Nutrition 101 – Part 3: Meal 'NUTRIENT' Timing

Part of what we try do here in Dre’s Fitness Group is try to help you by answering your questions... we won’t always have the answers, but we will do our best to assist when possible. A common area of questioning is nutrition... So I decided to put a 5 piece article together to help overcome some of the confusion!

The cornerstones that guide my personal philosophy on daily nutrition are:

• Total calories (Part 1)
• Macro-nutrient breakdown (Part 2)
• Meal timing (Part 3)
• Current training goal - ‘Refeeding, Calorie & Carb Cycling’ (Part 4)
• Prep – ‘Contest prep or Photo shoot’ (Part 5) 

Meal ‘NUTRIENT’ Timing

In Part 1 & 2- I discussed how to determine your daily calorie requirements and macronutrient needs, but with respect to manipulating body composition and maximising performance, if we didn’t discuss Meal/Nutrient timing... it would be a great oversimplification of a very complex topic.

While the how much to eat and what to eat approaches are important ‘nutrient timing’ - The WHEN to  eat has begun to demonstrate that manipulating the time dimension can further assist in taking control of our body composition and performance.

What's So Special About When We Eat?

It use to be as simple as 3 square meals a day – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner! 

You may be thinking to yourself, that is old school, I already break up my food intake into 5-6 smaller meals per day! Let me ask, why do you do that? Probably because you have bought into a few common myths;

TEF - (Thermogenic Effect of Feeding)

This myth originated from the misunderstanding of thermic effect of feeding (one of SEVERAL factors influencing metabolic rate), the amount of calories burned by the body when processing the food you eat.  The thermic effect of feeding averages to about 10% (meal composition also influences TEF). This means a person consuming 300 calories can expect to burn 30 calories during digestion, so every time we eat our metabolic rate spikes slightly during that particular time.  

Numerous studies have demonstrated no metabolic advantage of eating more frequently... the person consuming 3 meals per day is going to burn the same amount of calories through TEF as the person consuming 6 meals a day if total calories and macronutrient amounts are equal. The calories burned through TEF at the end of the day will be the same for both, approximately 10%

Missing meals will cause MUSCLE LOSS

The reality is it takes about 5-6 hours for a typical meal to be completely out of your system--determined by macronutrient composition.  For example, amino acids are still being released in your blood stream 7 hours later after ingestion of 43 grams of casein protein. This means when people eat every 2 or 3 hours the previous meal still hasn't finished digesting. Never mind the fact that it will take 24 hours after the last meal (if you were to go without eating) for liver glycogen to completely deplete. The liver is the switch that tells the body whether to go into a catabolic state. This would indicate that you have about 24 hours (some sources say 18) before your body starts using your muscle for fuel. Thus missing a meal or eating less frequently isn't going to cause muscle loss. 

The key is having the adequate amount of total daily calories!

APPETITE CONTROL

Some people often mention the fact that high frequency meals controls appetite thus ensuring compliance for people dieting to lose weight. 
 

Studies however have shown that the hormone peptide YY (a satiety hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone) are the same in both high meal frequency groups as low frequency meal groups with no difference in appetite control (or weight loss for that matter).

INSULIN CONTROL - The Glycemic Index (GI)

This has been an often misunderstood area – The GI Index is a scale used to measure how quickly carbohydrate foods are digested, absorbed then converted into glucose compared to a reference food. The reference food is usually white bread which is given a GI of 100 (the GI scale starts from 1 and ends at 100).

This is a topic that deserves more focus and I will cover in a separate article at some stage in the future. But many have believed that by eating smaller more frequent meals it helps stabilise blood sugar levels and therefore maximising energy and fat loss. Not the case...

People who are not diabetic or don't have blood sugar regulation issues that base their food choices on the glycemic index miss the benefit of the unique nutrient profile inherent in the different food species in nature. Instead, carbohydrates foods should be chosen based on the extent of processing and refinement not -the glycemic index. The best and most effective way to control body weight/body fat has and will always be calorie control.

Meal frequency should be determined on an individuals needs, not based on the idea that it will speed up the metabolism, suppress appetite or even increase muscle mass (via continuous ingestion of protein every 2 hours). 

For the average person who is not exercising, the principles of nutrient timing are not overly important. For these individuals, what and how much they eat is the most important thing. While when it comes to those of us who train and seek maximum phyZique and performance improvements, the importance of ‘nutrient timing’ must not be underestimated.

The first thing to understand is that the body is primed for fat gain or fat loss just as it's primed for muscle gain or muscle loss during specific times of the day. Consume the wrong foods at the wrong times and you're sabotaging your efforts. Add the right foods and your efforts are given a giant boost.

Secondly, although some foods are not optimal during certain times of the day, some of these same foods can actually be very beneficial during other times of the day. 

Time to unlock the secret...

So if eating 5-6 smaller meals per day is not the focus of this article when it comes to nutrient timing, what is? I can break it into 5 distinct nutritional windows!

1. Morning Refeed Phase 
2. Pre Workout Phase
3. Intra Workout Phase
4. Post Workout Phase
5. Growth Phase

Morning Refeed phase - Waking up is actually a stressful time on the body and in an effort to “ready itself” the body releases several catabolic hormones in order to produce energy. The main two hormones released are cortisol and glucagon both of which can be catabolic to muscle tissue.

Consuming a carbohydrate meal will retard the release of these catabolic hormones and spare muscle tissue. It will also make you feel better by providing fuel for your brain to run on.

I suggest consuming 15% of your daily carbohydrate intake at this meal. These carbohydrates foods should be chosen based on the extent of processing and refinement not -the glycemic index.

It's not just about what you eat... but when you eat.

Pre Workout phase - It is crucial that one consumes carbohydrates before exercise for several reasons.

• Dietary carbohydrates will provide fuel for the anaerobic pathway, and spare muscle tissue from being converted to glucose for fuel.

• Dietary carbohydrates will cause the release of insulin, which blocks the release of cortisol from the pancreas.

• Dietary carbohydrates will increase muscle glycogen levels which will improve performance and decrease fatigue.

I suggest one consume 20% of their total daily carbohydrates in a meal 1.5 to 2 hours before their workout as this will allow the carbohydrates adequate time to be digested and enter the bloodstream.

If you happen to workout after breakfast, merely combine breakfast and your pre workout meal. Thus 20% + 15% = 35% of daily carbohydrate intake should be in pre workout/breakfast meal.

Intra Workout phase - As you probably know, the energy used by skeletal muscle is ATP. This ATP is formed and resynthesised by macronutrients from the diet so carbs, proteins, and fats contribute indirectly to the energy of muscle contraction. Consuming nutrients during your workout when energy demands are highest is highly beneficial.

Therefore, the high rates of energy demand during exercise are met by ingested nutrients and/or stored nutrients. This breakdown of nutrients, while completely necessary, is, by definition, catabolic.

Anabolic Effects of Acute Exercise

Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow

Increased Anabolic Hormone Release

(GH, Testosterone, IGF-1)

Catabolic Effects of Acute Exercise

Glycogen Depletion

Decreased Net Protein Balance

Increased Cortisol Concentrations

Decreased Insulin Concentrations

Increased Metabolic Rate

Dehydration

Targeted nutritional intake can actually shift the anabolic/catabolic balance during exercise, enhancing some of the anabolic effects while minimizing some of the catabolic effects.

To give you an example, consuming a protein/carbohydrate mix immediately prior to exercise (or sipped during exercise) can actually increase skeletal muscle blood flow. Since this drink not only enhances blood flow but stocks the blood with amino acids and glucose, the protein balance of the muscle will be shifted toward the positive and glycogen depletion will be significantly reduced. 

In addition, those amino acids and glucose units, independent of their effects on muscle protein and glycogen status, can also lead to a decrease in cortisol concentrations and improve the overall immune response.

Of course, if consumed in a liquid form and sipped during the exercise session (as I recommend), dehydration, a potent performance killer, can be staved off as well. 

I suggest consuming 15% of your daily protein intake as whey protein along with my personal carbohydrate preference - VITARGO during your workout. The carbohydrates in the shake should account for 15% of one’s total daily intake.

Stay tuned to find out more in an upcoming article...

This drink should probably consist of a well-diluted (a 6-10% solution - meaning 60-100g of powder for every 1L of water). If you don't dilute your drink appropriately, you may not replenish your body's water stores at an optimal rate.

During these high carbohydrate meals one should aim to keep fat intake low. High insulin levels increases fatty acid transport into adipose tissue, so it is a good idea to keep your fat low during times of high insulin (INTRA & POST phases).

You should spread your remaining fat intake evenly over the rest of your low carbohydrate or unrefined & unprocessed carbohydrates meals. Protein intake should be spread fairly evenly over all of your meals unless otherwise stated for INTRA, POST & GROWTH phase requirements.

To recap briefly, the benefits will include;

• Spare muscle glycogen and increase performance.
• Spare muscle tissue.
• Maintain a constant release of insulin, therefore inhibiting cortisol release.
• The continuous ingestion of carbohydrates will ensure that adequate substrate is available for the glycolytic pathway.

Post Workout phase – The period immediately after the workout for a period of an hour or two, the muscle cells are primed for muscle building. Interestingly, although the cells are primed for muscle building, in the absence of a good nutritional strategy, this phase can remain catabolic.

Without adequate nutrition, the period immediately after strength and endurance training is marked by a net muscle catabolism; that's right, after exercise muscles continue to break down.

However, with the right nutritional intake (protein and carbohydrate), we can actually create an anabolic environment conducive to improvements in muscle size.

When planning your nutritional intake, it is best to consider both the intra and post phases as two of the keys when it comes to nutrient timing. Therefore, to maximize your muscle gain and recovery, you'll be feeding both during and immediately after exercise.

As with INTRA nutrient intake, it's important to ingest some protein and carbohydrate. In my experience the easiest way to do this is to drink an easily digested liquid carbohydrate ( I recommend - VITARGO) and protein drink. I recommend 25% of your daily carbohydrate intake and 20% of your daily protein intake.

It’s important to understand that during and after training, insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance is very good. Even if ordinarily you have poor carbohydrate tolerance, during and after the post exercise period, your carbohydrate tolerance will be much better.

Bottom of Form

And if you consider that most carbohydrate ingested during and immediately after exercise will either be oxidized for fuel or sent to the muscle and liver for glycogen resynthesis and that even in the presence of increased insulin concentrations, the post exercise period is marked by a dramatic increase in fat metabolism.

From this discussion it should be clear that, using the principles of nutrient timing, one can load up on carbs during and after the workout while reducing them for the remainder of the day.

In using this strategy, carbs are fed when they'll best be converted into muscle glycogen and when they'll best stimulate muscle growth and/or repair. If muscle gain is your goal, you'll get more muscle per gram of carbohydrate ingested.

If fat loss is your goal, you'll get more muscle glycogen and a pronounced muscle sparing effect with fewer daily carbs ingested. And if athletic performance/recovery is your goal, your recovery will improve dramatically. 

Growth Phase - After protein and carbohydrates have been provided during the INTRA & POST phases, the net protein balance of the body will have shifted toward the positive; muscle glycogen restored, catabolism blunted and anabolism increased, it's time to consider how to keep the growth process moving forward. 

Ensure your NUTRITION is on point if you want consistent growth.

The body quickly begins moving back toward normal physiological functioning during Post Workout Phase. In other words, the growth window is closing and this means bye-bye to improved insulin sensitivity. Testosterone and growth hormone concentrations will also begin to fall and muscle protein turnover is slowing down, reaching a rate just above normal.

With this slow return to "normalcy", it's important to reduce the high glycemic carbohydrates and rapidly digested proteins.

During the Growth Phase, it's important to continue to feed some carbohydrate and protein but definitely begin to reduce the total amount of carbohydrates ingested per meal while increasing the amount of protein ingested per meal. I recommend 15% of your daily carbohydrate intake and 20% of your daily protein intake.

Also, I recommend consuming wholefoods rather than liquid options. If we assume you'll be drinking a post exercise drink immediately after training, your Growth Phase meal should be consumed within 2-3 hours,

The Rest of the Day

Since the Rest of the Day is marked by normal physiology, the food you eat during this phase is not as vital, with the most important factor being ensuring daily total calorie and macronutrient requirements are met.

For those who are carbohydrate sensitive I would discourage there consumption after 8pm in the evening unless part of your INTRA, POST or GROWTH phase.

In Conclusion

If maximal muscularity, improved athletic performance, positive shifts in body composition, and marked improvements in recovery are your goal, I encourage you to give the principles of nutrient timing a try.

Stay tuned for Nutrition 101 – Part 4: Current training goal - ‘Refeeding, Calorie & Carb Cycling’