How Much Protein You Need and

Pro Bodybuilders eat about one gram (sometimes even 1.5 grams) of protein per pound of body weight or per pound of non-fat tissue. I'm sure you've seen that the recommended dail

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Friday, May 31, 2013

Friday Q&A: Yoga Solutions for Hypertension

Q: I'm wondering if you could help me ID some yoga resources for my sig other.  He suffered an aortic dissection last Nov while visiting me here from Italy. Barely made it to the ER and surgeon's table on time. Five hour surgery later, he had a new synthetic 4 inch segment replacing his aorta just above the heart and a new lease on life. Six months out he's doing great. He does have a little bit of chance of recurrence, but overall the outlook for his continued recovery is good.

The present goal apparently is to keep his BP down. He's been on medication for it, but our family doctor took him off of it recently as his pressure was quite low before the dissection. He works out lightly at the gym and takes long walks.

He's never done yoga but wants to begin, and I want to help him do that. I'm wondering if you've published (or know anyone good who's published) any videos/sequences of asanas/instructional materials on yoga and BP OR if there's simply a good beginner DVD you might recommend for an older (a young 63 year-old) fit man who's been through what he went through. I've searched around a lot, but am a bit lost in the flood of materials for beginners and finding nothing, on the other hand, other some short articles in YJ, on yoga related to BP.

A: I am so pleased that your partner survived his aortic dissection, which is often, sadly, not the case. And it sounds like for the time being he no longer is showing blood pressure reading of high blood pressure that he had prior to the tear in his aorta. That could change as he gets back to normal activities and eating and such. It is great that he is already doing some weight/strength training and aerobic activity with his gym visits and walks. 

And I can understand your frustration and desire to start off his venture into yoga in a safe way. Please start by checking out the posts we have done here on blood pressure and yoga (see Hypertension and Yoga: An Overview). It is hard to say for sure what kind of beginner practice will be right for him, as he may have other age-related health issues and old injuries to take into account. You can certainly think about having him work with one of the senior teachers in your area individually, initially focusing on stress-reducing practices. There are some general cautions to be mindful of when designing a home practice, like not holding standing poses for very long, skipping and modifying most inversions, other than Downward-Facing Dog and Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) poses, if his blood pressure is elevated at rest. And generally, doing milder forms of most poses including forward bends and twists that also could increase intra-abdominal pressure. Guided meditation, basic breath awareness and yoga nidra would be good to include, with a focus on visualizing a calm and strong heart and vascular system. 

For additional helpful suggestions regarding asana and other yoga practices, there are some written sources that talk about hypertension that you can look over. In Timothy McCall’s book Yoga as Medicine, he devotes a chapter to the subject, featuring experienced yoga teacher Aadil Palkhaivala.  Aadil. He categorizes two kinds of HTN, which he calls “jittery” and “pent-up,” and approaches each a bit differently. Timothy’s book goes on to share three series that Aadil teaches, as well as some specific standing, seated, and reclining poses he recommends. A great warning that Timothy also mentions is avoiding what is known as the “Valsava Maneuver,” in which you hold your breath and bear down, like you would to pass a bowel movement. Doing so can cause a major spike in blood pressure. 

In their book The Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health, Linda Sparrowe and yoga teacher Patricia Walden also devote a chapter to cardiovascular health, and Patricia offers a nice sequence for HTN that is mostly supported restorative poses. This sequence includes one supported Standing Forward Bend and one Downward-Facing Dog (the only two “active poses” in the sequence). 

And finally, Gary Kraftsow’s Yoga for Wellness also has a chapter on cardiovascular system, and he offers an example practice that he did with one of his students that utilizes the Krishnamacharya method of mini-vinyasas. In this case, the opening four poses are either seated or using a chair to modify the depth of the pose, followed by a Cat/Cow variation, dynamic Cobra vinyasa, supine Apanasana (Knees to Chest) sequence, and of course, Savasana.

Although I was not able to find the exact sequence used in the recent study on Yoga for HTN that I referenced in my last post, that would be interesting to review if you can get a copy of the actual study as it likely describes all the poses and practices utilized.

I hope that these ideas will help you to get your sweetie on his way to a safe and effective yoga practice to assist in keeping his blood pressure in a healthy range. 

—Baxter

NUTRITIONAL BASICS FOR BODYBUILDING SERIES. Part One: Realising the importance of nutrition. By Vic Goyaram

NUTRITIONAL BASICS FOR BODYBUILDING SERIES

Part One: 
Realising the importance of nutrition
Researched and composed by Vic Goyaram

I wanted to write about macro nutrient basics for bodybuilding but my intuition told me to start this series with a more fundamental issue: the realisation of the importance of nutritionWhen it comes to building muscle, resistance training tears down the muscle and nutrition is one of the essentials to repair the muscle and allow it to get bigger and stronger. If you don't feed the body properly then you aren't going forward. 

"Do you eat as hardcore as you train?"
More often than not you will see people who train very hard but fail to work as hard when it comes to their nutrition. Chances are that many of us fall in such a category too.  Please take some time and reflect on these questions:
  • Do you step out of the house everyday with your meals packed for the day?
  • What's in your lunch bag today? Have you even packed lunch?
  • You have planned a hardcore arm workout today but will your eating be as hardcore?
  • You just ingested that pre-workout. What will you have post-workout?
The reality is that most people over-train and eat inappropriately.  Building muscle requires great efforts both in the gym and in the kitchen/ meal table as proper nutrition will account for your bodybuilding success or lack thereof. Always think of the bicycle analogy: The two wheels of a bicycle represent training and nutrition. If one of the  wheels is faulty or inadequate, the bicycle will be dysfunctional. Likewise, training and nutrition are intimately related. I know too many people who train really hard but fail to progress. In 99.9% of the time it is simply because their nutrition is inadequate. It is not because they lack hormones in the body or lack genetics. Enough of excuses, brah! 
Meals packed for the day to fuel growth!
(I wished this could be my kitchen top)
"But it is damn expensive to eat properly"
For sure, food is getting really expensive and there is little we can do about it. Some have limited incomes, others are in debt or are still studying and have no income. While some of you reading this have no problem with money, many others do struggle. I understand them because I do face difficulties too, all the time. What you must do is focus on the things that you can do rather than focus on the things that you can't do. Do whatever is possible to bring in the cash for food. If this means working harder to earn more money, studying harder to get a job that earns well, working part time to get some income, applying for a higher paying job or going to study to improve qualifications for a better job, then do it. Do not sit in your comfort zone. Do not sit on your ass and complain that others can while you can't. 
Add caption
"Food for fuel, not comfort"
When you go shopping for food with limited cash, you may be tempted to buy a lot of unnecessary stuff. That's the way shops work, enticing you to buy more things. We can't blame them, it is their business. But as a bodybuilder, buy the type of food that will help your physique. Buy something if it is really necessary for your goals. When stepping into that shop, tell yourself that you're going to buy only what will bring you closer to your goals and get the hell out of there. I personally buy mostly mixed vegetables, oats, eggs and chicken breasts whenever I go grocery shopping. I am never going to buy custard powder or a packet of biscuits even though I sometimes want it. 

No matter how much I want that nice triple razor blade to shave my head, I won't buy it. I'll instead buy a cheaper one that still does the job so that I can spend more money on food. Minora blade, my bru. Does the job! No matter how I want to do like the well-off people who shop at Woolworth's (upmarket shop in South Africa) and buy salmon fillets, chicken fillets and the best cuts of meat, I can't. I have to wait for specials at Pick N Pay to buy untrimmed chicken breasts day in day out and trim it myself at home. I have to wait for specials on Humpty Dumpty eggs so I can load up on eggs. Do what you have to do!
My shopping: chicken for two days, oats and mixed vegetables for 1 week
Do whatever you can: my three solid meals for the day.
Oats and bananas and chicken breasts.
When eggs go on special at PnP....
Seriously?
"Bodybuilding is 70, 80, 80.5, 90.75, 95%...of nutrition"
Bodybuilding has never been 80% Nutrition and 20% training. It does mean that if you slack in your training but eat properly you will only be 20% short of your desired progress. Likewise, it doesn't mean that if you train hard and slack in your nutrition you will make only 20% of your desired progress. Your progress may be 0% or you may even regress. This percentage thing must be interpreted carefully because what it simply serves the purpose of highlighting the importance of nutrition in your bodybuilding progress. 

Don't have time to eat?
If you are serious about building muscle then you must find time to eat. Even if you are at work and your boss is constantly on your back you must find the time to eat. If you still cannot smuggle a tupperware rice and chicken in your office desk there are a lot of convenient options: shakes, MRP bars and so on. This reminds me of the days when I was a Sales Manager in Medical Diagnostics. I would go to important long meetings with a metallic travel mug that looked really professional. I figured out that drinking protein shake from a shaker would be a no-no in that setting so I filled my metallic travel mug with protein shake. Everybody would think I was sipping coffee...when in fact I was feeding my body with precious protein.  
Do what you have to do
The bottom line
  • Nutrition is a key ingredient
  • Do not overlook the importance of feeding your body properly
  • Focus on the things you can do, rather than on the things you cannot

Future articles in this series will deal on more specific topics of nutrition. 
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My Bio: I am a Mauritian originally from Roche Bois, Port Louis and now based in Cape Town, South Africa where I am busy with my postgraduate studies in molecular biology of exercise. My research, supervised by Prof. Edward Ojuka, looks at the influence of nutrition and exercise in gene expression in muscle, research which is relevant and applicable to exercising individuals, sports persons and diabetic individuals. The knowledge that I share with you stems from my 18 years of experience in bodybuilding and 8 years (and counting) of university education in the field. I have also published work in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism (2013), International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (2013) and co-authored two book chapters on exercise and diabetes. I also presented my research work at the 2012 International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference (UK). I am grateful to each and everyone at the UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. "Knowledge without sharing is worth nothing"
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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Yoga Relaxation Techniques: They're Not Interchangeable

by Nina
Patterns in the Sand 2, by Brad Gibson
Okay, I admit it. It’s probably my fault. I’ve been going around saying that you can trigger the Relaxation Response (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) using any of the following: restorative yoga, inverted poses, Savasana, pranayama, meditation, and yoga nidra, etc. as if all those practices were somehow interchangeable. This has led to questions like the following comment left on a Friday Q&A: Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga, Meditation and Savasana:

It is very helpful to read the distinctions between these four practices as I try to practice all of them, but it's hard to find the time. I'd be really interested to get your thoughts on whether it's important to do all four? For example, if you do restorative while listening to a nidra CD, do you also need to meditate? I'm interested to know what the various benefits are of these four practices, or are the benefits all the same?

Let me start by saying that what I said previously—that you can use any of these practices for stress management—still holds true. And it is also true that you can choose whichever techniques you prefer to trigger the Relaxation Response. However, these practices each have different roles to play in a balanced yoga practice.

The role of meditation in a balanced yoga practice is particularly important. That’s why I asked Timothy to write an article on the purpose of meditation (see his absolutely wonderful post Is Meditation an Essential Par of Practicing Yoga?). Basically, although you can use meditation for stress reduction, its role in classical yoga is to quiet the mind to allow union with the divine or “liberation”:

1.2 Yoga is the cessation of movements of consciousness.
1.3 Then the seer dwells in his own true splendor.

— from
Yoga Sutras, trans. B.K.S. Iyengar

Meditation is also, as Timothy mentions, a “fabulous tool to study your mind and slowly gain more control over it.”

Pranayama is also an important component of classical yoga, which precedes meditation as one of eight steps on the path to samadhi (union with the divine). It is considered an instrument to “steady the mind” and a gateway to dharana (the first phase of meditation).

“Pranayama removes the veil covering the light of knowledge and heralds the dawn of wisdom.

Its practice destroys illusion, consisting of ignorance, desire and delusion which obscure the intelligence; and allows the inner light of wisdom to shine. As the breeze disperses the clouds that cover the sun, pranayama wafts away the clouds that hide the light of intelligence.” — Sutra 2.52 trans. by B.K.S. Iyengar


On the other hand, the two types of asana I recommended for triggering the Relaxation Response, restorative yoga and supported inversions, are brilliant 20th century inventions, mostly developed by B.K.S. Iyengar, which are designed specifically to maximize physical relaxation and reduce stress. Judith Lasater, one of the most renowned teachers of restorative yoga, writes in the introduction to her book Relax and Renew:

“The antidote to stress is relaxation. To relax is to rest deeply. This rest is different from sleep. Deep states of sleep include periods of dreaming which increase muscular tension, as well as other physiological signs of tension. Relaxation is a state in which there is no movement, no effort, and the brain is quiet.

"Common to all stress reduction techniques is putting the body in a comfortable position with gentle attention directed toward the breath.”


Likewise, yoga nidra is also a 20th century invention (though you may see some claims to the contrary) developed by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. The first sentence of his book Yoga Nidra defines the practice like this:

“Yoga nidra, which is derived from the tantras, is a powerful technique in which you learn to relax consciously.”

In yoga nidra, you lie in Savasana while the voice of a teacher (or a recording) guides you through a physical and mental relaxation process. So, like restorative yoga, yoga nidra is specifically intended as a relaxation technique, and as such does not replace meditation or pranayama in a balanced yoga practice. This would be true of any form of Savasana in which an external voice is providing instructions and/or imagery for you. Unlike other relaxation techniques, yoga nidra includes a sankalpa (an intention) that allows you to influence your subconscious (or so it is claimed). For example, “I will awaken my spiritual potential,” “I will be a positive force for the evolution of others,” or “I will be successful in all that I undertake.” So this may be something you wish to take into consideration when choosing your relaxation practice.

Unlike the modern restorative postures, Savasana is a much older pose. Based on what I’ve read about the original practice, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Savasana is a reclining form of meditation. For some traditional yogis, it was a meditation on death, hence the literal translation of the name Savasana is “Corpse pose,” and it was sometimes even practiced alongside actual corpses. To practice Savasana properly, however, you must actually do the work of meditating while you are in the pose (and make sure you don’t fall asleep). If you don’t actually meditate while in Savasana, then, well, you are simply relaxing. But that's okay, too, if that is what you are after.

So there you have it. Which of these practices you decide to adopt really depends on what your goals are as well as your preferences. If you’re just after stress management and better health, it doesn’t really matter which you chose. However, if your goal is the “liberation” that is yoga’s ultimate aim, both pranayama and meditation are essential steps along the path.

Sorry if I caused any confusion!

Ultimate liberation is when the gunas, devoid of any purpose for the purusa, return to their original [latent] state; in other words, when the power of consciousness is situation in its own essential nature. —Yoga Sutra 4.34 trans. Edwin Bryant

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Is Meditation an Essential Part of Practicing Yoga?

by Timothy
Patterns in the Sand by Brad Gibson
Do you need to meditate? Can you achieve all or most of the same benefits from just practicing asana, restorative yoga, Savasana, and/or pranayama? Is it worth even trying if you feel like you're no good at it? We get questions like these at the blog from time to time, so I figured I'd tackle them today.

I can't help but notice that people often talk about yoga and meditation as two separate practices. But according to Patanjali, the great codifier of yoga, meditation was an integral part of the practice. By yoga, of course, most people in the U.S. mean asana, which is why people say yoga and meditation. And since most asana classes don't include any meditation, many yoga practitioners have looked outside of yoga, often to Buddhism, if they're interested in learning more. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think people forget that the Buddha was a yogi before he became the Buddha!

Meditation gets a lot of press as an effective tool to de-stress, to calm the mind and the nervous system. That's certainly true, but if that were all meditation had to offer, you could hardly view the practice as vital, since we've got so many tools in yoga that can foster relaxation: asana, breathing practices, chanting and restoratives to name a few.

To many dedicated yogis, however, meditation is the crown jewel of the practice. They recommend asana mostly because it prepares the body for meditation, to sit up straight comfortably for long periods of time. All the high levels of samadhi—absorption as it is sometimes translated—the eighth of the eight limbs of yoga that Patanjali describes in the Yoga Sutras, are said to happen only in meditation. And, more specifically, from its long-term practice over the course of years, even decades.

I have been meditating for a long time, and it has become in many ways the most delicious part of my practice. It didn't start out that way. My mind was very busy when I began, and it was extremely difficult for me to keep my attention from flitting from idea to idea. And it was hard to find comfort sitting in one place, without frequent position adjustments and fidgeting. Many people who try to meditate get discouraged at this point and give up. That, I believe, is a mistake. As with a lot of other areas of yoga, hanging in when things are challenging, even discouraging, can bring rewards. Yoga teaches that it is by strengthening our weaknesses that we become more balanced.

Meditation can be a fabulous tool to study your mind and slowly gain more control over it. (I'm not just talking about the conscious mind, which is mostly what gets dealt with, often quite helpfully, in psychotherapy, but the unconscious mind, which hugely impacts our behavior and happiness.) The first lesson for most of us on the meditation cushion is just how unruly our minds are, and how hard it is to maintain our focus for more than a few seconds. Seeing that reality may be uncomfortable, but it's the first step toward eventually changing it.

And there is real benefit in feeling your mind running all over the place, wanting to get up and move, and continuing to stay seated anyway, trying to bring your attention back to whatever you're focusing on, whether that's your breath, an image, or a mantra. Studies of the Relaxation Response, which were performed on people practicing a demystified form of yogic mantra meditation, have shown that even when practitioners don't feel they are doing it well, they gain the physiological benefits of lower blood pressure, heart rates, etc.

Even after years of practice, some days my mind is still all over the place. But usually, if I stay at it, things eventually settle down. One reason why some experts recommend 20 minutes of meditation daily is that it often takes about that long to settle down. But the more you practice the easier it gets.

You might wonder where you will find the extra time to add a 20-minute practice to your already busy schedule. Well, first off, you don't need to do it for that long. Even a few minutes in the beginning starts to build up the habit. Over time you can slowly increase the time you sit. Interestingly, about a decade ago when I upped my practice to an hour a day, I discovered that I began to need about an hour less sleep each night, as if the meditation were giving me some of sleep's restorative effects. It felt like I was getting to meditate for free, without carving any time out of my day!

In my yoga therapy work, I often recommend meditation, but not always. Sometimes when someone is very anxious or seriously depressed, if they attempt to close their eyes and go inward, they may go into an unpleasant—and potentially counterproductive—state of mind. But if we can use other tools, like breath and asana, to improve the acute situation (along with whatever medication, therapy or other tools they are employing), I will often try to add meditation later. I have come to believe that for the long-term care of anxiety and depression, meditation may be the most powerful tool we have. It gets to places that asana simply can't, as powerful as asana can be.  But unlike a lot of meditators, I don't think you should give up your asana practice once you get into meditating. Because asana also gets to some places that meditation can't, like your hip flexors, for example!

The bottom line is that the different yogic tools appear to work together in a synergistic fashion. Meditating can make you a better asana practitioner, and doing asana can help deepen your meditation. And regular pranayama can help both of them!

In my next post, I'll give more specifics on how to begin a meditation practice. If there are particular themes you'd like to me address, please let us know.

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Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) and Yoga: An Overview

by Baxter
Complexity in Nature by Brad Gibson
On these hallowed blog pages, we have previously addressed several conditions that involve our cardiovascular system (heart and blood vessels), such as arrhythmias, strokes, hypotension and hypertension (also referred to as High Blood Pressure and Hypertension, or HTN). We even have at least six posts that at least mention HTN. However, due to the large percentage of adults who will develop HTN over the course of their lifetimes, I thought it worth revisiting. In 1999-2002, 28.6% of the U.S. population had hypertension. And this number seems to be on the rise. Plus, there is yet another study that demonstrates yoga’s beneficial effect on lowering blood pressure in those with mild to moderate hypertension! (For background information about what blood pressure is, see So, what is blood pressure, anyway?)

Why all the hype about HTN or high blood pressure, anyway?  Well, if you have HTN, you are at an increased risk of developing other more serious health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, rupture of your largest blood vessel (the aorta), chronic kidney disease, congestive heart failure, decreased blood supply to your legs, and problems with your vision. Some people develop HTN secondary to the presence of some other health condition that leads to high blood pressure, such as chronic kidney disease (hey, wasn’t that just mentioned?!), diseases of the adrenal and parathyroid glands (part of our endocrine system), pregnancy, and medications such as birth control pills, diet pills, some cold meds, just to mention a few. 

And some people are at a higher risk of developing HTN, if any of the following factors are present for you: obesity, chronic stress and anxiety, excessive alcohol consumption, excessive salt in diet, family history of HTN, diabetes, smokers, and African American ancestry. Part of the frustration for people who are diagnosed with HTN is that they often don’t have any really noticeable symptoms. I can’t tell you how many times I diagnosed a patient in my family practice with high blood pressure when they came in for a routine annual exam with no real complaints, or were in the office for some unrelated complaint, like a cold or headaches. This is why HTN is often referred to as the “silent killer,” as you may not know you have it until one of its complications like stroke or heart attack strike you.

It’s been known now for at least 40 years that yoga practices can help lower blood pressure in people with HTN, starting back in the 60s and 70s with the work of Herbert Benson, MD, a cardiologist who used a particular kind of yogic meditation popular at the time (TM or transcendental meditation) to help lower the blood pressure in his patients who were not responding as expected to the newest medications of that era. Since then, other studies have shown similar results, including the newest study from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, still in progress, which is following 120 patients with mild to moderate elevations in their blood pressure. Already, with 58 people completing the study so far, there is small but significant decreases in blood pressure readings in the yoga group. This could be of greatest importance to patients who are labeled with “pre-hypertension,” where the blood pressure readings fall between 120/80 and 140/90.  This group of people is at much higher risk of going on to develop full HTN and is at higher risk than the general population of serious situations such as stroke and heart attack. However, if treated with yoga, they could drop their numbers low enough to avoid the need for medications to do the job.  In previous posts, Nina and Shari have talked about kinds of asana practices that have been shown to lower blood pressure, such as forward bends and certain inversions, as well as the effect on the baroreceptors that monitor and influence blood pressure moment by moment.  See Blood Pressure: Talking About Baroreceptors and Yoga and Just in Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses.

As to how you might incorporate yoga practices into your efforts to lower your own rising blood pressure, you would likely want to add it to a broader approach to treatment, instead of substituting yoga for medications, for instance. Usually, a combination of aerobic activity, dietary changes, appropriate salt restriction, stopping tobacco use, lowering stress, and achieving an optimal body weight are the first line actions recommended when you are diagnosed with HTN. As we have shown before, yoga can help with many of those goals, such as weight management and stress, as well as improving will power, which could help with establishing all of those changes suggested from your usual dietary and lifestyle habits. But, independent of that, as this newest study again points out, yoga helps lower blood pressure on its own. It can do it via a balanced asana practice, via meditation practices and via breathing techniques. It is, of course, frustrating for those of us familiar with this data, that mainstream medicine has not embraced this cost-effective modality to any significant degree. If it were a pill, I suppose, it would be a no-brainer. 

And for those interested in developing a home practice for hypertension, due to the multiple factors that could influence your unique situation, I highly recommend you work one-on-one with an experienced yoga instructor to create the optimal practice for you. Yoga for high blood pressure? You bet!  

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Monday, May 27, 2013

AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE SERIES Part One: Basic Science of amino acids. By Vic Goyaram

AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE SERIES
Basic Science of amino acids

Researched and composed by Vic Veeraj Goyaram
Exclusive for Bodybuilding Mauritius
Fig. 1: Amino acid supplements are numerous and varied. 
This article attempts to give you a background on amino acids 
and help you find a way in this maze.
There isn't any bodybuilder who hasn't heard the term "amino acid" but whether everyone UNDERSTANDS amino acids is another question. People often confuse protein with amino acids. Furthermore, many supplement companies assume that everyone has a degree in Biology and thus indulge freely in loading supplement labels with technical and scientific jargon that may add further confusion. Free form amino acids, peptides, branched chain amino acids, essential amino acid, L- or D-form, individual amino acids are all terms we are bombarded with and it is important that we understand what they are. This article attempts to explain the basic science of amino acids in order to equip you to read and make sense of the terminologies used on amino acid supplement labels. 

Fact #1: What amino acids are
Amino acids are units that make up proteins. Just like a wall is made up of individual bricks joined together by cement, proteins are made up of amino acids joined together by special forces called “peptide bonds”. Therefore, amino acids are the constituents of all proteins in the body like protein hormones (e.g. insulin), enzymes, muscles, etc. 
Amino acid molecules join together by peptide bonds to form proteins
When you eat a protein meal, your body breaks down the protein with the help of enzymes called “proteases”. The proteins are converted into shorter chains called “peptides” and then into the single amino acid units. This process is called digestion. Amino acids cannot be digested further. Your intestines then absorbs these amino acids into blood circulation and the different body tissues will use them (assimilation) for making new proteins or in some cases, for energy.

Fact #2: Chemical Structure of amino acids
Unless you are a biology student there is no reason to learn the structure of amino acids in detail. It suffice to know that amino acids contain Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen that are joined together in a special way (Fig. 2). Each amino acid has a unique “R group”. For example L-Glutamine has a different R group from L-Leucine. Furthermore, the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are so called because they have R-groups that have a branched structure (Fig. 3).
Fig 2: Basic amino acid chemical structure
Fig. 3: amino acids differ from each other by their R-groups
Fact #3: Not all amino acids form proteins
There are 22 different amino acids that form proteins in living organisms. These are known as proteinogenic amino acids. When you drink a protein shake or eat a piece of chicken, for example, your body receives these proteinogenic amino acids after digestion of the protein and then incorporates them into protein molecules when the latter are synthesized. 

However, there are also some amino acids that do not form part of proteins but serve other important functions in the body. You have probably heard of amino acids like Carnitine, Taurine, Beta-alanine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These are the non-proteinogenic amino acids that serve important functions in the body. However, they are not incorporated into proteins. They are stand-alone amino acids. They may be available from certain foods and supplements. 

Fact #4: Essential v/s Non-essential amino acids
Your body can make some amino acids. These amino acids that can be made are called “non-essential amino acids”. However, some other amino acids cannot be made by the body and should be obtained from the diet. These are called “Essential amino acids” and there are 8 such amino acids in all. The branched chain amino acids (Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine) form part of these 8 amino acids. As a side note, the ability of whether certain protein foods can provide the essential amino acids in the right amounts determines whether it is a "complete" or "incomplete" protein.
Fig 4: Essential and non-essential amino acids
The table below gives the essential amino acid content of common forms of supplemental protein. You can see that soy protein fares very well compared to animal-based proteins. 


Fig. 5: Essential amino acid content of common supplemental protein sources. Values are grams/ 100g protein
There is sometimes a confusion when it comes to the essentiality of amino acids. If an amino acid is essential it means simply that it must comes from the diet. It does not mean that supplementation is essential. Just like we've seen in a discussion on our facebook group lately regarding BCAAs, the latter are essential amino acids but it does not mean that free-form BCAA supplementation is essential under all circumstances otherwise your progress will stall. This topic is further discussed in this article (click to read)

Fact # 5: We have L- and D- amino acids
When reading supplement labels you will see that all amino acids start with L. The L simply refers to special chemical characteristics of these amino acids. All the food amino acids are in the L-form.
Fig. 6: L and D-amino acids are mirror images of each other
Basically the L- and D-amino acids are mirror images of each other. The L and D forms of a particular amino acid will have the same molecular formula (same number of each of C, H, O and N atoms). We call them "isomers". If you are really curious, the term L and D originates from the different abilities of amino acids to rotate plane polarised light in different directions. L means Laevorotatory (Left rotation) while D means Dextrorotatory (right rotation).

Some D-amino acids also exist as free amino acids in human tissues but not part of proteins. They do serve important functions. For example D-Serine is a brain neurotransmitter. D-Aspartic acid is found in some tissues where they have quite recently been found to be involved in testosterone release. Needless to say, the supplements industry have already started to fill the shelves with D-Aspartic acid products although little conclusive data exists from trials on athletes. So our friends should expect to see some D-form amino acids on the shelves.
Fig. 7: D-Aspartic acid sold as a testosterone booster
Things to come

Thanks for reading this article. From the blog stats I see that this article is getting very popular. I am very glad about this. In future instalments of the "amino acid supplement series" we will evaluate the major amino acids supplements on the shelves. We will take a closer look at full spectrum amino acid supplements, specific amino acid cocktails (e.g. BCAAs) and specific free form aminos (e.g. L-Arginine, Beta-Alanine etc). 

We already have an article on L-Carnitine where we evaluated its proposed fat burning and ergogenic benefits. Check it out here: L-Carnitine

Whey v/s BCAA v/s Glutamine: How and when to combine?


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Friday, May 24, 2013

Friday Q&A: Neck Pain and Fear

Q: I read of yoga for back pain, but little about neck pain. I've been in PT for months, with good ideas about posture/extension/alignment, etc. And now I'm in a series of skillful massage targeted to the neck muscles...but such stiffness in spite of it all! Did yoga for years, but not lately (still active!) I'm wary of yoga that my pain might be exacerbated. I'm 52. My work is varied, with some hours at a desk but broken up with people interaction. Thanks for your counsel!

 A: I understand why you might be afraid of doing yoga again but I want to reassure you that starting to practice again will be beneficial for you in so many ways. I currently have a student with a lot of physical challenges and chronic pain from prior surgeries. She has told me so many times that even though her body may not be able to move the way she wants it to, when she wants it to do something, she finds that “yoga is good for my mind. It makes me tune in and just listen to myself.” This individual needs a lot of modifications when she practices, but because she trusts both me and my co-teacher Bonnie, she is willing to try new things, "even when they are scary,” specifically because she knows she can stop WHENEVER she needs or wants to and we respect her decisions. We have a “circle of trust” in our class that is very valuable to both the teachers, the students and our assistants.

The great thing about yoga in my mind is the ability to stop whenever necessary. The practice is an internal dialogue not an external show. Sometimes we need to be reassured we can still do an activity but are afraid because it might hurt. Well, if something or an activity causes an increase in pain, then we have the ability to stop the action. Sometimes although our minds fear something when there really isn't a physical correlation between the fear and the action, we have to teach our mind not to fear the action. It is kind of like relearning to ride a bike when we have fallen off in the past and done some serious damage but now have the desire to get back on the bike. But where to start? With all activities it is helpful to imagine the activity first before attempting it. So, if you had some yoga poses that you used to do that gave you pleasure, start with those. I would set myself up in a position of comfort where I was warm and felt safe, and then I might mentally begin the practice using only my memory. After a while of envisioning the pose, I would try it just a little bit. If I felt scared that I was going to hurt myself, then I would stop and leave it and try again tomorrow.

If this type of mental re-entry into yoga doesn't work for you, then you might re-contact your teacher (if you had one) and ask to talk about your concerns about returning to a class. If you don’t have a teacher anymore, look for someone in your local area who has experience with working with individuals with neck injuries and discuss your concerns about re-entering a class. If that isn’t possible, look for a class either for people recovering from injuries or with a gentle focus, and, again, approach the teacher with your concerns. Going back to a class has to feel safe for you, and in order to feel safe you have to be able to trust the teacher to not make you do more than you are comfortable with. Don’t be afraid to be frank about your needs and to have the ability to keep yourself safe. If you still can't find a teacher who fits this profile, contact the International Association of Yoga Therapists and ask for a teacher in your area or near to you that you can work with. They keep a registry on file for all members.

 And finally when you do begin to practice I would follow the motto of “less is better” because more than that might spiral you back into a flare-up cycle and put you off of yoga for quite a while. Poses that I particularly like when my own neck is feeling fragile are more passive poses like Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall pose) or a passive backbend over bolster with neck and head support. Active practice like standing poses with arm motions often make my own neck feel worse, so go easy on those. Learning to twist again without using arms for leverage also is important. I also like Chair Shoulderstand with a bolster under my upper back and no weight on my neck.

You mention only the physical aspect of asana but as you can see on many of the posts on our blog, that is only one small part of the practice of yoga. I might use this opportunity to re-visit some of the other limbs of yoga, especially some pranayama or basic breathing practices. The ability to fully breathe is a gift in learning to manage chronic pain and stiffness because it's like doing a massage from the inside out. I suffer from major neck issues myself, and I find that my neck will often let me know when I am overworked or overly stressed because the littlest things can set off my own pain cycles. There is no quick fix, but there are many pieces to the puzzle in learning how to manage ourselves in life.

—Shari

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Energizing Yourself: Overcoming Styana and Alasya

by Nina

I don’t know about you, but Ram’s post yesterday The Dangers of Being Sedentary scared me a bit.

Findings from a recent study showed that individuals who sat for more than 11 hours daily were 40 percent more likely to die within the next three years than those who sat for four hours or less daily—even when people’s physical activity at other times of the day was accounted for. Studies have also indicated that sitting daily for less than 3 hours and watching TV for less than 2 hours extends life expectancy by an estimated 1 to 2 years. Studies reported in the prestigious journals Lancet and the British Medical Journal suggest that a sedentary lifestyle is the cause of one in 10 deaths worldwide. It’s now known that Americans are working less (26 minutes a day less compared to Y2007) and idling off more. Adults in the U.S. spend an average of 55 percent of their day engaged in some kind of sedentary behavior (see Sedentary behaviour and life expectancy in the USA: a cause-deleted life table analysis).

In his post, Ram identified two obstacles that cause us to be sedentary: styana (inefficiency, idleness, procrastination, dullness) and alasya (laziness, sloth). The problem is, how do we overcome these obstacles? I mean, we all basically know that sitting around all day isn’t a good thing, but after hours of doing it—so many of us sit at desks all day or have long commutes—inertia tends to set in. And this can create a lot of resistance to the idea of getting up to practice yoga, even if you know it will be good for you and that you’ll feel better afterward. You think: Oh, I just don’t feel like it today—maybe tomorrow.

"Old man, stiff man, weak man, sick man, they can all take practice but only a lazy man can't take practice." — Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

I know this because even after years of practicing yoga at home on my own, I sometimes notice that tendency in myself. I do have some tricks up my sleeve, however. And I thought today would be a good day to share them, so you’d have some new ideas for fighting both styana and alysya.

My first trick is a mental one: I tell myself that I don’t need to do a full practice, that I can just do one single pose, you know, like Downward-Facing Dog. But I might want to warm up a bit before that one, so, let’s see, maybe a Half Downward-Facing Dog at the wall followed by a full Downward-Facing Dog on my mat. And guess what, by that time, my energy starts flowing and my momentum starts to build, and I end up doing a full-length practice.

My second trick is to pick a pose to start that will energize me, even just a bit. I know that moving with your breath is a good way to fire up your energy. So standing in Mountain pose and raising arms overhead on the inhalation and down by your sides on the exhalation is a good way to energize yourself, maybe even shake off a feeling of depression, and that can lead to some other vinyasas or who knows where.

But if you don’t feel like standing up—yeah, I know, sometimes you just don’t—you can get on your hands and knees and do the Cat-Cow pose, inhaling as you come into the Cow position (the sway back position) and exhaling as you come into the Cat pose (the arching position). That leads very nicely into Downward-Facing Dog pose, and then maybe Standing Forward Bend, by which time you might feel ready to stand up on your mat!

My third trick is that when I’m feeling particularly tired or lazy, I tell myself that I can start lying down. Ah, yes, lying down sounds real good.

Often I start with Reclined Leg Stretch and other reclined hip openers, and even just moving my legs around gets me in the mood for a Downward-Facing Dog pose (and helps make that pose easier), which in turn leads....

Another way to energize yourself is to open your chest, and that’s also a good way to counteract all the forward bending you’ve been doing by sitting down for hours. Good news is this is also something you can do lying down. Try a passive backbend over a blanket roll or a bolster for three or more minutes. Then roll over and see what you might feel like doing next. Lately I’ve been starting by doing a reclined shoulder opener that my teacher often has us do in the middle of class: lying on your back, with a strap just above your elbows, bring your arms up and overhead (if they don’t reach the floor, try holding a block between your hands). Three minutes of that, and if I’m not ready for Downward-Facing Dog pose, I might procrastinate a bit with some reclined hip stretches. It’s all good.

And if this strategy doesn’t work? What if you only end up doing just the one or two poses? Well, that’s much better than nothing. It might even start a new habit that will allow you to gradually grow into a longer practice over time—my own home practice started with me practicing just a few poses. And, besides, you can always try again in a couple of hours....

Of course, what I’ve mentioned here are just a few of many possibilities. Readers, how do you shake off your lethargy and start moving? I’d love to hear your recommendations.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Dangers of Being Sedentary: Styana, Alasya, and Yoga

by Ram

Dance by Marc Chagall

Yoga and Ayurveda are sister sciences, with Ayurveda being the healing side of Yoga, and Yoga serving as the spiritual side of Ayurveda. Through the practices of Ayurveda and Yoga an individual is able to connect to his/her true nature through direct experience, and live a meaningful and purposeful life. This would mean following stable routines, having a balanced and nourishing timely diet (see You Are When You Eat) and adapting the eight fold yogic path (ashtanga yoga). However, there are a number of obstacles that arise on the journey to a meaningful life that can prove to be a challenge. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, verses 1.30-1.32 describe several distractions that serve as obstacles on the journey toward perfect health and enlightenment. 

vyadhi styana samshaya pramada alasya
avirati bhranti-darshana alabdha-bhumikatva
anavasthitatva chitta vikshepa te antarayah


“Nine kinds of distractions that are obstacles naturally encountered on the path are physical illness, tendency of the mind to not work efficiently, doubt or indecision, lack of attention to pursuing the means of samadhi, laziness in mind and body, failure to regulate the desire for worldly objects, incorrect assumptions or thinking, failing to attain stages of the practice, and instability in maintaining a level of practice once attained.”—translation by Swami Jnaneshvara

Sitting for more than three hours, sleeping for extended periods of time, watching long hours of TV or simply idling away the time would qualify as “styana” (inefficiency, idleness, procrastination, dullness) and “alasya” (laziness, sloth), which are now thought to be responsible for decreasing life expectancy in the United States. While technology may have increased our productivity, it has certainly made us lazier. Sitting for long periods, sleeping for more than the required hours and watching TV are the most common activities performed by indolent individuals. That puts these activities up there with smoking as a possible barrier to increasing life expectancy.

Findings from a recent study showed that individuals who sat for more than 11 hours daily were 40 percent more likely to die within the next three years than those who sat for four hours or less daily—even when people’s physical activity at other times of the day was accounted for. Studies have also indicated that sitting daily for less than 3 hours and watching TV for less than 2 hours extends life expectancy by an estimated 1 to 2 years. Studies reported in the prestigious journals Lancet and the British Medical Journal suggest that a sedentary lifestyle is the cause of one in 10 deaths worldwide. It’s now known that Americans are working less (26 minutes a day less compared to Y2007) and idling off more. Adults in the U.S. spend an average of 55 percent of their day engaged in some kind of sedentary behavior (see Sedentary behaviour and life expectancy in the USA: a cause-deleted life table analysis).

Data gathered from 33 countries indicate that sedentary lifestyle accounts for six percent of all cases of coronary heart disease, about 7 percent of type 2 diabetes and 10 percent of breast and colon cancers. The findings also suggested that if only 10 percent of those who are currently inactive started to exercise, 533,000 lives would be saved; if 25 percent began moving, 1.3 million deaths could be averted. Studies have also shown that even children are spending more time sitting at home than playing outdoors. Health experts are unanimous in their opinion that an adult requires at least 30 minutes/day of physical activity to stay fit while children require at least 60 minutes of playtime.

The Dance by Marc Chagall
Thus, there is no doubt that excessive time spent in sedentary behavior is not only having an impact on public health but also has effects on the life span of the individual. Those who maintain a reasonable amount of activity, particularly across the middle and later years, are twice as likely to avoid early death and serious illness. So take my advice, get off the couch and go to the nearest yoga studio for a yoga asana session or seek some enjoyable activity that involves a lot of movement. However, let me also remind our readers that physical activity need not be yoga asanas alone and neither does it have to be strenuous to achieve health benefits. The US Centers for Disease for Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the following that constitutes physical activity: walking stairs (instead of taking the elevator), gardening, raking leaves, dancing, walking to different stores in the mall while shopping, carrying a grocery basket rather than pushing a cart (when applicable), parking in the farthest parking spot and walking to the office or store.

People of all ages benefit from doing any one or some or all of the above mentioned daily physical activities. Sedentary people need to start with short sessions (about 10 minutes) and gradually build up to the desired level of physical activity. It appears that it is never too late to make some changes and experience these positive outcomes. The antidote for these obstacles and their consequences are awareness, focus and determination (see Thoughts On Dhyana). Cultivating these qualities can prevent us from getting entangled and lost in the mire of delusion that can come from the above-mentioned obstacles (see Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations).

Note from Nina:
Ram recommends getting off the couch and going to a yoga studio for an asana session, but there is no reason you can’t simply get off the couch and do a little bit of yoga, right next to the couch (or anywhere else in your house). We’ve got lots of mini practices on our blog (look on our index for the three “mini” entries) that you can do, try a practice you find in a yoga book or DVD, or just start out with a Reclined Leg Stretch or a Downward-Facing Dog pose and see what happens next. If you skip just one TV program, you can do a half an hour of yoga without even leaving the house. I started my home yoga practice when I was working full time at a software startup company and co-parenting two young children, so I know you can do this! And, of course, if you’ve been following our office yoga series, you’ll know that we’ve got yoga poses you can do at work, at the airport, or anywhere else you can’t roll out a yoga mat (look on our index for the “office yoga” tag).