Are Energy Drinks Bad for Us?
An energy drink like Monster is full of caffeine, taurine, panax ginseng extract, l-Carnitine, inositol, guarana extract, and b-vitamins. Some flavours also have sugar. Is having an energy drink several times per week, in the morning, before exercising unhealthy? Healthy? Neutral?
What impact does salt have on bone health?
Salt can impact calcium excretion in the urine and it is said that a high salt diet can increase risk of osteoporosis as it draws calcium from the bone and excretes it. How much of an impact does dietary salt intake actually have on bone health and how high would salt intake have to be for this to be a concern. Obviously high salt intakes are not something to aim for in general, but just wondered if this was a mechanism that could remove meaningful amounts of calcium in a way that I should be advising around this in those that we work with as nutritional professionals. Thanks!
Visual muscle size differences in plant-based athletes
Hi Sigma team. I'm a coach of a combat sport. Subsequently, I am very aware of my students' weights. Anecdotally, I have noticed a trend in my plant-based students that, when compared to students eating non plant-based diets, there appears an obvious visual difference in muscle sizes (smaller/not as pronounced in plant-based) in individuals of the same weight and approximate height/dimensions. This difference only seems visual, there does not appear to be differences in strength, power, speed etc. Has this been tested/documented/researched anywhere? While I acknowledge these observations might simply be a confirmation bias of mine, if true what might explain this phenomenon? Thanks, Steve.
How much Protein is Optimal and Safe for Whole Body Use
I enjoyed AMA #1 with Dr Phillips and I know he's going to cringe but I am still confused on what is considered optimal & safe to consume daily. If I have this right, 20-30 grams per meal is a target for Muscle Protein Syntheses. That suggests that much of the consumed protein could be used for muscle growth, but if that was what you were consuming and the other trillions of cells need 75% of that protein, that only leaves 5-7.5 grams from muscle syntheses. The other part of my question is how much is considered safe to consume on a daily basis. I've seen numbers ranging from about 2 grams/Kilo to almost 4 grams/Kilo. My impression is that the high limits are based on the assumption that it stresses the kidneys. I don't recall reading anything where that has actually been seen in other than people who already had compromised kidney function. Sorry my question was so long. If you use it, please paraphrase liberally.