Growth Hormone Secretagogues by Jerry Brainum

Growth hormone, produced in the pituitary gland, is one of the body’s three major anabolic hormones. The others are testosterone and insulin. A peptide hormone, meaning that it’s composed of a long chain of amino acids in a specific sequence, supplemental growth hormone must be administered by injection. As noted in a previous installment of this column, GH use by athletes and bodybuilders is rampant, mainly because it
remains undetectable by current drug-testing methods. Whether using GH alone provides any true anabolic effects to athletes remains a matter of conjecture, although numerous anecdotes testify that it does. Bodybuilders rarely, if ever, use GH alone; it’s part of the anabolic hormone triumvirate, with testosterone and insulin.

The other population interested in GH is older. GH drops about 14 percent per decade, and some antiaging researchers suggest that the loss of GH and insulinlike growth factor 1 may be responsible for the loss of both physical and mental function common in older people. IGF-1 is produced in the liver under the stimulation of GH release. It’s also produced locally in muscle, where it’s involved in muscle repair and growth. Both hormones maintain muscle and connective tissue, and their lack may be involved in the loss of lean mass seen in the aged.

Some studies, notably a 2007 study published by researchers from Stanford University, examined the use of GH therapy in the aged and concluded that the risks outweighed any potential benefits. It was a meta-analysis, or compilation, of previous GH studies, most of which used excessive doses and produced such side effects as peripheral edema, which is water retention in the extremities, joint pain, muscle pain, glucose intolerance and loss of insulin sensitivity. The latter two effects can set people up for diabetes if they have the genetics for the disease. Although it wasn’t mentioned in the Stanford analysis, numerous recent studies show that much lower doses produce the benefits of GH minus the side effects.

Still, the fact that GH must be injected presents problems for many people. Injections don’t duplicate the hormone’s natural release pattern, which could be related to side effects. GH is normally released in small bursts, or pulses, several times a day, with the major pulse released during the initial 90 minutes of sleep, during stage-4, deep sleep. Because of the problem, researchers have sought other ways to boost sagging GH. Since GH is nothing more than a complex protein, though, taking it orally means it would just be broken down in the gut.

As research into the mysteries of GH continued, scientists discovered GH receptors in the body and that much smaller amino acid peptides could interact with them to stimulate GH. Those peptides are called secretagogues and usually consist of about six amino acids linked together. Researchers also discovered ghrelin, another natural GH secretagogue. With that information scientists developed drugs such as MK-677 that mimic the effects of ghrelin and other GH secretagogues in the body.

Secretagogue drugs offer considerable potential advantages over GH injections. For one, they can be taken orally with no loss of activity. They boost the natural pulsatile release of the body’s own GH. Although older people often have less GH, the pituitary continues to synthesize it throughout life. The problem is that other substances, such as somatostatin, that inhibit GH release also rise with age. GH release itself is governed by a balance between growth-hormone-releasing hormone and somatostatin. For unknown reasons, the body makes more somatostatin with age, while GHRH remains stable—an imbalance that favors somatostatin dominance and less GH release.

Oral GH secretagogues such as MK-677 bypass the somatostatin barrier by interacting directly with GH receptors, thus producing GH release. Since GH is quite expensive, an effective oral drug could replace GH injections and even eliminate most current GH-related side effects. The question is, Do the oral GH-releasing drugs work in the real world as well as they do on paper or in the lab?

 A few studies show that GH secreatagogues such as MK-677 increase the body’s GH production in both the young and the old. In the most recent study that examined the effects of MK-677, 65 healthy people aged 60 to 81 received either 25 milligrams of MK-677 or a placebo for two years.¹ During the first year some subjects got MK-677, while others got a placebo. After the first year those who had taken the placebo took actual MK-677, while those who had been taking the MK-677 either continued using the drug or were assigned to a placebo group. That’s known as a placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover double-blind study and is considered the highest quality study available.

As expected, the drug produced GH in amounts typical of young adults in the older people who used it, to the extent that 20 percent of lost lean mass was regained. Bodyfat increased on their arms and legs, which was surprising considering that GH is always linked to less bodyfat. While GH injections have been shown to decrease dangerous visceral bodyfat, MK-677 had no effect on that particular fat-storage area. Fasting blood glucose rose, while insulin sensitivity declined, which is common with GH injections. The most common side effect, however, was an increase in appetite that subsided in a few months. That’s no surprise, since MK-677 mimics the effects of ghrelin, which has a potent appetite-stimulating effect. Some subjects also experienced a mild lower-body edema and muscle pain. On the other hand, low-density lipoprotein declined in those on MK-677, an effect not produced by GH injections. A high count of LDL is linked to cardiovascular disease.

The authors note that MK-677 likely works because it mimics ghrelin in activating the body’s GH receptors. That system has a built-in safety factor because as GH rises, so does IGF-1. The increased IGF-1 signals the pituitary gland that the body has reached its optimal GH point. The pituitary responds by ceasing GH release. The increased fat stores in those on MK-677 reflect the ghrelin-like activity of the drug. While GH promotes fat oxidation, ghrelin promotes fat accretion. Although that doesn’t sound good, consider that many older people lose their appetite, which adds to the loss of muscle that frequently occurs. Unfortunately, MK-677 didn’t have any discernible effect on strength, function or quality of life in this study.

GH injections don’t increase strength in older people, however, or in younger people not deficient in the hormone. Only one study found an increase in strength in older men on GH, and they were also using testosterone. In this study, though, MK-677 did counteract three common factors related to muscle loss with age: reduced GH secretion, loss of fat-free mass and inadequate food intake.

Could GH secretagogues benefit those who are younger? Some preliminary studies show that giving MK-677 to young men boosts GH release and even encourages gains in lean mass. Secretagogues bypass the body’s usual limitations on GH release. On the other hand, using a drug that mimics ghrelin, such as MK-677, could reverse the effect of GH by causing hunger—and a considerable gain in bodyfat. I doubt that few bodybuilders would consider that an advantage.

GH secretagogues not based on ghrelin may be effective GH boosters without the negative body composition changes linked to a ghrelin-based drug. The primary advantage of such drugs, however, is to restore GH-releasing ability in older people at far less expense and in a more natural manner than in present GH replacement therapy.

GH Effects in Athletes:
Real or Imagined?

Published research linking ergogenic effects to growth hormone use is scant. Yet its prevalence in bodybuilding and athletics cannot be denied. Surely GH does something to boost athletic prowess or muscle size and strength gains. Indeed, anecdotal evidence indicates that a combination of GH, testosterone and insulin is largely responsible for the noticeable difference in muscle mass between today’s bodybuilding competitors and those in the past. GH by itself isn’t very anabolic, but when it’s taken in that combination, the three hormones appear to offer a synergistic anabolic effect that hasn’t yet been explored or defined by mainstream science sources.

 A recent study suggests that any gains made from using GH are entirely due to the placebo effect.² Sixty-four noncompetitive recreational athletes were randomly assigned to either a placebo or GH group, the latter getting two milligrams a day of GH. The athletes didn’t know which group they were in. Physical performance was measured by various tests that examined endurance, strength, power and sprint capacity. More men than women believed they were receiving GH—81 percent vs. 31 percent. The men who thought they were taking GH improved both perceived and measured physical performance, even though they were in the placebo group. The authors suggest that many of the favorable effects ascribed to GH occur because athletes believe they will.

That isn’t unprecedented. More than 25 years ago a study was published in which powerlifters were told that they were getting injections of an anabolic steroid called Deca-Durabolin. About nine out of the 12 lifters reached their best lifts during the study. All the lifters had received placebo injections—which just goes to show that you can never discount the power of the placebo.

References

¹ Nass, R., et al. (2008). Effects of an oral ghrelin mimetic on body composition and clinical outcomes in healthy older adults. Ann Inter Med. 149:601-611.

² Meinhardt, U., et al. (2008). The power of the mind: An evaluation of the placebo effect in a study of GH on physical performance. GH IGF-1 Res. 18(Supp): S34.

Editing errata: In the February ’09 installment of this column, “Testosterone and Rapid Weight Loss,” the statement, “The more SHBG your body has, the less testosterone you have in your blood,” should have read, “The more SHBG your body has, the less active testosterone you have in your blood.” Also, the statement, “In addition, the carbohydrate and fat may have spurred an increased release of growth hormone,” should have read, “In addition, the reduced carbohydrate and fat may have spurred an increased release of growth hormone.”


©,2015 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

                            Please share this article on facebook

 

Exercise-Induced Testosterone Rises by Jerry Brainum

And the effect on androgen receptors

 

For years scientific consensus was that using anabolic steroids would decrease the number of androgen receptors. That’s a problem because testosterone must interact with cellular androgen receptors to activate anabolic processes in cells. The less receptor activity, the less testosterone-cellular activity.

Scientists surmised that using large doses of anabolic steroids would eventually result in a downregulation of androgen receptors, rendering the steroids useless. Later studies, however, proved that hypothesis to be incorrect. In fact, steroids provided an opposite effect: They opened up additional androgen receptors.

That led to the now accepted dose-response relationship of steroids: Larger doses of steroids provide more anabolic effects than lower doses. In fact, the initial studies that used low doses of steroids did see a drop in androgen receptor activity, since androgen receptors are saturated by normal blood testosterone. Those findings explain why athletes use such comparatively large doses of various anabolic steroids. It works.

What about the testosterone that the body naturally makes? Various studies show that all things being equal, having naturally higher testosterone predisposes a trainee to making faster gains in muscle size and strength. There’s some controversy, however, about the effects of exercise on testosterone release. Some studies show that exercise results in higher counts of testosterone, while others show little or no effect. Still other studies show that intense training paradoxically lowers androgen-receptor density. So the question is, Can lifting weights both increase testosterone and maintain androgen receptor density and activity?

A recent study examined the issue. Seven healthy men, average age 27, did five sets of five maximal reps of leg extensions on two occasions separated by one to three weeks. One trial involved a rest protocol, which was called “low testosterone,” while the other featured a high-volume, upper-body resistance workout designed to increase circulating testosterone. Blood tests were done at regular intervals during the training to measure blood testosterone. To check the effects of the training on androgen receptors, biopsies were taken from the subjects’ front-thigh muscles.

Only the high-test workout boosted testosterone above resting values, 12 percent more than the low testosterone trial. Muscle androgen receptors declined during the low-testosterone trial by 43 percent but remained stable during the high testosterone workout. The transient increase in testosterone during the high-testosterone workout worked in only three hours to maintain androgen receptor content. So training in a manner that leads to greater testosterone release will likewise maintain androgen receptor activity, which maximizes the anabolic training effect. Such training involves at least three sets per exercise, featuring short rest periods between sets and working larger muscle groups, such as thighs and back.

Spiering, B.A., et al. (2008). Influence of endogenous testosterone concentrations on muscle androgen receptor responses to resistance exercise. J Str Cond Res. 22:31.


©,2015 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

                            Please share this article on facebook

 

Potassium: Not Too Much, Not Too Little by Jerry Brainum

While all minerals are important to health, potassium has special significance for those who exercise. Consider its primary functions in the body: transmission of nerve signals and proper electrical conduction in
the heart. Those two features alone make potassium important for any bodybuilding diet.

While potassium is found in most foods, the best sources are fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, the low-carbohydrate diets followed by many bodybuilders can lead to lower potassium—not just because of the lack of fruits and vegetables but also because low-carb diets produce a natural diuretic effect that causes the excretion of sodium and potassium. In fact, it’s the loss of potassium from very low-carb diets that results in the characteristic fatigue and muscle weakness they often bring. Supplementing with potassium at the right time can make those dietary side effects vanish.

Even so, it has to be at the right time. Taking isolated potassium supplements can lead to the release of the adrenal hormone aldosterone. The human body has evolved to conserve sodium while rapidly eliminating potassium, and that’s what aldosterone does. It retains sodium through its actions in the kidneys while promoting the urinary loss of potassium. In bodybuilders that can cause rapid water retention, requiring them to get more potassium either in food or via a supplement, which should be taken with meals.

Potassium also has a relationship with other minerals. As noted, it works with sodium in controlling fluid in cells. The sodium-potassium-pump mechanism pushes sodium out of cells and potassium into cells, which maintains the proper electrolyte balance in the cells and the blood. In addition, magnesium is needed to retain potassium in cells.

Potassium itself plays a role in helping to restore depleted glycogen after a workout. When you consider that muscle glycogen is the primary fuel of bodybuilding workouts, potassium’s importance becomes clear.

The body has a fine-tuned mechanism to keep potassium within a certain range in the blood. Either too much or too little can lead to serious problems. For example, while having a certain level of potassium is required for the heart to beat, or contract, too much potassium can stop a heart as fast as a bullet. That’s the reason a high-dose of potassium is in the third and final injection of lethal-injection procedures. The first two tranquilize and relax the muscles. The potassium is the actual killer, stopping the heart. Luckily, the body has evolved to prevent a buildup of excess potassium, but it can happen under certain conditions.

As noted, under normal circumstance the body is able to handle larger amounts of potassium. The potassium level is detected in the blood, which then prods the kidneys into collecting and rapidly excreting the excess. Anything that interferes with kidney function can lead to a dangerous buildup of potassium. Having kidney disease, especially kidney failure, is a prime risk factor for potassium overload and such patients are monitored and warned not to take in excess potassium.

Certain drugs can also interfere with kidney function enough to cause potassium retention, including certain blood pressure drugs and potassium-sparing diuretics. The latter encourage the excretion of sodium while retaining potassium in the body. Years ago pro bodybuilder Mike Matarazzo nearly died when he unknowingly took large doses of potassium while using a potassium-sparing diuretic drug shortly before a contest. His goal was to lose excess water, but it easily could have cost him his life.

There are other, less obvious sources of concentrated potassium. A recent medical journal presented two case studies related to excess potassium intake.¹ The first case involved a 65-year-old man with heart disease who had been prescribed a low-sodium diet. He began using a salt substitute that contained potassium chloride. He used eight teaspoons a day, sprinkled on his meals, in addition to taking a prescribed potassium supplement. That led to an emergency room visit, in which he complained of breathing difficulty and muscle weakness. He also had a slow heartbeat and low blood pressure. Not long after showing up, he went into respiratory depression; that is, he couldn’t breathe on his own. His blood potassium level was 8.5; the normal range is 3.5 to 5.0. The attending doctors gave him medication to lower his potassium, and he left the hospital 11 days later.

The other patient discussed in the article was a 35-year-old bodybuilder who showed up at the ER suffering from weakness and the inability to move. He showed decreased alertness, a slow heartbeat and low blood pressure. He was immediately given an anesthetic drug, followed by a muscle relaxant. Oddly enough, one of the side effects of the muscle relaxant was elevated blood potassium. Talk about putting oil on a fire! Not surprisingly, he went into cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated and then the standard medical protocol for lowering elevated blood potassium, medication that was formulated to push the excess blood potassium back into cells.

It turns out that the bodybuilder had been taking a lot of potassium to treat muscle pain. On the day he was admitted to the ER, he had taken 10 potassium tablets before training and another 10 after the workout. He had also consumed several sports drinks during the workout that contained about 1,320 milligrams of potassium each. His estimated total potassium intake was 8,000 milligrams, about twice the recommended daily dose.

Bodybuilders can also get elevated blood potassium after incurring severe muscle damage, a process known as rhabdomyolysis that causes potassium from damaged muscle cells to be rapidly released into the blood. Still, there was no indication that this occurred with this bodybuilder. He simply overdosed on potassium. Luckily for him, his treatment was successful, and he left the hospital three days later, more aware—we can only hope—of the dangers of excess potassium.

While excess-potassium problems are rare in bodybuilders who have normal kidney function, problems of too little potassium are far more common, particularly in those who resort to using potent diuretic drugs in a last-ditch effort to drop excess water prior to a contest. I’ve witnessed dozens of cases over the years of bodybuilders actually passing out backstage because of diuretic abuse. In one celebrated case a pro bodybuilder literally froze during his posing presentation at the Arnold Classic and had to be carried off the stage. He was lucky though; he survived after a short hospital visit. Others haven’t been that lucky and died due to diuretic use. The usual cause of death is heart failure due to electrolyte disturbances brought on by diuretics. One such fatality was pro bodybuilder Mohammed Benaziza, who died during a contest tour in Europe, having used not only massive doses of diuretics but also clenbuterol, a drug that also lowers blood potassium and can interfere with heart function.

In a worst-case scenario having too little potassium can cause your diaphragm to be paralyzed, leading to an inability to breathe. Lack of potassium is also related to rhabdomyolysis, or muscle destruction, which ironically, as mentioned above, leads to excess potassium being released into the blood. You can get low blood potassium from excess vomiting and diarrhea as well. It can also happen due to too high a secretion of aldosterone, severe hyperglycemia—high blood sugar—and certain diuretics. Insulin rapidly lowers blood potassium by pushing it from blood into cells; in fact, insulin is often given to those with elevated blood potassium. Any of the common asthma inhaler drugs also does the same thing.

The same journal that documented the case studies of elevated potassium also discussed the case of an Austrian pro bodybuilder who suffered the consequences of using a potent diuretic called furosemide, or Lasix.² This particular diuretic promotes a huge excretion of sodium, potassium and magnesium and is well-known for causing painful muscle cramps in bodybuilding competitors. The subject was 26 and was on the usual drug stack of steroids, growth hormone, thyroid and insulin. He claimed that he’d never suffered any adverse side effects from that program, except for an episode of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, likely from the insulin. For the first time in his career, however, he’d opted to take two 80-milligram doses of Lasix 24 and 48 hours prior to his contest. He did experience a pronounced diuretic effect, evident by his weight loss of five to six kilograms due to overnight pissing.

The following day, though, he felt unusually tired and decided to take a nap. When he awoke, he felt heart palpitations and couldn’t walk. He got out of bed but immediately fell to the floor. A neighbor saved his life by calling for an ambulance, and he was taken to a local ER. He was treated with several potassium and other mineral drugs to boost his potassium, and he survived. Again, we can only hope that he gained a profound respect for the importance of maintaining potassium levels—as well as the power of diuretics.

If these tales illustrate anything, it’s that you need to be aware of the sources of potassium and the factors that can affect blood levels of it. The second bodybuilder discussed above had no idea that dropping a few potassium pills and drinking over-the-counter sports drinks could land him in the hospital. The prudent way to handle potassium is to get it in food. Supplements are rarely necessary, and many supplements, such as meal substitutes, already contain good amounts of potassium.

Editor’s note: Have you been ripped off by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

¹ John, S.K., et al. (2011). Life threatening hyperkalemia from nutritional supplements: uncommon or undiagnosed? Am J Emerg Med. 29(9):1237.e1-2.

² Mayr, F.B., et al. (2012). Hypokalemic paralysis in a professional bodybuilder. Am J Emerg Med. 30(7):1324.e5-8.

©,2015 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

  PLEASE SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON FACEBOOK

 

Truth and Lies About Fat Loss Supplements with Jerry Brainum, Inverviewed by Jay Campbell

FabFitOver40’s Interview with The Muscle Guru Jerry Brainum

 

 

Health expert Jerry Brainum (www.jerrybrainum.com) will speak about his findings during his 53 years of experience in the bodybuilding and fitness world. Don't miss this opportunity to ask him…

 

 

See information at http://appliedergogenics.blogspot.com/2015/08/truth-and-lies-about-fat-loss.html

 

Please share this article on facebook

Myostatin by Jerry Brainum Video

©,2015 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

Please share this video on facebook

 

A Rare Editorial by Jerry Brainum

Regular readers of Applied Metabolics know that I'm not big on writing editorials. The main reason for editorials in publications such as magazines and newspapers, is to allow the editor to express his or her opinions separate from the articles in the publication. In other cases, an editorial offers a brief synopsis of what's in the current issue. Frankly, I think that in most cases, editorials are just wasted space and add nothing of value to any publication. I admit to having never read even a single editorial in most of the publications that I've written for over the years. As I said, on those rare occasions when I did read an editorial in any publication, it invariably turned out to be a waste of time. So with that in mind, you might be wondering why I'm writing this editorial. I think the only rational reason to write an editorial is if you have something important to say, or if you want to mark a certain occasion. The latter is the reason I'm writing this, since this September issue of Applied Metabolics marks the one year point of the publication's existence.
     It's been over a year since I've last written for any magazines. Leaving the magazine world was something I should have done years earlier than when I did. The magazines began a gradual decline with the advent of the economic downturn of 2008. Shortly after that, advertisers, which are the life blood of magazines, began abandoning magazines en masse, which led to greatly reduced budgets for all of the magazines. Some simply went out of business in a style reminiscent of bookstores that were destroyed by the rise of online behemoth sellers, such as Amazon.com. They simply couldn't compete with Amazon, so they closed their doors permanently. The bodybuilding magazines tightened their budgets to the extent that they paid freelance writers little or nothing. The staff writers had little choice other than to also accept considerable pay cuts, but at least they, unlike the freelancers, were still getting benefits and a livable income. So it came to pass that the bulk of articles written for the magazines were submitted by amateurs with little or no knowledge or writing ability. This stark lack of quality was reflected in the magazine content, which grew more dismal with every issue. The magazines became, in effect, merely sales catalogs that highlighted the few advertisers they could still muster. 
    Since the majority of these advertisers were sports supplements purveyors, the articles reflected this, often extolling the virtues of supplements that were worthless--but were sold by advertisers in the magazine. The purchase of magazines continues to drop, as more enlightened readers realize that they are buying what amounts to pages of mostly advertisements for supplements.
    While the Internet has the potential to be a great source of information regarding nutrition and exercise, it is sadly disappointing in this regard. While you can still find some gems among the heap of garbage and misinformation that makes up the majority of blogs and web sites, such reliable information is rare and difficult to find. Anyone can write anything on the Internet, so there is no control of content or accuracy of information offered.
    This sad state of current information was a primary motivation for my resurrecting Applied Metabolics newsletter, which was originally a print publication in the late 90s. I felt that there were many people out there like myself who wanted all the details about exercise, nutrition, anti-aging, supplements and other topics in a clear, evidence-based manner with no bullshit or lies. I continue to work towards this goal, and I believe that the content of Applied Metabolics cannot be matched by any other publication. I've seen many of them over the last year, and they pale in comparison to the extent of information offered in Applied Metabolics. Another reason that what I offer cannot be duplicated is that few if any others in this business can match my years of experience and study, which amounts to over half a century. I offer little tricks in Applied Metabolics that I've learned empirically throughout the past 53 years. This is one of the primary advantages of reading Applied Metabolics: After reading any article in this publication, you will know all there is to know about it.
So, this is a long-winded way of thanking you, the readers, for your continued support. I have some fantastic material coming up that includes in no particular order:

Vegetarianism and muscle: Can you build muscle and strength while being a vegetarian?

The mysteries of the Microbiome: The bacteria that reside within our bodies can among other things, control uptake of nutrients,affect body fat levels, and help prevent chronic disease. Also, 99% of our immune response depends on activity of the microbiome. I will discuss how to keep it healthy and efficient.

Citrulline- A remarkable amino acid that can boost nitric oxide, and affect protein synthesis. How to get the most benefits from it.

Beets and nitric oxide- I will report many facts about the beets/vegetable NO pathway and how they affect exercise and health that have not been previously written about anywhere.

How to use exercise for extreme weight loss.

Vitamin D: the muscle and mind connection

New research about vitamin C and how it affects your health

Brown adipose tissue- How it may be the future method to control obesity and lose body fat, how to activate it without drugs.

Slowing the aging process: what works now.

The whey-acne connection

How anabolic steroids really affect the brain

Women and testosterone

Is Phosphatidic acid really anabolic?

How to use carbohydrates effectively to boost training energy and muscle growth

Why dieting can make you fatter

Can you be fat, but fit

Intermittent fasting: What they don't tell you, the truth

Conjugated linoleic acid: Does it help you lose body fat and improve health?

A Nutritional, side-effect free cure for migraine headaches

Betaine: an overlooked supplement that can offer amazing effects   This is just a sample of what's coming up in Applied Metabolics. Stay tuned: the best is yet to come, trust me!

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

  Please share this post on facebook

 

Does Protein Make You Fat? by Jerry Brainum

Self-styled experts often attribute various side effects to long-term high-protein diets—dehydration, calcium and bone loss, kidney disease and even increased bodyfat. The latter is based on the fact that protein contains calories, and taking in too many calories inevitably leads to gaining bodyfat.

A gram of protein contains four calories, the same as a gram of carbohydrate. Fat is the most concentrated source of calories at 9 1/2 per gram, but according to many nutrition pundits, that doesn’t matter. It makes no difference if you focus on a particular macronutrient—protein, fat or carb; if you consume more calories than you burn as energy, the excess will be stored as bodyfat.


Low-carb-diet proponents vigorously object to what they consider to be an oversimplification. It’s more than just a case of excess calories causing excess bodyfat, they say. There is also a hormonal interaction, namely insulin.

Insulin is indeed the most fattening hormone in the body. Whenever it is secreted, fat is either being maintained or synthesized. Among other functions, insulin blocks the activity of various enzymes that are involved in fat mobilization from fat cells as well as the actual oxidation, or burning, of fat.

Because of that, having a simple carbohydrate—a high-glycemic-index carb—prior to training will block the use of fat as fuel due to the higher insulin release that results. That effect lasts for an average of four hours after the high-carb meal is eaten. The general recommendation is that if you consume any carb prior to training, it should be from a low-glycemic-index source, which will cause less of an insulin release and promote more fat burning.

Even so, the low-carb devotees go further, claiming that calories are less important than carb intake for losing bodyfat. As evidence, they point to published studies that found more fat loss in people who ate low-carb diets than those who ate more carbs, even when the diets contained the identical number of calories. Low-carb diets not only control the harmful effects of insulin but also produce a higher thermic effect after meals. “Thermic,” or “thermogenic,” effect refers to the dissipation of consumed calories into heat. It’s also known as futile energy cycles, since no work is done to dissipate the calories.

Critics of low-carb regimens call this “metabolic magic”—meaning nonsense. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, they say, and when it comes to ultimate fat loss, how many calories you take in compared to how many you burn is the ultimate arbiter. As evidence, they produce studies showing that while low-carb diets do tend to bring more rapid and greater rates of fat loss initially, as time goes on, it evens out. At the end of a year the fat-loss rate for low-carb diets and other diets is about the same, assuming that they contained the same number of total calories. The naysayers hold that insulin alone cannot make you fat unless you take in an overabundance of calories.

Then there is the protein issue. One of the established tenets of low-carbohydrate regimens is that you must increase your protein. It’s based on a number of established roles of protein in the body. For one thing, a higher protein intake is known to help maintain lean mass, mainly muscle.

Critics of low-carb diets like to point out that the body requires a certain amount of carbohydrate to function properly, an assertion that is not based in science. In fact, there is no established carbohydrate requirement. One reason is that other substances can be converted in the body to the main carbohydrate it uses—glucose. As such, lactate, glycerol from fat and amino acids from protein can all be converted into glucose in the liver. Consequently, carbs are not essential.

All that said, you don’t want to avoid carbs all the time. In some cases they offer definite advantages, such as for those engaged in endurance sports or training. A minimal amount of carb also plays a role in anabolic recovery processes following training, a key reason that you should never consider a zero-carb diet.

The low-carb diet features a higher protein intake because the excess protein helps to spare muscle that might otherwise be degraded for energy. The branched-chain amino acids are particularly effective in that regard. Other reasons for taking in more protein as your calories or carbs drop is to help control appetite, since protein helps you feel full when you’re dieting. Eating more protein also appears to maintain the resting metabolic rate, which ensures optimal fat loss.

What about the notion that taking in too much protein can make you fat? The pragmatic experience of generations of bodybuilders disputes it. While the suggested optimal intake of protein for bodybuilders is 1.7 grams per kilogram—2.2 pounds—of bodyweight, in actual practice most bodybuilders get far more than that. Considering the ubiquitous presence of protein in meat, chicken, turkey, eggs, milk and so on, along with the generous intake of protein supplements and meal-replacement powders, it’s not that difficult for many bodybuilders to take in two to three times more than the recommended dose of protein.

If, in fact, protein was as fattening as some people assert, bodybuilders who eat that much would look like walking versions of the Goodyear blimp. Clearly, they do not. Plus, bodybuilders are nutritionally savvy enough to boost their protein during dieting conditions—which also should be hindering their fat loss but clearly does not. Even people who don’t engage in weight training often eat more protein than they need, yet they rarely, if ever, get fat—unless they eat too many carbs and calories along with the protein.

How can that be? For one thing, the usual fate of ingested protein differs between inactive and active people. In active people excess protein undergoes metabolic changes in which the nitrogen portion is removed and excreted as urea. What about the calories? In active people the excess calories in protein are oxidized in the liver and not stored as fat.

While there is an outside chance that excess protein can wind up as fat in sedentary folks, in reality, they also have to be overeating carbs and calories in relationship to their activity levels. That was shown in a recent highly publicized study published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association.¹

Twenty-five healthy men and women, aged 18 to 35, all of whom were overweight to varying degrees, stayed in a metabolic unit in a research lab for 10 to 12 weeks. First, they ate a “weight-stabilizing” diet—15 percent protein, 25 percent fat and 60 percent carbs— for 13 to 25 days, and during the last eight weeks they were randomly divided into three diet groups:


• 5 percent protein (low protein)

• 15 percent protein (normal protein)

• 25 percent protein (high protein)

It wasn’t just the protein intake that the researchers were looking at, however. All three groups were purposely overfed during the last two months of the study—specifically, they got 40 percent more calories than what they ate on the baseline, or maintenance, diet. The results showed that those in the low-protein group gained less weight than the others, but they also stored 90 percent of their excess calories as fat. The 6.6 percent increase in resting metabolism in the low-protein group was attributed to the metabolic cost of converting the excess calories into bodyfat. In contrast, in the normal and higher protein groups 50 percent of the excess calories were stored as fat. The rest were burned up in a thermogenic reaction.

Another difference was that neither resting energy expenditure or lean body mass increased in the low-protein group, but they did in the normal- and high-protein groups. The excess calories eaten by all three groups were in the form of fat, which contains the greatest concentration of calories. Despite that, the high-protein group had the least amount of excess calories stored as fat, which underscores the effects of that strategy, as discussed above—that is, more calories are dissipated during a higher protein intake.

Based on the results of this study, the authors say that overall calorie intake, not how much protein you eat, is what makes you fat. In addition, it should be noted that the subjects did not exercise but rather remained sedentary in a metabolic lab. Without question, vigorous exercise changes the way nutrients are used in the body. Not only does exercise burn off excess calories, but the muscle gains accrued during weight training will prevent any possibility of excess protein being converted into bodyfat.

—Jerry Brainum

Editor’s note: Have you been ripped off by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

¹ Bray, G., et al. (2012). Effect of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition during overeating. JAMA. 307;47-55.


©,2015 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

  Please share this article on facebook