As a former fledgling supplement company owner, I feel I am pretty well qualified to discuss the above. Working in professional sport for over 30 years & working with some of the biggest supplement companies both here and overseas (Musashi, Maximuscle, and others) I have had to make decisions on what supplements, if any, do my athletes need but also what they should be careful of taking. In other words, a thorough medical analysis. Those looking to deepen their understanding can explore our Certificate in Nutrition.
Practitioner Certificate in Nutrition – Fit Education
Not being a qualified dietician but having worked closely with some of the best in the world, I have always valued and trusted the opinions of the experts.I have always trusted the SCIENCE, not gut feelings or personal opinion, as evidence based studies should dictate what supplements are taken and/or prescribed.
What is Protein?
Protein is one of three macronutrients essential for normal body functioning. Its main function is to repair and build damaged tissues, especially muscles. It consists of amino acids (AA), often referredto as the building blocks in our diet. The amino acids (22 in number) are divided into 9 essential and 13 non-essential types. The essential aminos must be taken in the form they are in; they can’t be converted from another source. The non-essential aminos have the ability to be created from other foods, hence their name. Of the AAs, there are three called branch chain amino acids. This simply refers to the branch chain of their chemical structure. They are actually no more essential than the other 6 essential AAs, but they do get a lot of attention because the 3 of them (leucine, iso-leucine, and valine) have a role specifically to build muscles in protein and they can possibly reduce muscle breakdown.
Studies show that protein should make up only about 15% of your macro intake. This seems low to a large amount of people; however research suggests it is about the right amount. I won’t dispute 20% of the total but I will with any higher amounts than that. The reason for this is that there is no scientific evidence to suggest your body can utilize any more than 1.2 – 1.7 grams of protein per kilo of body weight in any one day. In fact most studies suggest that your body can absorb only about 20-30 grams of protein in one go. It is also important to note that, Vitamin B-6 is essential for protein absorption. Good sources of B-6 are fish, liver, meats, and starchy vegetables.
Excess protein consumed is usually stored as fat and excess AAs are excreted. So, if you take too much protein in one serving, or in one day, you are adding to our sewerage system.
So, who needs protein supplementation?
Basically, anyone who doesn’t meet the 15% daily ratio, or 1.2 – 1.7 grams a day, via their food intake, will need a supplement. The others (and this is what we are talking about) are the athletes, the gym junkies, people involved in hard anaerobic and/or aerobic training who either don’t meet their daily requirement or (most importantly) find it hard to ingest protein around training times, especially early in the morning. The nutritional value protein ingestion -the amount of time the full value of the protein is available, is usually about 6-7 hours. After that it is used or converted by the body. However, there is a massive amount of evidence that suggests that muscle repair can begin almost immediately after muscle has been damaged.
So, say you lift weights between 5:00 am – 6:30 am, most people can’t eat before training, the evening meal the night before will probably have little or no effect, and they go to work or school/Uni immediately after the session. This is when protein ingestion is important. So, a supplement can immediately begin protein synthesis and begin both the repair and re-build phase immediately. There is also evidence that a further 20 grams of protein 2 hours after the initial intake can be useful and actually utilized. The problem with supplements is the absorption of the AAs is far more rapid than protein absorption in natural foods, and therefore its nutritional value is reasonably short lived.
Good Protein Sources
Meat, dairy, eggs, cheese, yogurt, soy (tofu), quinoa and buckwheat.
Supplements – This is where you have to be careful.
Let’s break it down.
Meat protein supplements (PSs) come from animal sources, particularly whey, which is the waste product from cheese making. If you are allergic to dairy or don’t like it, then vegetable protein supplements are an alternative. Make sure they contain all 9 essential AAs, as many such as pea protein don’t and need to be mixed with other AA sources such as rice. Vegetable protein sources provide more fibre than animal-based products.
Whey protein, the most popular, comes from the production of cheese. Whey differs greatly in protein concentration. It can be as little as 70% and up to 82-83%. This is termed Whey Protein Concentrate and the protein amount should be checked on the label.
WP Isolate is where the protein from a concentrate source is isolated to make the product purer. These are way more expensive than concentrate. Isolate normally contains 90-92% protein, really only marginally more. My suggestion would be to buy the cheaper concentrate product and simply take a little bit more.
The other myth here in BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids).
They are often sold separately and are very expensive. If your supplement already has all 9 essential AAs, you do not need other BCAAs.
My advice: Supplements are a multimillion-dollar business here in Australia and there are a lot of myths, mysteries, and misinformation about them, especially protein sources, so I suggest you supplement only when normal protein sources are unavailable, or timing is critical. Happy Training.