Now wouldn’t it be awesome if we could just eat one particular food, and BOOM, muscle growth? I mean, we all know that protein is the food source that assist with muscle growth. It provides us with the amino acids that we need, for muscle building. This is why it is recommended, that athletes consume a high protein diet.
But, did you know that jiggle snack that you eat, contains a protein that is very good for muscle building? Not only that, but it’s really good for those who have lost a significant amount of muscle mass through illness or disease. It’s not just for athletes, but for the average joe, who needs it due to health reasons, to add on some extra muscle mass; to assist in mobility and overall strength.
Gelatin is a food ingredient, that’s generally used as a gelling agent in foods and medication. It’s a clear, colorless and flavorless ingredient. When it is dry it is brittle (like a dust), and when it is wet, it is gummy. It is derived from collagen from animal products. It is also found in bones, connective tissue and skin. As gelatin is derived from collagen, it is a reasonable protein source. It actually includes 8 of the 9 essential amino acids but it is missing tryptophan and is deficient in isoleucine, threonine and methionine.
Due to gelatin not containing enough of certain amino acids and lacking tryptophan, to build muscle mass, one requires consuming other sources of protein. Of course, other protein sources are foods we generally consume in our every day diet, so gelatin becomes a supplement protein to assist in overall muscle growth.
The awesome thing about gelatin though, is that it’s a low caloric food; only 1 tablespoon of dry and unsweetened gelatin contains 23 calories and 6 grams of protein.
For athletes, gelatin doesn’t only have the ability to assist in muscle building, but it is believed to be able to assist in preventing, reducing and even helping when it comes to injuries. Because gelatin is derived from collagen, in some small experiments, it has shown that it is able to actually increase collagen levels in the body and also help in strengthening ligaments. This helps to prevent and reduce the chance of injury. This is also helpful to non-athletes, to keep connective tissue healthy.
Gelatin has 3 amino acids that are “essential”, for an athlete; proline that helps muscles and joints be fleixble, alanine that have a protective effect on cells especially during high intensity workouts and glycine, which actually helps boost creatine, which I mentioned before in an article, helps with muscle building.
Gelatin should be used once a day, about 1 table spoon in either your protein shake, your oatmeal or sprinkle it on top of the food of your choice. It can be used prior to working out to help reduce injury and assist long term with muscle and joint flexibility. Or it can be used post workout to help with repair. However you want to do it, gelatin can and should be used by everyone; the athlete or the average joe.
Sources: Gelatin Health, Gelatin: a valuable protein for food and pharmaceutical industries: review, How to Use Gelatin To Grow Muscles
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