Health tips abound in the area of exercising and building muscle.
What to eat, what to drink, what supplements to
add to the regimen.
Here is a story of health secrets regarding how to build strong,
healthy muscles.
It concerns when you should eat protein to maximize its effect.
When people exercise on a regular basis, their muscles experience a continuous cycle of muscle breakdown
(during exercise) as well as remodeling and growth (especially with weightlifting).
Athletes have long experimented with ways to enhance muscle growth.
One trend of late is using high-protein beverages during and
after exercise.
Many studies show possible benefits with them.
Of specific interest is the effect of the essential amino acid "leucine" contained in these products.
Two papers hone in on this in the latest "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
It is reasonable to think that eating foods with high-quality protein (e.g. milk) during and/or immediately following exercise would help muscles get stronger. Muscles need to be both encouraged and nourished on the path to growth.
In the first study, researchers investigated whether, after exercise, taking one large dose of whey protein (25 g) was better or worse than taking smaller doses (2.5 g) 10 times over an extended period. The idea with the small "protein shots" was to mimic how another milk protein -- "casein" -- is digested.
One study had people use a leg-extension machine and see which was best.
The other had people use a stationary bicycle.
In both, they evaluated how protein was synthesized after exercise.
The result was this: consuming a large amount of protein immediately after exercise boosted muscle protein synthesis more than periodic smaller doses.
Concerning the substance leucine, one study found that muscle protein built up 33% more after the higher-leucine
beverage.
Thus, the conclusion was that you can manipulate your muscle growth post-exercise by choosing what to eat.
In particular, leucine may play an especially important role in stimulating muscle growth when your workout is done.
