300. How to Build Muscle After 50: Protein, Leucine & Amino Acid Timing - Jim Stoppani

“We're going to settle the score on supplementation, creatine, cognitive function, what you need to do now, even if you're in your 20s, to reach older age and still be healthy, strong, and thriving.”

“bring it all the way down to the cellular level. Right. So I would love to start with what I think is the hottest topic in supplementation right now, which is creatine. Of course. And creatine has been around forever. Forever. I think it fell, you know, when I was in college, it was like the bodybuilding.”

“Yes. And that's why we're hearing people talk about it. And that's why we're hearing people talk about it. So could you, first of all, what is creatine? How does the body make it? And then let's go down this debate between monohydrate and hydrochloride.”

“They're in their 80s. I recommend everyone literally should supplement with creatine. So creatine is a what in the human body? It's an energy molecule. You know, everybody thinks it's this muscle building supplement.”

“Every process in the body. And creatine helps to make ATP and it helps make it very quickly, which is why it's so important for like when you're lifting weights. That do we naturally, like a lot of things in aging, does our capacity to produce creatine decline over age?”

“and what we make is not enough. Where would we get creatine from in our diet? So you get it from meats, like animal, beef, fish. I assume you're a meat eater. I am. Great. I am too.”

“I mean, what are the benefits? Where does the data fall on cognitive function, neuroinflammatory conditions? Yeah, there's a lot of interesting, a lot of interesting data on creatine, not for muscle building. And one of the most discussed is the brain benefits.”

“That's what it meant. It's a study of the studies. And what the studies of the studies show is that taking creatine can provide some cognitive benefit, improving memory, right? Recall.”

“And there was a recent study showing that if you're sleep deprived, a high, a large dose, and again, this was almost 30 grams of creatine, 25 to 30 grams. In one shot or one entire day. In one shot, decreased the sort of cognitive hit that you get from so-called mitigated the effects of sleep deprivation.”

“that blood rain barrier. Right. And what about the forms of creatine? You know, there's a big debate of monohydrate versus hydrochloride. My understanding is that the HCL version is a little more water soluble, but the monohydrate is where there's a lot more data.”

“data. Yeah. So let's talk about the form. So if you thought about creatine in a lab somewhere, let's say a scientist studying creatine and he's got a jar of it, right, in his lab, right? What would that form be?”

“What is creatine hydrochloride? It's the same thing. It's providing creatine, right? And you're attaching something to it. Okay. With creatine monohydrate, there's actually a water molecule attached to it, even though it's dry. There's a water molecule attached.”

“Salt. Exactly. It's a salt, right? And so what does the hydrochloric acid do to the creatine? It increases its solubility. So have you ever seen someone or mixed a glass of creatine monohydrate in water?”

“It's kind of gritty. So creatine goes into solution very poorly, even though it's hygroscopic, which means it pulls water to it. It takes a while. So when you drink a glass of creatine, because creatine pulls water to it, that's why you hear about water weight, right?”

“that's a benefit of the hydrochloride. It's for those people. I can't tolerate five grams of creatine monohydrate. Really? Yeah. So you take the HCL person. So I take the creator. I take the HCL person too. And that's the only difference is that it goes in when you mix creatine hydrochloride in water, it instantly goes in the solution.”

“But, you know, it's our body's just so intelligent. And so from what I can gather, the line that I draw for creatine and, you know, neurocognitive decline and the memory studies and also the sleep deprivation is that if you don't have enough of these methyl donors or creatine, the body's still going to get it from somewhere.”

“histamines or cytokines or what have you in the brain. And I guess the evidence is that creatine can cross this blood-brain barrier in high doses and maybe mitigate some of those effects. So would you make the blanket statement that at a certain age, everybody should be on a certain dosage of creatine?”

“we call proprietary blends. And also, you know, supplement manufacturers just throwing things on the label, like creatine, but putting it in dosages that were what I call buzzwords. Yeah, buzzwords. Yeah, you know, creatine, beta-alanine.”

“You know, every ingredient is only going to be effective at a certain dose. And the creatine is one of those, right? Yes. Like I said, I'm recommending about five grams per day for most people. And I was reviewing supplements that had 250 milligrams of creatine or 500 milligrams.”

“creatine, beta-alanine, that don't understand you need a certain dose of each one of those ingredients for them to be effective. You know, I feel the same thing going on in the biohacking space.”

“Again, because this was in 2013. And at the time, most supplement companies were not telling people how many grams of creatine or whatever it was in there. And so, you know, this was somewhat groundbreaking in the supplement industry.”

“Ingredients that may work together, right? And support one another. For example, if you had branch chains in creatine together, leucine can increase insulin to some degree. And creatine requires insulin to get into the muscle.”

“And then the fifth pillar is timing. When do you take it, right? When is the best time to take the creatine? And is that metal? Yeah, that's when is the best time to take creatine? Well, with food. With food. Yes, because, like I said, to get into the muscle at least, right?”

“Okay. So if you have creatine with a meal, right? Protein and carbohydrates, you're going to have an increase in insulin that's going to help to drive that creatine to the muscle. So creatine isn't something we should take fasted? Creatine with a meal, you could, but with a meal, you'll take up about it's estimated around 30 percent or 40 percent more creatine you'll take up.”

“Do you know how to lower myostatin? Working out. Lowers myostatin. And creatine by about 30 to 40 percent. Wow. So if you take a person who's already working out, already taking creatine, they've already lowered their myostatin levels by 30 to 40 percent.”

“The timing right would be, and again, it depends on the goal for all these because like you can argue with creatine, right? I would take it with a meal. However, many people take it on an empty stomach and it serves them well.”

“So what would be those three or four must-haves to sift through the noise? Sounds like creatine is one of those. Okay. Top of the list. Okay. Definitely creatine. Beta alanine. Safety and safety and effectiveness. Beta-alanine for an athlete, I would probably say yes.”

“So then, however, creatine would be the one. Yeah, creatine. Don't let them outlaw that one. You know, is really the list, you know, that the one that everybody should really consider. Must have.”

“to take instead. We're going to dive into protein, leucine, and exactly what happens to your body's ability to build muscle after 50, a phenomenon called anabolic resistance, and what you can do about it starting now, no matter what your age.”

“So, sorry, complete protein. It's a complete protein. It's a complete protein. I worry about my leucine intake. Yeah. So why is it now crossing the boundaries into being, you know, no longer just a bodybuilding supplement? I mean, what are the benefits? Where does the data fall on cognitive function, neuroinflammatory conditions?”

“Ingredients that may work together, right? And support one another. For example, if you had branch chains in creatine together, leucine can increase insulin to some degree. And creatine requires insulin to get into the muscle.”

“But the, the secret to building muscle after 50 is protein and leucine. So leucine. So as once you hit 50, you're in anabolic resistance. Sarcopenia, right? Not even just sarcopenia.”

“will spike with the same meal. Why? Leucine. So our intestines steal more leucine. They do. And leucine is the key that turns on the muscle building. Because I've always seen in branched chain amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, valine. And leucine is usually in a two to one to one ratio. So leucine is double isoleucine and valine. And I assume that that's because there's good research behind that.”

“Right. Right. So here's how I use branch chains. So I was saying the leucine, right? So leucine gets stolen by your intestines. The older you are, the more leucine it sequesters. And that's why the muscle protein synthesis isn't going up as high.”

“Because they do other things. Well, leucine turns on this process called mTOR, right? The valine and the isoleucine do other things that help with the muscle protein synthesis. So they work better together.”

“the leucine is now going to use, right? Because it turned on muscle to build the protein. Guys, early access is finally here, and I could not be more excited to launch the ultimate filtered showerhead from cold life.”

“when you consume a steak, and let's say it has two grams of leucine in it, and then you consume just two grams of leucine by themselves, okay? Not only does the leucine by itself get into the blood faster than the steak for obvious reasons, because it's coupled, but twice as much leucine shows up in the blood from the amino acids as it does from the food. Wow. Twice as much.”

“Okay. So looking at that, you would say, well, it'd be better to just take the leucine or a protein shake than the whole, but remember, what else is in the steak that you're not getting? B vitamins. All kinds of things.”

“And so the studies on branch chains saying it's basically flavored water is comparing branch chains to essential amino acids, right? Branch chains are essential amino acids.”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“Right. And then they see muscle protein synthesis. Well, it goes up more with essential amino acids because the essential amino acids are also providing the branch chains, but it's also providing the 17 other amino acids, right?”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“So why not take more leucine with your meal, right? And when you want to take leucine, you want to take branch chains because of the two to one to one ratio. Okay. The leucine works best when the isoleucine and the valine are there, okay?”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“So they work better together. So, what I do is I take the branch chains, not with the meal, because research has shown, and get this a little complicated. The research has shown that when you take the branch chains with the meal, the branch chains never show up into the blood for some reason.”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“into the blood for some reason. They still get sequestered. So, what I do is I take branch chains about 30 minutes before I eat. So that the branch chains can get through. Right. They turn on the muscle protein synthesis.”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“You know, and it's using both properly. And like, like I said, I'm going to take the branch chains right before my whole field meal. Like I said, 30, 20 minutes before your whole food meal. And then I'm going to have my whole food.”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“Something like that. Yeah, I'm a big fan of omega-food. I would say branch chains or essential amino acids. I would put on that list because as we talked about, you're only getting, you know, maybe 50 to 60% of the amino acids from your whole food meals, right?”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“I said, branch chains are the essentials, which are providing the branch chains as well, is going to be important. What else do I have on that list? I also want to, well, I'll let you finish that list and then I want to get one final question for you on one particular nutrient.”

Our IdentificationSaid as “Branch Chains”. We believe this refers to Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

“creatine, beta-alanine, that don't understand you need a certain dose of each one of those ingredients for them to be effective. You know, I feel the same thing going on in the biohacking space.”

“Yes, you can still, right? You can still get benefits from it. Something like beta-alanine, for example, right? Which helps, it helps buffer acidity in the muscle to help prevent fatigue, right?”

“Because of what it does. Beta-alanine. Yes. Beta-alanine I like taking before. And what's the dosage for that? You want to get about around three to four grams per day.”

“And so I'll typically recommend that one either earlier in the day or before they work out. Okay. Beta alanine. Things like that. So if the FDA were to outlaw all but three to five supplements tomorrow, which would be the which would be the three to five that you'd say these are kind of must-haves?”

“Sounds like creatine is one of those. Okay. Top of the list. Okay. Definitely creatine. Beta alanine. Safety and safety and effectiveness. Beta-alanine for an athlete, I would probably say yes. For someone who's just looking for health and fitness, I don't think it's that critical.”

“Oh, wow, okay. So, you could take it fasted, but you're just getting it less, less of a dose because I work out fasted. Um, I take something called perfect amino, which is just all nine essential amino acids. Um, I don't like the full feeling, but I eat right after I'm done working out.”

“And so the studies on branch chains saying it's basically flavored water is comparing branch chains to essential amino acids, right? Branch chains are essential amino acids.”

“or essential amino acids. Right. And then they see muscle protein synthesis. Well, it goes up more with essential amino acids because the essential amino acids are also providing the branch chains, but it's also providing the 17 other amino acids, right?”

“Right. They turn on the muscle protein synthesis. Then you have the whole food providing the rest of those essential amino acids that the leucine is now going to use, right? Because it turned on muscle to build the protein.”

“Something like that. Yeah, I'm a big fan of omega-food. I would say branch chains or essential amino acids. I would put on that list because as we talked about, you're only getting, you know, maybe 50 to 60% of the amino acids from your whole food meals, right?”

“Okay. So looking at that, you would say, well, it'd be better to just take the leucine or a protein shake than the whole, but remember, what else is in the steak that you're not getting? B vitamins. All kinds of things.”

“out. I would never. This is this just means the average Joe and Jane who want to go to the gym do not need to down a protein shake as soon as they're done working out.”

“need to run home and get your protein shake ASAP. Does a professional athlete want to do that? Probably. Right. Okay. That makes a lot of sense.”

“And I know you have some core competency in this: myostatin inhibitors and some follistatin gene therapy. And these seem very promising to me.”

“However, was it effective? Right? There's research that shows if you take a myostatin inhibitor like follistatin, like this one, uh, supplement company, the exact, the exact product, it dropped myostatin by about 40% in middle-aged men, right?”

“The second one is the form. What's the best form of that ingredient? Is it going to be the creatine monohydrate or the hydrochloride? Right. The third is, what is the dose of that agrania, right? Is it the dose on the bottle, at least the daily dose you're getting, similar to the daily doses in the literature and the published studies?”

Also filed under Creatine

“Okay. Something like fish oil, right? I would say that's not as critical because you can get that from Whole Foods, right? Something like that. Yeah, I'm a big fan of omega-food. I would say branch chains or essential amino acids.”

“of those amino acids. Like a whey protein, good. Free form amino acids will provide probably about 90 to 100% of the amino acid. We just took the amino acids themselves, right? Okay. So looking at that, you would say, well, it'd be better to just take the leucine or a protein shake than the whole, but remember, what else is in the steak that you're not getting?”

“Insulin growth factor. Yeah. Instead of the old school, just Anavar and trend and testosterone and DECA and all of these other things, which have clear side effects, especially long term.”

“NMN. Yes. NMN. Okay. So NMN. I think I would absolutely agree with you. I think Dr. David Sinclair would agree with you too. Like increasing our body's ability to make it naturally rather than just taking it in.”

“Oh, wow, okay. So, you could take it fasted, but you're just getting it less, less of a dose because I work out fasted. Um, I take something called perfect amino, which is just all nine essential amino acids. Um, I don't like the full feeling, but I eat right after I'm done working out.”

“You know, I told you I have a graveyard of like red light beds in my garage downstairs. It was very astounding to me how some of the leading brands, $100,000 red light beds, for example, very often did not have the nanometer wavelengths, the milliwatts of irradiance, were not creating a therapeutic dose.”

“you know, red light bed, you expect that it's going to work. And what I found was a lot of these, these were just red light bulbs. Like you might as well stand next to a Christmas tree. And it was frustrating for me too. And I feel like as someone has a large audience in the space, we have an obligation to stand in between the consumer”

“Or, you know, we talked about this in shake plates, for example. Not all shake plates are created the same. I mean, there's certain concussive forces you have to create to improve bone mineral density and drain lymphatics, but the consumer doesn't know that, you know, one vibration plate is different from another vibration plate. They just think all vibration plates are the same.”