Ultra-mass!

[A Cup of No]

Well, it's been years since I've drunk milk. I recently started again 'cause I have to mix it in with this "Ultra-mass" protein supplement I'm taking so I can start gaining weight by muscle. The chocolate taste is weird.

[Teallaura]

It's the 'fake chocolate milkshake' taste. It's supposed to be like that.

Sufficient quantities of ice cream will fix that. It still won't be good, but you won't mind as much.

[docjam]

ya know, there are so many people that are on these high protein diets to help build muscle and the sad thing is that everyone is for them. Let first start out by saying that if you want to build muscle, do it the old-fashioned way: lifting weights and hard work. Protein is just a short cut to gaining muscle mass and we should all know that eventually, short cuts will catch up to us and we'll regret taking the short cut in the first place. There's a general rule of thumb when losing weight in that anything more than a couple pounds per week will most likely be put back on within a certain amount of time, depending on hos much was lost. Well, gaining muscle weight has the same type of effect. Granted, it's a little slower effect and won't be lost as quickly but over the course of the long haul, it has basically the same effect. If you have a lot of muscle mass for your size frame, first of all you need to exercise a great deal to keep it as muscle mass. As you grow older especially and your metabolism slows down you'll need to exercise even harder to keep on that muscle. And then what happens to that muscle when we can't keep up with it? Excess protein becomes stored fat when it's not kept up. So if you get to the point in life where you can't keep up with your protein intake it all becomes excess fat. Another common misconception is that when we lose weight, we lose our fatty cells. This isn't true either, so watch what you eat and how you maintain your life when you're younger. Fat cells don't disappear, they only change size. When we exercise they shrink, that's why we lose the weight. That's also why most of it is put back on in many cases, because people lose it and then don't keep up with their routines so they grow back to their previous sizes. Like I said earlier, excess protein will turn into excess fat as soon as it's not being used by the body as protein. High protein intake also can increase what's called the glomerular filtration rate (GFR)as well as kidney size. The GFR is an indication of how effectively the kidney filters the blood in order to remove waste from the body. Though kidney growth tends to be less of a problem with healthy people as opposed to unhealthy people, it can still be hazardous and can lead to kidney disease and ultimately shutting down the kidneys. High protein intake also can result in high levels of amino acids in the blood. High amino acids stimulate insulin secreation which can stimluate growth. So especially for those teens out there taking all these protein supplements, they may not fully grow(this could also help lead to osteoperosis, I think). High protein has also been shown to increase the risk of obesity later in life, going back to what I said earlier I guess. Back to kidneys. I don't remember off hand where I got this, one of my nutrition classes probably, but people who are on high protein intake diets are 3x more susceptible to kidney diseases later in life, and those that get protein through non-natural sources(ie supplements) and not food/animal sources are at an even greater risk. So in conclusion, just hit the weights hard and if you're going to increase the protein in your diet, do it by drinking more milk, eating nuts, fish, eggs and other high protein foods, not through supplements or protein shakes.

[A Cup of No]

It's actually "true-mass." Whoops. And semmie's bro, the protein shake is just a supplement to gain weight and help the muscle build a bit. I am doing it the old fashioned way - lifting weights. It will be more effective, however, if I weigh more and give my muscles all those vitamins and that protein. I am using it to gain weight more than anything.

Also edit to add: because of my disease, I will never be obese. :hehe:

[docjam]

It's actually "true-mass." Whoops. And semmie's bro, the protein shake is just a supplement to gain weight and help the muscle build a bit. I am doing it the old fashioned way - lifting weights. It will be more effective, however, if I weigh more and give my muscles all those vitamins and that protein. I am using it to gain weight more than anything.

Also edit to add: because of my disease, I will never be obese. :hehe:

replacing those vitamins and minerals and protein with foods sources is healthier than supplemental shakes. All in all, supplements serve no long term purpose and are really nothing more than a short cut of a way to accomplish something(weight gain/muscle mass). Overall, they're not worth it. The muscle will build if you're continuous in your weight lifting whether or not you take protein supplements. True you need more protein when lifting, it's just way healthier overall to get that protein in eggs or milk or beans or some other food source. There's also belief (though it's still just a belief right now and there's not actual research to back it up) that taking supplemental shakes and taking extra vitamin doses can actually lead to osteoperosis and can actually help destroy your bones, literally eating them away over a period of time. When all is said and done, eating healthy is the best way to go and if adding protein to the diet is needed to help build muslce, then eat more eggs for breakfast.