The need for recreational athletes to increase and maintain fat-free-mass

7 Mar

In my last post "Why should recreational athletes stop cutting calories and start building a bigger furnace?" I introduce the idea of a furnace. Your furnace is your fat-free-mass. Your fat-free-mass includes internal organs, bone, muscle, water, and connective tissue. Increasing and maintaining fat-free-mass is a healthy outcome; you want to have strong bones, healthy organs, more lean muscle, and healthy cells. When your fat-free-mass increases, the weight on the scales increases; this is a healthy thing. The more fat-free-mass you have, the bigger your furnace and the bigger your furnace the most energy your body can produce and burn.

Having a furnace that can produce the required energy is essential to your health and physical performance. Your furnace is responsible for managing your energy levels by taking the carbohydrates, fats and protein you eat and turning them into the fuel your body burns to function. Your body uses energy for:

growth and repair (grow new cells for hair, nails, skin, muscle, organs, connective tissues, etc.)
respiration (to breathe)
circulation (to pump blood and carry nutrients around the body)
to fuel the brain (focus and concentration)
to digest the food you eat
to increase immunity and fight off illness
to produce hormones (sex hormones, sleep hormones, growth hormones, etc.)
to produce enzymes
and more

In this post, I want to start to talk about the size of your furnace and one of the ways you can manipulate it.

Increasing and maintaining fat-free-mass

The two main factors that control the size of your furnace are what you eat and how you exercise. In the previous blog post, I said "protein is the key ingredient to building the components that make up your furnace. It's important to note that your body prefers to use carbohydrates and fats as the fuel that burns inside the furnace. The body preferentially breaks down carbohydrates first, and then fats and finally proteins (only if the other two fuels are depleted). This is important as proteins are generally less efficient at generating energy. In addition, proteins perform other important functions in the body, so if they are broken down into energy several systems could fail.”

Both the quality and quantity of protein has a key role to play in building and maintain the size of your furnace.

Before we start to digest the juicy protein details I want to take moment to debunk the "calories in and calories out" equation.

“Why?”

"Food contains information that speaks to our genes, not just calories for energy. We are learning from research in the field of nutrigenomics, that food 'talks' to our DNA, switching on or off genes that lead to health or disease. Every bite of food regulates your gene expression, hormones, immune system, brain chemistry and even your microbiome. What you eat programs your body with messages of health or illness. This is what I mean by food is medicine." ~ Dr Mark Hyman

An emerging scientific view, called “the protein leverage theory”, says our bodies are programmed to keep eating until we get enough protein. Once you hit the protein sweet spot, your brain then switches off the hunger hormones.

The mainstream health and fitness industry has been telling us to focus on the "calories in and calories out" equation for years, but the reality is, calories don't matter! For optimal health and wellbeing, the type of foods (i.e the information) we are eating plays a far more important roll in our gene expression, hormones, immune system, brain chemistry and even microbiome. "The science itself makes clear that hormones, enzymes, and growth factors regulate our fat tissue, just as they do everything else in the human body, and that we do not get fat because we overeat." ~ Gary Taubes

When working with a recreational athlete, one of the first thing we need to focus on is "are they eating enough protein?"

I'm not a fan of the food standard nutritional advice as they are often outdated and backed by poorly done studies. These protein recommendations fail to take gender, age, type of activity, body composition, job and goals into consideration. Should a 21yr old recreational athlete who works in a very physical job and is training to play football be eating the same amount of protein as a 40yr old recreational athlete working in an office job and training to run a half marathon?

Hell no!

The mainstream protein intake advice is often based on the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) according to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). ACSM's RDA of protein for sedentary adults is 0.8g of protein per Kg body weight. This might just be enough to prevent disease, but it's certainly not enough to sustain optimal health and wellbeing.

In 2019 Bandegan et al did an analysis of daily protein requirements for sedentary adults with a more accurate technique (Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation). This analysis found that a value of 1.2g per Kg body weight for sedentary adults was required [1]. However, certain people required higher levels of protein intake, and recreational athletes fit into this group.

In 2017 the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommended 1.4-2.0g of protein per Kg for increasing and maintaining fat-free-mass. They also add, if an athlete is in a hypo-caloric state (eating excess calories) the intake of protein should increase to 2.3-3.1g per Kg per day. The ISSN concluded that 2.0g of protein per Kg will maximize protein synthesis [2]. Higher protein intake is definitely beneficial for athletes, especially those looking to build muscle and/or lose fat [2]. I want to repeat this sentence for those of us who are looking to build muscle and/or lose fat, “higher protein intake is definitely beneficial for athletes, especially those looking to build muscle and/or lose fat .”

If you’re a 75kg person, you might be looking at these numbers and thinking "that’s not very much, I eat more than protein than this." Just so we're on the same page, 150g of protein is not 150g of meat. Let's take a closer look at what 150g of protein per day looks like.

A 75kg person aiming to eat 150g of protein per day would need to be eating one of the following:

429g of Beef, Rump = 150g of protein
455g of Chicken, light meat = 150g of protein
4.5cups of Tuna = 150g of protein
21.5 extra-large eggs = 150g of protein

However, protein intake needs will depend on the type of physical activity and the goals of the athlete. If you are a 75kg person and your goals are to build muscle and/or lose fat you should be eating higher levels than this.

You read that correctly you should be eating more not less!

You might be thinking “isn’t a high-protein diet bad for my health?” It is well accepted that a high-protein diet may be detrimental to individuals with existing kidney dysfunction, there is little evidence that high protein intake is dangerous for healthy individuals [3].

There is a misconception that a high protein diet is bad for our kidneys and bones. In 2018, Antonio et al. conducted a case study over 2 years on 5 well trained male bodybuilders and monitored liver and kidney function [4]. Protein intakes on average were 3.2g per Kg in the first year and 3.5g per Kg in the second year of the study. They found no abnormal liver or kidney function.

Antonio et al. investigated bone health in women and followed two groups of women for 6 months [5]. There was no change in bone mineral density or bone mass between the group that consumed 1.5g per Kg vs. the group that consumed 2.8g per Kg. Protein amounts at around the 3g per Kg mark are safe on kidneys and bones in healthy subjects.

A 2021 research paper published by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology reported that “high-protein meals and foods are thought to have a greater satiating effect than high-carbohydrate or high-fat meals. The effect of high-protein diets on the modulation of satiety involves multiple metabolic pathways. Protein intake induces complex signals, with peptide hormones being released from the gastrointestinal tract and blood amino acids and derived metabolites being released in the blood. Protein intake also stimulates metabolic hormones that communicate information about energy status to the brain. Long-term ingestion of high amounts of protein seems to decrease food intake, body weight, and body adiposity (fat tissue) in many well-documented studies [3].

A 2015 meta-analyses concluded that “higher-protein diets have been touted as a successful strategy to prevent or treat obesity through improvements in body weight management. These improvements are thought to be due, in part, to modulations in energy metabolism, appetite, and energy intake. Recent evidence also supports higher-protein diets for improvements in cardio-metabolic risk factors” [6].

“Reductions in triglycerides, blood pressure, and waist circumference were also reported.” [6] “Dietary compliance appears to be the primary contributor to the discrepant findings because improvements in weight management were detected in those who adhered to the prescribed higher-protein regimen, whereas those who did not adhere to the diet had no marked improvements” [6].

It’s not about how many calories you eat, it’s about the type of calories you eat. Eating a high-protein diet is the key to increasing and maintaining your fat-free-mass (healthy mass) and losing body fat while improving health markers such as cholesterol and blood pressure.

How much protein should I eat?

Well, that depends on your age, gender, lifestyle, physical activity, body composition, job and goals. I'm going to write about the different protein intake requirements for different goals in my next post.

Can I eat too much protein?

As I mentioned above, an emerging scientific view called “the protein beverage theory”, says our bodies are programmed to keep eating until we get enough protein. Some important points to consider:

Protein has higher levels of satiety than carbohydrates and fats - we are going to feel a lot fuller on a high protein diet.
Our body prefers to use carbohydrates and fats as fuel and conserve protein for the building blocks. Animal proteins are low in energy and high in nutrient density - the contain major source of five of the B-complex vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Animal protein also contains zinc, iron, vitamin-D, omega3 (grass-fed), phosphorus, selenium, creatine, taurine, glutathione, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), healthy cholesterol, and more… Animal protein is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet.

A 2015 study took 48 healthy resistance-trained men and women and split them into a normal protein group (2.3g per Kg) and a high protein group(3.4g per Kg) [7]. The study lasted 8-weeks and all participant were following a split routine resistance program five days per week. The high protein group was also on a surplus of total calories (they were eating more and training 5-days per week).

The high protein group lost more fat mass and improved their body composition. Both groups gained strength, improved the vertical jump and their total number of pull-ups. The study concluded "consuming a high protein diet (3.4 g per Kg) in conjunction with a resistance-training program may confer benefits with regards to body composition" [7]. Do you still think that we should be “eating less and moving more?”

Before we conclude this post I want to add some more fuel to the furnace.

Protein Type and Quality Matters

It's important to note that not all protein sources are equal. There is a range of protein quality and completeness that needs to be addressed before worrying about the quantity. As the saying goes, quality before quantity!

Milk proteins (whey and casein) are often rated as two of the "highest qualities" of proteins available while varying plant sources score the lowest. However, highly processed protein supplements are often poorly tolerated and can lead to gastrointestinal complications that are counterproductive to protein absorption (The Best Protein Supplement For Athletes). It's best to get as much of your protein from real whole food sources as you can, which can be very difficult for recreational athletes who are trying to hit the higher ranges.

A protein source with all of the essential amino acids in the correct amounts and proportion to increase muscle protein synthesis is known as a complete protein [8]. Incomplete proteins are missing at least one or more of the essential amino acids in the correct amounts or proportion [8]. Dietary protein sources of animal origin are broadly classified as complete protein sources, while sources of plant origin are commonly missing one or more of the essential amino acids and must be combined with complementary incomplete protein sources [8].

Hitting your daily protein needs with a plant-based diet is complicated due to the quality and quantity of amino acids available in plant foods.

Protein sources from wild game, eggs, beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, and dairy are the best sources of complete protein [8]. Grass-fed and pasture-raised animals produce a higher quality of protein than grain-fed or caged animals (Why Grass-Fed Trumps Grain-Fed) due to fatty acid (omega-3 to omega-6) composition, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Animal proteins are the most nutrient-dense food on the planet, so it makes sense that they should be the primary source of protein for optimal health and performance.

If you found this blog post useful please share it on your social media or send it to a friend who might also benefit from this information.

In my next post, I'm going to write about how different body types and different energy system demands require a different approach to diet.

Are you a recreational athlete who is struggling to achieve optimal health and performance by following mainstream fitness advice?

Are you carrying unwanted body fat, experiencing fatigue, plagued with immunity issues, having trouble sleeping, noticing anxiety, struggling with digestive complaints, and not performing or recovering like you know you can?

Have you ever considered working with a health coach?

A coach who empowers you to take ownership of your health, nutrition, training, recovery, and mindset. To enhance your physical and psychological performance, you need to build sustainable habits and routines to manage stress, improve sleep, balance hormones, promote a healthy body composition, and fuel your energy demands.

If this sounds like something that might help you take your health and performance to the next level:

Book A Complimentary Discovery Call