Poliquins Top Ten Foods for Building Muscle

[Mats Trane]

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/973/Top_Ten_Foods_for_Building_Muscle.aspx

 

[Keilani Gutierrez]

so there isn't any research on CLA respective to lean tissue production, they said. not good for lowering body fat% they said. hahaha this article is great, thanks Matt!

[Joshua Naterman]

There's research on specific isomers, one which appears to increase lean mass and one which appears to decrease fat mass.

 

They are different chemicals, despite both being CLA, because they have different shapes.

 

Shapes are what give chemicals their biological activities and effects.

 

CLA has two biologically active isomers, but I

 

C9, T11 is marketed for lean mass. T10, C12 has been mentioned as both a fat-to-muscle repartitioning agent and as a fat reduction agent.

 

There are potential issues with these, when used at a therapeutic level:

 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/319286-cis-9-trans-11-conjugated-linoleic-acid-side-effects/

 

The doses recommended for supplementation are far, far beyond what you can get in a natural diet. As is usually the case, it is reasonable to expect that this will have unexpected and undesirable consequences in addition to anything beneficial.

 

 

 

None of the food choices here are bad, but aside from terrible grammar errors that belie the lack of attention from his staff, I have a few bones to pick.

 

#1: Grass-fed bison: It's grass-fed meat. The end. It's tasty, yes, but this is just a place-filler on the list. May as well say "meat."

 

#2: Salmon BPA warnings for cans, but no mercury warnings for wild fish? Just an oblique message about "wild areas you trust" isn't very clear. Mackeral is fantastic as well, and actually has more omega 3 fatty acids than salmon. Tastes very good too, and is cheaper.

 

#3: Kefir

"A popular drink in Europe that contains probiotics to improve the health
of your gut, Kefir, is made by fermenting milk by adding the kefir
grain to it. The fermentation process eliminates the lactose found in
the milk, making it suitable for most people intolerant of dairy."

 

Are you serious? Kefir isn't a f-ing grain! it's a bacteria and yeast hybrid colony of 14-20+ species. Jesus Christ.

 

Having said that, probiotics are great and Kefir is the best of the best, particularly if homemade. I can't vouch for bacterial concentrations in store-bought products.

 

#4: Coconut Oil

"A medium chain fatty acid that is rapidly absorbed in the intestines and
carried to the liver where it is used for energy, coconut oil is an
excellent fat source for anyone building muscle. It is
anti-inflammatory, and though it is feared by many due to the saturated
fat content, it does NOT enter the cholesterol cycle."

 

Ok, look. Coconut oil is not a fatty acid. It does contain quite a lot of Lauric Acid, which is a medium chain fatty acid, and comprises ~50% of total fat. There are also a lot of other fats in there: http://www.thevirgincoconutoil.com/articleitem.php?articleid=163

 

It doesn't enter the cholesterol cycle?! Don't tell these guys:

http://www.ajcn.org/content/77/5/1146.full?ijkey=846a72387ebc0d82545acd5442a0c3a9e9fc3566

 

Fortunately, Lauric Acid DOES enter the cholesterol profile, because it happens to raise HDL more than anything else. We'll need that to counter the ~10% palmitic acid, which raises LDL levels.

 

Coconut oil is being used to improve insulin sensitivity? Where? It's not in the research journals. Know what is? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20723699

 

Holstien cows, during their first 85kg of growth, have fattier livers and higher fasting blood glucose when 33% of their medium chain triglyceridess are coming from coconut oil. Interesting. Meaningless when used to draw conclusions on exercising humans, but perhaps not useless for drawing probable conclusions for sedentary people.

 

#5 Quinoa: 53 is high glycemic? Really? Don't get me started on comparing carbohydrate effects on blood glucose with isolated protein, just trust me when I tell you that you're getting a lot of spin. People are actually starting to realize that Quinoa might not be quite as healthy as people want it to be, due to high anti-nutrient loads. However, at least part of this will be countered by eating greens with them, and most of the rest can be countered by sprouting. It's a shame that didn't get mentioned.

 

Robb Wolf does do a great job of talking about the extreme end of the potential dangers of some of the anti-nutrients in Quinoa and other grains.

 

#6 Nuts: Agree, except... "walnuts may be the healthiest nut because they are eaten raw with the skin on.  " What the hell does that mean? They do have a great fatty acid profile, too bad that wasn't mentioned.

 

#7 Purple and blue fruit: Again,berries are nice, but you can get the same results with purple veggies, or veggies in general.  As for insulin sensitivity, consider this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23398528

Eating more fish, more berries, and so on did not change insulin sensitivity. WWHY NOT?!?! Because food doesn't change your GLUT-4 concentration!!! Exercise does! *facepalm* And these foods don't contain chemicals that otherwise affect insulin secretion, though anthrocyans do seem to help regulate blood glucose levels.

 

#8 -10 are pretty good. Nothing major enough to point out.

[Mats Trane]

I was hoping you would put your thoughts into this one  Thanks Josh.

The Kefir one was good (grain!!!). Even though I like Kefir.

[Daniel Burnham]

I believe The cultures of kefir are often called grains not because they are a grain in the diet sense but because of their shape and size. If you notice the wikipedia entry has similar language to the poliquin post. And yes I am aware Wikipedia is not a credible source.

[Joshua Naterman]

Mats: I don't think it's possible to go wrong with kefir (my biased opinion!)

 

Daniel: I know, but that's just silly to put on a nutrition article. It just reads like mass-produced media, no editing checks or anything.

 

Even the WIkipedia states "Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars, and this symbiotic matrix forms "grains" that resemble cauliflower. For this reason, a complex and highly variable community of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts can be found in these grains." right in the overview, though not in the first blurb. I can't edit the first bit to put "grains" (actually a beneficial yeast and bacteria colony, and not a real grain) into that initial entry.

[Cole Dano]

The clumps of bacteria, yeast etc that form when you cultivate Keifr are commonly called grains. If you want to be critical, it enough to say they could mention what the grains are made of.

 

Otherwise, keep up the critical eye. The industry needs it.

[Joshua Naterman]

Absolutely. In my mind, "the kefir grain" means a cereal grain. "Grains of kefir cultures" is completely different, and would not bother me at all.

 

In my opinion, this is amateurish writing and I hope Poliquin comes down on his staff for it one day.

[ADRIANO FLORES CANO]

Every time that a thread like this is posted, I hope that Josh answer with his opinion.

 

Like Cole has said; the industry needs it.

 

Thanks Josh.

[Joshua Naterman]

Thanks for the support guys