Showing posts with label benefits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefits. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Benefits of Protein Supplements

Advantages of Protein Supplement

Protein is an important nutrient needed by the body. It is one of the three nutrients that the body uses as energy source. The three supplements are carbs, fats and protein. Protein is actually amino acids linked like a chain. Amino acids are the body's primary source of nitrogen and the right nitrogen balance is essential for proper growth and repair of the muscles.

Protein is also important to the body for a number of other reasons apart from helping to build muscles. Protein helps to maintain the right blood PH level, creates and maintains the right hormone levels, is an energy source, regulates the fluid balance of the body and is necessary for chemical reactions to take place in the body.

The importance of protein to the proper functioning of the body led to the development of various types of protein bodybuilding supplements such as Whey Protein. Supplements are designed to help meet up with the body's protein requirement. Made from protein extracts, it compliments the protein gotten from daily food intake and builds the body's protein levels to what is needed for larger muscles or better performance.

How Protein Affects Muscle Growth

Increasing your protein intake during a training program will help you achieve better and faster results. Your body is constantly using up protein as you go about your daily activities. The body converts protein to energy and also uses it to repair and replace muscles. Muscle tissues are constantly needing replacement and repairs and protein is needed to achieve this. When you take bodybuilding supplements you help your body to maintain a positive nitrogen balance, which helps to maximize muscle repairs.

When you do not take in enough protein, you confuse the body because it does not have all the needed materials to work with. Without enough protein your body cannot replace or repair all the muscle tissues that need attention. This will lead to muscle loss and will affect other body functions that require protein. For example, the body will have problems maintaining proper hormone and PH levels.

If you are involved with bodybuilding training or any form of sports that require high levels of energy your muscles would more regularly be in need of repair and replacement. That is why weight lifters, body builders and sport people need more protein. To help maintain proper protein and nitrogen levels, you would need to take bodybuilding supplements such as Whey Protein.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Benefits of Creatine Monohydrate - Important for High-Intensity Exercise Performance

Creatine monohydrate is one of the most widely used forms of creatine, a nitrogen-containing organic compound which is naturally produced by the body. It is a very important substance because it supplies the body with the energy it needs by increasing the production of adenosine triphosphate, the substance that transports energy within the cells needed for metabolism.

In a pilot study conducted among both young, healthy subjects and patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases, creatine monohydrate supplementation was shown to have increased body weight, hand grip, dorsiflexion, and knee extensor strength.

If you are suffering from either Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, Huntington's disease or the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, creatine monohydrate may be able to help in increasing your muscle strength and nervous control.

Creatine supplementation is popularly used to enhance sports performance, and has been successfully tested in the treatment of neuromuscular, neurological and atherosclerotic diseases. Creatine plays a key role in brain energy stability by acting as buffer for adenosine triphosphate and its regulator, adenosine diphosphate. Another experiment conducted by the Macmaster University in Hamilton, Ontario found that short term creatine monohydrate supplementation enhances high-intensity exercise performance in both males and females.

It was also shown that males that took whey protein supplements while on resistance training exhibited significant improvement in knee extension peak torque and gained more lean tissue mass than males engaged in training alone. Males that took a combination of whey protein and creatine monohydrate showed a much greater increase in lean tissue mass and bench press than those who supplemented with only whey protein or placebo.

In an experiment conducted by the University of Sydney among 45 young adults to test how oral creatine supplementation would enhance intelligence test scores and memory performance, the results show that indeed, creatine supplementation has significant positive effect on a person's intelligence and memory. This result clearly indicates that brain energy capacity plays a key role in enhancing brain performance, intelligence and memory.

Creatine plays a key role in cellular energy metabolism and can potentially play a role in protein metabolism. With regular supplementation of creatine monohydrate, young healthy men and women may experience a higher intensity exercise performance, increased skeletal muscle volume and phosphocreatine concentration, and increased fat free muscle mass.

Recent study also revealed that creatine monohydrate supplementation protects against neuromuscular as shown in laboratory animal models of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and after ischemia. A low concentration of phosphocreatine content has also been noticed in skeletal muscles of elderly patients and of patients suffering from neuromuscular disorders.

For more information about this high-intensity exercise performance-enhancing supplement, log on to: http://purebulk.com/creatine-monohydrate-powder

Friday, October 14, 2011

Creatine Sport Supplements: Positive Benefits of Creatine Supplementation

Buy Creatine is not a drug, steroid or artificial aid. It is made in your body and every single person carries a significant amount of creatine around in their bodies at all times, with around 95% of this creatine stored in muscle tissue.

The idea of ingesting creatine to increase creatine levels in the body is not new. First discovered in 1832 by French scientist Michel Eugene Chevreul, the name 'creatine' is based on the Latin name for 'meat' as meat is one of the common sources of dietary creatine.

It was first noted in 1912 that ingesting creatine boosted the levels of creatine found in skeletal muscle tissue. By even the early part of the 20th Century it was well known by researchers that creatine was one of the principal parts of muscle metabolism.

By 1992 numerous athletes had begun to utilise creatine supplementation to boost muscle levels and enjoy an ergogenic (performance enhancing) effect. In 1993, the company EAS released Phosphagen, the first branded mainstream form of Creatine supplement. Since that time studies on Creatine have led to a greater understanding of its benefits, effects, method of action and numerous attempts to improve and expand the uses of this substance making it one of the most ubiquitous supplements ever produced.

What is creatine?

Creatine is made up of three amino acids - Arginine, Glycine and Methionine. These amino acids can be synthesized in the liver to produce creatine. It is also possible to ingest creatine from dietary meat sources, though vegetarians and vegans will generally have lower creatine stores due to lack of meat ingestion. Today's creatine supplements are not derived from meat however; they are synthesized in laboratories from the three amino acids to produce a simple powdered format creatine.

The average male weighing 160lbs in bodyweight will carry approximately 120grams of creatine in their bodies. 95%-98% of this is stored in skeletal muscle tissue, with the remainder in various organs, primarily the brain, heart and reproductive systems.

Vegetarians and Vegans will generally ingest no dietary creatine and their stores are produced entirely by synthesis in the liver from amino acid sources. Meat eaters may ingest anywhere between a few hundred milligrams up to 3 or 4 grams daily depending on the meat sources chosen.

Supplemental creatine use allows users to ingest in the range of 5 to 20 grams of creatine daily without high meat consumption in a directly usable form.

When creatine has moved through the energy cycle, it produces the waste by-product creatinine. Creatinine release is a marker of kidney dysfunction which often accounts for early (but now dismissed) concerns that creatine supplementation placed stress on the kidneys. Increased creatinine waste products in the case of athletes do not signal kidney stress, it is merely the by-product of ingesting larger amounts of creatine and utilising more creatine in muscle energy metabolism than a non-athletic individual.

The Purpose of Creatine

Creatine is directly involved in the ATP-PC (adenosine tri-phosphate-phosphocreatine) energy system of the body. The body has various energy systems available to it to power activity and processes. Systems such as the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems involve the creation of energy from synthesis of carbohydrate and fat stores and fuel sources, although these are more complex processes that are efficient but slow. The ATP-PC energy system is an immediate source of energy for muscle tissue - any sudden, explosive activity where muscles contract fast will initially rely on the ATP-PC system. This includes weight lifting, sprinting etc.

During the ATP energy cycle ATP is broken down very rapidly into simpler chemical compounds offering a burst of energy. Unfortunately this system is depleted very rapidly with maximum exertion activity depleting current stores within 10 to 15 seconds. Once this system is exhausted the body must move onto the more complex process of anaerobic activity.

Creatine binds with the reduced ADP (adenosine di-phosphate) using phosphorus stores which helps regenerate ADP back into ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate). This means a very rapid return of fast action energy source for muscles. You can immediately push more weight for longer, sprint harder without burning out etc.

This is the central role played by creatine. By increasing supplemental creatine levels users will often find they can perform more reps at maximum exertion or sprint longer without switching over to the anaerobic system. It also means faster recovery of ATP levels, meaning shorter rests are needed between maximum exertion efforts.

Other Athletic benefits of Creatine

There are noted benefits from using creatine other than the direct replenishment of ATP.

*Cell Volumization - When larger than normal levels of creatine saturate the muscles from supplementation, this draws fluid into the actual muscle cells themselves, creating a 'super-hydration' effect. This is not to be confused with the term 'fluid retention' which is the bloat caused by water retained under the skin. In the creatine scenario fluid actually swells the cells of muscles. This accounts for much of the initial weight and muscle size gains found with creatine use. This weight gain generally occurs within the first 7 to 14 days of supplementing with higher levels of creatine. If supplemental creatine is withdrawn, this 'super-Volumization' slowly erodes until muscles return to their normal hydration state.

*Enhanced Protein Synthesis - There are numerous studies which now suggest creatine also helps increase the nitrogen retention and protein synthesis of muscle metabolism. This essentially means that higher protein ingestion will lead to faster muscle growth development and improve retention of lean muscle tissue. This benefit is likely a combination of the ATP-replenishment and Cell volumising properties.

Other Benefits of Creatine supplementation

More recent medical studies have shown that creatine supplementation may have other, non-athletic benefits. Creatine is now used in those with both muscle wasting and neuro-degenerative diseases, showing major benefits in retaining muscle and protecting nerves and nerve signalling pathways. This has led to numerous studies on the effect of creatine supplementation on preventing cognitive dysfunction in conditions such as Alzheimer's and Dementia, as well as nerve related conditions.

Creatine supplementation is currently undergoing trials as a 'cognitive nutracuetical' or 'smart drug' - which may enhance brain function, improving memory, co-ordination, focus and mental alertness. Many athletes have noted these effects but strict medical studies are required to understand these anecdotes.

Creatine Forms

Creatine supplements come in a wide variety of forms.

*Creatine Monohydrate - This simple form of creatine bound to a single water molecule is the most common and widely available form of creatine. It is usually found as a simple white powder which may be mixed with protein shakes, beverages or come in specialised loading drinks which utilise fast action carbohydrates and other insulin stimulators to increase uptake of creatine to muscle cells. This is the most economical form of creatine and the most widely used, however around 1 in 7 users will be a poor responder to creatine monohydrate and see little ability to uptake it, often resulting in digestive distress, bloating and no increase in strength or energy levels. Creatine Monohydrate may also be found in 'Micronized' form. This simply means the powder is reduced in granularity making it easier to dissolve in water or other liquids.

*Creatine-Ethyl-Ester - Creatine bound to an ethyl ester group as opposed to a water molecule as with Monohydrate Creatine. Ethyl Ester groups are designed to allow more creatine to pass into muscle tissue without wastage and without the need to ingest higher and higher doses for low responders. Users of Creatine-Ethyl-Ester generally find less digestive problems than creatine monohydrate and it may work well for non responders. Ethyl-Ester creatine is more often found in tablet or capsule format as opposed to drink mix powders.

*Kre-Alkalyn Creatine - Kre-Alkalyn Creatine is a patented form of creatine which claims to offer a better pH balance for creatine. This means the product will be more stable in liquids and larger amounts will reach skeletal muscle intact and not break down into the by-product creatinine. Kre-Alkalyn creatine can therefore be used in much lower doses than regular creatine monohydrate, perhaps as little as 2 grams of Kre-Alkalyn offering the same benefits of 10 grams of ingested Creatine Monohydrate. The patented nature of Kre-Alkalyn however does make it far more expensive to use than regular creatine.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The cardioprotective benefits of soy protein - Sports

Recent evidence on the cardioprotective benefits of soy isoflavones has stimulated an increase in the consumption of soy protein powder. Even if the consumer is more likely that the ingestion of powdered soy isoflavones, also qualify for the same protein. Nitrogen balance studies in humans indicate that isolated soy protein is comparable to that of animals, the effects of soy-based diet compared with a diet of animal protein in the body of complete protein turnover -fuevaluated using two groups of six men. The rates of protein synthesis and protein degradation was similar in both groups. However, more recent research compared with casein soy in net protein retention in pigs. constant infusions of casein or soy were performed with measurements postabsorptively and 2-6 hours after enteral feeding. kinetics of urea and amino acid were evaluated by a constant infusion protocol developed with L-[ring-2, 63H] phenylalanineL-3-3H], 4 valine, [and 15N] urea [15N. During the meal, the appearance of amino acids in the portal vein and its adoption by the liver was lower with casein infusion. muscular uptake was not different between the infusions of casein or soy. Soy infusion stimulated a lower rate of intestinal protein synthesis and the rate of muscle protein turnover. Casein infusion stimulated a higher rate of protein synthesis and degradation of the liver. In the post-absorption condition, the infusion of casein did notalter the hepatic production of urea, while the infusion of soybean has increased significantly. The researchers concluded that soy protein has a lower quality than the protein casein.

Soy is well tolerated with no adverse effects associated with its use. Soy stimulates lower rates of protein synthesis and degradation of the liver, therefore, future research in combination with other soy protein may be insightful in providing a protein that not only reducescardiovascular disease risk, but also maintain higher levels of protein synthesis and low levels of protein degradation.

-Glutamine promotes muscle glycogen

In this study, seven men of average physical fitness has participated in three different studies. First, the subjects performed exercise bike designed to deplete the fast and slow twitch muscle glycogen.

Then it was received or

A solution of glucose polymer, 18.5%;

8 gglutamine, or

A solution of glucose polymer 18.5% and 8 grams of glutamine.

During the three tests, which also received a continuous infusion of glucose for 2 hours. The plasma concentration of glutamine increased dramatically after taking glutamine by itself or with the polymer of glucose. Glutamine concentrations were 70% higher than baseline 30-45 minutes after ingestion of glutamine. Furthermore, ingestion of glutamine had no effect on insulin levels. As expected glucose polymeringestion (with or without glutamine) resulted in a substantial increase in insulin that lasted 30-90 minutes. Glutamine is as effective as glucose polymer solution increased muscle glycogen after exercise glycogen reduction.

According to the researchers, "Oral glutamine alone promoted storage of muscle glycogen to a similar extent with the polymer of glucose orally. Ingestion of glutamine and glucose polymers as well as promote the storage of carbohydrate outside skeletal musclemuscles, the liver is the most viable.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Learn more about the benefits of various vitamins and vitamin different

Large amounts of vitamins can be found in food. Vitamins are substances that can help maintain our health and protect our body against disease. These organic compounds known as vitamins, your body can function more effectively in different metabolic pathways. These vitamins can be found in supplements, in addition to food. The vitamins that the body with a protective shield against disease and health complications. Vitamins also help form enzymes and hormones that play an importantrole in digestion, circulation, excretion and other metabolic activities of the body. There are eleven categories of vitamins and are considered important in the human body.

Vitamin A is intended to correct vision. It also functions as an antioxidant that blocks' potential reaction oxidant may be harmful to our body. And green leafy vegetables, papaya and squash are just some of the other rich sources of vitamin A. The B vitamin thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, biotin and cyanocobalamin. These are crucial for the proper functioning of the nervous system and converting food into energy. It also helps in other metabolic functions of the body. Vitamin B can be found rich in beans, whole grains, vegetables, nuts, milk, eggs and others. The only sources of vitamin B12 are animal products like liver, cheese and meat. B group vitamins are important in the metabolism of amino acids and> Nitrogen and maintenance of healthy skin.

Citrus fruits are the most notorious sources of vitamin C. Prevention of diseases and infections to serve as an important function of vitamin C. Sunlight is the most common source of vitamin D. The strengthening of bones and teeth are the main functions of vitamin D. Vitamin E is important as an antioxidant.

A person who does not take a nutritious diet may suffer from a vitamin deficiency. Lack of vitamin Amanifested in low vision to night blindness. Beri-beri, anemia and low resistance are the conditions associated with vitamin B, and bleeding gums, low resistance and low appetite are the causes of vitamin C. Lack of vitamin D to the results of the deformation of bones and teeth. So do not be healthy if you are deficient in certain vitamins. The lack of vitamins can be addressed through the use of vitamin supplements. Our immune system and our strengthimproved with the use of these supplements.

However, food must still be considered the main source of vitamins. Vitamin supplements should only come later. Natural and synthetic cause different reactions in the body. For the protection of our various bodies, natural vitamins are essential for our body. Your body will benefit more from complex vitamins, vitamin supplements. Than their synthetic counterparts, use more natural vitaminsefficiently by our body.