NATURAL NUTRITION… The role of nutrition and supplements in hastening and enhancing recovery from exercise.  The importance of protein in providing an anabolic boost.

As noted in last month’s Natural Nutrition, it is generally understood that whether you are seeking to improve your performance in a particular sport or athletic endeavor or simply interested in improving your physical fitness level, you must engage in regular and progressively intense bouts of exercise, or training.  What is sometimes overlooked, however, is that the degree to which an individual can adequately recover from exercise is a crucial factor in determining ultimate success.  Simply put, the quicker you recover, the harder – and more frequently – you can train.  And the harder you train, the better you can ultimately perform.

During exercise or any strenuous physical activity, there are a number of physiological, metabolic and neurological changes that occur.  Among these are:

*Damage to muscle tissue

*Depletion of glycogen and glucose stores in the body

*Stress and damage to connective tissue and joints (ankles, knees, hips, low back, shoulders, wrists, elbows)

*Alteration in hormone levels

*Dehydration, with possible resultant electrolyte imbalance

*A shift to a catabolic ‘environment’ in the body

*Decreased immune system response

Failure to establish such proper recovery can not only block you from attaining your personal fitness/athletic goals but can lead to overtraining, burnout, injury and even illness.

Also as noted in last month’s column was our intent to take a more in-depth look at how nutrition and sports supplements can enhance your sports/athletic performance, improve your level of physical fitness, and hasten the recovery.

And so, here is the first of the promised installments exploring the role of nutrition and supplements in recovery under a journalistic microscope. 

Typically, the nutrition strategy for recovering from exercise or other strenuous activity has focused on rehydration and restoration of muscle glycogen (the predominant fuel for energy during exercise) via carbohydrate intake.  It has only been relatively recently that attention has been paid to a somewhat overlooked component of the recovery process – protein. 

The fact is that without adequate protein, you will never completely recover from the effects of strenuous training.  Protein is necessary to promote muscle adaptation after strenuous exercise in several ways, including:

*Protein is vital to aid in repair of exercise induced damage to muscle fibers (protein is the only nutrient that provides the building blocks, in the form of amino acids, to repair muscle tissue and synthesize new muscle).

 *Protein promotes training-induced adaptations in muscle fibers - i.e., synthesis of new proteins that are involved in generation of force and/or energy production and/or force generation.

*Protein facilitates the replenishment of depleted energy stores.  Studies show that 20 to 30 grams of protein combined with carbohydrate improve glycogen synthesis.

*Post exercise protein provides an anabolic boost by preventing net losses in muscle protein, thereby preserving muscle tissue.

Bottom line: Protein taken post workout is absolutely essential to help repair muscle and connective tissue damage incurred by strenuous activity and to preserve lean mass and also plays an important role in the process of replenishing glycogen stores.

A couple of notes to help you get the most out of your post workout protein intake:

1. The anabolic boost stimulated by a single dose of amino acids (protein) is transient, lasting some one to two hours, therefore ingesting repeated ‘doses’ of protein during recovery optimizing the rate of muscle protein gain.

2. Essential amino acids are superior to non-essential amino acids for stimulating muscle growth.

3. Some amino acids have proven to be especially essential to and effective for post workout recovery. These include L-Glutamine - glutamine makes up approximately 60 percent of the amino acids in skeletal muscle and has significant effects on skeletal muscle metabolism, among which are its actions in helping store muscle glycogen and preventing muscle degradation - and Leucine, which has a specific and apparently unique impact on skeletal muscle in that it stimulates muscle protein synthesis, provides fuel for the muscle and helps to maintain blood glucose levels.

4. The best type of proteins for growth and recovery are complete proteins – i.e those containing all the essential amino acids.  Such foods include eggs, milk, fish, chicken, turkey, red meats and cottage cheese.

Because studies have shown that there is a relatively small window of post workout opportunity to get in the necessary nutrients, in the required amounts and ratios, to help effect maximum recuperation, an optimal choice is to take a liquid blend as close to finishing your workout as possible.  The liquid form of post recovery nutrition has several advantages, including convenience (the trainee can mix a drink and bring it in a thermos to have immediately available) and ease of digestion.

In our opinion, the best single post workout recovery product on the market today is Naturally Juic’d, which was formulated specifically for the drug free trainee and athlete and contains literally everything needed for optimum sports supplementation, including – you guessed it – high quality protein in the proper amount and ratio.

For more information on Naturally Juic’d, visit our online store.

Next month we’ll continue our discussion of the role of nutrition and supplementation in hastening and enhancing recovery from exercise.  Until then, train hard, eat right – and do it all the Natural Way!

Arley Vest