Resistance training can help you perform in all walks of life – from the weekend warrior, semi-pro or pro athlete, or aspiring high schooler coveting a full sports scholarship to pre and post-natal moms, those recovering from surgery, or who are in their twilight years trying to manage/reverse ostio-arthrits and beyond – I will show you how resistance training can add balance and vision to prolong life and in the immediate term, help you look and feel great!

The three major sources of body protein are blood plasma, visceral tissue, and muscle. There are, however, no body stores or “reservoirs” of this macro-nuitrient because all protein is part of tissue structures or exists as vital constituents of metabolic, transport, and hormonal systems.

Protein makes up generally between 12-15% of the body mass, but there is considerable variability in the protein content of different cells. A brain cell is only about 10% protein; red blood cells and muscle cells contain as much as 20% of their total weight as protein. The protein content of skeletal muscle, which represents about 65% of the body’s total protein, increases with the systematic application of resistance training.

Carbohydrates in the Body

Carbohydrates serve four important functions related to energy metabolism and exercise performance.

1) Main Energy Source
The main function of the carbohydrate is to serve as an energy fuel, particularly during exercise. Energy, strictly speaking, is derived from the breakdown of blood-borne glucose and liver and muscle glycogen is ultimately used to power the contractile elements of the muscle as well as other forms of biological work.   In short, daily carbohydrate intake must be adequate to maintain the body’s relatively limited oxygen stores.

2) Protein Sparing
Adequate carbohydrate intake helps preserve tissue proteins.  Normally, protein serves a vital role in tissue maintenance, repair, and growth and to a lesser degree, as a nutrient source of energy.

3) A “primer” for lipid metabolism
Carbohydrate is essential for the proper functioning of the central nervous system.

4) Balance during exercise
Our “fuel mixture” in exercise depends on the intensity and duration of effort, as well as the fitness and nutritional status of the individual.  The energy contribution from nutrients during physical activity is vital in the following:

• Intense exercise: With strenuous exercise, neural-humoral factors increase the hormonal output of epinephrine, noepinephrine, and glucagon and decrease insulin release. These actions have a stimulating effect on the enzyme.  Glycogen phosphorylase facilitates glycogenolysis in the liver as illustrated in my previous blog entry.
• Moderate and prolonged exercise:  Almost all energy in the transition from rest to submaximal exercise is supplied from glycogen stored in the active muscles.

Carb Consumption and recommended daily intake

A question I’m commonly asked by my clients is –- What is the difference between good carbs and bad carbs?

In the past several years the talk on carbohydrates has varied greatly. Carbs have been feared in several popular fad diets. And some carbs have also been promoted as a healthy nutrient associated with lower risk of various diseases/conditions.  So which is it? Are carbs good or bad? Well, the answer is both. 

• Reap the benefits of good carbs by choosing carbohydrates full of fiber. These carbs that get absorbed slowly into our systems, avoiding spikes in blood sugar levels. Examples: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans.
• Minimize the health risk of bad carbs by eating fewer refined and processed carbohydrates that strip away beneficial fiber. Examples: white bread and white rice.

According to Webmd.com,  the National Academies Institute of Medicine recommends that people focus on getting more good carbs with fiber into their diet.  To meet the body’s daily nutritional needs while minimizing risk for chronic disease, adults should get 45-65% of their calories from carbs, 20-35% from fat, and 10-35% from protein.

There is only one way to get fiber — eat fruits and vegetables.  Evidence suggests that fiber in the diet helps to prevent colon cancer and promote weight loss.

The recommendations:  

• Men aged 50 or younger should get 38 grams of fiber a day.
• Women aged 50 or younger should get 25 grams of fiber a day.
• Because we need fewer calories and food as we get older, men over aged 50 should get 30 grams of fiber a day.
• Women over aged 50 should get 21 grams of fiber a day.

I always tell my clients that a balanced diet provides the fuel needed for biological work.  The chemicals for extracting and using all potential energy are contained within the body and need to be supported by a balanced diet of adequate calories.

Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nutrients provide the necessary energy to maintain body functions – whether or at various levels of physical activity. Besides their role as biological “fuel”, these intakes and nutrients are sometimes referred to as “macronutrients” -  playing important roles in maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the organism. 

Atoms: Nature’s Building Blocks

From Chemistry 101, you might remember that the human body’s atoms are composed primarily of oxygen (65%), carbon (18%), hydrogen (10%), and nitrogen (3%).  The union of two or more atoms forms a molecule.  Basically, the particular atom(s), as well as their respective arrangements, give the molecule its unique properties.   Glucose is glucose because of the arrangement of three different kinds of 24 atoms within its molecule.

All of the nutrients, except water and minerals, contain carbon.  Lipids and carbohydrates are formed from the linkage of carbon atoms with atoms of hydrogen and oxygen. 

A protein molecule is formed when nitrogen is added with certain mineral substances. Atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are the atomic building blocks from which the nutrients are made.

Carbohydrates, as the name implies, are composed of carbon and water. Atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen combine to form a carbohydrate or sugar molecule.  Our most basic and typical sugar, glucose, is formed along with different carbohydrates during photosynthesis.

Fructose and galactose are two other sugars that have same chemical formula as glucose, but with slightly different carbon-to-hydrogen-to oxygen linkage. 

Different sources of carbohydrates include monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.  There are more than 200 monosaccharides found in nature, categorized by the number of carbon atoms in their ring, using the Greek root and ending with “ose”.  For example, three-carbon monosacchrides are known as “trioses”, four-carbon sugars are “tetroses”, five-carbon sugars are “pentoses”, etc. The nutritionally important monosaccrides are the hexose sugars -glucose, fructose, and galactose. Glucose is also called “dextrose” or blood sugar, is a natural sugar in food or is produced in the body through the digestion of more complex carbohydrates. It can also be produced by the process of gluconeogenesis, whereby it is synthesized primarily in the liver from the carbon skeletons of other compounds (amino acids, glycerol, and pyruvate, lactate). After absorption by the small intestine, glucose can be used directly by the cells for energy, stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver, or converted to lipids for energy storage.

Fructose, or fruit sugar, the sweetest of the simple sugars and commonly found in manufactured candy and other sweets, is present in fruits and honey.  Although some fructose is absorbed directly into the blood from the digestive tract, it is also converted to glucose in the liver.

If you’re concerned about the amount of high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in your or your family’s diet, consider these tips:

• Limit processed foods
• Avoid foods that contain added sugar
• Choose fresh fruit rather than fruit juice or fruit-flavored drinks.  (Even 100 percent fruit juice has a high concentration of sugar)
• Choose fruit canned in its own juices instead of heavy syrup
• Drink less soda
• Don’t allow sweetened beverages to replace milk, especially for children

Oligosaccharides are formed from the joining together of a few (oligo in Greeek) monosaccharides. The major oligosaccharides are the disaccharides or double sugars, formed from the combination of two monosaccharide molecules.

Monosaccharides and diasccharides collectively make up what are commonly called simple sugars. These sugars are packaged under a variety of guises – brown sugar, corn syrup, inverted sugar, honey, and natural sweeteners.

The principle disaccharides are: sucrose, lactose, and maltose.  Sucrose alone composes up to 25% of the caloric intake in the US.  Lactose is found in natural form only in milk.  Maltose is present in beers, cereals, and germinating seeds.

Polysaccharides is a term used when from anywhere from three to thousands of sugar molecules are linked together. There are two classifications of polysaccharides – plant and animal.  Two common forms of plant polysaccharides are starch and fiber.

Starch is the most familiar form of plant polysaccharide. It is generally found in seeds, corn, and other various grains. Dietary starch is commonly referred to as “complex carbohydrates”, (bread, cereal, pasta, pastries, potatoes and roots)

Glycogen, the storage carbohydrate peculiar to our muscle mass and liver, is a large polysaccharide polymer synthesized from glucose in the process of gluogenesis.

Several factors determine the rate and quantity of both the breakdown and synthesis of glycogen. During exercise, muscle glycogen is the major source of carbohydrate energy for the active muscles in which it is stored. In the liver, glycogen is reconverted to glucose and transported in the blood for use by the working muscles.

The term glycogenolysis describes this reconversion process, which provides a rapid extramuscular supply of glucose for muscle action.  When glycogen is depleted through heavy exercise or dietary restriction (not good!), glucose synthesis from the structural components of the other nutrients, principally proteins, increase through the gluconeogenic metabolic pathways.

Fueling your body properly is paramount when trying to balance the relationship between your nutrition ratio and intensity of your exercise regimen.  The body needs a balanced and hearty diet in order to perform optimally, even if performing optimally means losing weight.   

Now we have a better knowledge of the makeup of what goes in the body, and how the body in turn converts it for the usage we need.  

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs

In an upcoming entry, I will discuss the role of carbohydrates in the body, and how to differentiate between good and bad carbs.

For example, did you know that as Lance Armstrong starts to race, his diet becomes much more carb-oriented. During the Tour de France, Lance is said to consume up to 1000 grams (4,000 calories!) in carbohydrates alone.