E9

Catherine McCain

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If you flip through any fitness magazine, you can easily be convinced that you should invest in some protein bars and shakes, but do we really need them?

High-protein diets, like the Atkins Diet, gained popularity a few years ago since people could lose weight quickly while eating copious amounts of baby back ribs. But the quick weight loss came at a high cost. People lost their glycogen stores, which are an invaluable fuel source, especially for your workouts.

Glycogen is your muscles' own little stash of carbohydrate and water that they tap into when you need a quick, responsive fuel. When we lose this, athletes often "hit the wall," and their muscles feel heavy and lethargic.

Your glycogen stores and hydration level can quickly explain why some days you may feel light on your feet and feel like you could run for miles, while another day you may feel like you have a heavyweight tying you down.

While it is often easy to convince endurance athletes that they need to aim for a carbohydrate-rich diet, strength athletes are often hesitant to give up the mantra that they need to focus on protein.

But what really happens when someone maximizes their protein intake while limiting their carbs?

Your body makes a priority list. The first demand that needs to be met is for energy. Ironically, when someone does a high-protein diet, they run the risk that all that extra-expensive protein is just going to be burned up as a fuel source.

Although you can quickly rack up the calories on a high-protein diet consisting of bacon, t-bone steaks and chicken wings, often the calories are an issue. When someone chooses leaner protein sources, their total calories actually become a significant challenge since protein-rich foods are filling.

If someone doesn't eat enough calories for their metabolism, then the body will simply break down the protein and convert it into glucose for energy. But protein isn't a clean fuel; it is a much heavier, cumbersome fuel source in comparison to carbohydrates, which can be very quick and responsive.

Only after all the energy demands are met will the body then use whatever protein is left as a building block, and help repair muscles, bone, skin, hair and other tissues.

So those really expensive protein foods simply get burned off as a poor fuel source and then the body may not have enough protein left over to do proper repair of the tissues and muscle recovery.

A high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet has numerous challenges. It can be one of the worst plans for your energy level since it limits your muscle and liver glycogen which quickly impacts your endurance level, and you run a greater risk of developing hypoglycemia during your workouts. Sadly, you may not even have enough protein left over for muscle repair since it was burned off as a bad fuel.

If it is followed for long-term, it can impact your kidneys and bone density and have a greater risk of certain cancers and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

So although the mantra at the gym is that strength athletes need to always focus on getting more protein for maximizing their muscle development, research just doesn't support this. The current recommendation for optimal muscle-building is 1.6-1.7 grams protein per kilogram body weight which we can easily get through food.

So while someone may be focusing on whether or not they are getting enough protein, sports nutritionists are often looking to see if they are getting enough calories so that their body can use the protein for what it is designed for. Even strength athletes need to focus on getting the right balance of carbohydrates to get the best workout. Powerful muscle contractions are ideally fuelled by carbohydrates, not protein.

Catherine McCain, RD, BSc, MBA, is a consulting dietitian in private practice at 340 Brunswick St. She can be reached at 457-2722.