CONTENTS

WHAT IS INSULIN?

INSULINS ROLES IN THE BODY

UNDERSTANDING INSULIN RESISTANCE

10 WHAT INSULIN MEANS TO YOU

13 WHY SLOW-DIGESTING CARBOHYDRATES?
14 THE GLYCEMIC INDEX
15 LOW GI FOODS (GI RATING OF 55 OR LESS)
15 MODERATE GI FOODS (GI RATING OF 56-69)
16 HIGH GI FOODS (GI RATING OF 70+)
16 CALORIES AND WEIGHT REGULATION
17 ADDING SLOW-DIGESTING CARBOHYDRATES
TO YOUR MEAL PLAN
17 ADDING FAST-DIGESTING CARBOHYDRATES
TO YOUR WORKOUTS
21 THE 3-4 HOUR WINDOW
22 UNDERSTANDING COMPLETE AND
INCOMPLETE PROTEINS
23 DIALING IT IN: THE INSULIN AND AMINO
ACID RELATIONSHIP

WHEN YOUR PERFORMANCE COUNTS

COUNT ON PNP SUPPLEMENTS

INTRODUCTION
As an athlete, Im sure you know nutrition is an important part of your
health, training, recovery program, and that it has one of the greatest
impacts on your athletic progress. What you may not know is that
insulin plays a key role in how your body breaks down, uses and stores
the food you eat. The types of foods you eat and the times you eat
them trigger complex reactions in your body that determine how the
food is metabolized and stored. Insulin can help you improve athletic
performance, it can speed up recovery, and it can improve muscle
development while keeping you lean. However, if you dont understand
how your body metabolizes food, or the role insulin plays, insulin can
make you fat, slow your recovery, and make you feel tired and sluggish.
In this report, were going to cover how insulin works, and how to ensure
it is working to help you become healthier, stronger, and reach your
athletic goals sooner. The key is understanding what insulin is, what it
does in your body, and how you can control its secretion. This knowledge
will allow you to optimize your bodys use of insulin to help you reach your
athletic goals more easily.
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Before we get started, there is a perspective I want you to consider as

you read through this report. There is no shortage of advocates for trendy
diets. Were all familiar with the latest diet crazes: Paleo, Bulletproof,
Sugar-Free, 5:2, South Beach, Whole Food Challenge, Vegan, Low Carb
Diet, and on and on. But, when it comes to being healthy and making
athletic progress, the important thing isnt to get on a set Diet. Although
diets can actually help you lose weight and improve fitness, their benefits
never last, because youre relying on the diet instead of the way foods
interact with your body. Dont get me wrong: most of these diets are a
major improvement over the sad way many people eat today. But by
themselves, diets can slow your athletic progress, especially when youre
training hard.
You need to understand insulin and learn the fundamentals of nutrition.
By thinking of food as fuel and as a means of getting the response you
want from your body, youll begin to eat the right types of food at the
right time for metabolic efficiency. Eating to optimize your bodys natural
production of insulin will not only improve your physical recovery and
performance; it will also improve your mental concentration and your
ability to go about your day more effectively because your brain and body
will have the consistent energy they need. You need to know what is
going on inside your body when you eat any type of food, and particularly
how different foods affect insulin production.
With that, lets get started on what every athlete should know to become
stronger, to recover more rapidly, and to maintain lean muscle mass,
regulate body weight and make the performance gains they seek.

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As to methods, there may be a million and then some,

but principles are few. The man who grasps principles
can successfully select his own methods. The man, who
tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

INSULINS ROLE IN THE BODY

INSULINS ROLE IN THE BODY

What is Insulin?
To start, we need to fully understand what insulin is and how it interacts
with our body. Often referred to as the most anabolic hormone in the
body, insulin is a polypeptide hormone that is made by the pancreas.
Insulin plays a key role in the regulation of fuel production during
metabolism, and its production is governed by amino acids, glycogen
and glucose. Insulin allows your body to make the sugar glucose from the
carbohydrates that you eat. Your body uses glucose for immediate energy
or to store as fat for future use. Insulin regulates your blood sugar levels,
preventing hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and hypoglycemia (low
blood sugar).

Insulins Roles in the Body

Insulin plays two major roles in your body. The first is to transport
nutrients from your bloodstream into cells, thus promoting the build-up of
tissue. Whether it helps to repair and build muscle tissue or to increase
fat stores depends on the foods you eat, how much you eat, and your
activity level around the times you eat.
Insulins second role is to regulate blood sugar levels. All carbohydrates,
whether quickly digested simple carbohydrates or slowly digested,
complex carbohydrates, are eventually broken down to simple sugars,
which are then converted to glucose.
Glucose is your bodys only usable form of simple sugar. When your
blood sugar levels are raised, beta cells in your pancreas release insulin
into your bloodstream to regulate blood glucose. As insulin enters your
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bloodstream, it attaches to the glucose circulating in your bloodstream,

thereby signaling cell surface receptors to absorb glucose from the
bloodstream. In this way, insulin regulates blood sugar levels by
transporting excess glucose into body tissues.
A key point is that, except for one specific circumstance, insulin must be
present for glucose to be absorbed by any tissue except brain tissue.
The only exception to this relationship occurs during or immediately after
physical activity.
The first stop for insulin-carrying glucose is the liver, where glucose is
stored as glycogen for later use, such as during times of intense training
or other physical activity. When the liver glycogen stores are filled, and
the concentration of insulin in the bloodstream is high, the next stop for
glucose is your muscle tissue.
Glucose enters muscle tissue through receptor sites on the outside of
muscle cells. These receptors open only in the presence of insulin or
during intense physical activity.
Any glucose not absorbed by the liver and muscle tissues is shuttled
off into fat tissue. It is important to remember that your liver and muscle
tissue absorb glucose much slower than your fat cells. Therefore, if your
blood sugar levels are elevated too rapidly, your liver and muscles wont
be able to absorb glucose at the rate it is being supplied. When this
happens, much of the excess glucose ends up being moved into fat cells
and stored for later use.
The amount of insulin released into the bloodstream is determined by
the total amount of carbohydrates consumed as well as by the type of
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carbohydrates consumed. Thus, it is important to be mindful of the type

of carbohydrates you eat and how many carbohydrates you eat per meal.
If you consume easily digested (simple) carbohydrates, more insulin
will be released to regulate your blood sugar levels. Your body tries to
keep blood sugar concentrations within a tight range, and when a large
quantity of glucose enters the bloodstream, large quantities of insulin
are secreted in an attempt to bring blood sugar levels back down to
normal. If, on the other hand, you eat complex carbohydrates that are
digested slowly, your blood sugar levels wont rise as high or as rapidly,
but will stay at lower levels for a longer period of time. Less insulin is
then released into your bloodstream, allowing your liver and muscles to
keep up with the glucose delivery rate. More glucose to muscles and liver
means less glucose to fat tissue.
Once glucose becomes incorporated into a fatty acid molecule, it is
trapped there until conditions stimulate the conversion of fat to fuel. In
order for the body to burn stored fat, the body has to be in a state of
ketosis, a condition triggered by the absence of glucose or glycogen.
Basically, ketosis occurs when there isnt enough glucose or glycogen in
the liver or bloodstream to meet existing demands. This deficit forces the
body to turn to blood ketones for energy. Although maintaining a state of
ketosis can be an effective way to lose weight over the short term, serious
health risks can occur if ketosis is prolonged or too frequent.

Understanding Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is one serious health risk associated with improperly
managed consumption of carbohydrates. Insulin resistance occurs
when the body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin. Eating
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excessive quantities of carbohydrates, especially simple carbohydrates,

triggers the release of insulin. Blood sugar and insulin levels can spiral
upwards until, at some point in time, the receptors that bind insulin start
to fail, becoming insulin resistant. When the body becomes insulin
resistant, the pancreas makes more and more insulin, a condition
known as hyperinsulinemia. (Think of coffee drinkers who need to drink
more and more coffee to get the same effect from caffeine over time.)
Hyperinsulinemia is dangerous, because elevated insulin concentrations
trigger new cell growth, often consisting largely of fat, causing the body
to gain weight and store energy instead of burning it.
Although insulin resistance has traditionally been linked to diabetes, new
research tells a more complicated story. In addition to diabetes, insulin
resistance is linked to weight gain, heart disease, hypertension, stroke,
and high blood cholesterol and triglycerides.
Although we normally associate these health risks with individuals who
live sedentary lifestyles, athletes who dont have their carbohydrate
consumption under control are also susceptible. Athletes who mismanage
their carbohydrate consumption are certainly vulnerable to diminished
athletic performance and slower recovery times.
Athletes may experience many symptoms of Insulin resistance but may
fail to realize their symptoms are due to their diet. These symptoms
often include inability to concentrate, unstable blood sugar levels, feeling
hungry, stomach fat gain, and overall weight gain.
While insulin resistance can be very bad if left untreated, dietary changes
can restore proper insulin sensitivity, lowering the amount of insulin
produced and needed. These same dietary changes will also improve
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your performance while reducing time needed for recovery. Keep in mind,
there is a difference between the carbohydrates in a bag of cookies and
the carbohydrates in a bag of vegetables. A diet high in carbohydrates
should be predominantly complex carbohydrates, which also have a high
fiber content. Refined, simple carbohydrates do not have the same effect
as complex carbohydrates.
A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed that
insulin resistant patients who were put on a diet of 75 - 80% complex
carbohydrates, 10-15% protein, and <10% fat were able to significantly
reduce insulin levels in just 3 weeks. The patients in this study were able
to correct their insulin resistance even with a high carbohydrate diet
because the carbohydrates were complex carbohydrates. This shows the
effect a reduced rate of digestion of carbohydrates can have on health
and fitness.

What Insulin Means To You

Now we know that consumption of carbohydrates causes insulin
secretion, and that insulin keeps blood sugar levels stable while
transporting nutrients from the bloodstream into cells for transformation
into tissue. How does this knowledge apply to you?
First, if you are a heavy consumer of simple carbohydrates, your body will
secrete a large amount of insulin into your bloodstream. If you are inactive
when this happens, your liver and muscles probably will have a low need
for glucose and will therefore absorb it slowly. This means insulin will
draw that blood sugar almost directly into your body fat tissue.
On the other hand, if you consume slow-digesting carbohydrates regularly
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throughout the day, your body will secrete small amounts of insulin, which
will transport glucose, amino acids and other nutrients into your liver and
muscle tissue at a slower rate which can be maintained for hours. This
will provide your body with the steady flow of energy and nutrients your
muscles and other tissues need to repair and grow throughout the day.
However, when you are in the process of an extended training session,
or have just completed a training session, your muscle and liver will
need glucose as a fuel source and for recovery. At this point, your liver
and muscles are depleted of glycogen, so they will absorb glucose
more rapidly than at other times of the day. This is the point you should
consume simple carbohydrates and when a large secretion of insulin will
be desirable. So, it makes sense to follow your training sessions with the
consumption of simple carbohydrates to replenish depleted glycogen
stores.
If you time your carbohydrate intake correctly, and consume the right
amount and kind of carbohydrates, you can start to control your bodys
secretion of insulin and get insulin to start working for you to help you
reach your fitness and athletic goals.

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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the

majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
THE INSULIN-CARBOHYDRATE RELATIONSHIP

THE INSULIN-CARBOHYDRATE RELATIONSHIP

Whereas proteins are the building blocks of the body, carbohydrates are
the fuel your body runs on. They are also the key to triggering insulin
secretion. Over the years carbohydrates have received a bad rap, which
has led to many people drastically reducing their carbohydrate intake or
even eliminate them entirely. For serious athletes who want to maximize
performance, this is the wrong approach.
An athletes body relies on carbohydrates for energy throughout the
day, during training sessions to fuel workouts, and after tough training
sessions to help the body recover. Carbohydrates are essential to an
athlete, so long as the amount and timing of slow- and fast-digesting
carbohydrates are properly incorporated into a daily routine focused on
peak performance, recovery, and control of body composition.
As we saw in the last section, carbohydrates signal the pancreas to
secrete insulin into the blood stream to regulate blood sugar levels and
transport nutrients from the blood stream into muscles, the liver and
every other cell in the body. In this section, well dig deeper to better
understand the relationship between insulin and carbohydrates, as well as
the optimal timing between carbohydrate consumption and attainment of
athletic goals faster.

Why Slow-digesting Carbohydrates?

Why should we choose slow-digesting carbohydrates in the first place?
Slow-digesting carbohydrates break down slowly in the body, providing
you with a steady source of energy for hours after you consume them.
They also have a much lower impact on your blood glucose levels.
Therefore, they dont cause the overproduction of insulin youd seen with
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fast-digesting carbohydrates, which usually produce a spike in energy

followed by the typical crash and unwanted weight gain. By contrast,
slow-digesting carbohydrates are a consistent source of fuel that will last
hours instead of minutes, keeping you energized throughout the day.
Slow-digesting carbohydrates are also usually high in fiber. When
managing your health and weight, you want to maximize your daily
consumption of fiber as much as possible. By getting enough fiber
throughout the day, youll keep your hunger levels down and also support
good health.
For all of these reasons, slow-digesting carbohydrates are the perfect
carbohydrate to consume during the day outside the hours of your
training sessions.

The Glycemic Index

If youre new to the concept of fast and slow-digesting carbohydrates,
one question you might ask yourself is, How do I distinguish between
slow and fast-digesting carbohydrates? The answer is: the glycemic
index.
The glycemic index, or GI, of a food is a great way to distinguish between
fast and slow digesting carbohydrates. The glycemic index refers to a
carbohydrates ability to affect blood glucose and insulin levels. Foods are
rated on a scale of 0-100 based on how quickly they affect blood glucose
and insulin levels; higher GIs indicate faster rates of elevation, and vice
versa. We know there are differences between fast- and slow-digesting
carbs, but the glycemic index attaches an explicit, quantitative value to
each food.
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When you know the GI rating of the foods you eat, you can choose the
best ones for your diet. Very simply put, carbohydrates with a high GI
raise blood glucose and insulin levels more than foods with a mid-tolow GI rating. This isnt guesswork; its scientific fact. Knowing the GI
of the foods that you eat will help you make good choices at key times
throughout the day: at breakfast, lunch, for pre-training meals, posttraining meals, dinner and snacks.
Even if you eat a small portion of a food with a high GI, you can minimize
the impact by eating it with foods that have a low GI and/or with fats or
proteins to help balance the meal. Eating a diet heavy in mid-to-high GI
carbohydrates will destabilize your blood glucose levels and put you at
risk for insulin resistance and unwanted weight gain. Below is a short list
of examples of foods with different GI ratings. (For a complete list of food
choices, refer to the end of this report.)

Low GI Foods (GI Rating of 55 or less) Include:

Legumes: Including both lentils and beans

Non-Starchy Vegetables: Including spinach, onions,

asparagus, lettuce, broccoli, peppers
Most Fruits: Most fruits are okay as long
as you keep your portion small.
Boiled sweet potatoes, taro root, butternut squash,
spaghetti squash, young summer squash.

Moderate GI Foods (GI Rating of 56-69) Include:

Whole Grains: Including quinoa, oats, wild

rice, basmati rice and brown rice
Beets

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High GI Foods (GI Rating of 70+) Include:

Baked sweet potatoes, white potatoes, pumpkin

Whole wheat bread, pasta, cereals
Products with refined white flour and sugar (cookies sodas, and so on)
Fats and meat do not contain carbohydrates,
so they dont have a GI rating.
Your diet should consist primarily of foods with a low GI, including only
moderate amounts of medium GI foods. You should limit your intake of
high GI foods as much as possible. For a list of the GI rating of common
foods go to: http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-eating/glycemic_
index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods

Calories and Weight Regulation

Before adding slow-digesting carbohydrates to your diet, you must
also consider the calorie value of the item. Since weight control does
come down to controlling both the release of insulin in your body and
consuming the correct amount of calories, you need to be aware of how
many calories youre getting from your carbohydrates.
Slow-digesting carbohydrates vary considerably in caloric content.
Consider your carbohydrates carefully, because one cup of cooked brown
rice contains 200 calories while 1 cup of broccoli or spinach contains
10-20 calories. Thus, you cant judge carbohydrates on volume alone;
you need to factor in their caloric density, or calories per unit weight.
Carefully selecting between slow-digesting carbohydrates that have a
wide range of caloric density values will make a big difference in the total
number of calories you eat.
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Adding Slow-Digesting Carbohydrates to Your Meal Plan

Now that weve described slow-digesting carbohydrates and why its
important to eat them, lets take a look at the best way to add them
to your meal plan. Ideally, you should choose to eat the higher calorie
varieties of slow-digesting carbohydrates earlier in the day when you are
up and moving around. This is the time of day when your body will require
more energy and will burn more calories. Another great time to add higher
calorie (but still slow-digesting) carbohydrates is in your pre-training meal.
Energy dense carbohydrates like black beans, sweet potatoes, or old
fashion oatmeal will fill your glycogen stores and give you the energy you
need to perform at your best during training. If youre using whole foods
for your pre-training meal, its ideal to have your pre-training meal no less
than ninety minutes before your actual training session. This will give your
body adequate time to digest your meal and fill your glycogen stores
before your workout.
Then, during the late afternoon and evening hours when youre slowing
down and dont need so much energy, you should turn to low calorie,
slow-digesting carbohydrates. Some examples that would work well here
are broccoli, spinach or mixed vegetables.
By structuring your meals in this way, you can really help to boost your
control of insulin, your performance, and your body composition. If you
can get carbohydrates into your diet properly, you can avoid ultra low
carbohydrate diets and still get the results you want.

Adding Fast-Digesting Carbohydrates To Your Workouts

On the flip side, fast-digesting carbohydrates are those that break down
very quickly and enter the bloodstream rapidly. They contain primarily
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simple sugar molecules and consist of such foods as baked sweet

potato, yams and butternut squash.
When these simple carbohydrates enter into your blood, they produce
a rapid rise in blood sugar. This causes a high amount of insulin to be
released, which quickly shuttles those carbohydrate molecules into your
muscles, liver, and/or fat cells.
Due to this process of quickly removing the high amounts of blood sugar
from the blood stream, there is a high risk of gaining fat. You should time
your quick digesting carbohydrates so they are consumed right after your
training sessions. During this time, your muscles and liver are typically
depleted of glucose, and your muscle receptors are open, allowing
glucose to be absorbed into your muscles more rapidly and away from
your fat cells. By consuming fast-digesting carbohydrates after your
training sessions, youll replenish your muscle and liver glycogen stores
more rapidly, thereby speeding your recovery as well.
Some examples of fast-digesting carbohydrates to consider consuming
after a workout include:
Natural Greek yogurt
fruit
baked sweet potatoes
yams

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 pasta
butternut squash
pumpkin
a power smoothie or a carbohydrate
supplement like Glyco-Muscle Fueler.

While were on the subject of fast-digesting carbohydrates, some

examples of fast-digesting carbohydrates to avoid or remove from your
diet include:
Foods with refined white sugar
foods with refined white flour
white rice and white potatoes.

Be aware of premade processed foods that contain sugars, and fastdigesting carbs. While some products, like sodas and cookies, are
obvious, beware of sauces, and always read the labels.
What does this mean to you? If you are training hard and need that
extra fuel, you should incorporate fast-digesting carbohydrates into your
training plan. Fast-digesting carbohydrates will serve you better than
slow-digesting carbohydrates during and immediately after your training
sessions. In addition, adding fast-digesting carbohydrates to a posttraining snack will reload glycogen stores faster, and will help shuttle other
nutrients, such as branch chain amino acids, into your muscles. This will
help to refuel your muscles and speed up recovery.
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You cant build a great building on a weak

foundation. You must have a solid foundation if
youre going to have a strong superstructure.
Gordon B. Hinckley
THE INSULIN-PROTEIN RELATIONSHIP

THE INSULIN-PROTEIN RELATIONSHIP

Without a doubt, protein is the macro-nutrient that gets the most attention
and for good reason. Proteins are the building blocks of your body.
When you consume protein, your body transforms ingested protein into
living tissue through a series of metabolic processes. When you ingest
protein, it passes through your stomach and into your small intestines
where it is broken down by enzymes into individual amino acids. Amino
acids maintain, repair and grow body tissue. To get the most from the
protein you ingest, there are some key concepts you should bear in
mind, so you know how protein works in your body and why you need to
consume complete amino acid profiles regularly throughout the day.

The 3-4 Hour Window

Once your body breaks down protein into amino acids, they are collected
and exchanged in your liver, your blood, and the spaces surrounding
individual muscle fibers for up to three to four hours. During this time,
individual amino acids will combine to create complete amino acid
profiles needed for cellular protein synthesis. If all needed amino acid
combinations are available within the 3-4 hour window, the complete
amino acid combinations will be taken up and used by the cells in your
body.
If your body does not receive all of the essential amino acid combinations
within this 3-4 hour window, the present amino acids will no longer be
useful, and the process of consuming protein, breaking it down into
amino acids and combining the correct amino acids for cellular protein
synthesis will have to start over again. This is why it is critical for you to
consume complete proteins every three to four hours. This way you can
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keep a steady flow of amino acids going into your muscles for repair and
other needs.

Understanding Complete and Incomplete Proteins

One thing to ask yourself when selecting your protein sources is, Is this a
complete or incomplete protein source? If you are selecting your protein
from complete protein sources, your protein will have the complete
amino acid profile it needs for protein synthesis. However, if you select
your protein from incomplete protein sources, you will need to combine
different proteins to create the complete amino acid profiles your body
needs for protein synthesis.
Examples of complete proteins from animal sources are meats, poultry,
fish, seafood, eggs and dairy products like milk, cottage cheese, yogurt
and cheese. Soy protein is a plant-based source of complete protein.
Grains that contain complete proteins are quinoa and amaranth.
Examples of incomplete plant protein include nuts, seeds, nut butter,
green peas, legumes (such as lentils, black beans, pinto beans, navy
beans and chick peas) and most grains.
If your preference is to consume your protein from plant-based protein
sources, but find yourself limited in terms of options for complete
proteins, with some careful planning you can pair different incomplete
protein sources to provide your body with the complete amino acid
profiles it needs. For example, you can pair grains, nuts or seeds with
legumes, such as black beans or lentils to form complete proteins.
Another option is to pair peanut butter with whole grain bread, or brown

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rice with black beans. This route will take a little more careful planning,
but it can definitely work for you.
The objective isnt to consume large amounts of proteins at once, but to
have a consistent consumption of complete proteins or complete amino
acid profiles every two to three hours throughout the day, and to eat at
the right time for your training schedule and lifestyle. This will help keep
complete combinations of amino acids available at all times for cellular
protein synthesis.
If you are on a high protein diet, it is important to remember that large
amounts of protein put extra stress on your liver and kidneys. Ingesting
a larger quantity of water throughout the day will help to reduce this
stress and keep your kidneys clean. As a rule of thumb, athletes should
consume at least one gallon of water per day to keep their bodies
hydrated, clean and functioning at their peak.

Dialing it in: the Insulin and Amino Acid Relationship

Now that weve covered insulin, how it works, and how food choices
affect insulin secretion, lets dial it in and learn about the relationship
between insulin and amino acids. Insulin needs be present to open the
insulin receptors on muscle cells that allow amino acids to move into
our muscle tissue where they go to work on muscle repair and growth.
However, when we consume protein alone, our bodies dont release
insulin into our blood stream. As mentioned earlier, insulin transports
nutrients from our blood stream to body tissues and opens insulin
receptor sites along our muscles that allow nutrients (including amino
acids) to enter muscle tissue.

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Thus, for amino acids to do their job, we need to ensure that our insulin
receptor sites are open along our muscle cells each time we ingest
protein/amino acids. There are two ways to ensure our muscles insulin
receptor sites are open to allow amino acids into our muscle tissue. The
first way is through exercise, which has an insulin-like effect, causing
insulin receptors on muscles to open. What this means is that, during
training and exercise, our muscle receptors open to allow nutrients
into muscle tissue even without the presence of insulin. Moreover, our
muscles receptors stay open after training to allow nutrients to continue
to enter our muscles for recovery. The ingestion of complete protein
therefore should be practiced around training sessions, while muscle
receptor sites are open.
Serious athletes need to take advantage of this exercise-induced insulinlike reaction. The more intense you train, the more important it will be to
ingest complete proteins, which will help your body switch from a state
of catabolism (breaking down tissue) to a state of anabolism (recovery/
building tissue) and optimum muscle recovery.
The second way to insure that your muscles insulin receptor sites are
open is by consuming sufficient amounts of carbohydrates along with
complete amino acid profiles in order to stimulate your pancreas to
secrete insulin into your blood stream. If you do not eat often enough
(every three to four hours) your insulin, amino acid, and blood sugar
levels will gradually drop off. If there isnt sufficient insulin present during
long periods between meals, anabolism (recovery/building tissue) will
slowdown or stop until adequate amounts of complex carbohydrates and
complete proteins are consumed. Once an adequate amount of complex
carbohydrates and complete proteins are consumed, insulin will be
released to carry glucose and amino acids to your recovering muscles.
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Anabolism (recovery) is most effective when insulin is continually present

in your bloodstream, which allows for the continual uptake of glucose
and amino acids by your recovering muscle tissue. The most effective
way to make this happen is by ingesting complete proteins and sufficient
amounts of complex carbohydrates frequently throughout the day. This
will provide your body with steady and moderate amounts of insulin,
which will carry glucose and amino acids to your recovering muscles.
A key point to note: Since amino acids remain present for protein
synthesis for only three to four hours, you should consume complete
proteins or combinations of incomplete proteins to form complete amino
acid profiles along with complex carbohydrates no less than every three
to four hours. (I personally recommend every two to three hours.) When
youre working to recover and build muscle, it is essential to time your
meals in order for insulin to be present to facilitate anabolism and efficient
recovery.

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To keep the body in good health is a duty. . . Otherwise,

we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
Buddha
SAMPLE FOOD LIST AND MEAL PLAN

FOOD LIST: Keep your foods simple, unprocessed and unrefined and eat
whole foods as much as possible.
FOOD LIST
PROTEINS

VEGGIES

C A R B O H Y D R AT E S

FAT S

S TA R C H Y V E G G I E S

OILS

S P I C E S/ H E R B S

Eggs

Artichoke Hearts

Adobo

Chicken Breast

Asparagus

Acorn Squash

Avocado Oil

Allspice

Chicken Thigh

Avocados

Butternut Squash

Coconut Oil

Basil

Turkey

Bamboo Shoots

Beets

Flaxseed Oil

Bay Leaf

Free-Range Poultry

Bell Pepper

Sweet Potatos

Macadamia Oil

Black Pepper

Waterfowl

Bok Choy

Yams

Olive Oil

Cajun Spice

Pheasant

Broccoli

Walnut Oil

Cayenne Pepper

Ostrich

Brussels Sprouts

Grass-Fed Butter

Chili Powder

Bass

Cabbage

Catfish

Carrots

Trout

Celery

Adzuki Beans

Almonds

Cloves

Crab

Chard

Black Beans

Cashews

Coriander

Crawfish

Collards

Broad Beans

Hazelnuts

Cumin

Crayfish

Daikon

Butter Beans

Macadamia Nuts

Curry

Clams

Dandelion Greens

Fava Beans

Peacans

Dill

Flounder

Eggplant

Garbanzo Beans

Pine Nuts

Garam Masala

Halibut

Fennel

Green Beans

Pumpkin Seeds

Garlic

Lobster

Fennel Root

Horse Beans

Sunflower Seeds

Ginger

Mackerel

Kale

Kidney Beans

Walnuts

Marjoram

Oysters

Kohlrabi

Lentils

Mint

Salmon

Mushrooms

Lima Beans

Nutmeg

Salmon Fillet

Okra

Mung Beans

Old Bay Seasoning

Salmon Steak

Onions

Navy Beans

Oregano

Sardines

Pea pods

Pink Kidney Beans

Paprika

Scallops

Peppers

Pinto Beans

Parsley

Shrimp

Pumpkin

Red Beans

Pepper

Snapper

Radishes

Red Kidney Beans

Rosemary

Tuna

Romaine

Refried Beans

Saffron

Baby Back Ribs

Rutabaga

String Beans

Sage

Beef Ribs

Salads

White Beans

Salt / Himalayan Salt

Beef Stew Meat

Snow Peas

Ground Beef (Lean)

Spinach

New York Steak

Spring Mix

New York Strip

Sprouts

Rib Eye Steak

Squash

Roasts

Taro Root

Round Steak

Turnips

Rump Roast

Water Chestnuts

Sirloin

Zucchini

Cilantro
LEGUMES

NUTS

Cinnamon

Thyme

Stew Meat
Goat
Lamb Chops
Lamb Rack
Bison
Wild Game
Bacon
Pork Chop
Pork Loin
Pork Ribs
Pork Roast

PNP Supplements | All Rights Reserved | www.pnpsupplements.com | Page 27

SAMPLE MEAL PLAN: Remember meals dont have to be complicated,

but they also dont have to be boring or tasteless in order to meet all of
your macro nutrient needs. Vary the seasonings and keep it colorful.
SAMPLE MEAL PLAN
MEAL 1

6:00am

SEEFOOD OMELET

MEAL 5

TURKEY LETTUCE WRAP

2 Whole Eggs & 2 Egg Whites

1/2 pound free-range Turkey sliced

5 medium sized Shrimp

2 cups Mixed Baby Greens

5 medium sized Scallops

2 Tomatoes, sliced

2 teaspoons Kerrygold Grass-Fed Butter

1 small Avocado, sliced

1 teaspoon Ginger, minced

4 Green Onions, chopped

3:00pm

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Fresh Lime Juice

1/2 cup Bean Sprouts

2 tbsp Fresh Cilantro, chopped

1 Chive, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

White Pepper

Romaine/Iceberg lettuce leaves, wraps

2 cups of Water to Drink

2 cups of Water to Drink

MEAL 2

P O S T- C A R D I O P O W E R S M O O T H I E

MEAL 6

P R E - P O S T T R A I N I N G S U P P L E M E N TAT I O N

8 oz Pure Coconut Water

8:30am

P R E-T R A I N I N G

1/2 Banana

1 serving Whey-Pro 5

2 tbsp Raw Coconut Meat

1 serving Glyco-Muscle Fueler

1 oz Raw Macadamia Nuts

2 cups of Water to Drink

1 cup Spinach
1 cup Kale Leaves

5:00pm

P O S T-T R A I N I N G

1 tbsp Raw Cocao, unsweetened

2 servings Recover Surge

1 tbsp Raw Cocao nibs

2 cups of Water to Drink

1 serving Whey-Pro 5
1 serving Raw Organic Greens Mix
MEAL 3

11:00am

CHIPOTLE STEAK SALAD

MEAL 7

PA N-R O A S T E D S A L M O N & S I D E S

4 oz Grass-Fed Steak

6 oz Wild Salmon - 2 tbsp Cocout Oil

2 cups Romaine Lettuce

1 Onion, chopped - 2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1/2 cup Black Beans

1 Funnel Bulb, cored and cut into strips

1 cup gilled Bell Peppers & Red Onion

20 Asparagus Spears - 1/2 Sweet Potato

2 tbsp Tomatillos Red-Chili Salsa

1/4 cup Guacamole

8:00pm

2 pinches Saffron Threads, crushed

2 cups fresh diced Tomatoes

Chipotle Chili, Garlic, Toasted Cumin

1/2 cup Vegetable stock

2 cups of Water to Drink

2 tablespoons Basil, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups of Water to Drink

MEAL 4

MEAL 8

CHICKEN KABOB

4 oz Organic Beef Jerky

4 oz Chicken Breast, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 oz Almonds

1/2 Red Bell Pepper - 1/2 Small Red Onion

2 cups of Water to Drink

1/2 Zucchini - 5 small Mushrooms

1 tsp fresh Thyme, chopped

1:00pm

10:00pm

1 1/2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 tbsp Grape Seed Oil - 1/4 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Rice Vinegar - 1/2 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Tamari Sauce
1/2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 cups of Water to Drink

PNP Supplements | All Rights Reserved | www.pnpsupplements.com | Page 28