It’s been around 3 months since i have been going to gym. The good aspect is that i have formed a habit around it. I have lost around 5 kilograms. I feel the strength in my body. Now i want to optimize my patterns for maximum returns.
This is my attempt to understand the components within human body. How does human body work? what is it really that i am aiming for?
ATP
ATP is Adenosine Triphospate. This is currency of energy in our body. Do you remember Mitochondria? The powerhouse of a cell converts glucose into ATP, which fuels cellular activities. Energy is released when phospate bond breaks. Three main places where ATP is stored
- as a Phospocreatine near muscle zones
- glycogen storage site like liver and skeletal muscle
- fat as triglycerides in adipose cells
- muscle amino acids can be converted to glucose which again can give ATP
Glucose
Glucose is primary fuel .Other variants are fructose, sucrose, lactose etc
Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks for protein. They have and -COOH along with -R group. The cool thing about amino acids is that all living organisms use the same 20 canonical amino acids, that are coded by DNA.
Amino acids don’t require glucose as they have their own energy potential. There are 9 amino acids that are essential because our body doesn’t create them.
Protein
Protein is a large biological molecule made up of long chains of amino acids joined by peptide bonds. Peptide bonds are covalent bonds between two amino acids. Hemoglobin is a protein, insulin is a protein. but the one building muscles are actin, myosin.
protein source is good because of
- amino acid completeness: if it contains 9 essential amino acids
- absorbable by body
- good bioavailability( when you eat 100g of protein, how much of it becomes usable amino acids for the body, measured in PDCAAS and DIAAS)
Direct food proteins like eggs, chicken and soy are cheap
Lactose is milk sugar. Some people lose lactase enzyme and can’t digest lactose. They require whey isolate which is lactose free and it cost more to filter it compared to whey concentrate.
Another reason why whey concentrate is significantly cheaper is because they are byproducts/industrial leftovers.
Peanuts don’t have the full amino acid profile. It is low in lysine and methionine.
Casein is slow digesting milk protein found in paneer and cheese.
Creatine
Creatine is a hybrid molecule our body builds from amino acid to recycle ATP. It is created on our kidney and liver. Muscles store it as phospo creatine around skeletal muscles area.
Muscles
Muscles are dynamic tissues made up of actin and myosin (thin and thick filaments), to convert ATP into mechanical force. Muscles types are:
- skeletal muscle (voluntary movement)
- cardiac muscle (heart contractions)
- smooth muscle (involuntary stuff that lines up organs and controls blood flow, digestive tract, iris etc. it’s called smooth because there are no striations or is amorphous)
Myosin can pivot(move) when powered by ATP . ATP can be thought like a rechargeable battery which requires energy to be created and then when we require it again, it can be broken down to energy.
When training, mechanical tension + microdamages signal the muscle to build more of proteins, which is called hypertrophy.
Fat
Fat refers to adipose cells which are containers for triglycerides and they secrete hormones. i.e Glycerol + 3 fatty acids. Glycerol is a sugar alcohol which can store fatty acids. When there is excess glucose, insulin levels in blood spikes. Insulin carries glucose to cells, cells decide what to do with it. Glucose can be stored as glycogen in liver and muscles for future use the storage of glycogen is limited (think of it like only 2000 calories). Once the tank is full, there is lipogenesis where fatty acids are formed then converted to triglycerides. The process of lipogenesis is very slow and requires effort.
Adipose cells also secrete hormones like leptin to say you have enough energy stored.
The types of fat are
- subcutaneous fat: just under the skin which you can pinch.
- visceral fat: the fat deep inside the abdomen and around organs. These are the harmful ones when present in excess
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is fat like molecule for building cell membrane and used as building block for cortisol, testosterone, Vitamin D, bile acids for fat digestion. Liver produces cholesterol
Why people store fat differently?
Genes draw your fat map. Genetic determinants influences appetite regulation, energy expenditure, cells sensitivity to insulin on how easily you form fat cells and where your fat accumulates. Two people eating and training the same way might look totally different because of genetic factor.
Hormones also play big role where insulin promotes fat storage, testosterone promotes muscle building and lipolysis, estrogen improves insulin sensitivity and promotes fat to hips, thighs and buttocks.
Hormones
Hormones are signaling chemicals. Like D-Bus messages . There are three types of hormones
- peptide hormones: these are fast acting hormones like insulin, growth hormones made up of amino acids.
- steroid hormones: slow acting like Testosterone, cortisol, estrogen
- amine hormones : ultra fast made like Adrenaline
Insulin is a peptide hormone , which also means this is made up of amino acids, and it’s primary job is signal body about excess glucose in the system so it can be stored for later purpose.
Estrogen is vital for men. For women they are produced in ovaries but for men the testosterone is converted to estrogen driven by fat tissue, chronic insulin elevation or liver dysfunction.
Testosterone comes from cholesterol produced on testes. The way to increase testosterone is through sleep, losing body weight, resistance training, diet quality, stress reduction, walking on outdoor light, maintaining relationship, novelty.
Cortisol “stress hormone” is a steroid hormone made from cholesterol in the adrenal cortex. This is part of HPA axis - hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal feedback loop. Hypothalamus talks to pituitary gland. And pituitary gland ask the adrenal glands on top of kidneys to produces cortisol. Circadian rhythm is body rhythm for 24 hours. Cortisol is high when waking up as it raises blood glucose, increases blood pressure slightly , boosts dopamine and immune readiness and should be low during the end of the day. But due to high visceral fat, anxiety or fatigue it might be flattened.
I want to eat your Pancreas
These are special cells capable of producing various types of hormones present in pancreas.
Alpha cells : these are glucagon factories. Glucagon increases the blood glucose level Beta cells : these are the insulin factories. Insulin decreases the blood sugar level. Delta cells. : regulates alpha and beta cells.
Why caffeine works?
Caffeine mimics stress signal. adenosine signals fatigue. Adenosine is a small molecule made when cells use up energy.
Glutathione
It’s a tri-peptide which is just three amino acids that is not long enough to be a protein. It is a small chemical tool, it’s not structural or it’s not signaling molecule. It is Antioxidant .
When oxygen reacts with molecules, it’s always loss of electrons for the chemical reacting with oxygen. This happens on mitochondria when producing ATP. So you breathe , you create these harmful species. These are called Reactive Oxygen Species . ROS breaks things in lipids doing a chain reaction. It also modifies proteins and also can also cause mutation in DNA by attacking base.
In general terms this means, DNA attack leads to cancer, faster aging. For protein it’s enzyme malfunction. for lipds it means neuron death as brain is 60% fat.
Now we don’ want that chain reaction to happen so we need to catch these free radicals like (, . So Glutathione can do it’s job
There are other antioxidants like uric acid which works on extracellular level. But glutathione is intracellular enzyme
Taking Glutathione is a supplement is a expensive urine. Compared to creatine , it’s worthless and not even in same universe.