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Q &A edition of Optimal Health Daily, and

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I'm Dr. Neil Malik. Hey there,

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a very happy Friday to you.

0:52

Welcome to another Q &A edition of

0:54

Optimal Health Daily, where I answer your

0:56

health questions related to fitness, diet

0:58

and nutrition, and lots more. You

1:00

send me the questions, and I answer them for

1:02

you. I'm sure you're eager to

1:04

hear today's question, so let's jump right in

1:06

as we optimize your life. I'd

1:13

love to understand a bit

1:15

more about post -workout nutrition.

1:18

whether there is truth

1:20

behind liquid versus

1:22

solid post workouts, the

1:24

benefits of natural food

1:27

versus powders, and

1:29

overall timing for workouts.

1:32

How long after a workout

1:34

should I be ingesting post

1:37

-workout nutrition? Thank

1:39

you for your question, Collar. Working out

1:41

and proper nutrition. They

1:43

go together like peanut butter, and uh

1:45

well not jelly but something more nutritious. They

1:48

go together like peanut butter and banana let's say.

1:51

So what should you eat after a

1:53

workout to help maximize your gains? Of

1:55

course protein is important. This

1:57

is because our muscles are made up of

1:59

proteins. Now I will use

2:02

my psychic abilities and go out on

2:04

a limb by saying chances are

2:06

you're probably already consuming enough protein each

2:08

day. How could I possibly know

2:10

this? This is because there have

2:12

been a lot of data collected on how

2:14

much and what types of food populations

2:16

around the world consume regularly. And what

2:18

we've learned is that most in the US

2:20

consume plenty of protein each day. But,

2:23

do we need protein immediately after

2:25

a workout to help support muscle

2:27

growth? Is timing really

2:29

everything? Well, after your

2:31

workout, especially after strength training, researchers

2:33

are discovering that consuming 20 grams

2:36

of leucine -rich protein

2:38

is often recommended. Lucine

2:40

-rich proteins can be found in

2:42

animal products, as well as beans,

2:44

lentils, nuts, and seeds. So,

2:46

how much is 20 grams of protein? Well,

2:49

if we take a 3 -ounce chicken

2:51

breast, that would contain about 27 grams

2:53

of protein. And 3 ounces isn't

2:55

all that much. It's about the size of a

2:58

deck of cards. We've also learned

3:00

that consuming some carbohydrate after a

3:02

workout is also beneficial. This is

3:04

because carbs can help our bodies

3:06

absorb that lucine -rich protein more

3:08

efficiently. The American College of

3:10

Sports Medicine recommends we aim for

3:12

about one gram of carbohydrate per

3:14

kilogram of body weight after a

3:16

workout. Now, this does take

3:18

a little bit of math to figure out, but stick

3:20

with me, it's not too bad. So

3:22

let's say you weigh 150 pounds. In

3:25

order to decide how much carb you need

3:27

after a workout, you need to

3:29

convert your weight in pounds to

3:31

weight in kilograms. To

3:33

do this, luckily it's really easy, divide

3:35

your body weight by 2

3:37

.2. So, using my

3:39

example, just divide 150

3:42

pounds by 2 .2.

3:44

You would do this whatever your

3:47

body weight is. If you weighed

3:49

135 pounds or 110 pounds

3:51

or 225 pounds, no matter what,

3:53

just divide that number by

3:55

2 .2. Plugging into my

3:57

imaginary calculator here, this

3:59

means 150 pounds is equivalent

4:01

to 68 .2 kilograms.

4:04

Now that we know your hypothetical body

4:07

weight in kilograms, The math is super

4:09

simple now. Because the American

4:11

College of Sports Medicine says you

4:13

need one gram of carbohydrate per

4:15

kilogram of body weight, you actually

4:17

don't need to do anything else. You

4:19

actually have your answer. So

4:21

using our example, we said

4:23

150 pounds is equivalent to

4:26

68 .2 kilograms. And because

4:28

the recommendation is to get one

4:30

gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of

4:32

body weight, if you weigh 150

4:34

pounds, you should consume about

4:36

68 .2, or let's round up,

4:38

70 grams of carbohydrate after a

4:40

workout. So what's 70

4:43

grams of carbohydrate? That'd be

4:45

like eating a bowl of oatmeal topped with blueberries.

4:48

So now if you combine that bowl

4:50

of oatmeal topped with blueberries with

4:52

about 20 grams of leucine -rich protein,

4:54

which would be like 6 ounces of

4:56

Greek yogurt, you would then

4:58

have met all of your post -workout

5:00

needs. So what about timing?

5:03

Researchers are discovering that the timing

5:05

of this post -workout meal is important.

5:08

The goal is to consume these foods

5:10

within 20 to 30 minutes of

5:12

finishing your workout. So after a

5:14

workout, the demand for protein is high,

5:16

which makes it the best time to

5:18

replenish it. And again, because

5:20

carbohydrate actually helps with protein

5:22

absorption, eating both within 20 to

5:24

30 minutes of your workout is ideal.

5:27

So what about supplements? Yes,

5:30

there are liquid forms, powders, you

5:32

name it. I won't be able to

5:34

discuss every single one here, but I'll just

5:36

mention some of the ones that are super popular. I'll

5:39

begin with creatine. Creatine, which

5:41

is also known as creatine monohydrate, has

5:43

been found to improve performance and muscle

5:45

gains for most healthy adults. Our

5:48

bodies actually make creatine naturally, but researchers

5:50

have found that in those who are

5:52

active, and especially those folks that lift

5:54

weights, extra creatine may help.

5:56

There are some side effects though with its

5:59

use. I don't usually recommend creatine to those with

6:01

a history or a family history of

6:03

kidney disease. This is because by

6:05

taking supplemental creatine, it may lead to

6:07

the body retaining more water and the kidneys

6:09

are in charge of helping the body

6:11

get rid of not only water, but

6:13

any extra creatine too. Now

6:15

if you do use it, pay attention to

6:17

the dosing indicated on the packaging. And

6:20

yes, it is good to cycle on

6:22

and off creatine. but I can't

6:24

provide specifics without knowing the dosages. Now,

6:27

before you run out and buy creatine supplements

6:29

because you're convinced this is a good

6:31

idea, I must quote the International

6:34

Society for Sports Nutrition. Quote,

6:36

the same result of improved performance

6:38

can be achieved with the ingestion

6:41

of sufficient carbohydrates and high

6:43

biological value protein. End quote.

6:45

So basically, they're repeating what I just

6:48

mentioned earlier. Next supplement,

6:50

beta alanine. This

6:52

is also a protein and one of its main

6:54

jobs in the body is to reduce lactic

6:56

acid buildup. Think about the last time

6:58

you sprinted really hard. Did the muscles

7:00

in your legs start to burn? That's caused

7:02

by the buildup of lactic acid. So

7:05

our bodies produce lactic acid normally

7:07

when we perform very high intensity

7:09

movements. Most of us can't wait to

7:11

stop and take a rest when we feel our muscles

7:13

burn like that. So the thinking is,

7:15

by supplementing with beta alanine, you'll get

7:17

less of this lactic acid buildup, meaning

7:19

your muscles won't feel like they're on

7:22

fire, which will allow you to work

7:24

out at these high intensities for longer. Unfortunately,

7:27

there's conflicting evidence whether this actually

7:29

works. So at this time, there's

7:31

simply not enough information to know whether

7:33

supplementing with beta alanine is safe or

7:36

effective in the short or long term.

7:38

So I would save your money on this one. Moving

7:41

on to glutamine. Glutamine

7:43

is also a protein. Our bodies actually

7:45

make glutamine on their own. So

7:47

we really don't need to get this protein

7:49

from our diets. So why would anyone

7:51

want to supplement with it then? Well,

7:53

glutamine is interesting because when the body

7:55

is undergoing extreme stress, or has

7:58

gone through some trauma, we

8:00

can't make enough glutamine to heal ourselves. So,

8:03

under those specific conditions, we may need

8:05

to supplement with it. Some

8:07

have argued, well, I train so hard

8:09

and I'm so sore afterwards, doesn't that

8:11

count as extreme stress for the body? What

8:14

about all that muscle breakdown? Doesn't that

8:16

count as trauma? Well, technically

8:18

sure. But what we're finding from research

8:20

studies is that while it's safe to take

8:22

as a supplement, extra glutamine

8:24

doesn't help improve performance or improve

8:26

immune functioning or help the body

8:28

heal any faster. So

8:30

again, I would say save your money there. Lastly,

8:34

whey protein. Whey is one

8:36

of the proteins found in milk. The other one

8:38

is casein. So yes, if you

8:40

drink milk or consume any products made

8:42

from milk, you're consuming whey protein. You're

8:44

also getting some leucine as well. What's

8:47

frustrating is that we simply don't know if

8:49

whey is helpful or not. From

8:51

what I've seen, whey protein supplementation

8:53

is really only helpful for

8:55

one specific population, those over

8:57

the age of 60 that participate

8:59

in resistance training. For everyone else,

9:01

the results are conflicting. So,

9:04

here's my take on sports supplements. Most

9:07

do not appear to help in reality. Next,

9:10

the quality of supplement is very important, so

9:12

do your research before buying. I

9:14

recommend you scroll through the website consumerlab.com.

9:16

They're an independent organization that tests

9:18

for the quality and purity of many

9:21

of the popular supplements on the

9:23

market. Just know it does require

9:25

a subscription to access their database, but

9:27

if you're a college student, it's likely

9:29

your library already has a subscription. And

9:31

lastly, something that most people don't really

9:33

talk about. Many of the

9:35

studies that have been performed focus

9:37

on comparing protein supplements against each

9:39

other. So we really need more

9:42

research comparing protein supplements to real

9:44

food, to see if eating

9:46

more nutritious food would lead to the

9:48

same or even better results. Now

9:50

I'll quote the authors of a research article

9:53

that was written by experts in the field

9:55

of sports medicine. Although

9:57

most supplements may be considered safe

9:59

when taken at the recommended doses, athletes

10:02

should be aware of the potential risks

10:04

linked to the consumption of supplements. In

10:06

addition to the risks linked to overdosages

10:09

and cross -effects when combining different supplements

10:11

at the same time, inadvertent

10:13

or deliberate contamination

10:15

with stimulants, estrogenic compounds,

10:18

diuretics, or anabolic agents

10:20

may occur." So

10:22

basically, many times, we don't really

10:24

know what's in the supplement. Alright,

10:27

so what's my bottom line? First,

10:29

you likely don't need a protein supplement.

10:31

If you want to help your body

10:33

build strength and muscle as efficiently as

10:35

possible, consider focusing instead on

10:37

consuming some leucine -rich foods

10:39

plus some carbohydrate within 20

10:41

to 30 minutes of finishing

10:43

your workout. Then, do your

10:45

best to stay consistent with your strength

10:47

training and follow a meal plan full

10:49

of balance and variety. That

10:51

combination will help you build that strength and

10:53

see your muscles popping in no time. When

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shopify.com OHD. Oicos

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five trip load at least. He grabs

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the first bag, the second, huh, Bob.

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It looks like he's trying to do

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dog. Oh, and he stumbles. Oh, and

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for every day. Oicos, for every

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day. Thank you again for the question caller.

12:44

Now, you want to send

12:46

your questions in and get a

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12:51

Daily for doing so, you can

12:53

email them to health oldpodcast.com,

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Or, you want

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or you can

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do it the old

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-fashioned way and call

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in your question.

13:14

The number is 1

13:16

-61 -I love -OHD that's

13:18

1 -614 -568 -3643. Thank

13:21

you so much for sending me your questions

13:23

answering them is one of my favorite parts of

13:25

this show. Alright that's another

13:27

Q &A of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you so

13:29

much for listening every day and all the

13:31

way through. I hope you have a

13:33

great start to your weekend and I'll see you

13:35

back here tomorrow where your Optimal Life awaits.