So… what’s good for muscles?
What do I need to eat to maintain muscle?
What do I need to eat to GROW muscle?
All questions I am commonly asked, especially by patients who frequent gyms and compete in the body building world.
If you turn to the internet there are loads of YouTubers and website creators (much like myself) describing all types of plans and full proof ways to get those gains! It can all get a little confusing and most common logic would say ‘eat more protein, eat a little more carbs to burn in your workouts, work out consistently and that’ll do it.’
Truth is, it is not one size fits all and while we all process things similarly…… we don’t process things exactly the same. You can see two people of similar age, same gender, be on the same exercise and eating plan, have same or similar lifestyles…. and yet….. you’ll get different results. There are training and diet plans out there that tailor to body types (ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs) but even then, the crux goes deeper, we all have intricacies within our bodies and multiple systems that process what we eat and how we use what we eat.
To get some clarification and to break down some of the hype from strict diets, superfoods and supplements, let’s go through a basic run down of what muscles need to maintain themselves and be functional.
Muscles need the nine essential amino acids, adequate electrolytes and hydration, an energy source and protective vitamins and minerals.
Essential Amino Acids
There are nine essential amino acids that are required for basic function and three of these in particular are best at supporting muscle growth;
Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine
See the three essential amino acids particularly important for the role in muscle growth highlighted in blue
These are known as BCAA’s (branch chained amino acids). These are the amino acids more readily involved in muscle repair. L-carnitine and creatine are some products you might have seen on the market as supplements, and they are proteins that are to do with muscular energy.
Electrolytes & Water
Electrolytes and water are important for contracting your muscles and transporting nutrients.
Electrolytes are minerals such as magnesium, salt and potassium.
Example of how cells in our body uses the electrolytes sodium and potassium to move ions up a concentration gradient. This is an important process cells in our body use for multiple processes in the body, such as heart contractions, nerve cell signalling and kidney function.
To be able to contract muscles efficiently, we need to have a healthy and functioning nervous system to signal those contractions, therefore electrolytic balance is important to maintain for muscle health.
Magnesium is a major coenzyme for the body and when it binds to ATP helps actin and myosin filaments unbind and slide. It can be found in green leafy vegetables, bananas, tofu, seeds and nuts.
Macronutrients
Energy muscles use to contract comes from our macronutrients; carbohydrates, fat and lastly, proteins if necessary. Once we have ingested and broken these macronutrients down, it enters our small intestine to be absorbed into the blood stream and utilized by our body. In an individual without diabetes or pancreas issues, the glucose remains in our blood stream for 1-2 hours after ingestion. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps signal the glucose into muscle, fat and liver cells, where it breaks down further into ATP for use or becomes stored if unused.
Excess glucose gets either stored in the liver or muscles as glycogen and broken back down when levels are depleted, or stored in adipose tissue as a triglyceride.
Micronutrients: Protective vitamins & minerals for muscles
Vitamins D and C are important for cell growth and building of connective tissue, B vitamins aid our nervous system, while the minerals calcium and iron have important roles in cardiovascular protection.
Vitamins
Vitamin D also helps muscle contractions by boosting calcium availability for neuromuscular contractions. It can be found in fatty fish, mushrooms, fortified products and absorbed via the sunlight.
Vitamin C is responsible for maintaining capillary walls and connective tissues and can be found in citrus fruits, broccoli, capsicums, spinach, cabbage and turnips. Vitamin D helps calcium become absorbed into the bone by making more calcium be absorbed by the small intestine.
B vitamins are largely involved in maintaining the nervous system health by helping in the processes of fatty acid synthesis and maintaining myelin sheaths on nerves, to synthesizing DNA, helping form red blood cells and acting as co-enzymes in cellular energy production. Vitamin B can be found in beef, milk, eggs, salmon, yeast, wholegrains, chickpeas and dark leafy greens.
Minerals
Iron binds to red blood cells and helps carry oxygen to tissues that use the oxygen for cellular reactions. Vitamin C needs to be present for it to be properly absorbed by the small intestine. It can be found in red meats, tofu, dark leafy greens, potatoes and fortified products.
Calcium is a building block in bones, is abundant in creating transmission from neurons across the neuromuscular junction and the pumping contraction of the heart. It can be found in soy, milk, tofu, nuts and even in fortified wheat/bread products.
Now that you know the basics……. what about the individualized bit? How do I know what to eat and when?
Now. Before we jump into getting the individualized care and guidance organised, you’ve got to go in with some real clarification on what you want.
What is the aim? Are you looking for weight loss? Muscle mass? More stamina? Consistency in maintaining a weight? Trying to solve bloating or digestive issues? Trying to improve hair, skin, joints? Have a health condition you’re trying to manage?
The list could go on and you may tick a few things you want to achieve out of those aforementioned.
Then go in with some clarity around how this is going to be workable for you. I personally have a general disdain towards ‘diet culture’ as I believe it creates more rigidity, promotes a strict deadline or ‘end result’ and doesn’t foster lasting lifestyle changes as the whole concept of sacrificing something for a long or short term period and feeling guilty for ‘slipping’ or ‘lapsing’ sets a particularly nasty self-torturing trap for your mental health to use and abuse.
I encourage anyone setting some nutrition goals to really think about what joy they get out of food and what they need to add (rather then restrict) to get to wherever they want to be (and refer them on to one of my allies in the health world for more tailored care if required).
I also see patients that don’t like the foods they need to get to their goal, and just as it can all be overwhelming with all the options of what you should and shouldn’t eat…. there’s always a flip side, there is also a number of different recipes and cooking techniques you could try to make that food enjoyable for you. Think of food you do like and what you like about it. Is it the texture? The taste? The crunch? Start from there.
But once you know what you want to achieve and have set some realistic borders on what would be workable in your lifestyle, now it’s time to find some individualized care resources.
Options for finding meal plans or nutritional guidance could include:
1. Consulting a Dietitian or a Nutritionist
Note the difference between a Dietitian and a Nutritionist, Dieticians maybe more equipped to handle more specialized health conditions, whereas nutritionists generally tailor to general populations. This costs money and will require some of your time, but you are getting advice specific to you.
2. Check out the Australian Institute of Sports website for more sport or training specific guides: https://ais.gov.au/nutrition
This is great for a general work up of what a standard Athletes diet would look like. You can search which training or sport you are interested in and what would be the recommended nutrition plan for each. Of course, you are not going to get specifics to yourself as an individual as you are not getting assessed or consulted with, but it’s a great general resource to try!
3. Consult a Naturopath
My personal recommendation when finding a Naturopath to look into your nutrition is finding one that uses Metagenics testing.
This is a laboratory service that tests how the body is processing foods and what maybe present in your system, amongst other things.
To find a practitioner and more about the testing, visit this link:
https://www.metagenics.com.au/FindAPractitioner
Hope this helps you on your journey to finding what’s right for you!
Wishing all health, wellness & success,
Jessica Jelleff
BhSc. Clinical Myotherapy
CEO of Affinity
Image Resources in Order of Appearance:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Bodytypes.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyrotoxic_periodic_paralysis#/media/File:Scheme_sodium-potassium_pump-en-2.svg
