Every athlete knows that proteins provide the building blocks of life. Most fitness enthusiasts are unaware, however, that getting the ideal amount of the ideal proteins is key not simply to athletic performance but also to a healthier immune system.
Proteins
For many, the need is not for more protein, it is for improved protein, and it is the health of the immune system which produces the different between ordinary effects and extraordinary results. The association between exercise and the immune system is paradoxical. Low to moderate intensity exercise stimulates the immune system and increases resistance to disease.
High-intensity exercise and participation in athletic competition, on the other hand, often contributes to immune suppression and increased susceptibility to colds, flu, and diarrhea–some of which can ruin an athlete’s performance. Your protein needs are best when your glycogen levels are low.
Let’s see…
To put it differently, if you have worked out so hard that your liver has published all of the carbs you loaded before exercise, your body requires additional protein. The human body is ingenious at obtaining the nourishment it needs. It’ll take proteins from food, or it will deprive muscles of the proteins they need to grow, or, in extreme situations, it is going to harvest protein from damaging cells.
If you do not replace your proteins following heavy exercise, you’re setting yourself up for disease. But what sort of protein is best, and when? All proteins weren’t created equal, and specific protein sources are more suitable for certain exercise goals than others. If you’re working to gain muscle and shed fat through moderate intensity exercise, a milk protein isolate is most likely your very best protein source.
Athletic performance
If your purpose is to maintain muscle and optimize athletic performance, whey proteins using their antioxidant capacity are best for protecting the immune system. If your immune system is healthy, you won’t suffer the setbacks infections can cause. Women and men alike benefit from additional protein during the acute-phase reaction to exercise, the span of four to twenty-four hours where muscle proteins are broken down with the creation of tissue-destruction free radicals.
And it is also important to remember that women of reproductive age need more protein during the next two weeks of the periods. The best time to take your whey protein is just before, during, or just after your workout. Modern sports science studies have found that the first hour following exercise is the 1 time your muscles must have the most source of amino acids. It is possible to replace carbohydrates (in moderate amounts) at any time, but you have to consume protein so that it’s available before the acute-phase reaction kicks in.
Final note
Muscles make the proteins which bulk out them from 20 amino acids. Of the 20 amino acids that muscles use to create protein, 9 are thought to be essential. That means your body can not make them. Another 11 can be created by the body and are reported to be non-essential. Additionally, it is important to understand, however, that the fact that an amino acid is not “essential” does not mean that you do not need it on your protein supplement.
Non-essential amino acids in the kind of hydrolyzed or isolated whey protein are more easily digested and assimilated into muscle. Three of the nine”essential” amino acids are branched chain amino acids (BCAA) required for preventing muscle pain and muscle fatigue. Whey provides the complete variety of amino acids that your muscles will need to grow stronger after they have been formed by exercise. It provides the antioxidants that trigger your immune system to fight disease. And it supplies branched chain amino acids which turn the “burn” into new muscle strength.