Perfect Protein Recovery Food For Building Muscles Overnight!

Protein Does A Body Good!

A recent study  looked at the role of protein taken  immediately before sleep in  post-exercise overnight recovery.

Researchers evaluated the impact of protein ingestion immediately prior to sleep on digestion, absorption kinetics, and protein metabolism on 16 healthy young males.The participants were asked to perform resistance exercises at 8pm in the evening.At 9pm, all participants ate a recovery meal consisting of 20 grams of protein and 60 grams of carbs.Then, 30 minutes before they went to bed, half of them drank a high-protein beverage. According to the authorsⁱ

“During sleep casein protein was effectively digested and absorbed resulting in a rapid rise in circulating amino acid levels which were sustained throughout the remainder of the night. Protein ingestion prior to sleep increased whole-body protein synthesis rates and improved net protein balance… This is the first study to show that protein ingested immediately prior to sleep is effectively digested and absorbed, thereby stimulating muscle protein synthesis and improving whole-body protein balance during post-exercise, overnight recovery

What and When You Eat After Your Workout Matters

After exercise your body is nitrogen-poor and your muscles have been broken down. Providing your body with the correct nutrients after your workout is  crucial to stop the catabolic process in your muscle and to help your muscles repair and grow.  Fail to feed your muscle at the right time after exercise and  the catabolic process will go too far and can potentially damage your muscle. Amino acids from high quality animal proteins, along with carbohydrates from vegetables (not grains) are necessary for this process.

Good sources of animal protein include:

• Whey protein (minimally processed, and derived from organic, grass-fed, non-hormonally treated cows)

•  chicken

• Eggs

• Grass-fed beef

Beneficial sources of carbohydrates include:

•  Vegetable

• Dark green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale or Swiss chard

• Low fructose fruits like lemon, limes, passion fruit, apricots, plums, cantaloupe, and raspberries.

It’s important to combine a quality protein with a veggie-type carb in every meal, no matter whether it’s a resistance training day, an interval cardio day, or a non-workout day. However, after strength training (as opposed to cardio training), your body tends to need more rapidly absorbed nutrients and a higher glycemic (fast released, starchy) carbohydrate. Another slight difference between interval cardio and strength training days is the timing of your meal.

• After cardio, you want to wait 45-60 minutes, and then consume a high-quality protein (whole food) and vegetable-type carbohydrate. (An example would be a spinach salad and some chicken, or high quality whey protein like Miracle Whey).

• After a resistance workout (muscle-building day), the ideal time to consume your post-workout meal is 15-30 minutes after finishing your session, in order to help repair your damaged muscles.

Whey Protein – The IDEAL Fitness Food

 Whey protein  is considered the gold standard of protein by many, and is one of the best types of foods you can consume before and after exercise.

According to a study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last yearⁱⁱⁱ:

“Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate.   This effect is attributed to a combination of whey’s faster digestion and absorption kinetics and higher leucine content.”

 Whey protein works so well because it assimilates very quickly, so the protein will get to your muscles within 10-15 minutes of swallowing it, supplying them with the right food at the right time. Another study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise showed the amino acids found in high quality whey protein also activate certain cellular mechanisms, including a mechanism called mTORC-1, which in turn promote muscle protein synthesis, boost thyroid, and also protect against declining testosterone levels after exercise^iv.

Whey protein earns its title as the perfect “fitness food” as it contains not only high quality protein, but also extremely high amounts of leucine, which is particularly important for muscle growth and repair.

Leucine – An Essential Muscle Builder

Leucine is part of branched-chain amino acid that serves multiple functions in your body, one of which is to increase protein synthesis and builds your muscle.

The highest concentrations of leucine are found in dairy products; particularly whey protein.

The typical requirement for leucine is 1-3 grams daily. However, for optimal muscle repair you need as much as 8-16 grams of leucine daily. The following chart presents leucine content in common foods. As you will see, to obtain the minimum eight gram leucine requirement for anabolic purposes, you’d have to consume a pound and a half of chicken, for example, or about 16 eggs! Most would agree that’s just not feasible. However, you only need three ounces of high-quality whey to reach the eight gram requirement, making it an obvious choice.

Leucine Content in food / per 100g

Avoid Sugar Before, During and After Exercise!

Besides choosing foods that will help you optimize your exercise efforts, you also want to pay careful attention to what NOT to eat. To maximize the benefits of exercise, including weight loss benefits, you’ll want to  avoid:

• Fruit juices

• Energy drinks

• Sports drinks

• Most energy bars

These, and virtually all other processed foods and beverages, contain high amounts of sugar, including fructose, which will effectively sabotage your efforts and nullify many of the benefits of exercise. Remember, 80 percent of the benefits you reap from a healthy lifestyle comes from you diet, and the remaining 20 percent from exercise. Exercise cannot counteract the harmful effects of a high-fructose diet.

 Consuming fructose, including that from fruit juices, within two hours of a high-intensity workout will also decimate your natural human growth hormone (HGH) production – a MAJOR benefit of interval training.

Consuming fructose increases  production of the hormone somatostatin, which inhibit the production of HGH.  So:

“A high sugar meal after working out, or even a recovery drink (containing high sugar) after working out, will stop the benefits of exercise induced HGH. You can work out for hours, then eat a high sugar candy bar or have a high sugar energy drink, and this will shut down the  benefits of HGH,” HGH Magazine writes.

Granted, there is a small group of elite and highly competitive athletes for whom increasing growth hormone is not a primary goal. For these athletes, consuming some carbs, preferably dextrose-based, in the recovery period is probably a good idea to improve their recovery time and will help to maximize their athletic performance. Since they’re competing, they’re less likely to be concerned about long-term growth hormone levels. But for most others, increasing HGH through high intensity interval exercise is an important and will want to avoid the sugar and juice.

You  want to avoid sugar and grain carbs at least 90 minutes before going to bed in order to optimize night-time HGH production – a factor that the study does not address,  but   insulin and HGH are adversarial hormones – carbs will trigger insulin secretion, which basically nullifies HGH reesponse.

References:  My study information was received from Dr. Mercola’s Newsletter.  To view more of his articles.  You can visit his site here

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