Carbs & Protien

Ali M

Now we go on about tuna, chicken and sweet potatoes and pasta as a bodybuilders diet to grow, and more food of course.

However, surely it all comes down to clean carbs and protien.

So if one's diet just consisted of cerial for carbs x 6 times a day followed by a good quality whey protien with each meal, how would this differ from something like sweet potatoes and chicken with veg...

Lets say you changed 2 of those meals and replaced them with a MRP..

All im saying it all seems to come down to the same thing carbs & Protien. am i right or wrong if wrong then why?

p.s. its not my diet, just been thinking of it the last few days and as thew board is quiet thought i'd pop the question.

Bodyworks

not sure i follow exactly, but i think you're saying, a carb is a carb, protein is protein right ?

well not entirely. i like to keep things as simple as possible, too many people wayyyy overcomplicate stuff, but even i conceed that carbs and proteins vary quite a lot from one source to another. depending on where the carb source sits on the glycemic index, this dictates the response that your body will elicit, and therefor a difference has to be noted between different carb sources. likewise, protein is an accumulation of amino acids, different protein sources, different amino acid profiles, therefor differing effects with the body.
my own personal take on all this however, if you're looking to gain weight, you'll be eating an excess of both carbs and protein (more than your body is using) and the opposite if you're losing weight, a defecit of carbs at least. as long as you meet those minimum requirements, both for losing and gaining, who cares how quickly your body absorbs the macronutrients it's fed. as long as it gets the amount it requires to do the job i'm trying to do, i'm happy.
but some people will say different.

Tall

Apparently by eating 2 bowls of cereal and then 1 meal at night you can drop a dress size within a month...

Okay now we have got the customary facetious / sarcastic / flippant comment out the way...

Some articles I found when googling...

Bodybuilding.com - Matt Danielsson - Food Vs. Supplements

Protein Supplements vs. Protein Foods - Truth About Protein Supplements

I dont think the source of your clean carbs matters that much - some guys use oats, some use vitargo, some use low-gi maltro.

But what does seem to matter is a health balanced diet, plus it will keep you sane.

Real food protein seems to be better for the body in terms of 'value' than supplemented protein which would then indicate than a varied source of clean carbs provides the body with all the essential nutrients it needs.

You can live on chicken and potatoes, or oats and whey but you'd be better off eating a varied source of carbs and protein.

After all - we supplement protein as opposed to elimating real food.

mrhulahoop

Is whey a complete protein (ie good amino acid profile)? I think is does, but thought I would ask.

PScarb

at the end of the day you have to eat what works for you.....my carbs when i diet come from mainly either Basmati Rice or Oats my protein sources are Chicken/Lean red meat/Salmon/Eggs/Tuna and protein shakes in the off season this does not change that much apart from the cheeky take away at the weekends and a little choccy bar what i am trying to say is don't over complicate things you will get the best results from plain sources so keep it simple.....