Low-Carb Diet = Low Testosterone

High protein diets are very popular now. There is a belief among many that they must eat protein in every single meal and that they cannot have too much protein.

However, a high-protein diet may lower testosterone levels, especially if the calories from protein replace calories that would otherwise have come from carbohydrates.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is the hormone that basically starts the whole cascade of events that eventually leads to testosterone synthesis, adjusts its pulsation rate according to the glucose levels of the body. When there’s high amount of glucose present, the hypothalamus inside our brains releases more GnRH, and thus your body synthesizes more testosterone. And when there’s low amounts of glucose present in the body, the brain releases less GnRH, which slows down testosterone synthesis.

http://www.anabolicmen.com/carbohydrates-testosterone/

Research consistently shows that people who exercise regularly need to eat enough carbs or their testosterone will fall while their cortisol levels rise. This is a sure-fire recipe for losing muscle and gaining fat. Incidentally, it’s also a marker for excessive training stress. In a study in Life Sciences, men who ate a high carbohydrate versus a low carbohydrate diet for 10 days had higher levels of testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin, and lower levels of cortisol.

A few years later, another study took this research a step further. This time the subjects included men and women who exercised regularly. And in addition to considering the effect of their diet on hormones, researchers put them through some performance tests. Once again, when the subjects ate a low carb diet, their testosterone (and other anabolic hormones) went down, while their cortisol went up. And, after following a low carb diet for just three days, only two of the six participants were able to complete the cycling test! Meanwhile, when following the higher carb diet for three days, all six participants were able to complete the test.

In 2010, researchers reconsidered the same question — this time in relation to intense exercise. In this particular study, subjects eating the low carb diet (where 30% of their calories came from carbs) saw a drop of 43% in their testosterone to cortisol ratio. Not good. Meanwhile, the control group (who got 60% of their calories from carbs) saw no change in their testosterone/ cortisol ratios.

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/low-carb-diets

That being said, protein is important, but consumption of protein shouldn't distract you from consumption of carbs and fat. All three macronutrients have important roles to play.

How much protein is recommended? Aim to consume between 1 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

Thanks to smartphone technology, counting protein is fairly simple. Simply do Google searches to see how much protein is in certain food, e.g. Google "protein in chickpeas" or "protein in pumpkin seeds." Otherwise, you can read how much protein there is on the nutrition label of most food.

 

Whey Protein Expensive? Try Pea Protein

Many bodybuilders drink whey protein to increase their calorie and protein intake.

The problem is that the price of dairy products (including whey protein) is rising. It is getting more and more expensive.

Rather than pay more and more for whey protein, my suggestion is that bodybuilders (or anyone wanting cheaper protein in their diet) instead switch to pea protein.

At many websites, a comparison of pea protein against whey protein shows that pea protein is much cheaper.

At bulknutrients.com.au, whey protein concentrate is $540 for 30kg = $18 per kg whereas pea protein isolate is $319 for 20kg = $15.95 per kg. Furthermore, pea protein isolate is 82.4% protein compared to whey protein concentrate, which is only 76.5% protein. To make the comparison fairer, pea protein isolate needs to be compared to whey protein isolate, which contains 87.7% protein. However, WPI costs $810 for 30 kg = $27 per kg, almost double the price of the pea protein.

Bottom line is that WPC is 13% more expensive than PPI but contains less protein.

Bulk Nutrients is an Australian company shipping protein to Australians. Those outside Australia should look at local retailers or look for pea protein from websites that ship internationally, e.g. pea protein from iHerb.

Some people will claim that pea protein is lower quality than whey protein, but this is not the case. The study below shows that for increasing muscle mass, pea protein works just as well as whey protein.

If you can get the same quality protein for lower cost (and not support the dairy industry), then why not opt for pea protein?

RESULTS: Results showed a significant time effect for biceps brachii muscle thickness (P < 0.0001). Thickness increased from 24.9 ± 3.8 mm to 26.9 ± 4.1 mm and 27.3 ± 4.4 mm at D0, D42 and D84, respectively, with only a trend toward significant differences between groups (P = 0.09). Performing a sensitivity study on the weakest participants (with regards to strength at inclusion), thickness increases were significantly different between groups (+20.2 ± 12.3%, +15.6 ± 13.5% and +8.6 ± 7.3% for Pea, Whey and Placebo, respectively; P < 0.05). Increases in thickness were significantly greater in the Pea group as compared to Placebo whereas there was no difference between Whey and the two other conditions. Muscle strength also increased with time with no statistical difference between groups.

CONCLUSIONS: In addition to an appropriate training, the supplementation with pea protein promoted a greater increase of muscle thickness as compared to Placebo and especially for people starting or returning to a muscular strengthening. Since no difference was obtained between the two protein groups, vegetable pea proteins could be used as an alternative to Whey-based dietary products.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25628520/

How a Vegan Diet Motivates You to be Healthy

I've been a vegan for probably one year now. When I started, I remember going on the diet in secret. I was a covert vegan. I didn't tell anyone because I was concerned they might freak out.

I remember finding the vegan diet difficult because I lived with my family and my mother cooks my meals. Furthermore, when I am at work, I was too lazy to cook, so I always ate out at restaurants with coworkers or friends.

Rather than eat out with coworkers, for lunch I would instead purchase vegan food and eat at my desk. Now I make my own sandwich at home and bring it to work. Then I told my mother that I didn't want to eat meat, cheese, and egg. She didn't seem to like this at first, and my dad had a word with me about my behaviour, but I stuck with my position. After all, I wasn't a child but a fully grown adult. If non-vegan food was served to me, I simply didn't eat it, and I could easily blend my own green smoothie if I needed to fill myself up.

I am now mostly vegan. Some animal products probably slip in here and there. Sometimes I am vegetarian when eating out or travelling.

A few days ago, I was at a family gathering. My brother was there. Everyone was surprised at how skinny my brother was. His bones and ribs were showing. My concerned grandmother told my brother he needed to eat more. One family member joked that my brother was even smaller than me, which was surprising to him because I was a vegan.

Supposedly the stereotype of a vegan is that they are skinny and malnourished.

That night, while I was lying in bed, I thought about the incident. Before I was vegan, I often tried to be healthy. I tried to exercise a lot. I tried to eat healthy food. But often I would just fail. It was too tempting to eat hamburgers and bacon, so I would binge on the McDonald's and KFC. I think the reasoning is because I figured that you only live once, so why not enjoy your life eating what you enjoy eating?

However, as soon as turned vegan, I found that the motivation to eat healthy and exercise was rock solid.

My dad used to be a smoker. He'd smoke several packs of cigarettes per day. However, when I was a baby, I accidentally crawled and fell into a cigarette ashtray. There was ash all over my face. My father realized suddenly that if he wanted to set a good example for his children, he needed to quit smoking. How could he recommend his children not smoke when he himself smoked? So he quit completely the next day.

Sometimes when faced with fulfilling a cause greater than himself, a man will act. When it comes to addiction, many of us are happy to feed the addiction, even if it costs us our health, but if it is another being who you're hurting (e.g. your own child through passive smoking) then that is completely different.

The same applies to veganism. When I went on a vegan diet, I knew instantly that I would be judged. If I ended up looking unhealthy, if I ended up looking skinny and malnourished, people will shake their heads and blame the vegan diet regardless of whether the vegan diet was to blame or not. If someone is thinking of cutting down meat, dairy, and eggs, and they see a vegan who is skinny, pale, and malnourished, they will automatically conclude that the vegan diet is unhealthy and they will continue to eat animal products, and hundreds of thousands of extra animals will be slaughtered. Cows will be raped, pigs will be electrocuted, and chicken will be macerated.

If I don't eat healthy and go to the gym, I will become unhealthy, and as a result I will represent veganism badly, people will increase their animal intake, and therefore hundreds of thousands of animals will be slaughtered, and there will be blood on my hands.

This was what motivated me. It's easy to chow down on KFC and McDonald's when it's just your own health at stake, but when your decisions affect the lives of other innocent beings, that is a powerful motivator.

Bulk Nutrients Rice Protein Isolate Unflavoured

I've been trying different protein powders from Bulk Nutrients. I have always been purchasing protein from Bulk Nutrients, and I like to try different types of protein just because I love variety. I recently purchased rice protein in unflavoured form. I've heard that rice protein tastes horrible, but I have actually just tasted the product in person and it is incredibly bad. The description everyone gives is correct. It is chalky and tastes like sand. I'm going to have to mix it in with other protein powders and some flavouring (for example, pea protein and stevia). I've purchased two kilograms of the rice protein, so it might be hard finishing it all. 

Sugarless Organic Stevia from Chemist Warehouse - Review

As part of working out, I've been drinking pea and rice protein shakes for a few months now. I've learned that for those who have trouble gaining weight, you can mix in carbs to your protein shake to create a "mass gainer." I've been mixing in either powdered oats or waxy maize starch to my protein shake. As a result, the taste has gone south. My pea and rice protein (Earth Protein) was vanilla flavoured and tasted quite nice. However, once I added carbs in, the blend tasted horrible, especially with powdered oats, which not only made the blend taste bland but often clumped together and made the mixture thick.

Today I purchased Sugerless Organic Stevia from Chemist Warehouse for $8 (250g). It seemed pretty cheap. The product came with a spoon that measured half a teaspoon. I put two teaspoons into my carb and protein shake and tasted the mixture. It was surprisingly good. The product seemed to do the job.

The major surprise I got from this product came from looking at the nutritional information. According to the table, this product, which is labelled "organic stevia," contains 0.5% stevia (steviol glycoside). The product is 99% organic erythritol, which is a different type of sweetener.

I wonder then why this product would not be labelled "Erythritol + Stevia" or something less misleading because erythritol is a completely different product. Furthermore, it seems like you can purchase erythritol online for much less than $8 per 250g.

Replace Animal-Based Products with Plant-Based Products

I skipped the gym today. Last Friday I skipped the gym because there was alcohol in my system. Today I skipped the gym because the protein shake leaked out of the bottle in my gym bag and completely stained my gym clothes. Luckily, the protein shake seemed odourless, and there wasn’t that much leakage. Nobody noticed anything. I skipped the gym, brought everything home, and cleaned it all up. The problem, I think, was that I didn’t close the bottle properly.

The protein power that I’m using, which is Michelle Bridges Protein Blend with Ancient Grains, was starting to run out, and I didn’t want to buy the same protein powder simply because it is too expensive. I can get protein powder over three times cheaper from Bulk Nutrients. I just ordered the Earth Protein from this website. I purchased one kilogram for $27, not including $12 for shipping. I could have purchased more for the same shipping costs, but I want to try out a small amount before I get more. It would be even cheaper to bulk buy, of course. Earth Protein is simply pea protein mixed with rice protein. Interestingly, you can buy pea protein and rice protein separately from this website, mixed it together yourself, and you pay $25 per kilogram instead of paying $27 per kilogram. Paying $25 per kilogram for pea or rice protein is even cheaper than whey protein, which is $27 per kilogram. I am not buying pea and rice protein because it is cheaper or because I have any allergies or lactose intolerance. I just feel bad that animals are abused and tortured, and I feel that the only way to address this problem is to divert money away from animal-based products and towards plant-based products. I now also try to drink oat milk or almond milk. As much as possible, I direct my cash towards plant-based products. I use ethanol-blend fuel in my car and I’m starting to invest in agriculture ETFs. I am not a vegan. I still eat meat. I find it is far too difficult to eat only vegetables or salads for lunch. But as much as possible I eat only meat from free-range and grass-fed animals, and eggs I eat are also from free-range chicken.

Does caring for animals make me less of a man, less on an alpha male? I don’t think so. I am happy to attack people, but I usually only attack those who I feel have wronged me. Animals are completely innocent and defenceless.

New Year's Resolution 2014: 100 Minutes of Exercise per Week

A month or so ago, I told everyone that, as a New Year's resolution for 2014, I would join a gym. Then I told myself that I would get heavier dumbbells so I can workout at home. I realised that if I wanted to be fit, I needed to define a goal and measure my progress. So here it is: 100 minutes per week. Why one hundred? It's a nice number, and many experts recommend exercising three times a week, each time for 30 minutes, so that comes to about 90 minutes, rounded up to 100 minutes. The exercise can be any exercise, but my focus will be on weights because I would like to develop more muscles. As they say, a bad measure is better than no measure, so I will stick with this and see how it goes. My plan is to track how I am tracking with my goal in a spreadsheet in Google Docs and to report on my progress every month.

Are Dumbbells Enough?

Like many people, my main resolution for 2014 relates to strength. I want to build my strength. When I say I want to build my strength, I am referring not only to a strong mindset, that is, assertiveness and my ability to say no and to stand up for myself, but I am also referring to my physical strength. As a result, late last year, I told myself that I would join a gym. I am now having second thoughts. I've been googling, and many articles recommend that I be wary about gym contracts locking me in. I also don't know how easy it is for me to commit to going to the gym.

It's not that I don't do any workout at the moment. I currently use 5 kg dumbbells at home that I do use, and they are great in terms of convenience because I can work out at home and save on gym membership fees. But 5 kg may not be enough. The workout is starting to get easy, so perhaps the next step is to progress from the 5 kg dumbbell to the 10 kg dumbbell. My plan is to buy online to get the best price.

Are far as technique goes, there is plenty of guidance on the internet on how to use dumbbells. Some people argue that strength training is not enough, that you need to engage in cardio workout, for example, running or swimming, but my counterargument is that, if you lessen the weights, for example, if you use 2.5 kg dumbbells, and workout for a longer duration (higher reps) then you effectively get a cardio workout. It helps if your dumbbell sets vary in size or are adjustable.

Currently I do not have a bench but will see if I can use my 10 kg dumbbells without a bench. I do my workout in my bedroom where there is not much space, so it would be ideal if I can avoid using a bench. Once 10 kg dumbbells get easy, I'll consider using heavier weights.

Doing Wall Push-Ups in Your Bathroom

I don't know why but I find it embarrassing to exercise in front of my parents. This is one of the downsides of living with your parents. I could easily lock my bedroom door and proceeding to exercise in my bedroom but the problem with this is that my parents often want to go into my bedroom, e.g. to give me clean underwear or to remind me that dinner is ready. If I have locked my doors, they won't be able to get in and they will wonder if I am doing anything illegitimate in my room.

I could always go to a gym or move out of my parents home, but both these options are expensive. Thrift is a virtue!

After some thinking, I have realized that the answer to this problem is to do wall push-ups in the toilet. When I am in the toilet I can lock the door and do wall push-ups. If my parents try to get into the toilet, the door will be locked, and locking the toilet door is understandable because my parents would just assume that I am expelling feces, which is a normal and legitimate thing.

The Genki 18kg Flywheel Fitness Gym Exercise Bike

I used to have an elliptical trainer than I used for exercise. It served me well but there were a few problems with it. Firstly, the elliptical trainer only let me stand. When I am exercising for a long period of time, I have to stand up for a long period of time, which meant that my ankles got sore. After some weeks of intense usage, I broke the machine beyond repair.

So I purchased the Genki 18kg Flywheel Fitness Gym Exercise Bike from Crazy Sales. I was pleased because the bike only cost me about $250 including delivery. The bike was delivered very quickly (about 3 days). The package is 48 kilograms, so be careful because it is incredibly heavy.

My parents set up the bike for me. I think this exercise bike is great, but I have noticed some problems. The first problem is that the pedals have sharp metal spikes on them, which means that you really cannot use the bike barefoot. This is a minor problem because I can easily put on some shoes.

The major problem with this bike is the seat, which is small and hard. I only had to be on the bike for 10 minutes before my bum got sore. It is absolutely intolerable! I am going to have to look for a bicycle seat that I can use to replace the seat given.

I have been looking at Ergo the Seat and what they say really is scary. They claim that bad bike seats can constrict nerves and cause impotence! What a way to make people buy your product.

Update: I have solved the problem. I was thinking of buying a new recumbant bicycle but didn't want to spend another $200 on it. Instead, I will just put a normal chair directly behind my exercise bike, sit on this chair, and then pedal like normal. For more comfort I can put a pillow on the chair. In other words, I use the upright bike as if it were a recumbent bicycle.