapidly absorbed whey protein is the first choice for muscle repair and growth. Whilst some of it will be oxidised and used as energy, most of it will be delivered straight to the muscle cells in response to the high levels of anabolic hormones circulating in the body. Whey protein itself has an amino acid profile that is very similar to that of human muscle and is the fastest absorbed protein you can get your hands on. This catapults your body straight back into a repair and grow state, as apposed to the state of being broken down. This is the aim of the post workout meal at all times.

If there is only one time in the day you want to use a liquid meal supplement, this is it!

Glutamine is the most prevalent amino acid in the muscle, and lots of it is lost during training, where it is released and converted into branch chain amino acids (BCAA's). Supplementing with glutamine after training is probably a good idea. Your muscle is made up of probably 70% glutamine. It is the first and most major amino to be broken down and used up by the body. Full replenishment of your glutamine reserves encourages rapid and improved recovery and muscle fullness.

Creatine is used to manufacture ATP during training. By replacing lost creatine immediately after training you will assist in re-hydrating muscle cellls and maximise anabolic processes. After whey protein, this is the second most popular supplement, as its results are extremely powerful and indeed don't go unnoticed.

Everything that you do in your post workout meal is probably the single biggest influencing factor over the results that you achieve. When you consume the correct ratios of food for you in this perfect window of opportunity for accelerated nutrient uptake you are going to maximise all that you can in terms of full recovery and growth. Eating the correct amounts and types of food during this post workout period will help you combat overtraining.

Tried you reformatt it again, it was orginally 5 articles.

I am not sure if they are in the right order though