Protein:

[Tron3219]

I have noticed more then a few questions on protein and bcaa's, maybe this will help some of the newer members of our community and the sport get where they are going!

What is protein?
Protein is a naturally occurring substance that consists of chains of amino acids. There are many amino acids, but there is only 20 (22 if you count the anomolies) amino acids that make up the standard genetic code. These amino acids are alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, thyrosine and valine. Histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine are essential amino acids which mean we MUST get them from food sources and can not be made by the body. All amino acids have the same basic chemical structure, a central carbon atom, a hydrogen atom, a group of atoms called an amino group and a group of atoms called a carboxyl group. What distinguishes each amino acid is a a portion of the structure called a side chain or R-group, which has a unique chemical arrangement. These amino acids are held together to form various types of proteins via peptide bond between the carboxyl group of the the joined amino acids. The specific content and and organization of the amino acids are determined by the genetic instructions inside the cell that creates it. The order of these acids dictate the basic shape and function inside your body.

What is protein used for?
Protein has many functions in the body, but is ultimately responsible for growth and repair. The function of the protein classifies them as globular protein, which triggers chemical reactions; membrane proteins, which receive chemical messages; and fibrous protein, which provide cellular structure (muscle!).

How does protein build muscle?
We all know that protein is needed in our diets to build muscle. but why? I think it is common misconception that the protein we eat is directly deposited into our muscles to make them bigger. Its a little more complicated then that.
The first thing that has to take place is the muscle fibers must undergo damage. This is done by resistance training, the stretching and contracting of a muscle. These micro tears release satellite cells from between the basement membrane and the sarcolemma of muscle fibers to proliferate the trauma. These satellite cells have one nuclei and can replicate by dividing. As the satellite cells multiply, they fuse to each other and to the muscle fiber. Some remain as organelles on the muscle fiber where they mature into normal cells and form new protein stands (myofibrils) or repair damaged fibers. The myofibrils increase in thickness is called hypertrophy. After fusion with the muscle fiber some satellite cells also serve as a source of new nuclei to supplement the growing muscle fiber. The additional nuclei can cause the muscle fiber to synthesize more proteins (from the protein that we have ingested and broken down to amino acids, remember?) and create more contractile myofilaments known as actin and myosin. So without taking in protein, the satellite cells can not repair the damaged muscle because it doesn't have amino acids to make new protein strands (muscle fibers). We must consume protein, the body breaks it down to amino acids, and the amino's are built up to form the protein strand that is needed for repair. Its like taking a tree, cutting it down, processing it into lumber and then building a house with it.

Whats the difference between the different forms of protein we take it?
As far as dietary protein you have 2 classifications, complete proteins and incomplete protein. Complete proteins are sources of food that contain adequate proportions of all the essential amino acids. Examples of complete proteins are meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, quinoa and soybeans. Incomplete protein sources, food that is low in one or more essential amino acid, consists of foods like beans, rice, corn, etc.
Aside from dietary protein, you have protein powders. Most typical being whey protein, with the subclassification of concentrate, isolate, and hydrolysate. Whey is a complete protein with a high biological value, meaning the amino acid ratio is excellent for building muscle and a large proportion of the protein consumed is absorbed and utilized by the body. It is a by-product of the cheese making process and in its raw state contains quite a bit of fat and lactose(milk sugar). The protein is separated from the fat and lactose through microfilteration or ion exchange. You get concentrate or isolate. The difference between the two is that isolate is more pure. Meaning, the protein to byproduct ratio is much higher in isolate. Depending on where you get the info, concentrate is between 70-85% protein, and isolate is 90-94% protein. Keep in mind those numbers are very "ish" and will vary between brands. Concentrate is generally cheaper then isolate, but if you are very lactose intolerant, isolate may be a better choice. Isolate has some of the immune-boosting protein subractions such as alpha lactoglobulins and lactoferrins removed. All in all, i think the two are pretty close to each other and doesn't make much of a difference in which you choose as far as hypertrophy goes. Lypolysis may be a different story though! Hydrolysate whey protein is, or was, whey concentrate or isolate. Both concentrate and isolate are composed of extremely large peptide structures. To reduce their size, enzymes in your digestive system have to break the bonds between the amino acids. To speed up this process, the concentrate or isolate is "predigested" and allowed to absorb into the blood stream faster. It is also a considerable amount more expensive then concentrate or isolate.
Whey is probably the most popular type of protein in our community, next probably being casein protein. Micellar casein protein is the natural, undenatured form of casein found in milk and separated by ultra filtration and is a slow digesting protein that continues to feed our muscles long after whey has dropped off. Some studies have shown casein protein to sustain steady amino acid elevations for up to 7 hours. Casein doesn't increase the protein synthesis to a high degree as does whey, but it plays higher role in the prevention of muscle breakdown because of its sustained amino acid levels over a longer period of time. Casein is best used in conjunction with whey. Use the whey to stimulate protein synthesis and casein to sustain it. Its best use is during the day mixed with carbs and efa's to use as a meal on the go, at the beginning of a fast, also known as bed time. we all know muscles grow at night
You also have the less popular proteins such as soy, milk isolate, and egg albumin. I will only touch on each of these as they are not as popular. Soy protein is a good source of protein for a vegetarian diet. Its loaded with glutamine, arginine and bcaa's, especially leucine. It also supports healthy cholesterol, boost thyroid hormone output and speeds up metabolism, fairly quick digesting. Milk protein isolate contains both whey and casein proteins and also full of amino acids. Its typically used in blended protein sources but typically aren't a preferred choice because they are typically high in fat and lactose. Egg albumin was typically used before whey powders existed. Egg whites are high in egg albumin and the amino acid profile is a good one as well. Its also not readily available in powder form and is typically bought in a carton or container and cooked (like egg beaters).
BCAA's, branched-chain amino acids, are leucine, isoleucine and valine. They get their name from the structure of the compounds. Each one has a forked outcropping that looks like a branch. Bcaa's fall into the category of essential amino acids (remember, there are 20 of them) and comprise of roughly one third of the aminos in muscle tissue. The way these amino's are metabolised are a bit different then the rest. While most amino's are metabolized in the liver, bcaa's are metabolized primarily by muscle. The fact that they can be metabolized within the muscle, allows them to be oxidized (used for energy) by muscle cells to produce cellular energy in the form of ATP. ATP is the primary source of energy for contraction. Bcaa's have been proven to be potent performance enhancer because of their unique metabolism. Not only can they be used as energy themselves but they can also enhance fat oxidation in glycogen depleted subjects. They can also boost performance by being able to spare glycogen by up to 25% by boosting the blood alanine levels which gets converted to glucose in the liver and the sent back to working muscles to be used as fuel. It has also been shown that bcaa intake can have a positive effect on anabolic hormones such as testosterone , insulin and growth hormone . Testosterone is known to rise during intense training and fall back to baseline shortly after training has stopped, with the intake of bcaa prior to training, studies have shown that test levels will rise and stay elevated for several hours after training has stopped. This also improves the testosterone to cortisol ratio. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone and breaks down muscle tissue, fyi. The amino acid leucine also shows promise for increasing insulin sensitivity and ensures that insulin within your body stays effective. The ability to spare glycogen and increase insulin sensitivity can play a role in speeding up a low carbohydrate fat loss diet. Some newer studies have shown that bcaa's particularly leucine, act to send signals to the body that will inform it to build muscle. Leucine works to signal muscle growth through its interaction with mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). The mTOR is located within the cells and is responsible for detecting an excess of amino acids and plays a key role in regulating muscle hypertrophy, especially luecine. When leucine is taken orally it activates mTOR, which activates protein synthesis and increases the cell's capacity to produce new muscle tissue. Luecine alone can lower concentrations of the other two bcaa's and best results have see in in a ratio of 2:1:1 of leucine, isoleucine and valine. Although these bcaa's may be able to act to signal muscle growth on a cellular level, you still need the complete amino profile to build muscle, or your body has nothing to build with.


When and how much?
The how much topic is often debated. If you don't have enough protein, your muscles can succumb to a catabolic environment, to much and it can strip the nitrogen, excreted as urea and removed by the urine, and the rest is converted to glucose and potentially fat. The minimum is somewhere around .36g/lb, but that is the bare minimum to keep from losing substantial amount of lbm. As far as athletes and bodybuilders I've heard numbers anywhere from .8g/lb to 2g/lb, I personally like to keep my protein intake between 1 and 1.5g/lb. Dietary protein should generally be kept fairly constant throughout the day for most people, though I believe there are exceptions. Preworkout and intraworkout are a good time to ingest 5-10g(bodyweight depending) bcaa's, as explained above. Shorly after training, protein is a must so your body can start repairing muscles. Casein should be used before any long term lack of protein. Each type of protein serves a specific purpose, use it to maximize your muscle growth!

[kronik420]

good read, lots of new words thank fk for dictionary.com lol

[Tron3219]

good read, lots of new words thank fk for dictionary.com lol

Haha always good to expand your knowledge base

-TroN

[TT_Tweeker]

Good stuff bro

[bigsiv]

Great post Tron well done!!!!

[gbrice75]

Tron - unless these are your words, it'd be nice for you to credit who/where you got the info from.

[Tron3219]

Tron - unless these are your words, it'd be nice for you to credit who/where you got the info from.

The info was put together by me, I just gathered it all over the past week or so. It originally started out as me learning more about the process and the in's and outs of protein for my own personal enlightenment. Taking notes from different studies, write ups, cross checking the information I read to other sources to see how true they were. My notes turned into almost a write up on its own, so I decided to share it, also why I stated it was merely a guideline to point people in the right direction. After thoughts said I should have recorded all the sources I got the info from, but I've been to literally 100's of web pages just reading, and like I said, it was originally just notes, then refined to make sense and shared as a guideline to people that know very little about it to try and help them.

-TroN

[gbrice75]

The info was put together by me, I just gathered it all over the past week or so. It originally started out as me learning more about the process and the in's and outs of protein for my own personal enlightenment. Taking notes from different studies, write ups, cross checking the information I read to other sources to see how true they were. My notes turned into almost a write up on its own, so I decided to share it, also why I stated it was merely a guideline to point people in the right direction. After thoughts said I should have recorded all the sources I got the info from, but I've been to literally 100's of web pages just reading, and like I said, it was originally just notes, then refined to make sense and shared as a guideline to people that know very little about it to try and help them.

-TroN

In that case, cheers!