Protein / carb-cycling

[Guest guest]

Dear a,

> Andy,

>

> I follow your rational about the carbs post-workout. But I'm

> concerned I'm not getting all my carb portions during the day.

From the research I've been doing, I've concluded (at least so far)

that although carbs are an essential part of healthy eating, we don't

need as many carbs as we've been led to believe. I have two carb

days a week. The reason I'm currently doing 7 days of *just* protein

is not because I'm getting into the Atkins diet - but there is *some*

truth to the Atkins diet. The 7 days is for the purpose of a

metabolic shift: I'm reprogramming my body from being a sugar burner

(what most of us are because we live in a culture that relies mostly

on carbs) to a fat burner.

After the 7-day shift, I'll begin cycling the carb days into my

week. There *are* times when you want an insulin spike, and that's

the purpose of the periodic carb-loads. But you don't want an

insulin spike closely following a workout.

I'm saying this not because I'm personally an expert; I'm certainly

not. But one thing I *am* generally good at is doing research and

evaluating arguments. I believe NATURAL HORMONAL ENHANCEMENT offers

a superior way of eating to that of BFL because it's far more

scientifically thorough and meticulous. Ironically, though, Bill

appears to be endorsing, at least tentatively, a version of

protein/carb cycling in his article " Get Ready to Grow Big Time, " at:

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/abcde/v58_abc1.asp

In one installment of that series, Bill's interviewee, Torbjorn

Akerfeldt, states:

" As you know, fat loss is all but impossible in the presence of

elevated insulin levels—a high-carbohydrate diet will severely

inhibit fat oxidation. Also, if you followed a high-carbohydrate diet

during the low-calorie phase, the accompanying increase in fat

oxidation would make you put on a lot of fat during the next bulking

phase.

" Nevertheless, carbohydrates also have some very important properties

during a hypocaloric diet, such as keeping GH and IGF-1 primed.

Therefore, it's almost necessary to perform " microcycles " for optimal

results. "

Now most of the article follows on larger cycles of 2 weeks each; the

first 2 weeks are low-cal dieting combined with cardio exercise

strictly for the purpose of fat loss. The following 2 weeks are high-

cal dieting with weight training strictly for the purpose of muscle

gain. Then you cycle these 2-week periods indefinitely. But in a

later installment Bill gets back to the subtopic of micro-cycling:

" BP: There have also been a number of queries about the " micro-

cycling theories " you talked briefly about in the past two articles.

What's this about?

" TA: My concept of micro-cycling is actually a sub-theory of the

ABCDE Program. Not only do I recommend changing your calorie intake

and exercise program every two weeks, I also think manipulating

things like your protein, fat, and carbohydrate intake every three

days, within the structure of the high- and low-calorie cycles, may

allow you to get even better results faster. "

Then in part IV Bill continues on this subtopic:

" All right, let's move on to new business. A couple times, in

previous articles, Torbjorn Akerfeldt has mentioned that the " micro-

cycling " of macronutrients, specifically protein, may offer another

way to " trick the body " into gaining new muscle size. To be honest,

before Torbjorn introduced this theory, I had never heard, nor even

thought, of cycling protein, but after he explained this theory to me

and showed me the scientific rationale behind it, I'm beginning to

believe there might be something to this new concept as well. In a

recent interview with Torbjorn, I asked him about this theory. Here's

how it went...

" Bill : Let's talk about something you mentioned in our last

interview—cycling protein intake. How does this work, and why would

someone want to do this? I was under the impression that you had to

consume a high-protein diet every day to gain muscle. It sounds like

a wild theory to be honest.

" Torbjorn Akerfeldt: I realize that by introducing the concept of

protein cycling, I might cause some of your readers to say, " That

Swedish guy with the unpronounceable name has finally gone nuts... " I

say this because I've found that bodybuilders hold three things

sacred: heavy squats, steroids—or creatine for drug-free bodybuilders—

and a high protein intake. As long as you don't touch these dogmas,

many bodybuilders will listen and be prepared to do some of the most

outrageous, unscientific, and often dangerous things, in an effort to

become bigger and stronger. However, I have to challenge one of these

fundamentals: namely, the high protein intake. I know some of your

readers, after reviewing even this much of the text, will flip to the

next article. I warn them that this is a big mistake. By " hearing me

out, " I promise they'll learn something new about protein metabolism

and muscle growth that may change the way they view protein intake

forever, allowing them to reach a new standard of muscle growth and

fat loss.

" BP: Should we cycle protein like calories—going two weeks on a high-

protein diet and two weeks on a low-protein diet?

" TA: No. I need to emphasize that my theory involves reducing protein

intake only for a few days at a time. In order to understand why this

is important—why it could allow bodybuilders to get better results

from their workouts—I need to explain some of the basics about

protein and its biochemistry, so please bear with me. I believe that

if more bodybuilders understood the contemporary science behind the

metabolic processes of muscle growth and fat loss, they would be able

to spot a flawed theory before they had put a lot of their blood,

sweat, and tears—not to mention money—into it. As I've explained in

my previous interviews, it is important to understand that we all

react and adapt to dietary changes; our bodies are constantly trying

to outsmart us, you might say. I see this not only in the gym but

also when reviewing statistics from scientific studies on nutrition.

The body is amazing. "

Later in the same installment:

" BP: How did you come up with your protein cycling theory?

" TA: My interest in protein cycling originated about a year ago when

I realized that if you change from a diet with normal protein intake

to one with a high intake, after about a week, you will have less

amino acids in your blood than before upping your protein intake.13

The reason for this is not only enzymatic adaptation but also

hormonal changes. A high protein intake stimulates the release of a

hormone called glucagon, which is a hormone that opposes the effects

of the anabolic hormone insulin.

" With increased protein intake, the urea cycle runs at a faster pace

to excrete the nitrogen from the excess amino acids. Glucagon is

also " consuming " amino acids, but in this case, to create glucose

[gluconeogenesis] by up-regulating gluconeogenic enzymes.

Unfortunately, these two systems overcompensate and thus decrease the

amount of available amino acids in the bloodstream. However, it seems

that the transport of amino acids into muscle is initially improved.

" After examining this issue, I went on to explore what happens during

a period of low protein feeding. What I discovered is there are

several mechanisms that preserve muscle proteins in favor of, for

example, liver proteins [which include more labile proteins], during

this condition. First of all, muscle proteins have a longer life span

than liver proteins, so initially [during the first few days of

protein deprivation], liver proteins, rather than muscle proteins,

are lost, and muscle mass is remarkably well preserved.7 Furthermore,

the urea-cycle enzymes are down-regulated [interestingly, the same

thing happens during overfeeding3]; thus, less urea is formed, and

this urea can, under these conditions, even be recycled by something

called the urea-salvage pathway to create amino acids again.10 This

also takes place during training and recovery.2 Even more interesting

are the events within the muscle cell. During the first day of a low

protein intake, protein synthesis is decreased while the degradation

is constant. After three days, however, the degradation is

significantly lowered.23 Thus, in essence, a three-day, low-protein

diet actually stimulates anti-proteolytic mechanisms, or " anti-

catabolism " as it is often referred to in the muscle magazines.

" Now comes the very interesting part—when you switch back to a high-

protein diet, you create the perfect environment for super-

compensation of muscle proteins [GROWTH!] to take place. Here's why:

" The amino acids [nitrogen] will stay in the body since urea-cycle

enzymes are still down-regulated, and the urea-salvage pathway is

still operating.

" The nitrogen balance in muscle is dramatically elevated because the

synthesis is rapidly increased due to improved availability of amino

acids20 and because it takes two days for protein degradation to

increase23 back to your baseline value, which is still lower than

average due to the high protein intake.8,16

" These very important observations are the basis for protein cycling

within the framework of my Anabolic Burst Cycling System. By doing

these micro-cycles, especially during the low-calorie phase, you can

experience muscle growth, even though you are on a restricted-calorie

diet—you can build muscle and burn fat at the same time! This is

what " nutrient repartitioning " is all about—you drive energy stores

from fat to fuel muscle tissue. It is a " rob to pay "

phenomenon. Unfortunately, this " primed condition " exists for only

about two or three days. "

Still later:

" BP: There has been some debate in the scientific community about

whether high-protein diets are dangerous. What do you think?

" TA: I don't recommend a very high-protein diet nor protein cycling

to people with insufficient kidney function [with serum creatinine

over 150 micromol/l] since the high-protein days could throw such a

person into a " uremic state, " which is not only muscle catabolic but

also very unhealthy. For people with critical liver dysfunction, a

high-protein diet could also become a problem by inducing

encephalopathy [brain damage].

" For healthy people, however, protein cycling is probably healthier

than chronic high protein intakes. I believe some bodybuilders who

are consuming these outrageously high protein intakes—over 400 grams

per day—underestimate the possible long-term side effects of such

nutritional practices. With these super-high-protein diets, the

excess protein is partly converted to toxic metabolites, such as

homocysteine and ammonia. [You know you're consuming way too much

protein when your gym clothes start to stink like ammonia—even after

washing them!]

" Most scientists I work with believe nowadays a moderately high-

protein diet, especially for people who pay close attention to their

fluid balance [increased water loss almost always accompanies a high-

protein diet] are not at an increased risk for kidney or liver

damage. The problem with many bodybuilders is that it's hard to

determine if their abnormal liver and kidney parameters are a result

of present or prior use of anabolic steroids or if it's due to

dietary factors.

" Bodybuilders who consume a super-high-protein diet and are convinced

they need this much protein probably do! By consuming so much protein

day in and day out, their bodies become so efficient at breaking down

amino acids that they have turned their metabolic systems

into " protein monsters " that devour amino acids before they can be

used to build muscle tissue.

" BP: Should you cycle carbohydrates and fat, as well as protein?

" TA: There is some basis for performing micro-cycles within the

Anabolic Burst Cycling System with carbohydrates and fat, but they

are quite different; however, there may be important " tricks " for fat

loss especially. I hope to review these in a future article, but for

now, if someone is following all the recommendations I made in the

first three parts of this article, the next step for them—the thing

they can do to get even better results, provided they're following

all of my instructions with discipline, is to experiment with protein

cycling.

" BP:If people are on high-protein diets, how can they get their

systems back into balance?

" TA: I would recommend that anyone who is on a very high-protein diet

start cycling protein intake and gradually lower it. Let's say a 200-

lb bodybuilder is consuming 400 grams of protein a day. What I would

recommend is that for 3 days, he should cut down to 200 grams of

protein a day, then go up to 350 grams a day for 3 days, then come

down to about 150 grams a day, up to 250 grams a day for 3 days, and

so on.

" BP: Who should try protein cycling, and why?

" TA: If a person's goal is to lose fat while gaining muscle at the

same time, protein cycling is definitely something he/she should

experiment with. "

Mind you, Akerfeldt and Rob Faigin (the NHE plan) disagree on just

how many days to cycle, or the precise amounts of carbs and proteins,

but the principle is the same nonetheless. In NHE Faigin writes,

" While the recommendation to avoid extreme protein diets [e.g.,

Atkins] is sound, the general proposition that a protein-rich diet is

unhealthy has also gained currency. And this notion is fundamentally

ridiculous in view of the evidence . . . showing that human beings

evolved on a protein-rich diet. [While I do not subscribe to

evolutionary theory, I agree with Faigin that our ancient ancestors,

at least in many places at many times, subsisted on a protein-rich

diet.] As noted earlier, anti-protein is typically an off-shoot of

anti-fat. In addition, anti-protein is a byproduct of the pro-

carbohydrate movement inasmuch as protein gets displaced from the

diet in the misled effort to elevate carbohydrate to the recommended

60%-70% of total caloric intake. It is interesting how the high-carb

crowd advances vague, unfounded warnings that protein is bad for you

while ignoring the fact that refined-carbohydrate-based diets have

been linked to virtually every major degenerative disease that

afflicts the Western world.

" While more is not necessarily better, too little protein is

unhealthy because, unlike carbohydrate, the human body requires a

certain amount of protein to function properly. The NHE Eating Plan,

by making protein the centerpiece of your diet, effectively precludes

the possibility of deficiency. " [pp 158-59]

One thing that Faigin points out is that it's not the total amount of

protein consumption in your day that is the problem - it's eating too

much protein at *one sitting*. That's why he has a 50g limit per

meal.

< One reason for this is I've also heard it's beneficial to cut the

carbs from the last two meals of the day. If cutting the carbs on

these three meals is done (at least 3 x week with weights), and I

can't figure out a decent schedule. The earliest my day starts is

0645, that's cardio. And I'm usually in bed by 1030-1100pm. I'm

having problems getting in all 6 meals. Any suggestions? >

One suggestion would be to eat more vegetables. Faigin provides a

useful list of " free " vegetables - they have such a good thermogenic

effect (i.e., they make you burn calories in the process of digesting

them) that you can eat almost limitless amounts:

- asparagus

- cauliflower

- broccoli

- cabbage

- celery

- lettuce

- mushrooms

- onions

- radicchio

- radishes

- spinach

Highly thermogenic fruits (though these can't be eaten in unlimited

amounts, because they're carbs) include:

- apples

- appricots

- blueberries

- cherries

- grapes

- peaches

- pears

- raspberries

- strawberries

And you can even eat a fair amount of less-thermogenic, but still

nutritious, fruits and vegetables. (It takes me a long time to get

bored with veggies as long as I have something to put on them, such

as a fat-free gravy I commonly use, or sometimes melted cheese.)

Another possibility, if you don't wish to go whole-hog on protein /

carb cycling (and by the way it's not as if I'm saying the BFL eating

plan is " bad " or something), is simply to cut back on carbs from day

to day. Perhaps as simple as having a protein shake immediately

following your workout (see my other post on a post-workout shake

recipe), and making your last meal before bedtime carb-free as well.

Best regards,

Andy

PS: Faigin's book NATURAL HORMONAL ENHANCEMENT has been mentioned a

number of times on this list. I invite anyone here to go to Faigin's

own website and read his extensive Q & A section if you have any

arguments with what's been posted here.