2673: How Does Protein Improve Your Fitness? by David Cameron-Smith of Les Mills on Muscle Repair & Gut Health

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[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Health Daily. How does Protein improve your fitness by David Cameron-Smith of Les Mills.com

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm Dr. Neal, your host and narrator. Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or OHD where I act as

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: a trainer narrator of popular health and fitness blogs and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: How does Protein improve your fitness by David Cameron-Smith of Les Mills.com?

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Not all proteins are alike, some are definitely better than others in helping with exercise recovery

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and metabolism. Of the three major sources of energy, fat, carbohydrates, and proteins,

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: the importance of proteins to human health has remained the most elusive.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Proteins are absolutely essential for human life,

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: supplying the 20 amino acids that are present in varying levels in all cells.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Here are some of the things you should know about how proteins work and how to incorporate them in your diet.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: What are amino acids?

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: amino acids are divided into two major groups, the essentials and the non-essentials.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a misleading classification as all amino acids are absolutely essential.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Non-essential simply refers to the ones that can be made to a varying extent from the basic

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: building blocks of other amino acids. What do amino acids do?

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Most people eat plenty of amino acids to supply the daily needs of their cells.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Within each body cell, these acids are mainly used to make proteins.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Each protein is made up of varying numbers of amino acids from as few as 10 to the super large

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: structural proteins made up of 100,000 or more acids. Proteins are constantly being broken

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: down and remade with very little loss of amino acids in the process. It's because of this

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: very efficient recycling that the absolute requirement of amino acids each day is rather small.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So, how much protein do I need? For the past two decades, there has been a major rethink of

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: the roles and functions of protein for human health. Caught up in the endless debate about

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: the best ways to lose weight and build muscle mass, the low carbohydrate, high protein diet

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: generated very strong opinions. As with all trends, the truth is likely to lie somewhere in

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: the middle of the extremes supported by nutritional experts and celebrities alike.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Central to the question of how much protein is needed for optimal health

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: has been increased analysis of exactly what amino acids can do. The latest nutritional

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: science has highlighted just how important some amino acids are for optimal health,

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: including losing and lifting. Losing is known as a branch chain amino acid, just one of four that

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: is well as soybean, some meats, seeds and nuts. Losing is the key ingredient in body-building

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: protein blends. After exercise, Losing has the ability to increase the activity of the

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: protein making machinery and muscles. So, how much Losing is enough? Losing has now been shown scientifically

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: to boost muscle repair and over time increase the amount of muscle gain, but Losing's impact

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: is still small compared to the actions of exercise alone. Despite the hype, it's the exercise

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and a 24-7 healthy diet that matters most. The Losing boost works when protein rich food is

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: consumed some time within the first two hours of recovering after a workout, but the amount

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: of total protein and Losing is unlikely to be boosted by ever increasing amounts of protein powder.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Careful measurement suggests that a total dose of 25 grams of Losing-rich protein

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: while less than what's recommended on most body-building formulations is more than enough.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Glutamine and the gut. Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid and one of the most abundant in the

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: body. Found abundantly in meats and eggs, glutamine has a surprisingly important role in the digestive

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: tract, including the colon. For reasons that are not yet clear, dietary glutamine can maintain the

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: health and integrity of the many millions of cells that line the digestive tract.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Triptophane and the brain. Triptophane is abundant in many high-protein foods,

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: including nuts, seeds, cheese, red meat, fish, oats and eggs. It's the only ingredient used to synthesize

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: mood-regulating hormone serotonin. Transport of triptophane to the brain enables the many neurons

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: of the serotonin-nergic system to make serotonin, which influences mood and mental health.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So where's the science on protein and diet now? Protein-rich foods are an essential part

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: of an optimal diet, but the jury is still out in whether a high-protein diet, particularly one

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that limits carbohydrates and comes with more fats is healthy. The scientific evidence to date

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: shows a potential for greater maintenance of weight loss with slightly more dietary protein.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: There are certainly no evidence of greater energy, increased physical performance,

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: huge gains in muscle mass and improved mood. In reality, the human body needs a diverse array

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: of foods, including those with protein. You just listen to the post titled, How Does Protein

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Improve Your Fitness by David Cameron Smith of LesMills.com, and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Neil here for my commentary. A meta-analysis I found would agree with today's authors,

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: David's conclusions. The authors of this meta-analysis found that increasing protein intake

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: may be most helpful for those that are over the age of 50 and are actually participating in

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: some resistance training. And this may be because as we get older, we tend to eat less protein

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: in general. So how much protein are we talking about? Basically, what the American College of

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Sports Medicine recommends for those that participate in regular resistance training about 1.2 grams

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: of protein per kilogram body weight. So, for a 150-pound person, regardless of gender,

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: that would be about 81 grams of protein per day. Considering just half a cup of chicken has about

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: 32 grams of protein, you can see that getting to those 81 grams of protein per day isn't

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: difficult for most. So just as David said, it may not be necessary to hyperfocus on protein when

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: it comes to building muscle. But instead, think about getting a variety of nutritious foods and

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: consistent resistance training. All right, that'll do it for today. I hope you have a great

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: rest of your day. And of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow for more OHD and where you're

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_00]: going to have to talk about your health.