International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Nutrient Timing

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise

Example Day Of Eating For A Female Athlete

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF SPORTS NUTRITION
https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-021-00422-8/figures/3

Whole Vs. Refined Grains

Whole Grain Vs Refined 

 All our lives we have been told that whole grains are healthier than refined wheat. We heard it from our parents, and we see it all over the internet. Brown rice over white rice, wheat bread over white bread, whole grain pasta over regular pasta.

It is time to crack the code on if whole wheat is truly healthier and if so, why is it? Should we be spending the time and money to make these alternative choices? Let’s dive into it. 

To start we will discuss what makes something “whole grain”. There are three parts of a whole grain kernel: the bran, germ and endosperm. When the whole grain kernels are processed, they are stripped of the bran and the germ. The bran is the outer layer of the kernel. It is the fiber that supplies B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium and antioxidants. The germ is the core of the kernel that is packed with healthy fats, B vitamins, vitamin E and antioxidants. The endosperm is that inner layer that remains after processing which holds the carbohydrates with a small amount of protein and vitamins.  

So how does all of this nutritional value apply to daily life? To start, whole wheat products will give us a satisfied, full feeling faster than refined grains due to the bran and fiber. In turn, the faster we fill up, the less we overeat. The fiber from the outer layer also helps lower cholesterol and helps clear out the digestive tract. The nutrients in whole grains also contain minerals that can help prevent blood clots, heart attacks, strokes and some cancers. 

You might be thinking, “Why would they strip these nutrients off to begin with?”. A concise explanation would be: 1. Without the fibrous outer layer, it is easier to chew and digest. 2. It increases shelf life of the products. 3. Refined grains makes fluffy flour for breads and desserts.

This does not mean that you need to cut refined grains out of your life completely. It is simply a recommendation to incorporate whole grains into your diet. A sustainable, healthy goal would be to substitute about half of your total grain intake to whole grains.

What Should I Meal Prep to Gain Muscle?

When it comes to gaining muscle, we want it to be fast and cheap. Now we all know nothing in life comes easy… To maintain or gain lean muscle mass, we have to spend time and energy in the gym and the kitchen to set ourselves up for success. You can spend hours in the gym every day lifting, but if you are not fueling your body with the right nutrients, you will not be able to gain muscle mass! When not properly fueled, your body will eat away at the muscle you spent blood, sweat and tears earning in the gym. So, let’s discuss a few easy and affordable dishes we can prepare for our week so all our time at the gym does not go to waste!

Burrito Bowl  

-       Lean meat

-       Brown rice 

-       Veggies 

-       Guacamole 

-       Beans

-       Salsa

Turkey Pesto Panini  

-       Turkey meat 

-       Cheese 

-       Pesto 

-       Lettuce 

-       Tomatoes

-       Whole Wheat Bread

Chicken and Sweet Potatoes 

-       Chicken Breast 

-       Sweet Potatoes 

-       Broccoli 

Shrimp Pasta

-       Whole Wheat Pasta 

-       Shrimp 

-       Olive Oil 

-       Spinach 

-       Mozzarella cheese 

-       Lemon 

Salmon and Couscous 

-       Salmon 

-       Lemon 

-       Couscous 

-       Asparagus 

Tacos

-       Whole Wheat Tortilla 

-       Lean beef 

-       Avocado 

-       Lettuce 

-       Peppers and onions

-       Mozzarella 

-       Pico de gallo 

THE KETO DIET

The ketogenic diet has made huge waves in the world of weight loss. People have gone from morbid obesity to a healthy weight range and given all credit to this low carb diet. BUT… the million-dollar question is, is this a viable option for athletes who want to improve their body composition? 

Athletes thrive off of healthy, complex carbohydrates. They fuel hours of intense training. So… how could it be healthy for athletes to cut out this entire food group? Do athletes NEED carbs to train hard? Will a keto diet completely wipe all energy? Let’s find out from the experts. 

Our first study looks at 21 strength trained women who were randomly assigned to either a ketogenic diet or a non-ketogenic diet. The study looked at body composition and strength levels. Findings indicate that a keto diet may help to decrease fat mass and maintain fat-free mass after eight 8 weeks in trained-women, but is suboptimal for increasing fat-free mass. 

The next study looks at the effect of a four-week ketogenic diet on exercise metabolism in male and female CrossFit-trained athletes. The study found that ketogenic diets in males led to an increase in fat utilization, but not in females. The conclusion is that Male CrossFit-trained athletes seem to be more prone to shifts in macronutrient utilization (in favor of fat utilization) during submaximal intensity exercise under a ketogenic diet than are female athletes.

The third study will look at the effects of a ketogenic diet for endurance athletes. This study looks at 4 female and 1 male endurance athletes who underwent a 10-week ketogenic dietary intervention. All athletes increased their ability to utilize fat as a fuel source, including at higher exercise intensities. Athletes reported experiencing reduced energy levels initially, followed by a return of high levels thereafter, especially during exercise, but an inability to easily undertake high intense bouts. Also, each athlete reported experiencing enhanced well-being, included improved recovery, improvements in skin conditions and reduced inflammation. Overall, there were performance decrements and negative experiences, but athletes were interested in continuing the low carb, high fat eating style due to the unexpected health benefits. 

In the final study we will look at the ketogenic diet in context of exercise performance. It has been concluded that ketogenic diets may impair exercise performance at higher intensities. For athletes concerned with anaerobic power and strength, short-term consumption of low carb/ketogenic diets does not negatively affect these performance parameters but may lead to unwelcomed decreases in lean body mass or blunted skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Therefore, the literature does not support the use of ketogenic diets as an effective dietary strategy to increase athletic performance.

The common denominator of these studies is that a ketogenic diet is not conducive to building lean mass. As an elite athlete, building muscle is essential for everything that we do. It reduces chance of injury, it makes us more explosive, powerful, resilient… 

It is also known that the benefits of a ketogenic diet are not confirmed long term. Proving that this diet may be helpful to kick start fat loss in obese/overweight people, but possibly have less significant effects after 6 months. As an athlete, it is safe bet to stay away from an extremely low carb diet unless it is recommended by a doctor. If you would like to decrease your body fat percentage, there are more beneficial ways to go about it. 

CITATIONS: 

Vargas-Molina, S., Petro, J.L., Romance, R. et al. Effects of a ketogenic diet on body composition and strength in trained women. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 17, 19 (2020). 

Durkalec-Michalski, K., Nowaczyk, P.M. & Siedzik, K. Effect of a four-week ketogenic diet on exercise metabolism in CrossFit-trained athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 16, 16 (2019). 

Zinn, C., Wood, M., Williden, M. et al. Ketogenic diet benefits body composition and well-being but not performance in a pilot case study of New Zealand endurance athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14, 22 (2017).

Harvey, Kristin L et al. “Ketogenic Diets and Exercise Performance.” Nutrientsvol. 11,10 2296. 26 Sep. 2019, doi:10.3390/nu11102296

SUPPLEMENTS: FAKE OR FACT

It’s time to discuss a subject that can be very controversial and confusing… supplements. There are promises to make our fat melt off, our skin clearer, our sprints faster, our lifts heavier, our hair and nails longer, our abs more defined… Collagen, CLA, Fat Burners, HMB, Pre-workout, Beta-Alanine, BCAAs, EAAs, Creatine, Whey Protein, ATP, and the list goes on and on and on…

How are we supposed to know which ones are actually worth our time and money? Do we look at before and after pictures? Do we type it into Google and see what we find? Do we listen to Instagram influencers selling the product? No, no and no. We are going to look to scientific, peer-reviewed research! AKA… people that have made a career of researching, testing and proving the answers to these questions.

Let’s go over a couple supplements that get the most buzz. 

Collagen. We are told collagen will give us fuller, younger looking skin and have anti-aging benefits. Less cellulite, more hydration, less roughness, more elasticity. This sounds pretty great, right? So, we will turn to the experts to see if it’s worth the often high price tag. 

A recent study was performed on 72 healthy women with an average age of 36. They received either a collagen supplement or a placebo for 12 weeks. A skin assessment was carried out based on skin hydration, elasticity, roughness and density. The results were that the collagen group had significantly improved skin hydration, elasticity, roughness and density. The differences were statistically significant for all test parameters. 

Another group of studies was done with a total of 805 patients. Eight studies use collagen hydrolysate for 8-24 weeks for the treatment of pressure ulcers, xerosis, skin aging, and cellulite. Two studies used collagen tripeptide for 4 to 12 weeks, with notable improvement in skin elasticity and hydration. 

Lastly, one study using collagen dipeptide suggested anti-aging efficacy is proportionate to collagen dipeptide content. The results were promising for the short and long-term use of an oral collagen supplements for wound healing and anti-aging with no reported adverse effects. 

Up next is Conjugated linoleic acid. CLA for short. It is believed that CLA can aid in weight loss, reduction in body fat, increased lean mass, improved insulin resistance, but there are many doubts that it actually leads to the reduction of body fat. 

We will first look at the effects on overweight and obese individuals. Gaullier et al. performed a 24-month controlled study, during which 6 capsules of gel were administered daily. The authors observed that the CLA supplementation for this period in overweight adults is well tolerated, and CLA reduces body fat in overweight humans and can help maintain the initial fat and weight losses over the long term. 

In another study, 101 moderately obese subjects who lost >8 % of their baseline body weight in a previous study were subsequently assigned to a 1-year double-blind CLA or placebo supplementation regime in combination with a modest hypocaloric diet. The authors found no significant difference in body weight or body fat regain between the treatments. 

As these two studies suggest, the results of supplementation of CLA are very discordant. The reality is, there is not enough research on the effects of CLA in conjunction with physically active humans/athletes on changes in body composition. In conclusion, the doses of CLA we naturally consume through our food, such as fat from beef and dairy products, is a good alternative to supplementation. 

Next up… Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate. I know… sounds complicated. Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate is referred to as HMB. HMB is said to improve strength and lean mass gains during anaerobic and aerobic training, and spare muscle protein and speed recovery. 

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, HMB has yet to show a clear benefit in previously trained or competitive athletes. The benefits have primarily been shown in previously untrained subjects and the elderly. This was proven in a double-blind study with experienced weightlifters. There were no improvements found in protein synthesis, one rep max strength, body composition or other measures of anticatabolic or anabolic action. 

Increased muscular performance, increased lean mass, faster recovery and decreased muscle soreness and damage. That all sounds pretty ideal, huh? All of these benefits are said to come from branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation. 

A study investigated the effect of BCAA supplementation on recovery from eccentric exercise. Twenty males ingested either a BCAA supplement or placebo prior to and following eccentric exercise. The results of this investigation demonstrate that supplementing a controlled diet of 1.2 g/kg/day of protein with 0.22 g/kg body mass/day of BCAA for eight days results in decreased perceptions of soreness in resistance-trained individuals with several years of experience.

Another group of 11 studies were done and found that BCAAs supplementation can be efficacious on outcomes of exercise-induced muscle damage, as long as the extent of muscle damage was low-to-moderate, the supplementation strategy combined a high daily BCAAs intake for a long period of time; it was especially effective if taken prior to the damaging exercise.

There is zero harm in incorporating BCAAs into your fitness routine. As you can see from the studies above, best case scenario is that you may be mildly less sore if you are a highly trained athlete with low-to-moderate muscle damage. So, if you don’t feel like soreness is a huge problem in your training or performance, then leave it out, but if it is, then give BCAAs a try for a couple weeks and see how they work for you!

This next one is a big one. Listen up. 

Creatine. Creatine is one of the most popular nutritional training and performance aids for athletes. Studies have consistently shown that creatine supplementation increases intramuscular creatine concentrations which may help explain the observed improvements in high intensity exercise performance leading to greater training adaptations. In addition to athletic and exercise improvement, research has shown that creatine supplementation may enhance post-exercise recovery, injury prevention, thermoregulation, rehabilitation, and concussion and/or spinal cord neuroprotection. Additionally, a number of clinical applications of creatine supplementation have been studied involving neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease), diabetes, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, aging, brain and heart ischemia, adolescent depression, and pregnancy. These studies provide a large body of evidence that creatine can not only improve exercise performance, but also can play a role in preventing and/or reducing the severity of injury, enhancing rehabilitation from injuries, and helping athletes tolerate heavy training loads. 

I highly recommend making creatine a part of your daily routine as an athlete!

Beta-alanine is another sports supplement that is commonly used to improve sports performance, specifically short-to-moderate duration and high-power output. The International Society of Sports Nutrition position statement proves:  1) Four weeks of beta-alanine supplementation (4–6 g daily) significantly augments muscle carnosine concentrations, thereby acting as an intracellular pH buffer; 2) Beta-alanine supplementation currently appears to be safe in healthy populations at recommended doses; 3) The only reported side effect is tingling, but studies indicate this can be attenuated by using divided lower doses (1.6 g) or using a sustained-release formula; 4) Daily supplementation with 4 to 6 g of beta-alanine for at least 2 to 4 weeks has been shown to improve exercise performance, with more pronounced effects in open end-point tasks/time trials lasting 1 to 4 min in duration; 5) Beta-alanine attenuates neuromuscular fatigue, particularly in older subjects, and preliminary evidence indicates that beta-alanine may improve tactical performance; 6) Combining beta-alanine with other single or multi-ingredient supplements may be advantageous when supplementation of beta-alanine is high enough (4–6 g daily) and long enough (minimum 4 weeks); 7) More research is needed to determine the effects of beta-alanine on strength, endurance performance beyond 25 min in duration, and other health-related benefits associated with carnosine. 

The last supplement I will discuss today is one we all know and love… whey protein. As an athlete, protein is one of the number one nutrients we tend to lack! The main benefit to protein powder is convenience. Sure, ideally, we are getting it from animal and vegetable sources, but let’s face it… sometimes we don’t have time to cook a whole chicken breast and have it on the go. Yes, we have protein bars which many times can be a great option, but with that we have to be careful of fat and high sugar content. With protein powder, we can toss a scoop into our morning smoothie or put a scoop in a shaker bottle and just like that you’re a huge step closer to meeting your protein intake goal. 

Why is it so important to meet this goal you ask? 

Consuming a source of protein after resistance exercise is essential to maximize muscle protein synthesis and net protein balance, both of which are required to support muscle hypertrophy with training. Beneficial effects have also been shown with whey protein supplementation that extend up to 24 h into recovery with improvements in repetitions to failure, peak aerobic power, and maximal strength. 

Consumption of moderate amounts of whey and animal derived protein has been demonstrated to enhance short and long-term protein balance over a placebo. Whey protein isolate lead to a significant increase in lean body mass in resistance trained individuals. Fat loss was also significantly decreased at 8 weeks. One rep max for both deadlift and bench-press were both significantly increased for all treatment groups when compared to baseline. 

If you are not already, start throwing in a scoop of quality, certified protein powder into a shaker bottle and drink it after your workouts. You will highly benefit from incorporating this into your daily routine. 

Time to wrap up a few final reminders: 

1.     It is important to start by making sure you are getting good nutrients from whole foods in your diet before considering supplementation. 

2.     When buying supplements, be sure they are certified. NSF certification is a popular one to look out for.  

3.     Incorporating protein in your post workout routine is a MUST. 

4.     Creatine is a highly tested and approved supplement that serious athletes should consider using.  

CITATIONS: 

Liane Bolke, Gerrit Schlippe, Joachim Gerß, Werner Voss

Nutrients. 2019 Oct; 11(10): 2494.  Published online 2019 Oct 17. doi: 10.3390/nu11102494

Choi FD, Sung CT, Juhasz ML, Mesinkovsk NA. Oral Collagen Supplementation: A Systematic Review of Dermatological Applications. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019 Jan 1;18(1):9-16. PMID: 30681787.

J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2015; 12: 36.  Published online 2015 Sep 17. doi: 10.1186/s12970-015-0097-4

Krzysztof Durkalec-Michalski, Jan Jeszka, Tomasz Podgórski

Nutrients. 2017 Jul; 9(7): 753.  Published online 2017 Jul 14. doi: 10.3390/nu9070753

Trisha A. VanDusseldorp, Kurt A. Escobar, Kelly E. Johnson, Matthew T. Stratton, Terence Moriarty, Nathan Cole, James J. McCormick, Chad M. Kerksick, Roger A. Vaughan, Karol Dokladny, Len Kravitz, Christine M. Mermier

Nutrients. 2018 Oct; 10(10): 1389.  Published online 2018 Oct 1. doi: 10.3390/nu10101389

Alexandre Fouré, David Bendahan

Nutrients. 2017 Oct; 9(10): 1047.  Published online 2017 Sep 21. doi: 10.3390/nu9101047

Kreider, R.B., Kalman, D.S., Antonio, J. et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14, 18 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z

Trexler, E.T., Smith-Ryan, A.E., Stout, J.R. et al. International society of sports nutrition position stand: Beta-Alanine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 12, 30 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-015-0090-y

Daniel W. D. West, Sidney Abou Sawan, Michael Mazzulla, Eric Williamson, Daniel R. Moore

Nutrients. 2017 Jul; 9(7): 735.  Published online 2017 Jul 11. doi: 10.3390/nu9070735

Sharp, M., Shields, K., Lowery, R. et al. The effects of beef protein isolate and whey protein isolate supplementation on lean mass and strength in resistance trained individuals - a double blind, placebo controlled study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 12, P11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-12-S1-P11

Low Cost Foods For Athletes

 High school and collegiate athletes need quick, easy, healthy and fairly priced food to fuel their active lifestyle. Between morning workouts, class, practice, homework, personal life, and sleep, preparing food can be just one more thing on the list that has to be done as efficiently as possible. Here are some options that are going to benefit our bodies and our wallets. 

-       Frozen fruit

-       Peanut butter

-       Milk

-       Oats 

-       Whole wheat bread/wrap

-       Turkey deli meat

-       Lettuce

-       Pesto

-       Whole wheat bread

-       Avocado 

-       Hard boiled eggs

-       Ground turkey 

-       Rice 

-       Feta 

-       Frozen veggies 

-       Mozzarella string cheese

-       Apples

-       Bananas 

-       Yogurt 

-       Turkey bacon 

-       Triscuits

-       Popcorn 

-       Pretzels 

-       Hummus 

-       Whole wheat pasta 

-       Chicken breast

-       Frozen shrimp

-       Waffles 

-       Potatoes and sweet potatoes

-       Canned tuna 

-       Whey protein shake 

There are endless possibilities with these ingredients that you can take on the go as a snack or meal prep for the whole week. Burrito bowls, smoothies, sandwiches, wraps, pasta dishes, toast, oatmeal, hummus and crackers, chicken breast with veggies and potato crisps, etc… Many of these are great for grab and go snacks like yogurt, fruit, hardboiled eggs, pretzels, popcorn, etc… Find a routine that works for you and keeps you fueled and happy!

Minerals For Health

Serving Sizes

Portion Guide

Snack Combinations