The Official Aminogen Blog

2009 Shaping Up to Be a Good Year

(For fitness, at least!)

Let's take a look at the American College of Sports Medicine's fitness predictions for 2009, the issues and exercise trends deemed most visible this year:

1. Educated and experienced fitness professionals

2. Children and obesity

3. Personal Training

4. Strength Training

5. Core training

6. Special fitness programs for older adults

7. Pilates

8. Stability ball

9. Sports-specific training

10. Balance training

As we approach the half-way mark for the year, are you making progress with your fitness goals?  Do any of these trends resonate with you?

 

Strong Stomach? Digestion Goes High-Tech

How do we know what really happens when we eat?  What goes on in the dark depths of our digestive tracts?

We can feel digestion.  We can measure it on our waistlines. And we can track some of its effects through clinical studies.

But to see what goes on when we eat is difficult.  Technologies like MRIs and endoscopy are limited when it comes to providing a clear picture of digestion. The view of an endoscopic camera is obscured by food in the stomach and MRI's cannot capture the motion of digestion.

So scientists have created a high-tech model of the stomach that allows them to really look at digestion.  It will be interesting to see what kind of research comes of this project, and what we learn about nutrition.

For now, there is at least one thing that we already know for sure, something those of us who work with Aminogen are famous for saying:

It's not just what you eat that counts, it's what you absorb. 

(And you may be surprised by how much of what you eat is not absorbed.)

How well our bodies absorb nutrients depends on factors like:

The amount of time food remains in the small intestine (most nutrients are absorbed here)

How efficiently our body's own digestive enzymes are working

As for the first of these factors, if you have not read my post on gastrointestinal transit time and protein absorption, I highly recommend you do.

And as for the second, take a look at how enzymes break down food.

 

Now, after reading about nutrient absorption and watching enzymes do their job, you may ask:

If our bodies already have their own enzymes, why take Aminogen?

To which I would say: What a great question! And one that deserves its very own post...

Stay tuned.

Should Dietary Protein Guidelines Be Changed? Part II

In my last post  we looked at two reasons why Donald K. Layman believes protein dietary guidelines should be changed.   

Today, we'll take a look at two more:

 

Amount of Protein in an Individual Meal Matters

 

In other words, in order to benefit from protein in certain ways, you have to absorb a certain amount of protein in a certain period of time. 

How protein is distributed throughout the day is also important. Layman says that the amount of protein in each meal becomes a factor in building and maintaining lean muscle, especially as we age.

He explains that in children and young adults, muscle protein synthesis is stimulated by insulin and dietary energy.  Later in adulthood, however, muscle protein synthesis becomes increasingly dependent on the essential amino acid leucine.  Remember, leucine helps drive dietary energy away from fat cells and into muscle cells (and Aminogen increases leucine levels by 230 percent).

Exactly how much leuciene and other amino acids from protein are needed to promote muscle protein synthesis?  Layman cites studies that say the answer is 15 grams of essential amino acids.  This would be around 30 grams of whole protein.  He also reminds us that the typical adult breakfast contains less than 10 grams of protein.  For an average adult, inadequate protein intake at breakfast may cause the body to break down muscle, in order to obtain the amino acids it needs and is not getting from the diet.

From this we can see that in order to take in enough protein to maintain healthy lean mass, we have to consider not only how much protein we eat in total for one day, but how much we are absorbing each time we eat.

 

Most adults benefit from protein intakes above the minimum Recommended Daily Allowance

 

This is Layman's conclusion after reviewing scientific studies. Of course, no one should make changes to their diet or increase their protein intake without consulting their physician first.  But Layman is suggesting that experts consider the benefits of protein and the important functions of specific amino acids that a growing body of research supports.

 

Among the health benefits of protein Layman lists:

Body compostition

Weight loss and satiety

Cardiovascular health support

Dietary support possibly benefiting conditions such as metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia

 

It will be interesting to see further studies on these effects and whether such research does eventually lead to new dietary guidelines. I will certainly keep you updated here!

Should Dietary Protein Guidelines Be Changed? Part I

Yes, says a convincing treatise from Donald K. Layman of the Food Science and Human Nutrition department of the University of Illinois.

Layman presents four emerging concepts in protein nutrition that he thinks should be reflected in updated dietary guidelines:

Protein is a critical part of the adult diet

Protein needs are proportional to body weight; not energy intake

Adult protein utilization is a function of intake at individual meals

Most adults benefit from protein intakes above the minimum RDA

Let's take a look at the first two of these suggestions today.

 

Importance of Protein

 

Layman suggests that the current Recommended Daily Allowance for protein (0.8 g/kg of body weight) is based, in part, on the premise that "once substrate requirements for essential amino acids are met, then the need for protein is satisfied."  In other words, this is the idea that increasing amino acid levels above and beyond what is needed to replenish basic stores is unnecessary, and may be dangerous.

But Layman points out that the danger of increased protein appears unfounded except for in cases of pre-existing kidney disease, and goes on to cite evidence that increased protein can improve adult health in some cases. Even the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies may have taken this into consideration when it established an Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range for protein of 0.8 g/kg to 2.5 g/kg and no identifiable Upper Limit risk.

It seems that dietary protein, and specific amino acids from this protein, may be of benefit in a number of conditions, including:

Obesity

Osteoporosis

Type 2 diabetes

Heart disease

Sarcopenia

What Layman is emphasizing here is that protein requirements should consider more than protein's role as a macronutrient.  Research shows that protein plays a specific role in some metabolic and chronic illnesses.

So protein above and beyond minimal energy requirements may benefit certain conditions and serve therapeutically, rather than only as sustenance.  It is known, for instance, that some whey protein fractions can lower blood pressure.

Interestingly, adding Aminogen to protein, which triples the rate of absorption, has also been shown to produce cardiovascular benefits by lowering C-reactive protein by 10 percent. 

 

Protein Needs are Proportional to Bodyweight

 

The government's MyPyramid suggests macronutrient guidelines in percentages of energy intake:

Carbohydrates       55%

Fats                         30%

Protein                    15%

While this may satisfy the minimum RDA requirement for some people, Layman argues that when energy intake is reduced - as it is when dieting or as people age - the need for protein increases. He suggests protein need is actually inversely proportional to energy intake, driving an increase of about one percent for every 100 kcal decrease in energy intake below 2000 kcal/day.

That dieting and ageing may both increase dietary protein needs may not be surprising to you, as I have discussed this before.  But Layman presents some excellent supporting evidence worth discussing further.

 

Dieting and Protein Intake

To quote Layman, "...long-term success with weight loss relates to maintenance of metabolically active lean tissues and research has proven that higher protein diets protect muscle and bone during  weight loss."  And of course, we know lean muscle is not only crucial for successful, long-term weight loss, but for everything from immune function and injury prevention to overall health and mortality rates.

Studies show that weight-loss diets high in carbohydrates and low in fat and protein can result in a 30 to 40 percent loss of lean tissue mass. Weight loss diets higher in protein reduced lean tissue loss to less than 15 percent, and when combined with exercise,  prevented lean tissue loss altogether.

 

Age and Protein Intake

It seems that ageing alters the efficiency of our metabolism, particularly when it comes to protein.  At younger ages, absorbing a certain amount of amino acids stimulates muscle repair and growth.  But as we age, it's as if our metabolic response becomes dulled and benefits from the same amount of amino acids are diminished.  

Layman states that although the need for total protein may not increase with age (in terms of proportion of the diet), our bodies require more essential amino acids in order to promote lean muscle growth and maintanence. Our bodies may need to take in more protein because of less efficient protein absorption and an increased dependency on amino acids - as opposed anabolic hormones - to stimulate muscle.

He explains, "After approximately age 30y, the anabolic drive is lost; basal levels of hormones become largely ineffective in stimulating protein synthesis in structural tissues; and diet quality and physical activity become the limiting factors for maintaining optimal protein turnover for repair, remodeling, and recovery."

The loss of lean muscle due to ageing, also called sarcopenia, is negatively associated with our ability to fight disease, recover from injury and live independently.  Researchers are now also uncovering the connection between muscle loss and bone loss, known as osteoporosis.  And while it was previously feared that increasing protein intake could promote bone loss, the most recent science says this is not the case.  In fact, Layman says that it is now understood that protein increases intestinal calcium and supports bone matrix turnover.

 

Aminogen

So how does Aminogen factor in when it comes to these issues?  Aminogen actually addresses several of Layman's concern's about protein intake, especially those linked with dieting and ageing, because it increases absorption of amino acids.  For example, we know that Aminogen significantly increases absorption of branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine, by 250 percent.  Branched-chain amino acids are key to the muscle repair and growth that declines with age. 

In addition, Aminogen can  help with protein digestion and reduce or eliminate side-effects of incomplete protein digestion such as gas and constipation.  Since the amount of digestive enzymes we produce decreases with age, this is another important benefit. 

 In my next post we will look at the last two of Layman's recommendations for new protein guidelines.  Until then, let me know your thoughts on the first two.  Do you agree with Layman's assessment?