Bodybuilding Forums

Hello gentlemen,
need some serious help,
started on Herbalife this past January, mealreplacement and protein powder,
both are soy based, well lost some fat and weight, and started working out with weights
about a month ago, I am 50 years old, skinny and tendency to have a fat belly,
anyways have gotten rid of the belly and am trying very hard to grow some muscle,
have had hi blood pressure and hi cholesterol for years, and the herbalife powders helped me get
rid of the medications and fat, ( lipitor and lisinopril) so here's the question,
should I switch to whey protein now? Or should I staywith soy isolate from herbalife????
I drink about 4 of these shakes a day...

This post is sort of SPAM sounding. Can you write me back and explain with more detail. How long have you been low-carbin? What's the name of Muscle Hacks lifting program?

Oh, gods, you should start eating FOOD! Are you going to live on shakes for the rest of your life?! You need to start building habits now for how to maintain your loss while actually eating food, or you're just going to gain it back.

Soy protein is not really seen in too favorable a light around here, especially in the large doses you're using. If you have thyroid issues, it may exacerbate them, and it definitely messes with your hormone balance, tipping the scale in favor of estrogen. DEFINITELY NOT what you want if you're trying to gain muscle and minimize fat gain.

You can switch to whey protein isolate for your post-workout nutrition instead of soy protein isolate. It absorbs quickly and so it's ideal for after you lift.

Speaking of, what kind of routine are you doing to build the muscle? And what's your fat-free mass and how much protein are you eating per day?

Hey Andrew,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but thank you for answering....
Nope, I am not a spammer, just trying to get in shape without blowing an artery or having an aneurism...
Marks training method is called "THT" by the way...
Need some help the Soy based products I had been taking were from Herbalife, they consisted of Meal Replacement and a Protein Powder, I guess because of my age and condition, I am worried about whey, will it increase my cholesterol? Will it increase my blood pressure again? Do body builders if any use a soy based protein to gain lean myscle????
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again in advance,
mar1613

marochka_raduga wrote:Oh, gods, you should start eating FOOD! Are you going to live on shakes for the rest of your life?! You need to start building habits now for how to maintain your loss while actually eating food, or you're just going to gain it back.

Soy protein is not really seen in too favorable a light around here, especially in the large doses you're using. If you have thyroid issues, it may exacerbate them, and it definitely messes with your hormone balance, tipping the scale in favor of estrogen. DEFINITELY NOT what you want if you're trying to gain muscle and minimize fat gain.

You can switch to whey protein isolate for your post-workout nutrition instead of soy protein isolate. It absorbs quickly and so it's ideal for after you lift.

Speaking of, what kind of routine are you doing to build the muscle? And what's your fat-free mass and how much protein are you eating per day?

Using a personal trainer, mostly free weights 5 days a week, work lower (legs) and Upper on alternating days, just a little scared of Whey and if it will increase my cholesterol.

mar1613 wrote:

marochka_raduga wrote:Oh, gods, you should start eating FOOD! Are you going to live on shakes for the rest of your life?! You need to start building habits now for how to maintain your loss while actually eating food, or you're just going to gain it back.

Soy protein is not really seen in too favorable a light around here, especially in the large doses you're using. If you have thyroid issues, it may exacerbate them, and it definitely messes with your hormone balance, tipping the scale in favor of estrogen. DEFINITELY NOT what you want if you're trying to gain muscle and minimize fat gain.

You can switch to whey protein isolate for your post-workout nutrition instead of soy protein isolate. It absorbs quickly and so it's ideal for after you lift.

Speaking of, what kind of routine are you doing to build the muscle? And what's your fat-free mass and how much protein are you eating per day?

Using a personal trainer, mostly free weights 5 days a week, work lower (legs) and Upper on alternating days, just a little scared of Whey and if it will increase my cholesterol.

Oh and consuming about 120g of soy protein isolate a day, fat free mass is 137

You're not female, right? If you're not, I really don't see what benefit soy protein holds for you.

Why would you think whey would increase your cholesterol? Genetics is really the biggest control of your cholesterol, but the dietary contributing factor is saturated fat. Whey protein isolate is usually fat-free or nearly fat free, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about there. Soy protein supplements probably have comparable fat content.

Is that all the protein you're eating, or do you get any from food? If you don't, you'll be needing another 50 grams or so daily. I have a little less than 120 pounds of fat-free mass, and I eat 150 grams of protein per day.

marochka_raduga wrote:If you're not, I really don't see what benefit soy protein holds for you.

Soy is a hell of a lot cheaper than whey However, due to the quantity of plant estrogens in soy, men usually avoid having too much. When I have soy protein, I tend to have around 20g in a given day.

...the dietary contributing factor is saturated fat.

Total cholesterol is largely irrelevant toward your mortality. The only portions of cholesterol with any predictive power given our current (2009) testing methods are total triglycerides, ratio of large fluffy LDL to small dense LDL, and HDL to LDL ratio. In fact, one of the interesting side-effects noted by Gary Taubes in "Good Calories, Bad Calories" is that people with extremely high total cholesterol have a lower overall mortality rate than those with normal cholesterol from all causes, including accidental death.

So throw out any worries about total cholesterol. It's completely irrelevant to your overall health. The focus on total serum cholesterol has been a huge disservice to the American public.

A better goal is to try to achieve the "Rule of sixty": LDL below 60 mg/dl, HDL above 60 mg/dl, triglycerides below 60 mg/dl, or 60:60:60. If you achieve this ratio, you are at a proven, ideal level for preventing heart disease.

The best way to achieve such a beautiful ratio is a low-carbohydrate diet. In particular, a low-carb diet dramatically raises HDL while dramatically reducing triglycerides, often in as little as a month. The small effect of saturated fat is wiped out as statistical noise in the huge improvement granted to your lipid profile by avoiding refined carbohydrates. Dr. William Davis outlines some other methods for raising your HDL:

• Keeping triglycerides at a low level─Triglycerides modify HDL structure and hasten their elimination from the blood. Thus, keeping triglycerides low allows HDL to rise to healthier levels. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil are crucial for this effect.
• Reduction or elimination of foods that reduce HDL─Hydrogenated fats ("trans" fats) should be eliminated, since they reduce HDL (as well as increasing LDL and blood pressure, and have been associated with cancer). Hydrogenated fats are found in many margarines and processed foods. Because low-fat diets reduce HDL (and raise triglycerides), I advocate a diet approach that involves the elimination of foods made with wheat or cornstarch, as well as reduction or elimination of junk foods. This can skyrocket HDL enormously over time.
• Red wine─Although all alcoholic beverages raise HDL, red wine confers additional benefits, such as reduction in blood sugar and blood pressure, provided no more than 2 glasses per day are consumed.
• Dark Chocolate─Preferably 70% cocoa or greater. We ask our patients to not exceed 40 grams, or approximately 2 inches square, per day.
• Green tea─Brewed only, never instant or pre-mixed bottles. Several cups per day are required for its full effect.
• Vitamin D─Restoration of vitamin D levels to normal can yield increases in HDL of 10, 20, even 30 mg/dl, though it may require up to a year for the full effect to show.
• Exercise─The magnitude of increase in HDL depends to a great degree on your starting level. People who begin from a sedentary lifestyle can expect 10 mg/dl increase or more; people who begin with mild-moderate activity can expect less.

There you go. Remove all modern, refined carbohydrates from your diet. Drink alcohol in moderation. Have some dark chocolate or green tea periodically. Get enough sunshine without sunblock on, or supplement if you're in more northern climates. Exercise regularly. Lose fat. Add those together, and you've just radically changed -- for the better! -- your possibility of heart attack.

--Matt B.

hi

Soy is a great protein but do your research on it as soy has known to lower your testosterone levels and thats what you dont want when trying to build muscle.
stick to whey or just eat your food protein.

cheers.

Soy has less Leucine amino acid. That is the one that builds muscle.