SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Today's SuppVersity News will provide you with "confirmation" rather than "innovation", I suppose With my recent article on the non-existance of protein-related osteoporosis ( read more ) and the short news post about the unique satiating effects of protein snacks ( read more ), there's been quite some protein lovin' here at the SuppVersity as of late. Usually, I would try to avoid having yet another "protein article" in the same week, but for the most recent study on "Dietary Protein Distribution", I will make an exception and I bet, you won't mind! Why? Well, what about what follows the "Dietary Protein Distribution" in the title of said paper? "...Influences 24-h Muscle Protein Synthesis in Healthy Adults" By now, you may feel reminded of a recent review by Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld (Aragon. 2013), the results of which (learn more) are not refuted by the results of the study at hand. Avoi...

"Decallerate" your life - drink tea!? I am starting to think that I may have totally underestimated Roiboos tea... I mean, tea without my beloved caffeine? That cannot be good for anything, can it? Well, it looks like it can! After a couple of database searches, I did eventually have to realize that the most recent study by Schloms et al. is only the tip of an ice-, or rather "paper-berg" discussing various beneficial health effects of Aspalathus linearis infusions (aka Rooibos [/ˈrɔɪbɒs/], "the red bush" tea) that range from anti-viral to anti-cancer and pro-liver to pro-lung effects. From South Africa to the Netherlands In view of the fact that even I, as a German am more or less lucky to know what Rooibos is and you (mostly US and UK citizens) are only slowly catching up with my countrymen and our Western neighbors, the Dutch, as far as Rooibos imports and consumption is concerned, I just want to clarify that we are talking about a "popu...

Block Periodization - Training revolution or simple trick? This is what we have to ask ourselves in view of these results. With all the news and discussion about nutrition and dietary supplements, it's easy to lose sight of the significant impact even minor tweaks to your training routine may have on your results. The results of a recent study from the Lillehammer University College in Norway, for example, remind us all of the importance to periodize our training regimen. Now you could obviously randomly divide a year into cycles with different workout frequencies, intensities, volume, etc. It does yet go without saying that this is probably not the most promising approach to periodization. What are good ways to periodize your training? As B. R. Rønnestad, J. Hansen, S. Ellefsen point out in the introduction to their latest paper in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports , there is yet a "paucity of studies" that would allow us to decide wh...

Regular snack: No relative increase in protein intake, but an absolute increase in energy intake; protein snack / shake: No increase in absolute energy intake, but increase in rel. protein intake. I usually don't recommend snacking between the meals, but when it comes to nutritious science news snacks right from the "ahead of print" section of peer-reviewed scientific journals, I will make an exception. In other words, if you are interested in what exactly makes protein supplements so valuable as an addition to your regular diet, if you want to know how you may help your kids lose weight by being less not more restrictive. And if that's nothing your are interested in, 'cause you ain't got kids, and still believe protein was bad for your bones ( it's not! ) you may want to take a parting look at evidence that rice cannot be that bad as some people make it. Sounds good? Well, then I'd suggest you go ahead and "snack away" on today...

Tea: An anti-oxidant carb-blocker with class - The Britons do it right - the always have a cup of tea with their scones. As a (hopefully) regular SuppVersity reader you will know that I don't buy into either the fructose or the sucrose theory of everything (diabetes, cancer, obesity, stupidity, etc.). This does not mean that I wouldn't understand that the average Westerner would largely benefit from a reduction in carbohydrate intake. A reduction that - and this is what a recent paper in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Preventive Medicine can tell us could be achieved by something as simple as drinking more tea (Oboh. 2014). Commercial teas turn out to be carb-blockers In said paper Ganiyu Oboh and his colleagues from the Federal University of Technology and the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria report that: "The antidiabetic property of the teas could be attributed to their inhibitory effect on carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes implicated in diabete...

Shouldn't it be obvious that the "happy medium" must be the solution, when high protein leads to brittle bones, and low protein to frail muscle? Sure! But where is this "happy medium"? Some of you may remember my recent Facebook post "High Protein Diet in the Firing Line. Rodent Study Says: Kidneys Are at Risk". It was based on a press release you could read on all the major science-news outlets on the Internet; a press release that will give the average reader the impression that the corresponding study by Aparicio et al. would "prove" that high protein diets will ruin your kidneys and eventually jeopardize your health ( read more ). Another paper (Cao. 2014), Jose Antonio, the CEO of the ISSN and the editor of the ISSN's journal posted on Facebook yesterday, didn't get as much media attention, though. No wonder, the message of this study is after all not in line with one of the fundamental arguments you will hear, whenever y...

The ergogenic effects are just the latest addition to the list of proven benefits of regular walnut consumption. I don't have to tell you that I am real "nut nut". Despite the fact that I had to realize years ago that almonds, aren't, but strawberries are nuts and irrespective of the constant turmoil about their high energy content, nuts have and probably will always be on my meal plan (on a daily basis, by the way). It goes without saying that the publication of Dae-Ik Kim's and Kil-Soo Kim' recent paper in the Journal of Laboratory Animal Research won't change this. Who would after all complain about the following possible side effects of regular walnut consumption? Increased endurance & glutamine, glycogen, decreased lactate & ammonia levels No one, would complain about theses - correct! What I do yet expect is that you will complain about this being a rodent study.... but honestly, we have hashed and rehashed time and again, so let...

There are two things you have to keep in mind, when you want to reap the benefits: Timing and dosage. With the currently available nitrate-based / -containing supplements, and both were probably off for the average customer. It has gotten quiet around nitrate supplements. Irrespective of a handful of interesting studies that were published in the past months (Hoon. 2013; Thompson. 2013), the negative results got more attention among the disappointed consumers of one of the profoundly underdosed nitrate supplements that have suffocated the initial enthusiasm on part of the average and extraordinary gym rat. The use of the natural alternative, i.e. beet root juice, on the other hand, is complicated, because there is little information on how much nitrate you need and how much of it can be found in the average beet from the supermarket. Nitrates for your heart: I know ergogenics are sexy, but how sexy is an increase in performance for someone who suffers from regular age- or self-...