Researchers at the university of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany discovered that it’s better to to eat a pure protein meal first thing in the morning than a breakfast that contains protein, carbohydrates and fats. By eating pure protein breakfast, your body produces more anabolic hormones like growth hormone and insulin and also inhibits the production of cortisol.
The majority of athletes consume a healthy meal consisting of protein, carbohydrates and fats for breakfast, washed down with water, tea or coffee. There is nothing wrong with this approach as such breakfast fuels the body that will endure physical activity during the day. However, the researchers at a German university found out that a protein only breakfast may be even more beneficial for active people.
The participants in the research were men aged 18 to 40 years. They consumed a mixture of 24 g of amino acids dissolved in a glass of water in the morning. The mixture contained the following amino acids:
– Valine,
– Leucine,
– Isoleucine,
– Phenylalanine ,
– Tyrosine ,
– Tryptophan,
– Lysine,
– Methionine,
– Cysteine ,
– Threonine and
– Histidine
as well as well as vitamins and minerals. There were three groups of participants in the research: a fasting control group (they ate nothing), a group (iso control group) that had carbohydrates with milk protein (same calories as the amino acid shake) and the group that had the amino acid mixture.
The Results
Growth Hormone
The pure protein breakfast (amino acids mixture group) resulted in a very high HGH peak: the concentration rose on average by a factor 21, and remained high for about an hour and half in most subjects.
Cortisol
Another effect that was observed was the declining in cortisol levels by almost 50% in the AA mixture group, while cortisol declined by 10% in the other group (iso control group).
Insulin
It’s widely known that Insulin spikes after the consumption of carbohydrates. Insulin is a very anabolic hormone and, in layman’s terms, will cause the body to store nutrients into muscle cells. What the researchers found was, that there was a large insulin spike after the amino acid mixture was consumed, even though there were no carbohydrates in it.
So what’s the best breakfast for athletes ?
Athletes and people who care about health and well being in general would benefit by having a breakfast as high in proteins as possible. Doing so will result in a peak production of HGH as well as an increase IGF-1.
A pure protein breakfast first thing in the morning is the best best breakfast for athletes, according to this study.
So keep your breakfast (or the first meal after the fast) to pure protein and you can expect to see great, long term results.
hey guys, can you post the link to the studdy….even if its only in german. Or at least the title, i am super interested, so i would appriciat your help a lot.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14596675
What about carbs for energy, if you work out early? I could not imagine working out heavy without some carbs to go on, as its the #1 fuel the body uses?!
Would it not depend on how you plan your days and training?
Be sure that the carbs you use for energy is the stored glycogen in your muscles and liver, not the carbs you ate 2-3-4 hours ago. So eating carbs the previous day will load the glycogen
I do believe I’ve seen numerous posts on your site that promote the ingestion of complex carbs before working out and simple carbs after working out to promote the anabolic state. By taking those articles into account with this one, I infer that the best time to workout is after lunch and before dinner. Comments?
No the article has nothing to do with training. It just says that the purely protein breakfast increases the hormones dramatically. But the training doesn’t have to happen between lunch and dinner. You can just eat your breakfast, eat some complex carbs a couple of hours after that and go train.
So what is the recommendation of meal that i should consume they have tested some kind of bcaa mixture i can buy bcaas drink them first thing in morning but what after that how much should i wait or what should i eat??
Many athletes train in a fasted state in the morning (not exactly fasted because they take about 15-20g of BCAA) and after the workout they eat a whole meal. You can take BCAA and eat about an hour after that, of of you workout in the morning – take the BCAAs, do the workout and then have a big meal.
The article says that the group two the iso control group had carbohydrates with milk protein.
Is it also possible just to drink a whey protein shake with water to get theses chenges in hormones?
When should your next ‘real’ meal be? After 1 or 2 hours or less?
Thanks for your reply!
Yes I suppose you could use whey instead of casein protein (although the milk has both whey and casein in it). The point is that carbs will lower the anabolic hormones secretion.
And yes, you can have a real meal after 1-2 hours
Could you please tell us whats the ideal breakfast for pure protein ?
Eggs. You can add some veggies to make it less perfect 🙂
What’s the best test supplement out there for someone who’s low on test, cause I want to get back in the gym
http://www.fitnessandpower.com/bodybuilding-supplements/7-natural-testosterone-boosters-vitamins-minerals-and-herbs-that-increase-testosterone
Finding this really interesting, thanks.
So pure protein or BCAAs first thing, puts your body into anabolic mode, when should you eat a carbs breakfast, when hgh and insulin peaks around 30-60mins later?
Also, on a slightly related note, I finish training around 7pm, and then need to sleep by 9. Typically eat whey and high GI food immediately after training, then low GI (sweet potato) +more protein (salmon) an hour later, 150g low fat cottage cheese before bed. How can I improve on this to maximise my hormonal responses and make sick gains? Cheers