4 ms·

Could you expound on how different amino acid profiles impact your performance, and how that knowledge impacts the day to day food choices you make?

by nugget 6y ago

hluska 6y ago
Certainly! My cholesterol was extraordinarily high when I was in the hospital so lowering that was a major priority. Consequently, I started going more plant based. At this point, my diet is primarily plant based. This has worked very well for me, but I've had to seriously up my knowledge of nutrition, particularly around the concept of whole proteins. A whole protein contains nine essential amino acids. My body performs and recovers best if I plan my daily nutrition around between .75 and 1.0 g of whole protein per pound of body weight (120 t0 160 g at my current weight). As I get deeper into training, I'm starting to see some data about how timing of proteins impacts my performance. I used to use raw oats by themselves as a meal before short (up to 12k) runs and speed training. Raw oats are amazing but they don't have enough lysine to be considered a whole protein. Adding dried mangos to my raw oats or carrying some in my run bag completes that protein. I don't see immediate results from completing the protein, but I do see long term results from consistently not completing it. I don't have to complete a protein every single meal - in general, as long as I complete it within that day's nutrition, I'll be okay. But my body seems to recover faster if I complete proteins between pre-run and the end of my run. Now, let's talk about branch chain amino acids. If I want to go longer than 12k or make significant gains in my weekly base, I perform and recover better if I add sources of leucine, isoleucine and valine before and after I exercise. Meals like brown rice, beans and tomatoes are excellent before/after a workout. As I train my gut for longer races, I keep learning more about what works and what doesn't. With some luck, by this summer, my gut will be trained enough that I have more personal bests and no more personal bursts. To put it euphemistically, bad bad bad things happen if I'm running a long (90+ plus minute) hilly course, pre-load with rice and beans and then add glycogen via gels.

Could you expound on how different amino acid profiles impact your performance, and how that knowledge impacts the day to day food choices you make?

by nugget 6y ago

Could you expound on how different amino acid profiles impact your performance, and how that knowledge impacts the day to day food choices you make?

hluska 6y ago

Certainly! My cholesterol was extraordinarily high when I was in the hospital so lowering that was a major priority. Consequently, I started going more plant based. At this point, my diet is primarily plant based. This has worked very well for me, but I've had to seriously up my knowledge of nutrition, particularly around the concept of whole proteins. A whole protein contains nine essential amino acids. My body performs and recovers best if I plan my daily nutrition around between .75 and 1.0 g of whole protein per pound of body weight (120 t0 160 g at my current weight). As I get deeper into training, I'm starting to see some data about how timing of proteins impacts my performance. I used to use raw oats by themselves as a meal before short (up to 12k) runs and speed training. Raw oats are amazing but they don't have enough lysine to be considered a whole protein. Adding dried mangos to my raw oats or carrying some in my run bag completes that protein. I don't see immediate results from completing the protein, but I do see long term results from consistently not completing it. I don't have to complete a protein every single meal - in general, as long as I complete it within that day's nutrition, I'll be okay. But my body seems to recover faster if I complete proteins between pre-run and the end of my run. Now, let's talk about branch chain amino acids. If I want to go longer than 12k or make significant gains in my weekly base, I perform and recover better if I add sources of leucine, isoleucine and valine before and after I exercise. Meals like brown rice, beans and tomatoes are excellent before/after a workout. As I train my gut for longer races, I keep learning more about what works and what doesn't. With some luck, by this summer, my gut will be trained enough that I have more personal bests and no more personal bursts. To put it euphemistically, bad bad bad things happen if I'm running a long (90+ plus minute) hilly course, pre-load with rice and beans and then add glycogen via gels.