Nutrient Timing

Not only what you eat is important, but more recently we are discovering how important when you eat is. Timing your nutrition appropriately is an easy way to accelerate your fitness results. Our muscles need the right amount of fuel for proper function and recovery. When they receive this you will see huge progress in muscle growth and fat burning capability.

For this post we are going to focus on your post workout nutrient timing. When you exercise there are two main things that happen. First the stress hormone (yes exercise is a form of stress), cortisol is released into the blood stream. This causes a muscle breakdown and it suppresses your immune system. The other main thing to occur during exercise occurs in the muscle. You burn muscle glycogen, which is energy that is stored in the muscle, and muscle fibers are damaged causing them to be irritated and inflamed. After your workout you have two goals then. You want to limit the damaging effect of cortisol and you want to replace muscle glycogen so your muscles can rebuild as quickly as possible.

After exercise muscles become very sensitive to insulin, a hormone that will lower cortisol and drive nutrients into the muscle cells to help with protein synthesis. By consuming carbohydrates you will see an increase in insulin levels in the blood which will minimize the effects of cortisol and help inhibit muscle breakdown. Not only that, but insulin will help shuttle more amino acids to the muscles to increase protein synthesis and increase blood flow to the muscle to help remove waste products faster.

So what do you have to eat and when to see these amazing benefits? First off you have about a 30-45 minute window of time where you muscles will remain sensitive to insulin. So you should plan a post workout meal or snack within that time. You need to consume carbohydrates and proteins in the meal. Most make the mistake to only have large amounts of protein after a workout to try and build more muscle. You really want to have about a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of protein to carbs. That's right. You want to have more carbs after your workout than protein. It is the carbs that cause the increase in insulin levels and that will help bring the amino acids to the muscles. More specifically you want high glycemic carbohydrates post workout. These are the carbs that increase insulin levels very quickly after ingestion. Try and get approximately 50g of high GI carbs with about 15g of protein. If you can whey protein or a protein blend with whey in it has been shown to be most beneficial. The easiest way to achieve this would be through a protein powder mixed with some time of carb such as milk or Gatorade.

Below is a recipe I received from Alex Cardarelli with Love Your Assets. This is a recipe for a protein bar that has just about a 1:4 ratio of protein to carbs. I can personally attest that they are delicious.


High Protein Peanut/Almond Butter Apricot Energy Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup Natural Peanut Butter (creamy or smooth) (you can also use almond butter!)
1 cup Honey
1 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1 cup Diced Apricots, cut into small pieces
1 cup Sliced Almonds
3 scoops Vanilla Protein Powder (organic)
Cinnamon to taste (optional)

Directions:
1) In medium size pot, heat Honey & Peanut Butter on stove
on medium heat until texture is runny.
2) Mix in Apricots, Nuts, Oatmeal, & Protein Powder
3) Stir until all ingredients are well coated
4) Grease a 9×9 pan with fat free non-stick spray.
5) Press in ingredients evenly
6) Cool in fridge for at least 45 minutes
7) Slice & wrap individual bars in foil or plastic wrap.
8) Enjoy!

Nutritional Information:
Servings: Makes 16 bars, Calories: 275, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 90mg, Carbohydrates: 39g, Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 25g, Iron: 1mg, Protein: 11.5g.
Substitutions: Try dried cranberries, chocolate chips, or your favorite dried fruit, in place of the apricots. Also try drizzling Agave or Honey on top of the bars before refrigerating.