Supplement Q & A: Fat Burners, Fish Oil, Casein, and Pre-Workouts

This question and answer session is with our Morellifit Coach Chris. Todays topics cover supplements.

Is Whey Isolate Good?

Absolutely, in terms of supplemental proteins, isolate is King. It has the highest bioavailability. It had a bioavailability of 159. Bioavailability is how well our body absorbs and utilizes protein. We can use this term for anything, but right now we are in the context of protein. The egg is the set point at 100. The egg is considered to be 100 in bioavailability. Whey isolate is at 159, meaning it is way up there. That means your body utilizes whey protein isolate better than any other protein that you can take in.

What are your views on Casein? Is it good?

Milk contains proteins. You might see on the back of ingredient labels milk protein isolate, milk protein concentrate, and calcium casein. Casein is a main protein found in milk. So milk protein is the whey and the casein together. When we take something like the whey protein isolate, what we are doing is pulling the whey away from everything else and isolating it. Casein digests a little slower, and it’s a different kind of protein. Whey isolate digests just a little faster. Most people are not allergic to whey protein, but a lot of people have allergies to casein. Michael has had severe allergies to casein, and that’s not uncommon.  Casein is a protein that can agitate the intestines, and you may or may not have this issue, but I would tell you to stay away from it if you can. It is not considered a high quality protein. It’s bioavailability isn’t near a great as whey protein isolate.

Pre-workout Supplements in a nutshell?

Pre-workouts, if your someone who’s taken them for a long period of time, you’ll know what that crash is like when you come off of them. You crash hard. The reason is that they are pounding your central nervous system, and they are pounding your adrenal glands to release epinephrine. And caffeine does the same thing, but to a lesser degree, and it’s a lot healthier for you. What I would recommend to you is coffee. And if your going with coffee, which I recommend, go with an organic coffee like Grind. It’s really difficult to find a high quality coffee without a lot of extra junk like pesticides thrown in.

That’s why Michael came up with Morelli’s Coffee because it is a pure organic coffee from a small farm in Costa Rica. If you order it right now you can get free shipping. You can go to Morelliscoffee.com and enter FREESHIP and you’ll get free shipping on your order. Grind Coffee has become one of my favorite pre workouts. I do a shot or two of espresso before I go to the gym. It perks me up, gets me going and I have enough energy to where I can really push through a hard workout and I don’t crash. That’s the best part.

If you take a pre-workout like you get in the stores, eventually you need it just to be normal. Your body becomes so adaptive to it, used to it, that you have to have it to feel normal. What I would recommend to you is that if you don’t like coffee or you don’t like espresso, just try it. Just start drinking it. I didn’t like it either. The last thing I wanted to do was grab a shot of espresso or a cup of coffee. It wasn’t my thing. I used to be hooked on pre-workouts. And I can tell you that my overall quality of life is much better, I’m not near as tired, not near as run down, not near as dependent on a harsh stimulus to work out. Coffee is awesome.

Benefits of BCAA? When to take them?

Branch Chain Amino Acids is what BCAA stands for. Branch chain amino acids are specific to skeletal muscle. Protein is made up of Amino Acids, and you take them in, you chew it up, its sits with some acids and enzymes and it gets broken up. They can take a long time time break down. Then those amino acids go to the liver and your body does what it wants with them.

You take amino acid supplements like Primal Body Amino Acids which, we are coming out with, and these amino acids are specific to skeletal muscle.

You want to take them intra-workout, that way they are in your blood while you are training. What that will allow you to do is go that extra mile, and push yourself a little bit harder. Your body is already taking and using them to start repairing damage that is created during exercise. And it is creating an anabolic environment. That is an environment where we build up muscle tissue. Where as exercise in itself is a catabolic in nature, so your breaking muscle down.

What are your views on fat burners?

Fat burners are a lot like pre-workouts. They beat the crap out of your central nervous system and your adrenal glands. It can actually create more damage in the long run then the gain or benefit your going to have doing them. Just don’t do them. We all want that quick fix, but what is going to happen when you stop taking those fat burners and then don’t change anything else in your life. You are going to go right back to where you were and maybe even worse because your adrenal glands are shut down. Now, you could screw up your thyroid, and a lot of different things that can screw your metabolism up. Just stay away from them.

I know there is a great selling point, which is if I just take this pill, I don’t have to change anything else, I don’t have to work any harder and I’m going lose fat.  But I want you to think long term. What’s going to happen when you stop. If you want to pick up your metabolism drink coffee. It is the most under utilized fat burner on the market. It’s coffee, caffeine, from a pure source. And, not just taking caffeine pills. Coffee has a lot of antioxidants, and it’s very good for you. Stay away from fat burners, I want you to focus on making changes in your diet, and your activity. If you don’t sleep very much, sleep more. That in itself is a fat burner. You produce the most growth hormone when you are sleeping. Growth hormone burns fat.

Fish Oil over Krill Oil?

Fish oil and krill oil are essentially the same thing. Krill is just another source of Omega 3’s. In fish oil, it can come from krill, but it can also come from other types of fish who’s fats are very high in omega 3’s. Just like the krill, they get it from the food that they eat and the vegetation that is in the water. Both are great options. Omega 3’s are something everybody really needs. Especially in America, we eat a lot processed vegetable oils and we are getting a lot of omega 6’s and omega 9’s. The imbalance that we create in our body creates a lot of inflammation. By taking omega 3’s you can reduce inflammation. If you have joint pain, it can help with that. If your nails are brittle, your skin is always dry, and your hair breaks, Omega 3’s actually help. They help to soften the hair, soften the skin, and strengthen the nails. They also improve eye health, eye sight, it’s good for the heart, and good for your blood vessels. It’s something I recommend everyone to take. Also eating wild caught salmon at least once a week will really help bring those omega 3 levels up.