SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

It is becoming common knowledge that consuming a diet (relatively) high in proteins conserves muscle mass. Thus, a recent study by Case & Haub ( Case. 2010 ) only confirms what regular visitors of the SuppVersity obviously knew. The scientists investigated the effect of either a high carbohydrate (CHO;  65% carbohydrates, 15% protein and 20% fats), a "high protein" (PRO; 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30%) and a non-restricted (Control) diet on body composition and weight of 30 active, military males (age=25 ± 4 yr, body fat=15 ± 7%): Control and PRO group increased FFM , 1.7±1.2 kg and 0.8±1.5 kg, respectively. CHO group lost -0.2±3.8 kg FFM. PRO and CHO groups lost 1.0±1.0 kg and 1.0±1.8 kg of FM, respectively. Control group lost 0.7±0.7 kg FM. Although, judged by a bodybuilders standard, for example, the "PRO"-Diet was not really "high protein" in the sense that it still had 40% carbs and thus more carbs than protein, it was exceptionall...

While Phosphatidylserine is marketed mainly for its purportedly beneficial effect on exercise recovery and cortisol levels, a recent study by Parker et al. ( Parker .2010 ) showed that supplementation with 400 mg/day Phosphatidylserine (SerinAid, Chemi Nutra) for 14 days before testing, significantly reduced the time needed for a correct calculation by 19.8% (1.27 s per calculation; Placebo: 6.4 s, PS 5.13 s; p = 0.001), and reduced the total amount of errors by 33% (PRE: Placebo: 27, PS: 18, p = 0.18) at PRE compared to placebo. Exercise significantly improved SST time (p = 0.03). PS did not improve SST compared to placebo post exercise. So, wheter you have your math test before or after your workout, do not forget to get your daily dose of phosphatidylserine in ;o)

Regular visitors of the SuppVersity will remember the study on Size On Maximum Performance , which - despite being financed by Gaspari - showed, from an objective perspective, only marginal effects on exercise performance. MRI was not so lucky to sponsor Reid et al. (Reid. 2010) who studied the effect of their pre-workout product, NO2 Platinum exercise induced increases of nitric oxide: From the pre-exercise blood samples at each exercise session, L-argninine decreased 0.89% in the placebo group after supplementation, whereas the NO2 group significantly increased 84.67% (p = 0.001). Brachial artery blood flow was significantly increased in both groups (p = 0.001) immediately post-exercise, but was not different between groups . Nitric oxide was shown to significantly increase in both groups (p = 0.001) immediately post and at 30 min post-exercise, but was not different between groups. eNOS was significantly increased in both groups (p = 0.028) immediately post and at 30 ...

The initial hype around Whey Protein Hydrosolates (WPH) has ended and everybody returned to his favorite whey protein or one of the hundreds of BCAA products on the market. A new study by Kanda et al. ( Kanda. 2010 ) does however suggest that this might be a mistake. In their study (unfortunately done on rats) they compared the immediate effect of supplementation with carbs + either WPH, Whey, BCAA or Casein and found: WPH caused significant increases ( p < 0.05) in skeletal muscle glycogen level (5.01+/-0.24 mg/g), compared with whey protein (4.23+/-0.24 mg/g), BCAA (3.92+/-0.18 mg/g) or casein hydrolysates (2.73+/-0.22 mg/g). Post-exercise ingestion of glucose plus WPH caused significant increases ( p < 0.05) in both phosphorylated Akt/PKB (131%) and phosphorylated PKC ζ (154%) levels compared with glucose only. There was a significant positive correlation between skeletal muscle glycogen content and phosphorylated Akt/PKB ( r = 0.674, p < 0.001) and PKC ζ ( ...

Sometimes, I am not really sure whether I shall thank Rich Gaspari or condemn him for financing studies on the effectiveness of his supplements. Anyways, you better take the results of the most recent study ( Hofheins . 2010 ) on Gaspari 's Size On Maximum Performance with a grain of scepticism. In a  randomized, double-blind design study 20 healthy men (mean ± SD age, height, weight, % body fat: 22.9 ± 2.6 y, 178.4 ± 5.7 cm, 80.5 ± 6.6 kg, 16.6 ± 4.0 %) were matched for age, body weight, resistance training history, bench press strength, bench press endurance, and percent body fat and then randomly assignedto ingest ½ scoop (dissolved in 15 oz water) of Size On Maximum Performance [SOmaxP] or competitive product [CP] prior to, and another ½ scoop (dissolved in 15 oz water) during resistance exercise. The scientists measure body composition (DEXA), muscular performance (1-RM bench press and repetitions to failure [RTF: 3 sets x baseline body weight, 60-sec rest between...

In a study published in the most recent issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition of Morenga et al. ( Morenga. 2010 ) report the beneficial outcome of an ad-libitum (i.e. not energy-restricted) high protein (up to 30 % of energy), high fiber (>35   g per day; HPHF) diet on weight and body composition in overweight women: Participants on the HPHF [high protein, high fiber] diet lost more body weight (1.3   kg; 95 % CI, 0.7, 1.9; P <0.0001), total fat (1.0   kg; 95 % CI, 0.2, 1.8; P <0.0001) and truncal fat (0.7   kg; 95 % CI, 0.1, 1.3; P = 0.034) than participants on the standard diet. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were also significantly lower after the HPHF diet. What distinguishes these results from previous investigations showing beneficial effects (cf. table 1) of a high protein diet is the lack of an energy restriction. Table 1: Baseline, week 4 and week 10 measures for body composition variables for the standard ...

The latest research on obesity and the metabolic syndrome always focused on the negative effects of visceral fat and almost neglected the subcutaneous fat deposits, most of us find even more bothersome (due to their impact on our physical appeal). A recent study by Liu et al. ( Liu. 2010 ) investigated whether the focus on visceral fat was scientifically verifiable and found that subcutaneous fat is by far not the passive and unattractive ballast some scientists make it appear: Per 1-SD increment in either VAT or SAT , we observed elevated levels of fasting plasma glucose and triglyceride, lower levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and increased odds ratios for hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Bottom line: You better get rid (or ripped ;-) of both, to get on the safe and sexy side!