Are you trying to put on muscle mass?
Are you trying to put on muscle mass as a middle-aged man?
Or older?
As I’m sure you know, consuming enough protein is key to building new muscle.
But it’s not just how much protein you consume,
you have to make sure that you’re consuming the right kind of protein…
and that it’s getting utilized to synthesize new muscle and not getting converted into energy.
Watch this video, and you’ll learn how to ensure that the protein you take
is going towards building muscle and not for fueling your energy needs.
Hi, this is Lance.
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In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing the 8 essential amino acids
that every human on this planet needs to be consuming.
We’ll cover what makes them “essential”, and why we need them.
We’ll talk about how protein gets utilized, and finally,
we’ll go over my own strategy for making sure that I get all 8 amino acids,
and that I get them in the correct ratios, and that they get utilized in the best way possible.
OK, so as older guys, we should be mindful that we’re trying to stop the loss of muscle mass that occurs as we age,
and that we replace that lost muscle with new muscle.
Now, we have to face some cold, hard facts.
The older that we get, the more difficult this becomes.
We just can’t pack on new muscle like we could when we were younger.
But that doesn’t mean that we can’t build new muscle at all.
We can.
We just can’t put it on as fast.
It’s a slow and steady process for us.
Now, there’s a lot of reasons why we lose muscle mass as we age.
Inactivity is a big one.
Use it or lose it.
That certainly applies when it comes to your musculature.
If you don’t strenuously activate your muscles, they will atrophy.
You have to keep active to stave off sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass…
and you should be doing some type of intensive resistance training if you want to build new muscles.
Another reason that we lose muscle mass as we grow older is because our hormone levels are in decline.
You need both testosterone and human growth hormone to maintain muscle mass…
and it helps to have both to at optimal levels if your focus is to build new muscle.
But nutrition plays a big part in why we can’t maintain our muscle mass…
and why it’s so hard to put on new muscle when we’re older.
As aging men, we not only tend to take in less protein,
but the digestive processes that break down the proteins tend to slow down and work less efficiently…
meaning that less protein gets absorbed and less of that protein gets utilized to build muscle.
Now protein is a little weird.
If you look at both carbs and fats, their sole purpose is to be consumed as energy,
in a process called catabolic metabolism…
where they are broken down into monosaccharides or fatty acids
and then consumed as fuel in the mitochondria.
But proteins are different.
They do go through catabolic metabolism, where they’re broken down into amino acids…
and from there, they can be converted into glucose and consumed as energy.
These amino acids have a very similar molecular structure to carbohydrates,
except that the amino acids contain nitrogen.
This nitrogen must be removed before it can be converted to glucose.
But they have a better use.
They can then go through another process called anabolic metabolism,
where the amino acids are re-combined into proteins to build new muscle tissue, replenish your skin and bones,
and also to be utilized in the manufacture of enzymes and hormones.
However, proteins are very well absorbed and utilized by the body,
and there’s a very good reason for this…as you’ll see.
For the purposes of this discussion, there are 20 amino acids that are common to all forms of life.
From the human point-of-view, these amino acids are broken down into 3 groups.
First, there’s the amino acids that the body can manufacture on it’s own, from scratch.
These are called non-essential amino acids and there’s six of them.
Then there are amino acids whose synthesis can be limited by certain illnesses or stresses,
and these are called conditionally essential amino acids, and there are 6 of these as well.
But most of the time, when the conditional illnesses or stresses are not present,
these amino acids can also be manufactured by the body.
And finally, there are the essential amino acids, and there are eight of these.
These are amino acids that cannot be synthesized by the body, under any conditions,
and must be supplied by the diet.
The human body requires these 8 amino acids in order to assemble new proteins
and can only get them from the food that it consumes.
And here’s the thing about proteins.
The body needs all of the amino acids in order to build protein.
Whenever the particular amino acid that is in the shortest supply get used up,
your body stops building proteins.
Because it needs that amino acid in order to build the protein,
and it can’t do it without any one particular amino acid.
and the one that's in the shortest supply…and it’s gone, it’s all used up.
So all the rest of the amino acids get used as energy.
From an anabolic point-of-view, all of the rest of the amino acid goes to waste.
It doesn’t get used to build new muscle, it doesn't get used to replenish the skin and bones,
and it doesn't get used to manufacture enzymes or hormones.
It gets converted into glucose and consumed as fuel…
or it gets converted to fatty acids and stored in the body as adipose tissue.
Now, for every form of life on this planet,
there’s a different pattern for which amino acids are considered essential,
and the ratio of them that is ideal for that life form.
Different forms of life have different requirements.
For each, there’s a different mix of amino acids that comprise that life form’s “essential amino acids”.
So there’s a distinct pattern of essential amino acids for each life form, and humans are no different.
They have their own distinct pattern.
And that’s why it can be so difficult to absorb protein from our diets.
When we consume protein that comes from cows, chickens or fish,
the essential amino acids that are present in those meats, are the essential amino acids…
for cows, chickens or fish.
But not for humans.
When we’re eating proteins that come from other life forms,
they have different amino acids in different ratios than those that we need.
So, we take in and use only what we can,
and everything else gets consumed as fuel instead of being utilized to build new proteins.
Now, how do we know how much is being used to build proteins and how much is used as energy?
Remember when I mentioned that amino acids have a chemical composition very similar to carbohydrates,
except that proteins contain nitrogen.
And that that nitrogen needs to get stripped away if we’re going to use protein as energy.
Well, where do you think that nitrogen goes.
As with other types of waste, it gets expelled in our urine.
So by measuring the amount of nitrogen in our urine,
we can determine very accurately how much protein is being used to build new tissue
and how much is burned for energy.
And scientists have come up with a number called the Amino Acid Utilization, or AAU.
This is the ratio of amino acids that get converted to proteins,
compared to the amino acids supplied, and it’s usually represented as a percentage.
And the numbers are kinda surprising.
The most perfect food, in terms of protein utilization, are eggs.
They’re AAU is 48…48% of the amino acids in eggs get utilized for protein synthesis.
The rest goes to waste.
Beef, fish and chicken have an AAU of 32.
And whey protein powder only has an AAU of 16.
16!!!
That means that 84% of the amino acids in whey protein powder
does not get utilized to synthesize protein but gets burned as fuel…or stored as fat.
OK, so here’s the good news.
About 10 years ago, I got turned on to an amino acid supplement called Master Amino Acid Pattern,
or MAP for short.
MAP has all 8 of the essential amino acids in the exact ratio needed by humans.
In other words, MAP is the perfect pattern of essential amino acids required by humans.
As a result, it’s AAU is 99.9.
99.9% of the amino acids in MAP get utilized to produce new proteins.
It comes from a vegan source, and it’s pre-digested…
which simply means that the amino acids are already broken down
into a form that can be directly absorbed in the stomach or upper intestine.
And I’ve been taking these off and on for the last 10 years.
And then recently, I heard about another amino acid supplement called PerfectAmino,
which has been developed by a Dr. Minkoff.
My understanding is that it’s basically the same 8 essential amino acids as MAP,
but a better formulation…and it costs less.
Also, MAP comes in tablets which are very chalky,
and while PerfectAmino also comes as chalky tablets, it comes in a flavored, powdered form as well.
One scoop of powder equals 5 tablets, so this is what I use in my protein shake.
So, here’s the thing about PerfectAmino.
1 to 2 scoops is the recommended amount for a normal person.
But if you’re working out and doing resistance training, the recommended amount goes up to 4 to 6 scoops,
with 6 scoops being the maximum amount.
If you’re weight lifting and building new muscle, you need more protein.
The part that I’m having trouble with
is calculating the amount of dietary protein that I need to be eating in addition to the supplement.
I’ve heard of people getting ALL of their protein from PerfectAmino and still increasing their muscle mass.
But I’m on a Keto diet, so I’m not eating any carbs.
If I get all of my protein from PerfectAmino, that means I’m not eating any protein as well.
Yeah, I don’t think I can get away with eating just fat…even if it is high quality fat
And then there’s the whole mTOR thing…if you watched the video that I did on mTOR,
you’ll know what I’m talking about.
So, I haven’t gotten the whole protein thing figured out to my satisfaction yet,
but like I said, this channel is all about my progress.
When I do get it figured out, I’ll post another video and let you guys know what my conclusions are.
If any of you guys would like to buy PerfectAmino, I’ve put a link to their site in the description below.
Also, there’s a code there that you can enter to get 10% off on your purchase.
Just trying to do you guys a solid.
And that’s it for this video.
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So...I’m outta here.
See you guys next time.
Thanks so much for watching.