Protein
■ Supermarket aisles are packed
with products pimped out with
protein – but is it too much of a good
thing? We know that athletes and
men trying to put on muscle benefit
from more protein – 1.6g per kilogram
of body weight per day (0.8g/kg for
inactive men), with an upper limit
of about 2g/kg/day. However, the
Dietitians Association of Australia
recommends an absolute limit of 200g
a day, regardless of how much youweigh or how active you are. Breaking
down protein can overload the liver’s
capacity to convert the excess
nitrogen (a by-product of assimilating
protein) into urea, which can put
a strain on the kidneys.
For a long time, we heard that
we tend to eat too much protein in
one sitting, since the body can only
utilise about 20-30g of protein at a
time. That’s changed. A 2018 meta-
analysis published in the Journal ofthe International Society of Sports
Nutrition concluded that 0.4 g/kg/meal
(eg, 34g/meal for an 85kg guy) across
four meals a day would be the best
way to meet an active man’s protein
needs, or even up to a maximum of
0.55g/kg over four meals.
A by-product of this research was
that it appeared that eating protein
with fats, carbs and fibre made it
easier for the body to utilise a 35g
serve of protein.■Caffeineis the
world’smost
widelyconsumed
psychoactive
drug.It’saddictive–
nausea,headaches
andshaking
arecommon
withdrawal
symptoms.Like
anydrug,it’snotfor
everyone– such
people with heart
problems; and
children, teenagers
and those with liver
issues have a much
lower tolerance.
For the rest of us,
too much caffeine
puts us at risk of
osteoporosis, high
blood pressure,
heart disease and
infertility. Countless
studies put a limit
at 3-4 medium
cups of coffee or
400mg of caffeine
per day. Caffeine’sbad rap as a diuretic
(something that
dehydrates you)
requires more than
this in one sitting –
more than 500mg
or three double-
shot espressos.
Caffeine causes
a short-term
spike in blood
pressure in people
who don’t drink it
regularly because it
stimulates the heart
and blood vessels,
but most develop
a tolerance to this
over time. Reviews
of studies show
coffee drinkers
were no more
likely to develop
hypertension
than abstainers.
Caffeine can
lift concentration
and mood, but the
downside is that it
blocks the brain’sability to turn off
enough to sleep
well. In coffee, its
effects can last up
to seven hours.
Different natural
compounds can
change the effect
of the caffeine. For
instance, caffeine
in coffee reaches
peak effect faster
than guarana,
but the half-life of
caffeine is longer
in guarana. So you
might use coffee to
rev you up during
a powerlifting
comp, but choose
guarana for an all-
day endurance
event. Be wary of
alcohol-caffeine
mixes (espresso
martini, anyone?)- the depressant/
stimulant combo
sends mixed signals
to your heart.
When it comes to
health and nutrition,
recommendations
often get dumbed
down to the black andwhite– some foods are “bad”, others
are “good”. It makes marketing
easy, and besides, no guy wants
to look at 50 shades of grey.
But the thing is, humans are
incredibly physically versatile
and have one of the most adaptive
physiological structures going
around the planet. We’re hard to
kill. Hell, we can eat some arsenic
(in apple seeds) and mercury (in
tuna) and even stick a radiation
device right up to our ear (mobile
phone) and still not die. As the Swiss
medical rebel Paracelsus said,
“The dose makes the poison.”
Of course, you can also have too
much of a good thing. It might be
something essential or beneficial
to your health, or maybe it’s just
something plain enjoyable. Most
things have a healthy limit before
risks outweigh benefits or real
damage occurs (for 50 Shades of
Grey movies, it’s 3.4 minutes). Here,
we’ve dug into the research to find
the point of “moderation” for some
regular contenders in the “good
vs. bad” health arguments.
W
Caffeine causes a short-term spike
in blood pressure in people who don’t
drink it regularly, but most develop
a tolerance to this over time.Caffeine
Try to keep your
coffees to no more
than three or
four in a day.3-4
62 MEN’S FITNESS OCTOBER 2019