I don’t know if the egg is experiencing a moment of rehabilitation or if it has already fallen into disgrace again. I know that nutritional science suffers reputational crises when the same ingredient goes from hero to villain and is then beatified again.
But if there were no science, where would we be? The United States may be able to answer the question better in the not too distant future, but let’s stop there
This Sheet Columnist Bruno Gualano, PhD in physical education from USP and professor at the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the USP Faculty of Medicine. I met him virtually by watching the videos of the course “Fitness: what works for real change”.
The course is quick, has ten short videos of a maximum of 15 minutes and is part of the Casa Folha squad, to which subscribers have access.
Bruno has an enviable clarity of exposition, worthy of a Drauzio Varella. In the environment of physical activity and nutrition, it is straight talk about what the scientific literature actually says works or doesn’t work
To gain muscle mass, it works, for example, protein.
Doesn’t work: carbohydrates.
Ok, everyone already knew this, but the relevant information here is that there is no gain in muscle mass when the amount of daily protein exceeds 1.6g per kilogram of body weight. This amount is practically already in the Brazilian diet.
To be more precise, our diet is around 1.3g per kilogram of body weight.
Important: 1.6g per kilo is prescribed for those who do strength training. If this is not your case, the daily requirement is about half of that.
In other words, the whey that you, marombeiro, are banking on to increase your chest size will not help you at all if your diet is already Brazilian.
And if your faith is in anabolic steroids, then you better think twice. For those who do not use the substance therapeutically (in testosterone replacement, when it is not produced sufficiently by the body, for example), there is no safe level for its intake.
It could go really bad.
Another: vegans and vegetarians tend to have the same performance as omnivores with the recommended protein intake. In other words: it doesn’t matter the origin of the protein, whether animal or vegetable.
(I mean, it matters from an economic and environmental point of view, given that the cost in water to reach the same amount of protein is ten times higher with beef.)
About creatine supplementation, which deserved an exclusive conversation because it is a widely studied topic and has scientific evidence of its effectiveness, here is the bottom line:
It actually helps performance in high or very high intensity activities — and of very short duration. Hiit, in an acronym. You lost, marathon fetishist.
It doesn’t make any difference whether you take the supplement before or after training. It is important to take a regular daily amount during a determined period, during which this sporting performance is claimed.
Carnivores are already “naturally supplemented”, as animal meat is rich in the substance. There are 20% to 30% of the population that does not respond well to supplementation — carnivores may be there.
For vegans and vegetarians, creatine is potato, I mean it works great. Provided, again, that your ultimate purpose is high-intensity, short-duration activities.
Gualano also says that creatine is a safe supplement. No kidney complications or induction of cancer down the road.
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