avoid any intake of these oils when they are not absolutely fresh. Also, choose oils that are minimally processed. Most of the clear oils in the supermarkets are stripped of some of their natural components, because stripping them makes them more suitable for sitting on store shelves for long periods of time without spoiling. Do not use these stripped oils. Buy natural food brands like Spectrum Naturals and Hain. And when you do cook, do not overheat the oil so that it smokes. Smoking causes the formation of carcinogens, and destroys the beneficial fatty acids. You can use a small amount of saturated animal fat like butter to cook, as these fats do not have the potential for converting to trans fatty acids like vegetable oils do. In fact, they are in some ways much safer to cook with than most vegetable oils. For a guide that details the different types of fats in different oils and which oils can be heated, call Spectrum Naturals at 1-800-9952705 or 1-707-778-8900, and ask for a copy of their Kitchen Guide To Oils.
Avoid Margarine, Hydrogenated Fats or Processed Oils Do your best to avoid processed fats or oils as they have negative effects on cellular health, overall metabolism, and your immune system. Look out for the words hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated. These kinds of manipulated fats probably do increase the risk of cancer and heart disease. They also weaken healthy cellular immune metabolism, which means that they might increase HIV progression. Lastly, they are also likely to promote lipodystrophy.
Digestion Of Fats You may need digestive enzymes like lipase to help your digestive system break down fats efficiently. If you have a problem with digestion 105
of fats or digestion in general, you might try taking a supplement that contains lipase (fatdigesting enzymes) or mixed digestive enzymes that include lipase to see if this will help.
Protein Pecking Order Dairy protein fractions, such as caseine (contained in milk curd) and whey, are at the top of the list of proteins that optimally feed muscle growth. The amino acid balances, insulinogenic potential25 and overall growth factor content add up to one thing; milk proteins were created to make mammals grow bigger. While there is a lot of hoopla related to which dairy protein fractions are best, there is more misinformation than reality in this area. If you are not allergic to dairy protein, or are lactose intolerant, for best muscle growth, I recommend supplementing your regular food protein intake with a dairy protein powder supplement at 50 to 100 grams per day. In general, dairy proteins might be somewhat better for gaining muscle than egg or soy protein powders. I say this based on personal experience, knowing that the real differences may not be that great if there is enough total protein in the diet. In fact, the idea that any one protein is superior is challenged by a small short-term study by Lowery, Ziegenfuss and Appicelli that was reported in Issue Number 5 of Peak Training Journal (Fall 1998). This study showed that when weight-lifting subjects ingested either soy, ion-exchange-filtered whey, gel-filtered whey or caseine, there appeared to be a trend towards a very slight advantage for caseine, but the advantage was calculated to be “significant.� This study suffered because of its short length, so more investigation needs to be done to get a clearer picture of what differences there really might be. One of the things that will probably produce the most noticeable effect on muscle growth is to make sure you take in a lot of quick-digesting protein immediately after working out, along with the critically important carbohydrates, but