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Don’t believe everything you hear or read!

myles1230
myles1230 Posts: 163 Member
Do we really need to be eating 6-7 small meals per day to speed up metabolism and to grow? Do we really need pre workout and protein powders? Do we really need 1.5g of protein per lb of body weight to grow?Example: People who are incarcerated in prison! They only get 3 meals a day, and the meals given are not packed with protein and essential nutrients, they don’t have access to protein powders,pre workout,creatine ,etc. and are limited to weight lifting and exercise equipment, but yet still somehow are able to get and be massive and ripped! Explain the science behind that?!! It makes you wonder.... what to believe? What to follow? Random thoughts...
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Replies

  • myles1230
    myles1230 Posts: 163 Member
    There's a lot of broscience out there..

    Yes!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    myles1230 wrote: »
    Do we really need to be eating 6-7 small meals per day to speed up metabolism and to grow?

    No. But for some people it might make it easier (not me, I dislike eating lots of small meals), although it still has zero to do with metabolism.
    Do we really need pre workout and protein powders?

    No, of course not, but for some people protein powder might make it easier.
    Do we really need 1.5g of protein per lb of body weight to grow?

    No.

    But I suspect most of us don't buy into these kinds of things. This is why we fight woo (and bro science).
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    Off topic a little....but you mention the nutrition (or lack thereof) given to inmates in prison. I thought this was interesting:
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-nutrition-multivitamins-prisoners-prison-tb-wheat-germ-1222-story.html

    And as for everything else...yeah...if I saw it on my Facebook feed, it must be true, right?
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,023 Member
    myles1230 wrote: »
    Do we really need to be eating 6-7 small meals per day to speed up metabolism and to grow? Do we really need pre workout and protein powders? Do we really need 1.5g of protein per lb of body weight to grow?Example: People who are incarcerated in prison! They only get 3 meals a day, and the meals given are not packed with protein and essential nutrients, they don’t have access to protein powders,pre workout,creatine ,etc. and are limited to weight lifting and exercise equipment, but yet still somehow are able to get and be massive and ripped! Explain the science behind that?!! It makes you wonder.... what to believe? What to follow? Random thoughts...

    The things you mentioned are stuff you see in clickbait titles, FB posts, or MLM sales pitches. People who want you to think they're experts but are trying to sell you something.

    I develop trust in sources over time. Do they link to relevant studies, that actually have value and say what the article suggested they say? Is their advice consistent, or always changing based on one new study or what the current fad is? Is the advice logical, can I understand why I should do it?

    In general, if someone is saying you have to buy something special to look good, feel good, be healthy and then offers to sell it to you - you don't need it.

    Based on advice from trusted sources and a preponderance of evidence I've seen posted in this forum over the years, combined with my own common sense and logic, my answers would be:

    No, it doesn't matter how many meals you eat. Total calories in/calories out determine whether you gain or lose weight. Your body can't tell time, and we wouldn't have survived this long if we were so delicate that our bodies needed everything on a specific schedule for optimum performance.

    Of course you don't NEED pre/post workout products, but some people find it makes it easier for them to get the right calories and macros they need. You could just eat food instead.

    I have never heard anyone say you need 1.5g protein per lb of body weight, maybe that's a gym bro thing. At this point I don't remember where, but I have always understood the optimal level for muscle repair is 1g per lean body weight, or 0.6-0.8g per total body weight.
  • myles1230
    myles1230 Posts: 163 Member
    Compete3x wrote: »
    So I should believe everything I read?

    That is the question....?
  • myles1230
    myles1230 Posts: 163 Member
    myles1230 wrote: »
    Do we really need to be eating 6-7 small meals per day to speed up metabolism and to grow? Do we really need pre workout and protein powders? Do we really need 1.5g of protein per lb of body weight to grow?Example: People who are incarcerated in prison! They only get 3 meals a day, and the meals given are not packed with protein and essential nutrients, they don’t have access to protein powders,pre workout,creatine ,etc. and are limited to weight lifting and exercise equipment, but yet still somehow are able to get and be massive and ripped! Explain the science behind that?!! It makes you wonder.... what to believe? What to follow? Random thoughts...

    I'm not sure I believe you

    Believe me about?
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    myles1230 wrote: »
    Compete3x wrote: »
    So I should believe everything I read?

    That is the question....?

    Without knowing what you read, it's impossible to do anything other than guess. But I'm guessing the answer is no.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,257 Member
    Our metabolism is remarkably stable. Small changes occur in the short term (known as adaptive thermogenesis) which increases/decreases in response to the amount of food ingested over time. Think of this like a fire - the more fuel, the hotter the fire and the shorter burn. Less fuel results in lower heat. All of this balances out over 48 hours and trends toward you BMR.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    If you hang out here, you’ll find that we have discussed and either explained or dismissed those topics long ago.
  • watts6151
    watts6151 Posts: 887 Member
    AAS are easier to get in prison than on the street
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    That's the type of broscience that you find on click bate sites.

    Stick to scientific sources.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited January 2018
    A question to go along with the rest in the OP: Do we really need BCAAs?
    (Rhetorical - science has already told us the answer to this one.)

    [ETA:] If one gets their information from reliable, evidence-based sources instead of broscience and clickbait "fitness" websites, all those questions are easily (and correctly) answered.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I think it's pretty easy...if it defies rational thought, logic, and basic common sense, then it's BS. We are highly evolved beings...if things were that complicated we would have died off eons ago.

    Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to be lacking in basic analytical skills and I have no idea when common sense left them.

    That said, I've never heard 1.5 grams of protein per Lb of body weight...1 gram per Lb of LBM is typical for competitive strength athletes and body builders and physique competitors. These types of things become somewhat more important when you're talking about elite level athletics...not so much for the average Joe/Jane trying to be fit and healthy.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    myles1230 wrote: »
    Compete3x wrote: »
    So I should believe everything I read?

    That is the question....?

    Not much of a question. If you believe everything you read without looking at multiple sources and applying a critical lens, your likely to flounder about from one scheme to another. Of course some will be successful. After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day.