I've had a very special request to re-post this article that I wrote a few months back from another BLOG...so here ya go. Enjoy.

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The interaction of hormones in the human body is an extremely complicated subject. Controlling every aspect of daily physical existence, it would be impossible to quickly summarize all their extensive relationships. There are, however, a handful of hormones which respond quite readily to exercise (in all its various forms) and, in turn, provide generous benefits to the body such as gaining muscle size and strength and eliminating unwanted body fat.

That subject, exercise and hormones, is also a very deep well of research, so I've decided to focus this somewhat quick review purely on the diet and explore how carefully structured and timed food choices can be used to substantially "increase" specific hormonal benefits. Imagine if you will, the perfect double-edged sword to battle flab, increase lean muscle and all but wipe out the influences of poor diet and age related illnesses.

...at least that's what we want...so let's get started...

If you're following some kind of structured exercise and eating plan, you may find some helpful information here. If you've been wanting to find a body management plan that works with you and doesn't take hours upon endless hours each week, then look no further than Turbulence Training. Complete, focused and results oriented. Don't let another day go by.

Quick Disclaimer: ...I am ~NOT~ a medical professional...and I don't play one on TV. I am also not a registered dietitian and/or nutritionist and ....no, I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Everything you read here is from personal notes and reading. You should take time to review all physical and/or dietary changes with your preferred health care professional to make sure it is right for you.

The other thing is this...none of the ideas presented here are new. I didn't make them up and I definitely don't want to take credit for them. Instead, I wanted to summarize these few ideas here for quick reference with the goal to provide a series of points regarding how we can eat on a daily basis in order to maximize some specific hormonal benefits of exercise.

This is also ~NOT~ a complete guide to nutrition or some kind of eating plan. Everyone has their goals....so your mileage may vary. I hope you enjoy the read. More importantly, I hope it provokes you to perform your own research and come to your own conclusions. Links to all references (and many more) are included at the bottom.

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Hormones and Exercise...
Wow! That's a mind boggling, huge idea. So let's just focus down a bit on a handful of hormones that we can influence directly via a good exercise program and diet. Let's introduce the players in this little chemistry game:

The Hormones:
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) : Globally responsible for all cellular production, building and repairing. HGH is very shy...making a few standard appearances (in the blood stream) throughout a regular day ...But it makes it's big appearance at night...!!! (That's a very, very important thing to remember)

Testosterone (T) : Principle focus on muscle growth; size and strength; libido. This guy can be triggered through various activities; generally likes to hang out with HGH specifically when exercise is involved. Also a night owl...

* Tag Team Bonus *
Besides building bigger and stronger musles and other lean body tissues; Both HGH and T carry one thing in common: They both heavily influence a process called lipolysis which is a fancy term for making your body burn it's own fat for fuel. So promoting anything and everything to keep these two guys elevated and prominent in the bloodstream is a good thing!!!

Insulin - The principle focus of insulin is storage. Insulin likes to hang out when there's sugar in the blood. Since our bodies are programmed to burn sugar (glucose)...Insulin's job is to work along with the liver to shuttle that glucose around to where it's needed. We won't talk about what happens with unused glucose...

Insulin has gotten a very, very bad rap...after all, he's not necessarily a bad guy. His job is very important. But for the most part we'd like him to keep clean, low profile and only come out when we choose. Which is exactly what we'll do in selecting when to consume our carbohydrates in their various forms.

...And then there's...
Cortisol - Special forces ...Of it's various duties, Cortisol has one special mission...to make sure the liver doesn't run out of "stuff" to make fuel (glucose). He will do his job at all costs...sometimes with nasty side effects. He is called out when we're stressed and when we're really, really low on blood sugar...He likes to stay in crisis mode...if the adrenal gland senses a fuel shortage ...cortisol kicks in and starts breaking down things to burn for fuel. He especially likes to target lean muscle tissue because it takes less work to break it down. (That's another very, very important thing to remember)

Not reviewed here...
...but equally important in all this is a hormone called Leptin. Leptin is the grand orchestrator of energy flow (Metabolism) throughout the day. Dr. John Berardi has provided an intensely detailed review (3 articles) on how Leptin works to regulate our energy systems. The links to his work are included below.

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And now, here's our food...more specifically the macro nutrients in our food.

Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats and Alcohol. * Yes, Alcohol is a food player in this game for reasons that will be demonstrated below.

Quick Note: Reviewing food in general, calories, what's a carb, etc, is far beyond our scope here. I will also not attempt to review the grand idea of "metabolism", energy production, etc. There is allot of information freely available on the internet. If you need help understanding principle food choices, nutrition, etc, I recommend you do some reading here. If you want to know how our body uses food to produce energy, here's a very high level article on how our energy systems work.

Now let's focus on a few important ideas regarding how the macro nutrients affect our key exercise related hormones mentioned above

... rules to the eating game:

Protein: Eating protein promotes both HGH and T...but leans slightly in favor of HGH. Testosterone is a little shy around high amounts of protein...so don't go overboard. The overall influence is still a good 1+2 punch.

Carbohydrates (carbs): Eating Carbs (sugars in various forms) ... causes an Insulin response. Our body likes to burn sugar, so the insulin is produced to start taking the sugar around to where it's needed. If it's not going to be used now, it likes to store some away for later ...which makes us fat! (lipogenesis). The insulin release caused by carbs is due to something called the Glycemic Index (GI) and something else known as the Glycemic Load (GL). Basically...a very sugary "sweet" snack or meal will have a high GI and GL...which is a very bad thing! Complex carbs, on the other hand, are known for their relatively low GI and GL. But...carbs will always release insulin to ~some~ degree.

And there is a hidden consequence of insulin in the bloodstream...our building hormones, HGH and T do not like Insulin! As a matter a fact, secretion of HGH and T are drastically reduced with increased insulin in the bloodstream.

So, remember what I said about HGH and T being mostly released at night? hmmmmm...think about that.

Fats: Eating fats promote both HGH and T ....but slightly favors increased T. This combo is another 1+2 punch.

But...wait! There is some caution here. Remember our friend insulin ...the storage guy. He will want to store fats that are available and not being allocated or used for other purposes. ...So a sugary, high fat meal is a 1+2 death punch! Make that at night...and it's a TKO!

Alcohol: Here's the "buzz killer" on alcohol. Alcohol causes your body to stop release of ~both~ HGH and T. It also causes the body to stop burning fat. I didn't say ...slow down....I said it ~STOPS~ all together ...at least until the liver has had time to remove it all. Because alcohol is a readily burnable source of fuel (it's a modified sugar molecule) the body chooses it, just like a carb when it's available. So...keep that in mind.

Ever wonder why it has it's own seperate section on fitday....now you know...

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So....If we're exercising regularly, how can we put our meals together to support the beneficial hormonal effects while minimizing the bad?

Glad you asked, here's how we score bigger, fat burning, muscle building points with our diet:

1.) Diet focused on lean proteins. If you're already on a good eating plan...that's a big "DUH"... This will help maximize the HGH and T. Lean meats, dairy, chicken, turkey. Mix it up! Remember, variety is the spice...

2.) Eat good fats; the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated varieties available in lean read meats, nuts, avocados, fatty cold-water fish, etc. Again, variety is good. keep it measured as strict portion of your daily eating and it will help maximize HGH and T.

3.) We must eat carbs because we need the fuel they provide, so concentrate on natural carb sources; fruits and vegetables.

Stay away from cookies, cakes, ice cream, candy, etc. Especially at night!!! Remember, HGH and T do not get along with insulin. Make sure to have a good cutoff hour for any carbohydrates long before you go to bed. We want to maximize that overnight HGH and T release. If you must have a night time snack, make it a protein/fat based snack instead.

Triggering an Insulin response following a good workout is beneficial. That's how the cells get fed. So time your carbs around your workouts, when they will be preferentially used to replace muscle fuel and/or burned for immediate needs.

Again, keep the carbs before bed on the down low...low...low.

4.) Keep alcohol consumption under wraps. Don't consume any on hard workout days. Remember that fat burning and beneficial hormone secretion are on pause while you're throwing back a few...and the meter is running. Keep it to your off (rest) days and keep it honest. ...and for heaven's sake...Don't drink and drive!!!

5.) Controlling cortisol is a bit of walking a tight rope. I need to do more research on this one. Sometimes you want to provoke it ...most of the time not so much. Eating primarily complex carbs should keep cortisol in check by keeping a relatively stable, managed blood sugar. Since stress causes cortisol to rise, including a Vitamin C immediately after a workout should help to keep it under control. I'll have to read more about this one.

There you go.

The clean eating Turbulence Training lifestyle supports each and every one of these points perfectly. If you've been wanting to find a body management plan that works with you and doesn't take hours upon endless hours each week, then look no further than Turbulence Training. Complete, focused and results oriented. It's proven. It works. 'Nuff said.

I hope you found something useful here. Use this as a series of things to remember...when planning your daily meals and calculating your attack on fat!


Internet References:
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Hormone Articles (sorry no links, please cut and paste into another browser window)

http://www.fitnessforoneandall.com/nutrition/article/hormones/part_one.htm
http://www.fitnessforoneandall.com/nutrition/article/hormones/part_two.htm
http://www.fitnessforoneandall.com/nutrition/article/hormones/part_three.htm
http://www.fitnessforoneandall.com/powerlifting/article/diet/post-workout/part_one.htm
http://www.fitnessforoneandall.com/powerlifting/article/diet/post-workout/part_two.htm


http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/hormones/
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/hormones/hungry.htm
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/hormones/gh.htm
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/hormones/bigt_1.htm
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/hormones/bigt_2.htm

http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/ModShow/ShowPage/90417

http://alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/2008/08/eat-more-food-lose-more-fat.html

http://www.hussmanfitness.com/html/TLRagingMetab.html
http://www.hussmanfitness.com/html/TFNutritionKeys.html