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The Myth of Eating More Protein to Build Muscle - Busted!We’ve all heard the idea that we need to eat more protein to build muscle. But does this theory hold any water? If we down massive amounts of proteins, will we build more muscle? The answer is no. For centuries we’ve understood that protein is used to repair and support the growth of muscle. In fact, protein is the key nutrient for muscle growth. Through the years, we’ve brainwashed ourselves into thinking that more protein = more muscle. Eat more meat and you’ll develop some amazing abs. Remove this idea from your head! I have a few friends that always tell me about how much stronger they’ve gotten by eating a lot of protein – sometimes in excess of 250 grams per day! I’ve heard more soy burger, skinless chicken breast and protein shake stories than I could stand to handle. In fact, these are some of the reasons that I decided to write this website – to eradicate all of these useless and sometimes dangerous myths on the use of protein to build muscle. Here’s the catch phrase: “Strong guys eat protein.” Yes, this is true. But this is also where things have gone awry. People seem to think that if some protein is good, then a lot must be better! This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Using protein to build muscle is the concept you should be thinking of, but remember that the body remains in a delicate balance of equillibrium - too much or too little of anything can be detrimental. Protein is the most essential nutrient to building muscle. It directly results in the repair and recovery of those micro-torn muscle fibers following a workout or training program. The same protein does not result in any sort of muscle growth when taken in excess in any situation, whether you’re exercising or not. Too much protein isn’t good! Sure, we all want to build more muscle, but this doesn’t mean you have to gorge yourself with protein. Using protein to build muscle has obviously been blown way out of proportion in society. In fact, only about 15% of your total caloric intake should come from proteins, whether you’re a bodybuilder or a scrawny businessman. These types of foods include fish, poultry, red meats (be careful here – avoid saturated fats!), tofu, hummus, beans, peanuts, and dairy products. It may not seem like 15% is enough to support weight lifting program - but you only want enough protein to support the creation of new muscle. Most of the excess protein will be stored as fat! The amount of protein you should take in is correlated with not only your lifestyle, but also your daily caloric intake. For example, if you’re on a strength training program, you should be eating more calories than the average desk clerk. This means that you’ll be taking in more proteins and will be enough to support growing muscle. In other words, you'll be using this protein to build muscle! In fact, some people should even cut their protein ingestion when starting a training program! This may seem like a paradox, but the fact is that most people eat far too much protein. The typical American diet is characterized by an overabundance of protein. The media has given us the idea that we need more protein with fad diets, “weight loss secrets” in magazine articles and TV commercials. We actually had a better protein intake before all this protein hype came over us. If you enjoy having chicken sandwiches for lunch and pork chops for dinner, you’re probably already overloading yourself with proteins. I couldn’t even imagine following one of those low carb/high protein diets. I know several people who follow them – they order hamburgers without the bun, without the mustard and with no pickles. Who wants to eat that? I won’t even get started with the high protein fad diets here. As a bottom line, eating tons of protein by itself has no effect on muscle building, growth, strength, or any variation of this concept without a strength training program. Eating 10 chicken breasts per day alone won’t help your bench press. What does help your bench press and overall strength is training and eating right (which probably requires much less protein than you’re currently eating). Going out of your way to eat more protein to build muscle is unnecessary. So, how does muscle actually repair and grow with protein? Building muscle is a continuous process that involves tearing down and rebuilding muscle fibers. When you do bicep curls at the gym, you’re actually creating microtears in your biceps muscle (mostly during the eccentric action). Ever wonder why you’re sore the next day? Well, this is it! Protein from your diet is used to rebuild this muscle and to promote growth of this muscle so that further damage doesn’t occur the next time it’s put under that sort of stress. Yes, you use protein to build muscle, but don't overdo it! So, what happens if you don’t take in enough protein? The answer is that other muscle fibers are broken down to provide the amino acids to rebuild the damaged muscle. Muscle wasting! On the flip side, what happens when you take in too much protein? Well, you’ll rebuild and promote growth of the damaged muscle, but you’ll also store a lot of it as fat and excrete it in the urine. It’s also important to realize that proteins are used for many other purposes besides muscle repair. Some of these include hair growth, hormone formation, immune system function and nutrient transport through the blood. This is, however, a relatively small amount of protein and still doesn’t mean you need truckloads of protein! Don’t let anyone in the weight room force you to think that protein is the key to rippling abs. They do not understand the chemistry of protein and are making the amateur mistake of eating too much of it. Don’t be that person! Although the importance of protein to build muscle is astronomical, don’t expect to make any gains without calories from other sources. A low carb diet is probably the worst idea I’ve ever heard. You need carbohydrates for energy, endurance, and complete bodily function. How can you expect to even make it through a day, let alone make it through a workout, without the energy you need? You’ll be tired, hungry and dehydrated throughout the day. Even if you’re on a workout program, you’ll reduce your weight load, reps and sets and ultimately build much less muscle. You need your carbs! This applies without regard to any goal or lifestyle. There’s absolutely no need for an extremely low carbohydrate diet. It’s unhealthy and dangerous. If you don’t get enough carbs, where do you get your energy? Well, your muscle proteins are broken down! The component amino acids can be metabolized for energy and sends your body into ketosis - a condition in which your body synthesizes so-called “ketone bodies” from proteins and fat stores for energy metabolism. Basically, this is an emergency response by the body and is not meant for the longer term! Just by eating enough carbs, you’ll prevent this muscle wasting and allow the protein in your diet to work for you – and build muscle (assuming you’re following a workout program). Not only that, but you’ll have enough energy to finish your daily activities. How does this work? Well, when you eat lots of carbs, you store most of it as glycogen in the muscle and liver. This is where your energy comes from! However, if you don’t use the glycogen (as in a sedentary lifestyle), then you’ll get fat. What does that mean? High carbohydrate diets do not make us fat – inactive lifestyles make us fat! People want to lose weight without doing any exercise – this is where the low carb and high protein diets come into play. It’s really a miserable way to eat and live. A low carb diet also means excessive protein intake, which can cause kidney problems over the long term since you’re constantly excreting protein in the urine. A typical example of this sort of diet is ordering a thick burger without the bun. Protein Supplements You may run into a bunch of people down at the gym who take protein supplements. Although I said most of these decisions are highly uninformed, it’s not always a bad thing! Too much protein, however, is a bad thing. Check out my protein supplement page for more information on how to use them! Using protein to build muscle is an excellent concept to understand, but don’t allow yourself to eat too much of the stuff! Overloading your body with tons of amino acids and proteins will only do more harm than good. More protein is not always better!
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