Diabetes and Muscle Building

I'll tag @TorqPenderloin for you @Tee1016 as he should be able to offer you good advice.

Tee1016 said:

Hello, I'm new to the forum and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice?
I have had type 1 diabetes for 20 years (I'm 29) and over the past year I have been a regular gym goer. I'm now looking at using whey protein powder to promote muscle growth. Can anybody recommend a particular brand/powder which is as suitable as it can be with diabetes in mind?

Thank you

Craig

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This is what I've used before. As you can see from the nutritional info, it basically contains no carbs:

http://m.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/impact-whey-protein/10530943.html

It's competitively priced and scores well in reviews. There are also plenty flavours to choose from, or unflavoured if you so wish

Grant

Hi @Tee1016 . There's a lot of protein supplements out there, a quick check on the nutritional data usually gives the most important information for me, carbs and protein per serving. After that it becomes cost, taste and what feels like it is helping you achieve your goals.
One thing to remember is that too much protein in your system that becomes surplus to requirements can be used as sugar in your body. This can lead to unexpected high BS readings. It's called gluconeogenesis and is something to consider if your new to supplementing your workouts.

Hi @Tee1016 Protein supplements don't promote muscle growth. Appropriate resistance training is what does that, specifically the high intensity stuff. You can provide enough protein to avoid muscle damage through eating plenty of chicken, beef, etc.

If you want to use a protein supplement, both optimum nutrition and MyProtein Impact Whey Isolate don't contain pretty much any carbs, but it's the weights that will grow your muscles, not the supplements.

tim2000s said:

Hi @Tee1016 Protein supplements don't promote muscle growth. Appropriate resistance training is what does that, specifically the high intensity stuff. You can provide enough protein to avoid muscle damage through eating plenty of chicken, beef, etc.

If you want to use a protein supplement, both optimum nutrition and MyProtein Impact Whey Isolate don't contain pretty much any carbs, but it's the weights that will grow your muscles, not the supplements.

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I strongly disagree .. muscle is build in the kitchen you only damage your (muscle) cells with weights and need protein to rebuild them thus getting them bigger and stronger over time. You can never out-train a bad diet as the saying goes. Also you actually need muscle damage (micro tears) in order to build muscle. You lift weights, small tears appear your body tries to adapt by making them a bit stronger and bigger. Also why you need progressive loading since your body will adapt to the weight sooner or later. Cutting some corners here but it's the gist of things.

On point: most protein supplements do not contain lot's of carbs but stay away from anything labelled as a weight gainer as they are just carb bombs most of the time. Calculate how much protein you need and start on the lower end of the spectrum and see how much of that you can get in with regular food and then supplement with supplements. If muscle gains are lacking and/or BS is stable you can increase protein intake to the higher range of the spectrum. But you might need to adjust insulin levels too eventually. Just to say test regularly when introducing something new into your diet.

Several things to consider when using supplements are: do you need them, will they help you, do they work and are they safe. The last one get's an extra dimension with any form of diabetes. There is a lot of **** to cut through when looking up supplements but a simple whey shake post workout is a good, imo needed, starting point. Most of the other things you can get from a well balanced diet geared towards building muscle.

A good site to have on hand is: www.supplementlabtest.com/ and if you need to know the effects of certain elements: www.examine.com

qe5rt said:

I strongly disagree .. muscle is build in the kitchen you only damage your (muscle) cells with weights and need protein to rebuild them thus getting them bigger and stronger over time. You can never out-train a bad diet as the saying goes. Also you actually need muscle damage (micro tears) in order to build muscle. You lift weights, small tears appear your body tries to adapt by making them a bit stronger and bigger. Also why you need progressive loading since your body will adapt to the weight sooner or later. Cutting some corners here but it's the gist of things.

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You're basically confirming what I've said. You can't build muscle without resistance training and you don't need supplements to provide protein.

tim2000s said:

You're basically confirming what I've said. You can't build muscle without resistance training and you don't need supplements to provide protein.

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I found that the general demeanor of your previous post was that resistance training builds muscle, not nutrition. While nutrition without resistance is useless in that aspect so it resistance without specific nutrition.

But maybe the strongly disagree was my subconscious self somewhat disagreeing with the you don't need supplements. Which i actually agree is true but i find that the general public far underestimates the nutrition required for building muscle in all aspects. I find that supplements alleviate some of this as long as they're used as a supplement and not a replacement for anything, which should be one of the first rules. I can probably write an essay on this but i'll just stop here, hope this clarified the "strongly disagree" bit. edit: probably should've said somewhat disagree

Others have given good advice about some of the better brands that are out there. I personally use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey.

As far as the effectiveness of whey protein powders: it's effectiveness is inversely related to the quality of your diet. In layman's terms, if your diet is perfect, whey protein powder will probably not do you a lot of good in terms of muscle growth. As I often tell people, supplements are exactly as their name suggests: they "Supplement" a less-than-perfect diet.

At this point you're probably wondering why I'm not speaking very highly of supplements, yet I admit to owning them. The answer is very simple: I buy them as a matter of convenience. That's their one and only value to me. In the event I don't want to make myself breakfast, I'll mix up a protein shake and head to the gym. It's a 10 second meal. In the event I'm on an airplane and need a quick snack, I'll eat a protein bar (I prefer Quest brand).

The bottom line is that you should buy supplements because you live in a tiny apartment and don't have a kitchen, because you travel a lot, or because a scoop of protein is a pretty cheap meal. Don't buy them with the expectation that they will help you build muscle in the gym.