VitaBlog The Vitacost Blog: Views and News on Vitamins, Supplements and Herbs

Build Strong Muscles!

Did you know that after an intense workout the body may be depleted of amino acids, which are necessary for repairing and building muscle? Glutamine is a very important amino acid that needs to be replenished after strenuous exercise. It can be found in protein powders, beans, meats, fish, poultry, dairy products, and in Glutamine supplements.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein molecules and are used by every cell in the body for many important functions. Amino acids are critical to the body's proper functioning. Their role includes repairing muscles, organs, nails, hair, skin, ligaments and glands.

L-Glutamine Powder may enhance muscle recovery after intense exercise and it also may improve protein metabolism and stimulate growth hormone production. L-Glutamine Powder contains 4,500 mg of glutamine per serving and mixes easily with water or juice. Get the most out of your workout by adding a Glutamine supplement!

Muscle Milk May Burn Fat During Workouts

Few bodybuilders will argue that CytoSport Muscle Milk is a top performing protein powder. It comes in a variety of flavors and blends, including Ready-to-Drink and whole oats for breakfast, and CytoSport products receive rave reviews on just about every website that carries the Muscle Milk line.

Similar to other protein powders, Muscle Milk has staked a claim to burning fat, based on the fact that the fats contained in Muscle Milk are used by the body as fuel for muscle and not stored as fat. Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) these fats are called, which CytoSport refers to as predigested “fast burning fats.”

Undeniably, science has proven that certain fats are less healthy than others. Long Chain Triglycerides (LCTs), for instance, are some of the worst, although needed by the body in nominal amounts. But keep in mind that the equation behind CytoSport’s fat burning Muscle Milk includes exercise and lots of it. Without it, there’s not a whey powder in the world that with help you burn fat.

Help and Hype with Creatine

With promises of bigger muscles and improved athletic performance, creatine is touted as the ergogenic supplement of the century. This nitrogenous organic acid plays an important role in converting food to energy in the body, and scientists are relatively sure that in supplement form creatine enhances physical activities that require short, repeated bursts of energy.

Aside from bodybuilders and athletes, does creatine supplementation benefit the not-so-active person? Most nutritionists say no. However, if you suffer from muscle fatigue and / or muscle weakness, creatine may help. Preliminary studies show positive results when using creatine to treat various muscle and nervous system disorders.

Does Creatine actually make muscles bigger? Creatine helps muscles retain water much like a water balloon. The effects of creatine dosing are short lived and levels must be maintained in the body to achieve maximum benefit.

Creatine dosing isn't for everyone. So proceed with caution. Too much creatine can damage your liver and kidneys. Consulting a physician might be a good idea before moving forward with a creatine regimen.

BSN Leads to Better Sex?

BSN N.O. Xplode makes you feel like steam train. Known mostly to support muscle development during workouts, Nitric Oxide (N.O.) is a signaling molecule in mammals associated with strength, power and endurance, alertness and muscle building. But the word's out: BSN N.O. Xplode isn't just for bodybuilders and athletes anymore.

For men, N.O. can improve the vascular performance of the penis by rapidly dilating blood vessels – making you harder faster and for longer. For the ladies, N.O. may inspire you to be more aggressive in bed, become more sensitive to touch and to have stiffer nipples and multiple orgasms.

Don't over do it! Although too little nitric oxide in the body might make you sluggish, too much makes you toxic. Despite the benefits when used as directed, nitric oxide in large doses can harm body tissue and wreak havoc on cells, much like free radicals.

Use BSN N.O. alongside proper diet and exercise. See your sex life Xplode!

How to Choose a Protein Powder

Is Optimum Nutrition right for me? The answer to this question varies from person to person. It depends on how much you exercise, how much protein you currently get in diet, your level of tolerance to lactose (whey is milk protein) and just exactly how much muscle mass you want to build, because that's what protein does - build muscle.

If you're a bodybuilder or athlete, you're probably familiar with Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard protein powders. They're reasonably priced at around $10 a pound and one serving delivers almost half the protein your body needs all day. Ideal for post workout, Optimum Nutrition helps muscles recover fast with protein-building elements such as calcium, potassium and amino acids.  

Ever try egg protein? Optimum Nutrition 100% Egg Protein in full of nutritious minerals and contains only three grams carbohydrates per serving. No lactose and no aspartame. Be assured, Optimum Nutrition 100% Egg Protein will bulk you up. I know. I use it.

CytoSport Boosts Workout Benefits

Whether you’re a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, CytoSport provides high-quality nutritional supplements that help boost your strength, mass, endurance and performance while you maintain an overall balance in your life. In fact, CytoSport classifies many of its products into these very categories, or as CytoSport refers to them, obsessions.  

 

This approach, along with a pure, honest commitment to customers and quality, makes CytoSport a brand that athletes trust to take them to the next level, regardless of skill or experience. For example, you can boost strength with the mighty pre-workout combo of Muscle Milk and Fast Twitch, maintain the right amounts of electrolytes and hydration during exertion with Cyto-Max Ready-to-Drink and finish with Muscle Milk Ready-to-Drink and Complete Whey Protein to start the recovery process right away.     

 

CytoSport’s Muscle Milk and Fast Twitch, along with CytoGainer, provide a comprehensive before, during and after nutritional plan for building mass. Using the powerful combination of science and highly-targeted nutrition, these products can help you acquire just the right amount of mass so you will look amazing, without looking too big or bulky.

 

Now, once you get in the game, the objective is to stay in the game, no two ways about it. If you are looking to increase endurance, CytoSport helps you shore up the intensity you need to power through with CytoMax Pre-Formance meal replacement for pre-workout events, CytoMax Performance Drink during exertion and CytoMax Recovery to ensure glycogen restoration and muscle recovery.

 

Performance is the ultimate test. By working harder and smarter than everyone else, you can exceed all expectations by starting with a little help from Muscle Milk and CytoMax Performance Drink. Stay hydrated and on point during performance with CytoMax Ready-to-Drink. Follow with protein packed Evo-Pro and Muscle Milk Collegiate and you can be confident that you’re getting the nutritional support you need.   

 

To help you maintain balance, include a good breakfast and healthy snacking with Muscle Milk ‘n Oats. It combines Muscle Milk and whole grain oats providing 30 grams of protein. Add in CytoMax Ready-to-Drink and Muscle Milk Light and you will be good to go with well-rounded nutrition any time of day!

True Mass Gainer isn't just for Athletes

Muscle gainers are more science than art and done well by only a handful of supplement companies. Standing apart from the rest is BSN True-Mass Gainer, formulated to maximize lean muscle gains and boost your metabolic rate. With 92 percent of the DV of protein per serving and 100 percent of essential vitamins and minerals, True-Mass from BSN may be one of the most effective muscle volumizers available.

But True-Mass isn't just for athletes and bodybuilder's. It's for anyone looking to boost their calorie intake with a nutrient-dense alternative to whole foods. This means True-Mass is an exceptional meal replacement and, with numerous flavors to choose from, True-Mass makes for a nutritious, great-tasting breakfast shake or mid-day smoothie.

What is there to gain from the Medium-Chain-Triglycerides and Essential Fatty Acids in True-Mass? If six different ultra-premium proteins along with 20 percent of the DV of fiber, glutamine peptides and glutamine AKG for sustained energy release aren't enough, True-Mass may even help you lose a few pounds, putting you on the path to a more lean physique.

Sports Nutrition Essential for Peak Performance

Balanced nutrition is crucial to reaching one's highest potential. Select amounts of calories and carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and fluids in the diet are essential to sustaining energy levels and can often be the difference between winning and losing. Sports Nutrition is a science, and seeking out quality sports nutrition products can be tedious and time consuming at first.

If you're just starting out, do some initial research on how nutrients react in the body and whole food sources that provide these nutrients. The Internet is a good place to begin, but be wary of inaccurate information disseminated by Sports Nutrition websites selling products. Stay focused more on journal articles and well-established nutritional databases such as PubMed, Natural Standard, Harvard Health and others.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 'Out Wheys' Others

Hydrolyzed whey peptides in Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard offer pure, unadulterated protein with lactase and digestive enzymes for maximum absorption. This means more whey for your workout, quick recovery and the ultimate rip.

What's the difference between Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard and other protein powders? For starters, 100% Gold Standard delivers 23 grams of protein per one ounce serving - more than most two-scoop brands. Secondly, Gold Standard is low in calories and carbohydrates - and high in potassium and calcium, minerals needed to build lean muscle and fortify bones.

The best thing about Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard is its easy to digest, doesn't make you feel bloated or gassy and rarely leads to stomach upset. Considering Gold Standard's average price of under $10 a pound, Optimum Nutrition out wheys the competition in more wheys than one.

Nitro Tech and Cell Tech Hardcore Gets you Big, Fast

Gain more than eight pounds of lean muscle in two weeks claims MuscleTech, manufactures of Nitro Tech and Cell Tech Hardcore protein formulas. Is it possible? Yes, but not recommended for wimps. You gotta' be pumpin' pretty heavy to use these amino boosting, protein synthesizing muscle gainers that, when taken regularly, turn a wimpy weightlifter physique into a major mass of bodybuilding envy.

Called the most potent protein formulas ever, Nitro Tech and Cell Tech Hardcore supplements target fast, efficient muscle recovery, so you extend training sessions longer and get bigger and stronger faster. MuscleTech delivers amino acids directly to muscles via the bloodstream, heightening their bioavailability in the body's manufacture of protein and benefiting lean muscle quicker.

Nanomolecular Hyperdispersion Technology™ is the process by which Nitro Tech and Cell Hardcore products are manufactured, ensuring the highest quality ingredients and resulting in the ultimate body. Build big muscles and keep lean muscle longer with Nitro Tech and Cell Tech Hardcore powders.