How many complex carbs should a body builder get each meal?
I would like to bulk up quickly and need to know how many grams of complex carbs should be digested per meal.
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Hello
I have found a good article about it, I hope that will help you.
Ciao Robisirt
How Many Carbohdyrates Do You need
Introduction: This is an excerpt/section from the never to be completed opus, I had posted it to my forum and someone suggested I make it the new article of the month. If it seems a little bit incomplete, that's becuase it is, apparently I never quite finished the entire chapter. In any event, this one section deals simply with the issue of how many carbohydrates you need per day.
Argments over recommended carbohydrate intake have a long history and it doesn't appear to be close to ending any time soon. Typical mainstream recommendations have carbohydrates contributing 50% or more of total calories while many low-carbohydrate advocates suggest far fewer (ranging from the 40% of the Zone diet to close to zero for ketogenic diets). I should mention again that percentages can be fundamentally misleading, putting carbohydrate recommendations in terms of grams per kilogram or per pound is generally more valid (with one exception noted below). A typical ketogenic/low-carbohydrate diet might contain 1 gram/kilogram (about 0.5 g/lb) of carbohydrate. An average Zone diet might contain 1 g/lb (~2 g/kg) of carbohydrate or slightly more. Typical recommendations for endurance athletes are in the 6-8 g/kg (3-4 g/lb) range and carb-loading may require 10-16 g/kg (5-8 g/lb) of carbohydrate.
Still, whether yo'ure looking at carb recommendations in terms of percentages of g/lb (g/kg), there is still a huge discrepancy between different experts. Some recommend lots of carbs, some recommend medium amounts, some recommend almost none.
Who's right? In answering this question, I'm going to look at a few issues. So you know, what I'll end up concluding is that how many carbohydrates you need (or should consume) daily depends on the same factors that affect other nutrient recommendations: goals, preferences, types and amounts of activity, and our old friend, genetic variation. By the end of the discussion, I plan to have set both minimum and maximum intake values depending on different conditions that might crop up. Let's start with minimum amounts.
As I discussed in great detail previously, there is no actual physiological requirement for dietary carbohydrate. Most tissues can use fatty acids, the few that utilize glucose exclusively just reuse the same amounts over and over, and the brain switches to using ketones when glucose isn't available with the body making what little is required from other sources. From the standpoint of survival, the minimum amount of carbohydrates that are required in a diet is zero grams.
Of course, when carbohydrates are restricted completely, the body has to find something to make glucose out of. That something is lactate and pyruvate (produced from glucose metabolism), glycerol (from fat metabolism) and amino acids. It's the amino acid use that can be problematic since they have to come from somewhere. Under conditions of total starvation, that somewhere is generally muscle tissue; the body will readily break down protein to scavenge the amino acids it needs to produce glucose. In doing so, the muscle released alanine and glutamine (produced in the muscle from the breakdown of leucine and the branch chained amino acids, so you know) which can be converted to glucose in the liver.
Protein losses during total starvation are extremely high to start, gradually decreasing as the brain switches over to using ketones for fuel. Even so, in complete starvation there is always some loss of body protein. Over long periods of time, this goes from harmful (because function is compromised from muscle loss) to downright fatal.
From a body recomposition point of view, it should be obvious that losing muscle protein this way is bad. Researchers found years ago that providing adequate dietary protein helped to decrease if not outright eliminate the utilization of body protein for gluconeogenesis (a big word meaning the production of new glucose). Diets providing nothing but small amounts of protein (to the tune of 1.5 g/kg lean body mass or so) helped to almost eliminate the nitrogen losses inherent to starvation.
Recall from the chapter on liver metabolism that over half of all ingested amino acids are broken down in the liver in the first place. A good portion of those can be used to make glucose. Recent research has suggested that high leucine intakes (5-10 grams/day) may be beneficial in providing a source for glucose production in the liver.
Bodybuilders have typically used this approach while dieting, jacking up protein in hopes that it will limit muscle loss. Unfortunately, this is only successful when protein intake is insufficient in the first place. The breakdown of muscle protein is as much hormonally controlled by low insulin, falling testosterone, high cortisol and catecholamines as by nutrient availability. All of the protein in the world won't help when your hormones are putting your body in an inherently catabolic state.
However, there is an alternate way to limit the use of body protein when carbohydrates are being severely restricted. As few as 15 grams of carbohydrates per day has been shown to limit nitrogen loss and 50 grams of carbohydrate per day severely limits the need for the body to use amino acids for gluoconeogenesis. Not only will it maintain blood glucose and insulin at a slightly higher level (thus inhibiting cortisol release), it directly provides glucose for the brain, limiting the need to break down protein in the first place.
Ketosis (if desired) will generally still develop under those conditions. So although the physiological requirement for dietary carbohydrates is zero, we might set a practical minimum (in terms of preventing excessive body protein loss) at 50 grams per day. I realize that most ketogenic diet authors use 30 grams/day as a starting point but, frankly, I have no idea where that value came from.
However, not everyone functions well in ketosis. They get brain fuzzed, lethargic and just generally feel like warmed over shit. Even with weeks of being on a ketogenic diet, they never seem to adapt completely. That's not a good recipe for long-term adherence to a diet or healthy functioning. So we ask how many carbs it takes to avoid the development of ketosis. In general, assuming zero or very low levels of activity, an intake of 100 grams of carbohydrates per day will prevent the devlopment of ketosis, just providing the brain with enough carbohydrates to function 'normally'. So, for folks who want (or need) to just avoid ketosis, 100 grams per day will act as a practical limit.
Summing up so far, we've set a practial minimum of 50-100 grams of carbohydrates per day depending on whether or not you function well in ketosis. I want to mention again that this shouldn't be taken as a recommendation that such an amount is ideal, it simply represents a minimum intake value.
So far I haven't considered the impact of activity on all of this as this will drastically change the numbers above. And so you know, the values above don't change significantly with body size. Mainly, in the above discussion we're dealing with the brain and its glucose requirements. For the most part, brain size doesn't scale with body weight (no jokes about athletes and the size of their brains, please); neither do glucose requirements.
So now we have to consider activity in the calculations of what might be a practical minimum (note: minimum should not be taken as synonymous with optimum). Both the type, amount and intensity of activity will impact on carbohydrate requirements. Typical low intensity aerobic/cardiovascular work doesn't generally use a lot of carbohydrate. So if someone were only performing that type of activity (i.e. walking 3-5 times per week), there wouldn't be any real need to increase carbohdyrate intake over the above minimum. Such a person might want to increase carbs for various reasons, but there wouldn't be any strict need to do so.
The carbohydrate requirements for weight training actually aren't that great. I did some calculations in my first book and concluded that, for every 2 work sets or so, you'll need 5 grams of carbohydrates to replenish the glycogen used. So if you did a workout containing 24 work sets, you'd only need about 60 extra grams (24 sets * 5 grams/2 sets = 60 grams) of carbohydrate to replace the glycogen used. So if you were starting at the bare minimum of 50 grams per day and were doing roughly 24 sets/workout, you'd need to consume an additional 60 grams (total 110 grams/day) to cover it. If you didn't function well in ketosis and were starting at the 100 g/day, you'd increase to 160 g/day. If you don't feel like doing such calculations, an intake of 1 g/lb or ~2 grams/kg lean body mass can probably be considered a practical minimum (an exception is various cyclical ketogenic diets which I'll disccus in a later chapter).
I should mention that most bodybuilding experts recommend intakes in this range: anywhere from 1 g/lb on fat loss diets to 3 g/lb for mass gains so we're definitely in that range. General recommendations for strength athletes by the nutrition mainstream is in the range of 5-7 g/kg or 2.2-3 g/lb so these values are all pretty consistent.
Higher intensity cardiovascular exercise is a little bit harder to pinpoint in terms of carbohydrate requirements. At high exercise intenties (usually sustainable only by highly trained athletes), muscle glycogen can be depleted within 2 hours or so and this can represent 300-400 grams of total carbohydrate or so. Under less extreme circumstances, carbohydrate requirements won't be as high. And while current recommendations for endurance athletes are in the 7-10 g/kg (3-4.5 g/lb) range, studies show that most athletes consume closer to 5 g/kg (2.2 g/lb).
Frankly, if competition athletes are getting sufficient carbohdyrate intake at that level, I see little reason for the average individual to consume more. I should note that the above sections assume that maintenance of muscle glycogen is the goal. Under some situations, glycogen depletion is the goal. This means that an athlete or dieter may deliberately underconsumecarbohydrates such that, over some time period, glyocgen concentrations decline. Under others, the goal is to increase muscle glycogen above normal levels and, obviously, this will require higher carbohydrate intakes than the values above.
Ok, so we've looked at some minimums, what about maximum intake levels? A practical limit for carbohydrates intake would be a sitaution where they made up 100% of your total energy intake. An average individual has a daily caloric intake in the realm of 15-16 cal/lb. Since carbs have 4 calories/gram, this would represent a maximum intake of roughly 4 grams/lb (8.8 g/kg). Athletes involved in heavier training (hence burning more calories per day) will be able to handle proportionally more.
One final situation occurs when glycogen has been depleted by heavy training and a low-carbohydrate diet and glycogen supercompensation has occurred. Under that specific condition, carbohydrate intakes in the realm of 16 g/kg (a little over 7 grams/pound) of lean body mass can be tolerated over a 24 hour period. This probably represents a practical maximum for carbohydrate intake.
So let's sum up, looking at both practical minimum and maximum carbohydrate intakes under different circumstances. For the g/lb recommendations, I'll use a lifter with 160 lbs of lean body mass and put gram amounts in parentheses
Physiological requirement: 0 g/day
Practical minimum to avoid excessive muscle breakdown: 50 g/day Practical minimum for individuals who function poorly in ketosis: 100 g/day
Note: all above values assume no exercise.
Additional amount to sustain low intensity exercise: minimal approaching zero
Additional amount to sustain weight training: 5 grams carbohydrate/2 work sets
Typically recommended amounts by bodybuilding experts: 1-3 g/lb (160-480 g/day)
Typically recommended amounts by mainstream nutritionists: 2-3 g/lb (320-480 g/day)
Average intake for endurance athletes: 5 g/kg or a little more than 2 g/lb (320 g/day)
Recommended intake for endurance athletes: 7-10 g/kg or 3-4.5 g/lb (480-720 g/day)
Practical maximum for non-carb loading individuals: 8.8 g/kg or 4 g/lb (640 g/day)
Maximal intakes for carb-loading: 16 g/kg or 7 g/lb (1120 g/day)
Summing up: So, in looking at possible carbohydrate intakes, we can find a pretty drastic range from an absolute minimum of zero grams per day all the way up to 1120 g/day for someone trying to maximize glycogen storage. For most of the diets described in these books, the 1-3 g/lb values will probably be most appropriate. More on that later. (
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What are complex carbohydrates and is sweet potato one of them and are they good for me?
Waht are these complex carbohydrates and if they are good for me,how are the good for me and what can i find them in.
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When using Murad Acne Complex how can you tell if your skin is experiencing irritation or is just purging?
I recently began using Murad Acne Complex and Iam planning to stick with for a good 3 to 4 weeks for good results, I hope. My skin doesn't usually experience sensativity but after using the products my skin sometimes burns and doesn't feel totally soft and smooth. Iam wondering if my recent breakouts are my skin purging or irritation...
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The same exact thing happended to me. You have to just be careful, it is very strong so I would not overuse some of it, especially the cleanser. I haven't been that happy with the results, it dries my skin out like crazy and pimples come back a lot of the time. (
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What's the difference between complex carbohydrates and simple sugars?
Aren't they basically the same and make you gain weight? Why do some people think complex carbohydrates or starches are good for you while simple sugars or simple carbohydrates are not?
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Both have the same amount of calories (4 per gram of carbohydrate) but their nutritional value is very different. Complex carbohydrates are what you find in whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat, quinoa, etc), beans/legumes, vegetables.
Complex carbohydrates are better for you, and are an essential part of your diet, because foods with complex carbs have high amounts of fiber in them, which improves digestion. Foods that are more digestible have their nutrients better absorbed into the body and give you better energy. Foods with complex carbohydrates also have more protein.
Simple carbohydrates include fruit, which should be a part of your diet as well. Foods with lots of added sugar, like cake, candy, soda and honey, have little nutritional value and are likely to make you gain weight.
Don't be afraid of carbohydrates, your body needs them to function properly. (
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What is the difference between a Skincare Complex and a Cream or Moisturizer?
If they are different, could you use the complex in place of the moisturizer if it contains vitamin E and fatty acids?
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Hi skin care complex contains numerous different ingredients and treatments within the one product. For example they contain a blend of different ingredients such as Aloe Vera Gel, Witch Hazel & Rosemary and Green Tea Extract, Soy Protein, Kelp Powder, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Antioxidents etc.The main difference is, skin care complex's are more sophisticated and more advanced, if depends what you want from your skin cream, if you just want a something to make your skin soft then just go with a moisturizer but if your looking for skin healing, anti ageing etc then you will need a mre advanced 'complex' skin care regeime. Hope this helps!! (
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What is the difference between vitamin B complex and vitamin B compound?
I am trying to buy some good vitamin B's, But I am confused. I see complex and compound, but I dont understand the difference. Please elaborate.
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Vitamin B12 is also called cobalamin because it contains the metal cobalt. This vitamin helps maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells [1-4]. It is also needed to help make DNA, the genetic material in all cells [1-4].
Vitamin B12 is bound to the protein in food. Hydrochloric acid in the stomach releases B12 from proteins in foods during digestion. Once released, vitamin B12 combines with a substance called gastric intrinsic factor (IF). This complex can then be absorbed by the intestinal tract. (
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What are some great complex carbohydrate alternatives to regular simple carbs?
I ask this because I'm on a weight loss diet. I'd like to replace my normal white bread & potatoes with some great complex carb substitutes.
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Brown rice, whole grain pasta, whole wheat bread, yams, all vegetables although they don't contain a lot of carbs. (
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What is the difference between non B complex vitamins and B complex vitamins?
I know that Vitamin C is a non B Complex, what else should I know?
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Whole food supplements and some "natural" supplements will give foods as sources for the nutrients they contain. If a supplement is synthetic it will usually show the following as sources:
B complex – no source listed
B1 – thiamine mononitrate or thiamine hydrochloride
B2 – riboflavin
B5 – calcium D-pantothenate
B6 – pyridoxine hydrochloride
B12 – cobalamin
Folic Acid – pteroylglutamic acid
Biotin – d-Biotin
There is much controversy concerning the body’s reaction to synthetic vs. natural vitamin supplements. Many believe that the small differences between synthetic and natural are of no consequence. However, clinical evidence and several studies indicate that the body detects the difference and that natural forms of vitamins including A, B-complex, C, D, and E are more absorbable and assimilable by the body and have a more profound effect on deficiencies and disease than synthetics. This question comes to mind: Isn’t it possible that this could be true for all nutrients? Also, it has been shown that sensitive individuals who have reactions to the synthetic vitamins can take the truly natural forms with no problems (
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What is the difference between Vitamin B12 and B Complex?
What is the difference between Vitamin B12 & B complex? Do I need both?? I'm looking at the bottle of my B Complex and it doesn't list B12 but it lists B6. Should I take both a vitamin b12 and b complex every day? I'm a vegetarian woman and heard that Vitamin b12 is good to prevent anemia. I also take iron supplements.
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yes you can take both but watch the b12 intake and take as directed..b12 if you take to much becomes a poison in the body due to the body cant release it in urine like most vitamin supplements (
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What is a website that I can see what the distance is around my apartment complex is?
I want to run around my apartment complex but I have no idea how long around in miles it is. Is there a website that I can tell the distance around my apartment complex is?
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Go to Google Earth. Find your city and zoom in on your complex. Use the measuring tool (on the toolbar at the top of the screen) to trace around your complex. The tool window will read out the distance in whatever increments of measure you want. The resolution should be good down to a few feet.
Hope this helps. (
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