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A number of researchers have declared Insulin to be “the greatest anabolic hormone,” which makes the control of Insulin secretion a matter of great interest to bodybuilders who train drug-free. We don’t want to insult your intelligence, but before we discuss this hormone’s anabolic properties, it must be said here and now that if you are not an Insulin-dependent diabetic, Insulin injections can kill you. Some athletes have tried injections and almost died. Insulin can make you weak, or it can make you strong. It can make you fat, or it can make you lean. The key to making it work for you is to learn to control your body’s secretion of it.
Form & Function
This vital and powerful element’s role is to make nutrients in the bloodstream available to body tissues. Even in healthy individuals, abnormality in Insulin secretions brought on by poor eating habits and lack of exercise may cause serious metabolic disorders. For example, prolonged poor eating habits can result in type II diabetes accompanied by obesity or, on the other end of the continuum, hypoglycemia. In understanding the roll Insulin plays in health & weight management, it would be a good idea to have a six-hour-fasted blood sugar test performed to ensure that your Insulin secretions are healthy (The normal range for fasted blood sugar is between 70 and 110 mg/dcl.).
To help you further understand how Insulin functions, here is a simplified explanation of a process that is otherwise quite complicated. Your body breaks down all ingested carbohydrates into simple sugars in your small intestine. These simple sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream and enter the liver. The liver converts them into glucose, the body’s only usable form of simple sugar. This glucose is then introduced back into the bloodstream.
The bloodstream’s capacity for glucose is about 80 calories. When the newly ingested glucose raises the blood sugar level in excess of this capacity, the pancreas releases Insulin into the bloodstream to transport the excess glucose to body tissues. This excess glucose is said to be “Insulin-carried.” Insulin must be present for the uptake of glucose in all body tissues except the brain.
The first stop for this Insulin-carried glucose is the liver, where it is stored as glycogen. The liver has the potential to store about 300 to 400 calories of glycogen. When the liver stores are filled and there is still excess Insulin-carried glucose present in the blood, the next stop, if there is recovery taking place due to resistance exercise, is the muscle tissue.
If there is still more Insulin-carried blood glucose after the liver and muscle tissue have taken in all they can handle, the excess will be rapidly stored in extramuscular fat cells. *It is worth mentioning at this point that the liver and muscle tissues take up Insulin-carried glucose quite gradually as opposed to the way it is rapidly taken up into fat cells.
Insulin & Amino Acids
Another of Insulin’s less understood functions is that it must be present to open “Insulin receptor sites” in muscle. This allows amino acids to move into the tissue fibers and serve as building blocks for repair and growth. Insulin release into the blood is not stimulated by eating proteins, however. You can ensure that Insulin will be present for amino acid uptake which is essential for protein synthesis, by taking in sufficient amounts of carbohydrates along with your complete proteins.
If you do not eat often enough - that is to say, if your meals are more than about four hours apart your Insulin, amino acid, and blood sugar levels will gradually drop off. Since there won’t be any Insulin present, anabolism or growth, will cease until such a time as you take in adequate complex carbohydrates and complete proteins to again cause an appropriate amount of Insulin release to open muscle receptor sites.
Anabolism is most effective when Insulin is continually present, which allows for the continual uptake of glucose and amino acids by the recovering muscle tissue. The most effective way to make this happen is by ingesting complete proteins and sufficient amounts of complex carbohydrates frequently throughout the day. This will cause the body to release moderate amounts of Insulin. Since amino acids remain available in the blood for protein synthesis for only three to four hours, you should take in complete proteins and complex carbs every three to four hours. Thus, when you’re working to build muscle, it is essential to time your meals in order for Insulin to be present and anabolism to steadily continue.
If you don’t eat enough complex carbs in each meal, your blood sugar levels may not be high enough to stimulate Insulin release and anabolism cannot occur even in the presence of abundant amounts of complete proteins.
On the other hand, if you take in too many carbohydrates in your meals, you’ll release too much Insulin, and the muscles will be provided with more Insulin-carried glucose than they can handle. This surplus of over-ingested glucose will be rapidly stored in fat cells.
If you take in simple sugars, your blood sugar will rise too fast, causing an over-release of Insulin. This overabundance of Insulin will quickly remove almost all glucose from the blood stream. Since liver and muscle tissue takes up glucose gradually, and fat deposits are stored more rapidly, most of this Insulin-carried glucose will end up in fat cells. Your blood sugar level and subsequently, your Insulin level will drop, and anabolism will stop until you once again ingest adequate complex carbohydrates and complete proteins.
Optimal Insulin Secretions
Consulting a glycemic index chart may help you achieve optimal Insulin secretions. The index classifies carbohydrates based on their absorption rate into the bloodstream. You need to keep this absorption rate as low as possible to avoid the aforementioned over-release of Insulin. Even though certain natural healthy food such as potatoes and carrots are simple sugars and rate somewhat high on this index, you can still eat them as long as you combine them with other low-glycemic-index carbs. This will act to offset or 'compromise' their combined rate of absorption.
The index rates foods on a scale of 0 to 110 - the higher the number, the faster the absorption rate. Ingesting soluble fiber will also act to slow absorption. Soluble fiber is present in almost all natural complex carbohydrates. It is also important to note that intense training opens muscle tissue Insulin receptor sites, which makes it unnecessary to ingest large amounts of carbohydrates for Insulin presence prior to and during resistance training.
Energy Crash Course
The prolonged absence of resistance exercise causes muscle tissue to become relatively inactive, especially the mitochondrial components. This simply means that, in time, the mitochondria may no longer know how to efficiently use glucose energy after a workout. Even in the presence of Insulin, untrained muscle receptor sites may fail to take up glucose efficiently. This is generally the case in the beginning weight trainer.
During the first week of training you must immediately provide these mitochondria with what they need the most for energy replenishment after an exercise session-glucose. After you finish working out, perform some sort of activity at about 50 percent of your maximum heart rate for 10 to 15 minutes while you ingest from 80 to 200 calories of simple sugar. This may seem a little unorthodox, but it is physiologically sound. Your blood glucose levels will dramatically increase within five to seven minutes stimulating the release of Insulin and opening muscle tissue receptor sites. Since it is a physiological fact that *1) fat from adipose tissue (extramuscular fat) cannot be stored and released at the same time, and *2) fatty acids and glycerol from adipose tissue must be released from fat cells during the performance of exercises, the new Insulin-carried glucose you've ingested cannot be taken up by fat cells as long as you perform the activity.
In light of these facts, this new Insulin-carried glucose has no other choice but to be driven directly into the post-workout depleted muscle tissues, where it is forced-fed to the mitochondria. After a few workouts you can stop ingesting simple sugar during the post-workout activity. Insulin will have provided the once sedentary muscle tissue with a crash course in energy uptake.
As you can see, intense training and three square meals a day just aren’t enough if you’re after rapid gains in muscle mass. Insulin control is paramount.
Form & Function
This vital and powerful element’s role is to make nutrients in the bloodstream available to body tissues. Even in healthy individuals, abnormality in Insulin secretions brought on by poor eating habits and lack of exercise may cause serious metabolic disorders. For example, prolonged poor eating habits can result in type II diabetes accompanied by obesity or, on the other end of the continuum, hypoglycemia. In understanding the roll Insulin plays in health & weight management, it would be a good idea to have a six-hour-fasted blood sugar test performed to ensure that your Insulin secretions are healthy (The normal range for fasted blood sugar is between 70 and 110 mg/dcl.).
To help you further understand how Insulin functions, here is a simplified explanation of a process that is otherwise quite complicated. Your body breaks down all ingested carbohydrates into simple sugars in your small intestine. These simple sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream and enter the liver. The liver converts them into glucose, the body’s only usable form of simple sugar. This glucose is then introduced back into the bloodstream.
The bloodstream’s capacity for glucose is about 80 calories. When the newly ingested glucose raises the blood sugar level in excess of this capacity, the pancreas releases Insulin into the bloodstream to transport the excess glucose to body tissues. This excess glucose is said to be “Insulin-carried.” Insulin must be present for the uptake of glucose in all body tissues except the brain.
The first stop for this Insulin-carried glucose is the liver, where it is stored as glycogen. The liver has the potential to store about 300 to 400 calories of glycogen. When the liver stores are filled and there is still excess Insulin-carried glucose present in the blood, the next stop, if there is recovery taking place due to resistance exercise, is the muscle tissue.
If there is still more Insulin-carried blood glucose after the liver and muscle tissue have taken in all they can handle, the excess will be rapidly stored in extramuscular fat cells. *It is worth mentioning at this point that the liver and muscle tissues take up Insulin-carried glucose quite gradually as opposed to the way it is rapidly taken up into fat cells.
Insulin & Amino Acids
Another of Insulin’s less understood functions is that it must be present to open “Insulin receptor sites” in muscle. This allows amino acids to move into the tissue fibers and serve as building blocks for repair and growth. Insulin release into the blood is not stimulated by eating proteins, however. You can ensure that Insulin will be present for amino acid uptake which is essential for protein synthesis, by taking in sufficient amounts of carbohydrates along with your complete proteins.
If you do not eat often enough - that is to say, if your meals are more than about four hours apart your Insulin, amino acid, and blood sugar levels will gradually drop off. Since there won’t be any Insulin present, anabolism or growth, will cease until such a time as you take in adequate complex carbohydrates and complete proteins to again cause an appropriate amount of Insulin release to open muscle receptor sites.
Anabolism is most effective when Insulin is continually present, which allows for the continual uptake of glucose and amino acids by the recovering muscle tissue. The most effective way to make this happen is by ingesting complete proteins and sufficient amounts of complex carbohydrates frequently throughout the day. This will cause the body to release moderate amounts of Insulin. Since amino acids remain available in the blood for protein synthesis for only three to four hours, you should take in complete proteins and complex carbs every three to four hours. Thus, when you’re working to build muscle, it is essential to time your meals in order for Insulin to be present and anabolism to steadily continue.
If you don’t eat enough complex carbs in each meal, your blood sugar levels may not be high enough to stimulate Insulin release and anabolism cannot occur even in the presence of abundant amounts of complete proteins.
On the other hand, if you take in too many carbohydrates in your meals, you’ll release too much Insulin, and the muscles will be provided with more Insulin-carried glucose than they can handle. This surplus of over-ingested glucose will be rapidly stored in fat cells.
If you take in simple sugars, your blood sugar will rise too fast, causing an over-release of Insulin. This overabundance of Insulin will quickly remove almost all glucose from the blood stream. Since liver and muscle tissue takes up glucose gradually, and fat deposits are stored more rapidly, most of this Insulin-carried glucose will end up in fat cells. Your blood sugar level and subsequently, your Insulin level will drop, and anabolism will stop until you once again ingest adequate complex carbohydrates and complete proteins.
Optimal Insulin Secretions
Consulting a glycemic index chart may help you achieve optimal Insulin secretions. The index classifies carbohydrates based on their absorption rate into the bloodstream. You need to keep this absorption rate as low as possible to avoid the aforementioned over-release of Insulin. Even though certain natural healthy food such as potatoes and carrots are simple sugars and rate somewhat high on this index, you can still eat them as long as you combine them with other low-glycemic-index carbs. This will act to offset or 'compromise' their combined rate of absorption.
The index rates foods on a scale of 0 to 110 - the higher the number, the faster the absorption rate. Ingesting soluble fiber will also act to slow absorption. Soluble fiber is present in almost all natural complex carbohydrates. It is also important to note that intense training opens muscle tissue Insulin receptor sites, which makes it unnecessary to ingest large amounts of carbohydrates for Insulin presence prior to and during resistance training.
Energy Crash Course
The prolonged absence of resistance exercise causes muscle tissue to become relatively inactive, especially the mitochondrial components. This simply means that, in time, the mitochondria may no longer know how to efficiently use glucose energy after a workout. Even in the presence of Insulin, untrained muscle receptor sites may fail to take up glucose efficiently. This is generally the case in the beginning weight trainer.
During the first week of training you must immediately provide these mitochondria with what they need the most for energy replenishment after an exercise session-glucose. After you finish working out, perform some sort of activity at about 50 percent of your maximum heart rate for 10 to 15 minutes while you ingest from 80 to 200 calories of simple sugar. This may seem a little unorthodox, but it is physiologically sound. Your blood glucose levels will dramatically increase within five to seven minutes stimulating the release of Insulin and opening muscle tissue receptor sites. Since it is a physiological fact that *1) fat from adipose tissue (extramuscular fat) cannot be stored and released at the same time, and *2) fatty acids and glycerol from adipose tissue must be released from fat cells during the performance of exercises, the new Insulin-carried glucose you've ingested cannot be taken up by fat cells as long as you perform the activity.
In light of these facts, this new Insulin-carried glucose has no other choice but to be driven directly into the post-workout depleted muscle tissues, where it is forced-fed to the mitochondria. After a few workouts you can stop ingesting simple sugar during the post-workout activity. Insulin will have provided the once sedentary muscle tissue with a crash course in energy uptake.
As you can see, intense training and three square meals a day just aren’t enough if you’re after rapid gains in muscle mass. Insulin control is paramount.
