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                           Nutritional Guidelines for Optimal Performance

The following is a series of articles through this month I will be focusing on when we need focus on eating and fueling our body the most. I have trained in Martial Arts and Energy systems almost my whole adult life, & almost everyone talks about the practices on what to do but almost everyone forgoes or does not know about nutritional & dietary requirements for a serious student.

For starters the chemicals found in your body are almost like those found in food. Both consist of at least 18 elements and probably as many as 40. These are made up of combinations of atoms, such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. Some compounds are necessary for building and repairing tissues, others protect the body from disease, and others provide energy and warmth.

A stream of nutrient chemicals formed from digested food flows continuously into our cells, providing the energy needed to train, work, play, make love, and even sit in a chair watching television. When the cells have used the amount of nutrients required for fuel each day, any excess is stored in the tissues. Your body can store a limited supply of carbohydrates and an almost unlimited amount of fat, but protein cannot be stored. It must be provided by your intake of food with the amount absorbed by the body being dependent on the quality of protein you eat.

PROTEIN: POWER BUILDING FOOD

Without protein, there would be no life since it forms the basic substance of our muscles, bones, brain, nerves, heart, and every other organ. Only protein contains nitrogen, an essential part of protoplasm. Without it, the cells would slowly wear away, unable to reproduce and form new cells. In our body red blood cells have a life of only 18 weeks and must constantly be replaced. Without a supply of dietary protein providing the amino acids essential for the reproduction of new cells, this would be impossible. The same holds true for cells lining the intestine, which are renewed every 112 days.

The synthesis of protein is also essential for anabolism, or the formation of new tissue, occurring at an even rate for the average person that is stepped up considerably with practitioners of Qigong, Martial Arts, Yoga & related energetic practices; since we are continuously training, breaking down tissue, and building muscle mass. Dietary protein is also essential to catabolism, a process through which the amino acids found only in protein are broken down, thereby liberating energy. Again, this would occur at an even rate for those not in intensive training but accelerates for Qigong & Martial Artist practitioners and other athletes due to their increased expenditure of energy.

Proteins also serve a regulatory role in forming enzymes that trigger all chemical reactions in the body. The body is protected from infectious diseases by antibodies composed of proteins. And hormones like insulin that regulate our daily processes are also derived from our daily intake of protein.

All protein foods are not equally efficient. Their value is based on the type of amino acids they contain, which combine with nitrogen and form thousands of different proteins necessary to build and repair cellular tissue. This takes place during digestion when hydrochloric acid and enzymes break down the intact protein molecule into amino acids so they can be absorbed through the intestinal wall. Of 22 known amino acids, 13 can be produced by the body, synthesized by glands like the liver. These-alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glucine, glutamic acid, glutamine, hydroxyproline, proline, serine, and tyrosine-are called nonessential amino acids. They can safely be omitted when enough nitrogen and other nutrients are supplied. Essential amino acids, used for building tissue and other functions just discussed, cannot be made by the body but must be taken directly from our daily intake of food. They are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Those who are vegetarians should be aware that one amino acid cannot replace another. When food contains the essential amino acids it is considered a complete protein. With the exception of soybeans, all complete proteins are derived from animal sources: meat, fish, eggs, poultry, cheese, and milk. Although most gelatin comes from an animal source, it does not fall into this category because it lacks the necessary amino acids. Protein foods derived from plants are considered incomplete since they lack the amino acids essential for building tissue and repairing the body. Certain plant foods, like rice, potatoes, nuts, breads, and grain cereals, contain the essential amino acids but in lesser quantities than animal foods.

Many cereals and rice are low in lysine, while dry beans, peanuts, and brewer's yeast are low in methionine. It would be necessary to eat a pound of potatoes to provide the necessary amino acids found in only an ounce of meat. Keep in mind that the amino acids of most animal proteins are absorbed efficiently, their rate ranging from 90 to 95 percent, while the digestibility of some plant proteins may be as low as 73 percent.

Vegetarians also run the risk of mis-combining vegetable proteins and thus failing to form complete proteins containing all the essential amino acids. The growth and reproduction of cells demand that all the essential amino acids be ingested at the same time in the same meal. A missing amino acid cannot be supplied several hours later and still find the essential ones waiting to be assembled into a complete protein before being digested. Eggs are a prime example of a complete protein, containing all of the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts to maintain life and support growth.

The digestion of protein begins in the stomach and is completed in the small intestine. Enzymes from the pancreas actually cause the breakdown of the protein you eat into amino acids. Following this, they are absorbed from the intestine and distributed to the body cells through the bloodstream. When more protein is eaten than needed for the functions mentioned at the beginning of this section, the excess is metabolized for energy.


If your training requirements contains insufficient carbohydrates needed for energy, your body will draw on the protein vital to building internal and external power. This is a mistake many continue making, particularly when they begin teaching and training at the same time.

Doing energy practices and meditations and forms are Major sections in ones training; but you must know how to properly fuel your body for maximum results. In Power Training practices in China it is taught secretly that many herb, foods & techniques supplement and guide the success or failure when one trains very serious. If you follow the suggestions contained within here you will without a doubt make your integrated practices more powerful, reach new levels & your body/mind at least 50% or better with little effort.


Another danger comes from depending on the ever popular protein powders, tablets, and liquids to supply major nutritional elements. Many practitioners are using these concentrates believe advertisements that promote them as highly concentrated food products. Remember, it takes very little effort to write an advertisement but a great deal to train serious & hard. Seeing 90 percent protein written on the label gives the impression that the stuff inside the can originates from a more valuable protein source than eggs, fish, poultry, or meat.

However, this does not necessarily mean that 90 percent of the powder is protein. For example, a can weighing two pounds may contain one pound of pure protein, 90 percent of which has a nutrient value. The remaining pound consists of other ingredients added to stabilize the protein and prevent it from spoiling. At present, the average protein content of most brands ranges between 40 and 70 percent; some higher-quality products might supply as much as 65-75 percent.



Even so, an important difference should be noted between protein from animal sources and protein in powdered concentrates, tablets, and fruit- and chocolate-flavored liquids. We define the first as live protein and the second as dead protein based on the condition of DNA molecules found in the cells. These molecules work as an information center, having the codes and blueprints necessary to assemble hundreds of different proteins needed by the body. Each day they send out thousands of messages on building and repairing tissue. The DNA in animal protein, even when the animal is slaughtered, remains alive and unbroken. In the case of protein powders from animal sources, however, the DNA is broken down during the manufacturing process, and its ability to build body tissue is impaired.

Also, the protein in concentrates is not absorbed into the bloodstream to the same extent as is dietary protein. This point is one of the chief considerations in the selection of high-quality protein in your training requirements. The fillers and waste products contained in the concentrates contain substances that inhibit enzyme action in the digestive tract, resulting in effective utilization of the protein. For example, in comparing 4 grams of protein from an egg yolk with an equal weight of powdered protein, you will absorb about 3 1/2 grams of protein from the egg, but less than 2 from the powder. Therefore, concentrates should never be considered substitutes for fresh food, most particularly from animal sources. Any dependency on them can only set you on the road downhill as a practitioner.

Those who are underweight may gain an advantage by taking the powders as a pick-me-up between meals, perhaps using them to spare protein needed for building muscles, but not to replace eggs, fish, meat, or poultry. Then it is best mixed with milk or water rather than fruit juice, since the high concentration of sugar does not combine well with protein and may putrefy in the colon without being digested.



As a serious practitioner, you must consider the net protein utilization (NPU) or rate of protein absorption into the bloodstream. For those who are trying to shed pounds this should be highlighted because some meat items are much higher in fat than others. For example, beef and chicken both have an absorption rate of 68 percent, yet chicken has the advantage of easier digestibility and contains almost half the calories of an equal weight of beef, pork, or lamb.

The protein utilization rate of some common foods follows:



FOOD
Eggs 88%
Fish 78%
Dairy products 76%
Meat 68%
Soybeans 48%
Natural brown rice 40%
Red beans 39%
Coconut 38%
Nuts 35%
White beans 33%
Maize 25%
Whole wheat bread 21%
White bread 20%


**% rate is the NPU or rate of protein absorption**