Nutrition Research July – Part 1
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Coffee Beats Caffeine
In our cover story interview this month, actor Brock O’Hurn rather sheepishly admitted that he often prefers a plain cup of coffee before hitting the gym rather than a fancy caffeine-based supplement. It looks like O’Hurn was on to something.
A study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research examined groups of lifters who were given either coffee, caffeine pills, decaf coffee plus caffeine pills, or a placebo. The subjects who drank coffee were able to perform more squats to exhaustion than the others. Interestingly, the ones who drank decaf and took caffeine pills performed better than those who only took the pills, leading researchers to believe that coffee contains other stimulatory ingredients besides caffeine or substances that somehow amplify caffeine’s effects. The coffee drinkers drank instant coffee, which contain more caffeine than brewed coffee, and consumed the equivalent of five milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight.
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Every Night Is Ladies’ Night
Forget what the French say about the benefits of red wine: When it comes to putting on muscle, no booze is better than some booze. At least for men. A new study conducted by scientists at the University of North Texas found that alcohol does not interfere with the muscle-building process in women as much as it does in men. The researchers took a group of trained men and women and gave them either alcohol or a placebo and then had them complete identical workouts. In the placebo groups, the training elicited similar responses in protein synthesis. However, the men who consumed the post-workout cocktail experienced significantly attenuated levels of protein synthesis, potentially blunting the hypertrophic adaptation of the workout. Interestingly, the women who consumed alcohol did not suffer from the same anabolic drop-off as the men. So women can go straight from the gym to happy hour, but men should go straight home.
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A Side Of Vitamin D
The benefits of vitamin D just keep on coming, from boosting testosterone levels to preventing diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and even the flu. Getting enough vitamin D is tricky, though. The best source is sunlight, but that can be too much of a good thing (and sunblock also prevents absorption of vitamin D). Most foods have too little vitamin D to make a difference, which leaves supplementation. Unlike vitamin C, which is water-soluble, vitamin D is fat-soluble, meaning you need to take it with a meal that contains some fat. And the bigger the meal the better, says new research from endocrinologists at the Cleveland Clinic. In a small study, the scientists found that the patients who took their vitamin D supplements with the biggest meal of the day exhibited the most optimal levels of vitamin D in the body.
Joint Custody
Knee pain sucks. Forget squatting, just getting out of the car can be an ordeal. Unfortunately, knee pain can be an occupational hazard for dedicated gym rats. A very recent study published in Nutrition Journal shows that a small amount of supplemental type II collagen (a very inexpensive supplement that is easy to find) can provide a ton of relief for painful knees and other joints. In the experiment, a group of subjects who took 40 milligrams of type II collagen experienced less pain than those who took a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin or those who took a placebo. (All subjects had existing osteoarthritis in their knees.) While this study examined the effects of type II collagen on knees, it can hypothetically benefit any painful joint.
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Carbs Need Not Apply
The post-workout feeding window used to be the one safe time when you can scarf down carbs and feel good about it. However, carbs might be off the post-workout menu as well, says research presented by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Scientists from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland put three groups of subjects through an exercise regimen. The first group was given carbs after the workout, the next group consumed carbs and whey protein, and the third group was give just whey protein. (All formulas contained the same amount of calories, and the subjects had similar diets and training regimens.) After 12 weeks, all groups experienced similar increases in strength, but the whey-only group added the most muscle and lost the most body fat. Additionally, the whey-only group lost the most abdominal fat.
Timing Is Everything
Everyone knows that creatine works, but a study published in the International Society of Sport Nutrition found a way to make it work just a little bit better. Nineteen male bodybuilders were split into two groups. One was given creatine before a workout and the other consumed creatine post-training. All subjects performed a split routine five days a week. After four weeks, both groups experienced improvement in fat-free mass and their bench press one-rep max. The group who took the creatine immediately post-exercise, however, enjoyed slightly better gains when it came to strength and body composition. The difference was not huge, but highly trained athletes often need to split hairs to keep on progressing. Switching up your creatine timing is an easy change that looks to be well worth the small effort.
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Feeling Blue Over Estrogen
Estrogen is a necessary, albeit complicated, part of life for men. A healthy diet and lifestyle can help balance your levels, and that seems to include blueberries, according to a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Blueberries inhibit receptors of estradiol (the primary female sex hormone.) It’s through these receptors that estradiol stimulates breast development, fat deposition, water retention, and even tumor growth in breast cancer patients. On paper, this makes blueberries look like a pretty good anti-estrogen agent for anyone looking to improve their body composition through an improved testosterone-estrogen ratio. One-half cup of blueberries has about 45 calories and more than enough antioxidant phenols to replicate the amount used in the experiment.