Bitesize Biohack Biohack Optimal Body Composition
Angela FosterJan 3, 2023 at 10:26 am16min
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00:01Dr Gabrielle Lyon
You have to get that exercise component. And then you have to get that nutritional and the other of the all the other components, right? And it's really changing how we feed and really rethinking? What does it mean? And how are we feeding to improve body composition, improve health, improve cravings, blood sugar control all of the things.
Angela Foster
Happy New Year. Welcome back to 2023 is an exciting Oh, my goodness, I'm so excited for this year, have some incredible guests lined up for the show. I'm so excited. I can't wait to go wait. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. And so lovely to be back on the show. You're probably thinking if you're like me, and have indulged a little bit over the festive period, about how you can get into really great shape in the new year. So very common thing for people. I think we all regardless of where we are in terms of the spectrum of how much we need to optimise our body composition, we can always be more optimal. And so I thought it would be a good thing on this bite size bio hack to share. Probably the the easiest hack that you can do to change your body composition quickly, in addition to strength training, and that is to consume more protein. But people get confused about protein, how much is enough? How much is too much? And what should you be looking for. If you're including obviously, we want to use whole foods as much as possible. But if you are including something like a protein powder, what do you need to look for in a shake is protein enough, for example, and also the importance of Leucine, because this actually is a significant trigger for muscle protein synthesis. So that's really important. And you'll also learn in this clip about why you shouldn't be sitting there sipping your protein shake or your essential amino acid drink, you actually need to consume it quite quickly to trigger that muscle protein synthesis. And there is no better person on this topic than Dr. Gabrielle Lyon. So I'm going to introduce you now to this clip from my episode with Dr. Gabrielle. And if you want to go back and listen to the full episode, it is episode 131.
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02:19Dr Gabrielle Lyon
The key in understanding optimising body composition and optimising muscle mass as we age is understanding that blood levels of amino acids need to rise to a specific point. And if you are below, if you are sub threshold, and constantly sipping on these amino acids, you get a little and then it goes down a little and it goes down. But you never hit you never hit a threshold. For example, the threshold would be a minimum of 30 grammes of protein that is a minimum of you know, for four and a half ounces of beef, chicken, whatever it is. And the reason that is is you need to hit what's called a leucine threshold, which is an essential amino acid it is one of the branched chain amino acids. And as soon as you hit that, it triggers your muscle. It's like putting a key into a car and starting the car. And then the next thing after that is that you have to have all the amino acids. So let's say for example, you're eating beef or bison, you have all the amino acids to then contribute to regeneration of muscle to building more healthy strong muscle over a period of time. Now, for people that likes to eat little small meals a day and never reach a 30 to a more optimal 50 grammes of protein, which is a robust amount and it's really changing how we feed and really rethinking? What does it mean and how are we feeding to improve body composition, improve health, improve cravings, blood sugar control all of the things? Ideally, you then balance it to a minimum of 30 grammes of protein to a maximum of 55 Beyond that, you still absorb everything but as as it relates to optimization for muscle, then there's no reason to go higher than that.
Angela Foster
Okay, that's interesting. So what about people that are fasting and they're doing one meal a day? They would then only be really you say they're still be absorbing the protein but it well, all of it? Okay, that's interesting. I'm appreciated that but they This isn't
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04:33Dr Gabrielle Lyon
this is another great point. I think that we should touch on the one meal a day people are one meal a day. And you have to define your goal. Is your goal to build muscle or is your goal to maintain tissue? And when I say tissue, I mean, are you just trying to maintain your body composition? If you are trying to maintain your body composition, you absolutely can get away with one meal a day. But ultimately, that means that you have to get all your protein in Not one meal is not an ideal eating strategy, it is probably not an ideal eating strategy. A more an all I want to have a caveat in here. Humans are incredibly adaptable. We could do, and cycle through different strategies. It doesn't have to be one way of eating for a lifetime. This is how I eat. And this is what works for me, it can be for this one month, I am going to do one meal a day, I'm going to measure my body composition before, I'm going to measure it after. You can, for example, if you're younger, get away with one meal a day, assuming that you're training, you're doing resistance training, and you're just doing a lot of activity. Then people you know, some of the research would say, well, the 24 hour period amount of protein that you get in is really what's important. You know how much protein you get in a 24 hour period. And I agree with that. However, I will say if you are up against ageing or hormonal changes, or thyroid challenges, you have to take that into consideration and what would be an ideal strategy? I mean, that's at least what I've seen in clinical practice.
Angela Foster
Yeah, it's somewhere between 30 and 55 grammes for
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