Pansit bihon with rice… pansit canton with pandesal… white bread with jam…kamote plus saba… oatmeal with sugar… Ang mga ito ay ilang halimbawa ng mga CARB on CARB food combos nating mga Pilipino whether eating just to feel full, eating for enjoyment or dieting to lose weight.
Ok lang ba ito? Lalo na sa mga nagbabawas or nagme-maintain ng timbang, malimit kasing maririnig na bread lang or oatmeal lang ang kanilang kinakain…
As a nutrition coach who helps some of the top Filipino athletes in weight-class sports, isang bagay na lagi kong binibigyan ng emphasis sa diet nila, lalo sa weight maintenance, ay ang tamang balance ng carbs at protein sa kanilang everyday eating.
Ang major consideration sa kanilang carbohydrate prescription ay ang intensity, frequency, at duration ng kanilang physical activity (-ies) in a day. Mas madami at mas intense na training or workouts in a day, mas madaming carbohydrates ang dapat kainin. Mas kaunti ang sessions at less intense na exercise, mas konti ang carbs na pwedeng kainin.
Ganun lang din naman sa mga NON-ATHLETES. Pag mas active ang lifestyle— sa work at other daily activities, mas generous ang carb portions na pwedeng kainin. Pag mas sedentary ang lifestyle, yung tipong halos nakaupo lang maghapon, mas controlled dapat ang carb portions in a day.
Pag dating sa weight loss ng ATHLETES OR NON-ATHLETES, kailangan siguraduhin na sapat ang overall daily protein intake upang makatulong na ma-maintain ang muscle sa katawan habang nagbabawas ng timbang or body fat. Ito ang tinatawag na “QUALITY WEIGHT LOSS”.
According to a recent study, “ there can be an accompanying loss of lean body mass during caloric (i.e. food/energy) restriction that can comprise roughly 25% of the total weight lost”. MUSCLE mass is a significant proportion of lean body mass and is critical for GOOD METABOLIC FUNCTION. And to athletes, muscle mass is crucial to athletic performance.
The consumption of a protein containing meal that contains higher quantities of essential amino acids (EAA at 10.9g) and particularly LEUCINE (at 2.7g) stimulates muscle protein synthesis while helping to reduce muscle protein breakdown” (1).
Meaning… mas na-memaintain ang muscle at mas madaling ma-achieve ang quality weight loss kung sapat at mataas sa EAA ang protein intake sa bawat meal. Which makes many people think, kailangan ba na animal source ang protein foods na kakainin para masabing mataas sa essential amino acids (EAA) ang meal with protein?
Not necessarily, according to another study (2). Dito napag-alaman na ang mga plant-based protein food sources (from isolates) such as soy (27%), brown rice (28%), pea (30%), corn (32%) and potato (37%) provides a wide array of EAA with potato having the highest EAA content among the plant-based protein sources.In fact, when compared to animal protein sources the essential amino acid content of potato protein (37%) is higher than casein (34%) and egg (32%). Also, when the leucine content was analyzed, potato (8.3%) is greater when compared with casein (8.0%) and egg (7.0%).
(Note: Ang Leucine, ay ang (essential) amino acid na nag-aactivate ng muscle protein synthesis. For exact figures, please refer to reference #2)
Which means…
Hindi lang sa animal food sources makukuha ang high biological value proteins, at ang plant-based proteins ay magandang option din para ma-meet ang EAA at leucine requirements kapag gustong ma-achieve ang quality weight loss.
In summary, when it comes to quality weight loss, DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR PROTEIN NEEDS. And now you know, which of the plant-based protein containing food sources can be a great addition to your diet
Gusto mo malaman kung ano ang role ng carbs sa muscle building? Watch here:
References: (1) International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (2018) 28: 170–177. (2) Amino Acids (2018) 50:1685–1695.
Full disclosure: This post was sponsored by Potatoes USA-Philippines, but all opinions stated above are my own.