Exercise & Nutrition Q&A - 11/14/2013

Bring on the questions!

Just remember I am just a regular guy who had weight loss surgery a year ago and am a little over 180lbs loss as of this morning. I read a lot about exercise and nutrition. I am a pretty damn good cook, and well I have have WLS, so I am happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability but you have to decide if the responses are right for you.

Hi! I was just wondering if you knew how to calculate how much protein your body is actually absorbing from your protein powders. At my pre op appt. they mentioned this briefly and said that not all protein powders are good because some of them say 20g of protein but your body may only absorb 60% of that. Something to do with the amino acids? Do you know anything about this?Thanks !

I am not sure you can calculate what you are absorbing. The common amount I hear is that your body will only absorb about 30g per meal (I am not sure I agree with that as body builders go way over this and they are not storing fat). So if the absorbtion rate of protein is 60% you would need to consume more than the 30g to get 30g. But I think quality has a lot to do with it too and there are different types. The real question should be how much do you need and the number for non WLS patients is much lower than you think. For an average size woman its around 50-60 g and for a man not much over 70. For WLS patients we need it to compensate for the way our stomachs digest things so we need more to make up for the change so we need more like 70-80 for women and around 100 for a man.

Not all protein powders are created equal. So some of the lower-end (cheaper) protein powders are blends (blends are not necessarily bad) and blends have several different types of protein in them that digest at different rates. Early out slower is better. There are other proteins that are faster digesting and therefore absorbed more efficiently and as you can imagine they are a bit more expensive. Casein protein is the other end of the spectrum, very slow digesting and takes much longer to reach your muscles. This is good at night when you are sleeping, casein can actually preserve your muscles while you sleep so that when your body runs out of available protein for recovery and repair it doesn't have to turn to muscle to get it.

So using whey (the most common kind of protein and easily attainable locally) here is the breakdown for how fast they digest

Hydrolyzed Whey Isolate - Fastest

Whey Isolate - Fast

Whey Concentrate - Moderate

Whey Blend (Concentrate/Isolate) - Slower (isolate first, concentrate second)

Whey Blend (Isolate/Concentrate/Milk or Soy Protein/Casein) - Even Slower (but could also be lower quality so get a reputable brand like Optimum Nutrition (ON))

Casein (not technically Whey but a milk protein) - Slowest

There many other types of protein powders such as Egg White (a pretty good protein source), Soy, Pea, Beef, Hemp, and a couple that are slipping my mind at the moment that are not quite as effective as Whey but still good sources.

You will want to completely avoid collagen, it will make your hair and nails good but will do nothing for your muscles.

Are you doing a combination of a fast digesting protein and the casein? I'm researching it  now. If you do suggest that,  how far out from surgery would you say to start?

You can do it as soon as you are cleared for protein shakes. I would wait a couple weeks on casein. Casein tends to be a bit harder on your stomach (it is very thick so for sure use water to mix it). Also make sure it fits in your plan. Technically this is good for when you are lifting weights, but in the case of WLS its not a bad idea to preserve what you have. Drink a small casein shake (about a cup of water and 3/4 to 1 scoop) about 30 mins before bed. Thats also a good time to take Zinc and Magnesium supplements as the Zinc does a couple things but most importantly stabilizes hormones and magnesium helps you sleep.

Ooh, I'm glad I read this. I've been taking zinc and magnesium in the morning/afternoon. That magnesium certainly must not be helping my daytime sleepiness. In fact, I just read about a magnesium supplement product last night called Natural Calm that I am thinking about getting.

Magnesium is the key ingredient, just a 400mg Magnesium supplement from the drug store. The other one will not have as much and may include other stuff like chamomile and/or melatonin.

I like today's picture!

I did eat a small reeses peanut butter cup a couple days ago.  They've been sitting in the house since Halloween.  The next day I made my son take the rest in to work with him so they wouldn't tempt me anymore.  It didn't really bother me or trigger any cravings.  In fact, I was happy after the first bite and probably should have just stopped there.

(If it matters, I could spare the calories and carbs that day.  I don't really follow my fat intake though.)

The only reason I am going to yell at you is that I feel like I should in order to support you not because you ate the 100 calories of almost pure sugar. Just be careful not to fall into old snacking patterns. 

Fats are good, fats do not make you fat, so don't worry so much about fat. They do hike up your calories though. 

My only concern on the candy was the giving into the urge because it makes it that much easier the next time.

Just be careful. I don't want to see you here in a year with the "Help me get back on track" posting.

Thanks Keith!  I actually was hoping to get yelled at, because otherwise I might convince myself that it's OK to slip like that again.