WEIGHT TRAINING AND PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION
by: Beth Anderson, RD, CDE
Many people are discovering the importance of weight-training for improved strength, balance, and to help prevent osteoporosis. Building muscle is not just for the young, but as we age, our bodies will begin to lose muscle tone unless we do something to help keep those muscles toned and strong. Some other benefits of weight training besides feeling stronger, and looking more toned, is that the new muscle mass that you will develop helps to burn calories even when your body is at rest. Weight resistance training also has beneficial effects on controlling diabetes as well as blood glucose control similar to that with aerobic types of exercises like swimming, walking or jogging.
If you start weight training, your protein needs will increase some, but this can be accommodated very easily by eating a little more meat, (about 2-4 oz. more of meat, chicken or fish per day). Many people who lift weights have been advised to consume large amounts of protein by increasing meats, eggs, dairy products, and also by adding extra protein from protein powder supplements. A word of caution is that excess protein can actually be harmful to our kidneys by causing dehydration and by putting a strain on the kidneys. You can get the extra protein that your body needs from the foods that you eat with the added benefit of other essential nutrients that are also in those foods, something that supplements don’t supply. Also, why spend extra money on supplements when your body absorbs nutrients best from foods.
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Posted: December 1, 2011