Bodybuilding Nutrition Advice - Lee Labrada Talks About Bodybuilding Nutrition

CS: I want to talk about whole foods in a moment, but first I want to explore a little more the idea of cramming in as much food as you possibly can as a means to trigger muscle growth, which as you explained just a moment ago is not the best way to go.

You mentioned that it takes a lot of energy to digest food. Do you think it’s possible that eating too much food can actually slow down your recovery because of the amount of energy that’s needed to go into the digestion process?

LL: No, the number of calories required to digest food is not the main problem. The problem stems from overloading your digestive system with too much food at any one time, which delays gastric emptying. When your stomach is full for a long time, it cheats you out of the higher meal frequency you get with smaller meals eaten throughout the day.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that a young individual has a nice solid breakfast, but then for lunch he has a T-bone steak, a big potato that has hundreds of calories worth of sour cream and butter on it, and then finishes that off with a big piece of chocolate cake and a glass of whole milk. Well, there could be close to a hundred grams of fat in that particular meal, and it can take that person between six to eight hours before his stomach is fully empty again. So by over eating, that person has cheated himself of the meal frequency he would ordinarily get if he ate lower fat meals. Make no mistake: it is essential to eat about every three hours to maximize your ability to gain muscle tissue.

If your stomach is full of empty calories – for example calories from ice cream or cake or pizza – then you do not have room for the good calories which will provide the nutrients you need in order to enjoy maximal muscle growth.

CS: Let’s talk about something that you mentioned a couple of moments ago. You started to talk about the importance of whole foods.

LL: Well, I think that for anyone who is serious about gaining muscular weight, a foundation of whole foods is absolutely necessary. By whole foods I mean chicken breasts, fish, lean meats and the like for your lean protein intake; vegetables and fruits and beans, yams, oatmeal, whole grain rice and whole grain cereals for carbs; and fish and flax seed oil for essential fats. These whole foods contain not just macronutrient calories but fiber, vitamins, and minerals which are necessary, not only for muscular growth but for health. If your body is healthy, you’re going to get greater muscular growth because your body is going to be nutritionally positioned in a way which optimizes the growth process.

Whole foods tend to break down more slowly, typically, than processed foods, and whole foods provide a sustained release of nutrients which you need throughout the day. So, from my perspective, you need to start by making sure that your whole food intake is correct and then use supplements intelligently to supplement the nutrition base of whole foods.

CS: I want to touch on fiber for a moment because an overwhelming emphasis has been placed on the intake of protein fats and carbohydrates, while fiber and has been largely neglected. Can you talk about the importance of fiber for having a lean body and being healthy?

LL: you bet. The fiber is what provides the bulk for the food as it moves through the intestinal tract. Fiber also slows down the absorption of some nutrients, and it helps basically to move food along the digestive tract. It also promotes healthy gut flora and a healthier intestine in general. A healthy intestine can absorb food more readily, and can eliminate foods more readily (in the case of the large intestine). So, fiber is very important. Just ask any young guy who’s had an overload of protein shakes without taking in enough fiber - it constipates you!

Returning to our discussion about lean protein sources, these protein sources do not have fiber. To get fiber you must eat vegetables and fruits.

CS: So in your view is it correct to say that by diversifying your nutrition plan and using whole foods as the foundation, you could potentially recover faster and speed the elimination of toxins from your body?

LL: Exactly. When you’re giving your body the nutrients it needs in their natural form, your body is going to work at an optimal level of health. This means that you’re going to recover faster, and by recovering faster you are going to grow faster. So these are very important things for these young guys to keep in mind.

You know, supplements have their place. For instance, protein supplements can help you get the 1g of protein per pound of body weight which is recommended for gaining muscle, when you don’t have the time for a whole food protein. And because protein supplements contain protein which has been powdered mechanically into small particles, it is easy for your body to absorb.

CS: this brings me to the next question I want to ask. In your view, would you say then that the debate between whole foods and supplementation is rather moot?

LL: Well, really it is. I think you need both, but I think that if you start with the whole food plan then everything else falls into place. The whole foods is the foundation and the supplements only supplement the diet with missing proteins and nutrients which you find difficult to get through your normal food intake.

For example, I recommend that bodybuilders eat five to six small meals per day. Well, if you sit down to eat a chicken breast at each one of those meals, you’re going to tire of chicken breasts pretty soon. So, that’s why a lot of bodybuilders turn to using protein supplements.

But, coming back to what we were talking about, supplementation helps you comply with your diet by making it easy to eat frequently during the day. Compliance is a big issue for most people. If you don’t have access to a chicken breast, it’s very easy to grab a ready to drink shake (RTD) like one of our Lean Body Shakes, or eat a bar, like one of our Lean Body Bars. It just makes life a lot easier.