Hacker News Reader

Comment by joelrunyon | Hacker News Reader

> Eating 3000kcal of "quality food" every day will still make you gross fat and give you heart problems.

Well, depending on your size, activity level and metabolism - maybe. Maybe not.

> Insulin is essential for muscle building.

Sure - post workout. If you get a massive insulin spike first thing in the morning (juice plus bagels and cereal), at the exact time where your body's hormone levels are optimal, you're not doing yourself any favors.

I'm not vilifying any hormones - but there are optimal times to take advantages of the benefits of specific ones (and optimal times to make sure they're not spiking all over the place).

View on HN

The literature shows that a caloric deficit is what matters the most for weightloss, by an extremely large margin, so large that all other factors can safely be ignored for "normal people".

Nutrient timing is completely irrelevant for normal people who want to lose weight, and only becomes relevant for bodybuilders with extremely low body fat levels, as well as athletes who train or compete multiple times a day, and even for them it is not one of the most important factors.

How do you expect to build muscle without breaking it down to rebuild? Carbs are very important in that phase post workout (along with insulin).

I'd love to see what sources you have that say otherwise.

I never said anything to the contrary?

I just said nutrient timing is not important; i.e. the exact moment when you eat things, or don't eat things, is not important, for most normal people.

And they are not "my sources"; I'm refering to the available scientific evidence, they are everyone's sources.

And, lastly, the idea that you need to "break down" muscle in order to build it up is not really correct, either. Muscle breakdown happens yes, but it happens whether you workout or not, working out just elevates muscle protein synthesis, thus both the breakdown and build up of muscle protein. But it's not like the breakdown causes the build up, and it's not like there can't be buildup without breakdown, it's not a very good analogy and it's not a really good illustration of the mechanics at work.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com