Drug Scandal NOT Taxation

Originally posted by Drs Branch Chain Amino Acid.

The human body needs 20 amino acids. It can make 12 of them. The other
8 it must get from other sources. This 8 includes the 3 BCAAs: leucine,
isoleucine, and valine. They are hugely important to muscle, typically
forming about one third of your muscle mass.

Unless you're a competitive bodybuilder who needs the 0.1% advantage
you might get from free form BCAA supplementation then forget about it.

Serious Cycling has a snipper about BCAAs. "It has been known for a
long time that BCAAs play a critical role in the turnover of lean
body tissues (muscle) and are muscle sparing in a variety of muscle-
wasting states."

"Leucine appears to be the most important for preserving hard- earned
muscle mass and intense excercise"

"The main drawback of leucine is the fact that you must use large
amounts to get a positive effect, making it both expensive and
impractical. In many studies that showed benefits, doses were in fact
given intravenously and were as high as 5 grams per hour.."

HMB, a metabolite of leucine, taken 3g/day is said to be suitable for
cyclists wishing to increase strength and power.

What do you know about this HMB stuff DRS?

hippy



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"hippy" wrote in message


[...]

Serious Cycling has a snipper about BCAAs. "It has been known for a
long time that BCAAs play a critical role in the turnover of lean
body tissues (muscle) and are muscle sparing in a variety of muscle-
wasting states."

Yes, the BCAAs are anti-catabolic as well as anabolic. Rather a nice
combination if you want muscle growth. And when you look at the amino acid
profiles of protein supplements you'll see the BCAAs constitute a
significant proportion of the amino acids.

[...]

HMB, a metabolite of leucine, taken 3g/day is said to be suitable for
cyclists wishing to increase strength and power.

What do you know about this HMB stuff DRS?

According to an AIS meta-analysis, HMB supplementation is of small benefit
and then mainly to beginners [1]. Other such non-HMB supplement vendor
analyses tend to agree [2]. Moreover, its anti-catabolic mechanism is still
not understood. However, there is some evidence it has some medicinal value
in combatting cancer or AIDS related wasting [3][4].

I personally don't believe any non-elite athlete need even consider free
form amino acid supplementation. If your diet is already adequate in
protein (defined as about twice the ridiculously low RDI) then you're
already getting enough amino acids. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief
in some circles, amino acids are absorbed more quickly when ingested in the
form of high BV proteins than they are when taken in free form. Amino acids
in hydrolyzed whey protein, for example, are absorbed more than twice as
fast as those in free form.

In short, HMB supplementation is a stupidly expensive waste of money for
most people.

[1] http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/9hmb.pdf
[2] eg, "It is claimed that HMB can increase lean muscle mass and exercise
performance, but this is far from conclusively established."
http://www.gettingwell.com/drug_info...bet_0138.shtml
[3] The American Journal of Surgery
Volume 183, Issue 4, April 2002, Pages 471-479
Reversal of cancer-related wasting using oral supplementation with a
combination of -hydroxy--methylbutyrate, arginine, and glutamine
Patricia Eubanks May M.D.a, b, , , Annabel Barber M.D.b, James T. D'Olimpio
M.D.c, Ann Hourihane, N.P.c and Naji N. Abumrad M.D.c
[4] JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr 2000 May-Jun;24(3):133-9
Nutritional treatment for acquired immunodeficiency virus-associated wasting
using beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate, glutamine, and arginine: a
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Clark RH, Feleke G, Din M, Yasmin T, Singh G, Khan FA, Rathmacher JA. Nassau
County Medical Center, East Meadow, New York, USA.

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"DRS" wrote in message


[...]

Unless you're a competitive bodybuilder who needs the 0.1% advantage
you might get from free form BCAA supplementation then forget about
it.

Further to this, the article "Branched Chain Amino Acids" by David Tolson in
full is highly detailed and may be more than most people want to know, but
if you're interested in this stuff then check it out. Here is part of its
conclusion:

"All in all, it would appear that the positive effects of BCAA's on protein
synthesis can be achieved by a high protein diet and use of a fast-acting
protein prior to and after exercise, and that most of the other possible
benefits on exercise performance could be achieved equally as effectively by
ingesting simple carbohydrates prior to exercise. If caloric intake must be
limited at all costs, or if protein intake is inadequate, BCAA's may be
useful in this respect. Also, a unique benefit of reduced CNS fatigue by
decreasing tryptophan buildup cannot yet be discounted. Given the other
properties of BCAA's described below, the usefulness of BCAA supplements can
further be questioned."

http://www.1fast400.com/?ingredients_id=59

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warrwych wrote in
news
A close friend's daughter
had Vit shots to assist with illness that was complicated by severe
anaemia. True, she was one unwell puppy, but the shots helped boost
her immunity and shortened recoverey time. (altho the kid was none too
happy about the shots, I can tell ya!).

Oops silly me I thought it was obvious from the context we were talking
about racing cyclists, not ill people.

What's the go with Mark French naming Graeme
Brown as 'one of the five' to use in the SA AIS when
Brownie wasn't even in Adelaide at the time?! How
does that work? Is Frenchy on drugs or something?
Oh wait...

hippy

Hippy wrote:
What's the go with Mark French naming Graeme Brown as 'one of the five'
to use in the SA AIS when Brownie wasn't even in Adelaide at the time?!
How does that work? Is Frenchy on drugs or something? Oh wait...
hippy



Drug needs for a sprinter/kilo rider are different to an endurance
rider. One wonders why Brown was included in the five if the allegation
included PED's relating to equinine growth hormones.

However, growth hormones play a role in recovery

Vitamins are injected (usually in the buttocks) as there is a guarantee,
so to speak, the vitamin will be absorbed. Taken orally the vitamins
have to navigate the digestion system where there is a loss of vitamin
plus a time delay to absorption of the remainder. Injections provide
near instant response plus a more accurate dose to measure to the
deficiency, provided a blood sample has been analysed.



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In article ,
VeloFlash wrote:

Drug needs for a sprinter/kilo rider are different to an endurance
rider.

Last I looked, the "needs" were identical.

--
Shane Stanley

"VeloFlash" wrote in message
.. .
Hippy wrote:
What's the go with Mark French naming Graeme Brown as 'one of the
five'
to use in the SA AIS when Brownie wasn't even in Adelaide at the
time?!
How does that work? Is Frenchy on drugs or something? Oh wait...

Vitamins are injected (usually in the buttocks) as there is a
guarantee,
so to speak, the vitamin will be absorbed. Taken orally the vitamins
have to navigate the digestion system where there is a loss of vitamin
plus a time delay to absorption of the remainder. Injections provide
near instant response plus a more accurate dose to measure to the
deficiency, provided a blood sample has been analysed.

Funnily enough, I read the following paragraph, from Lance's
second book "Every Second Counts" this morning on the train:

"The TdF is not a natural event. We ride more than 100 miles
a day for three straight weeks, through incredible and changing
conditions. Some cars wouldn't hold up under that physical stress,
much less a human body. We needed help, in the form of IVs of
vitamins, minerals and phosphates. You simply can't eat or drink
enough to make up for that kind of depletion, to replace all the
things you expend.
Those IVs and syringes were health essentials."

He is referring to when someone shot footage of USPS team
doctors disposing of medical rubbish in a roadside garbage
bin.

hippy

wrote:
Funnily enough, I read the following paragraph, from Lance's
second book "Every Second Counts" this morning on the train:
"The TdF is not a natural event. We ride more than 100 miles a day for
three straight weeks, through incredible and changing conditions. Some
cars wouldn't hold up under that physical stress, much less a human
body. We needed help, in the form of IVs of vitamins, minerals and
phosphates. You simply can't eat or drink enough to make up for that
kind of depletion, to replace all the things you expend. Those IVs and
syringes were health essentials."
He is referring to when someone shot footage of USPS team doctors
disposing of medical rubbish in a roadside garbage bin.
hippy



Mmmhmmm



--

In article ,
"hippy" wrote:

Funnily enough, I read the following paragraph, from Lance's
second book "Every Second Counts" this morning on the train:

"The TdF is not a natural event. We ride more than 100 miles
a day for three straight weeks, through incredible and changing
conditions. Some cars wouldn't hold up under that physical stress,
much less a human body. We needed help, in the form of IVs of
vitamins, minerals and phosphates. You simply can't eat or drink
enough to make up for that kind of depletion, to replace all the
things you expend.
Those IVs and syringes were health essentials."

There's an interesting rebuttal to the "unnatural" argument in a letter
to cyclingnews.com from someone at the School of Exercise and Sport
Science at Sydney University http://www.cyclingnews.com/letters/?id=2004/jul02letters.

In part: "The current dogma in organised sport today is to engage in
'super' nutrition and hydration in order to be successful. This has been
highlighted in recent events at Australia's premier sporting institute,
the AIS, where it seems young cyclists regularly inject themselves with
mega-doses of vitamins to cope with the rigors of training and as Dr
Ferrari puts it, the effects of 'a whole series of lesions to cells and
function of these apparatuses'. The step to illegal drugs is then a
small one (e.g. equine growth hormones found at the AIS).

"To say that cycling is a stranger to the evolutionary process is wrong
and dangerous in respect to young naive cyclists presuming that I.V.
drips and injecting mega-doses of vitamins is the norm even in the
absence of scientific evidence. In reality human beings have evolved to
cope with all manner of physical stresses, including riding the Tour de
France."

--
Shane Stanley