One of the most common meal planning questions is “when should I eat?”

In this article, I’m taking on the controversial subject of nutrient timing. And I’ll explain the science behind when to eat for fat loss and muscle gain.

What is Nutrient Timing?

Before we get into specifics, let me make sure you’re up to speed on what nutrient timing is.

Nutrient timing is coordinating your meals around your daily sleep and activity cycle. Usually, with the goal of losing fat or gaining muscle.

Does Nutrient Timing Matter?

Think of nutrient timing as one piece of the nutrition puzzle. Other pieces such as calorie intake, food choices, and macros are all more important than meal timing.

However, when other factors are held constant, nutrient timing provides an edge.

The Physical Effects of Nutrient Timing

It’s important to realize that natural processes are cyclical. Seasons change, tides rise and fall, and so on. For every negative, there is a positive.

This balance is present in our bodies as well. For example, stress is negative while resting is positive.

Of course, you can’t be both stressed out and relaxed at the same time. So you swing between the two states like a pendulum.

What’s interesting is that eating (or not eating) can swing the pendulum. And our eating habits release key hormones that impact fat loss and muscle gain.

Moreover, the effect of meal timing is amplified when coordinated with periods of stress and relaxation (such as workouts and sleep).

How to Balance Fat Loss & Muscle Gain

7 Proven Benefits of Nutrient Timing

1. Improve Performance

Anaerobic activities like weightlifting predominantly use the glycolytic energy system. In other words, your body prefers to use carbs for energy when you need to generate short burst of power.

Furthermore, studies show that eating carbs before workouts leads to greater power output¹.

2. Enhance Recovery

All that physical stress elicits an adaptation response – resulting in bigger and stronger muscles.

Unfortunately, intense workouts also cause hormonal stress. When catabolic hormones like cortisol get too high, muscle breaks down.

However, eating carbohydrates before and/or during workouts keeps cortisol levels lower according to a study by the University of Texas. Lower cortisol reduces muscle damage and allows faster recovery².

3. Swing the Hormone Pendulum

Perhaps most important is to counteract the negative effects of cortisol after workouts. And the best way to do this is to increase insulin with a meal containing carbs and protein.

4. Reduce Inflammation

Another byproduct of stress is damaging free radicals and inflammation. But nutritional intervention can significantly reduce immune system suppression, thereby improving overall health.

A joint study from Iowa State, Vanderbilt University, and the U.S. Marines assessed the health of soldiers under stress. Interestingly, protein and carbs after workouts resulted in 33% fewer medical visits⁴.

5. Increase Muscle Gain

Multiple studies confirm that specific nutrients before and after training increases muscle hypertrophy^5,6.

A Victoria University study compared two groups of bodybuilders that consumed protein/carb shakes. One group took the shake immediately before and after workouts. While the other group took it in the morning and evening.

During the study, calorie intake and macro ratios were held constant. After 10 weeks, consuming protein/carbs around workouts resulted in significantly more lean mass gain⁷.

6. Boost Fat Burning

In addition to muscle gain, nutrient timing burns fat. The Victoria University study shows that protein and carbs around the workout reduced body fat. While carbs consumed away from the workout increased body fat!

To explain, when you eat carbs all day long your insulin levels stay elevated. And that means your body is more likely to store fat.

Therefore, it’s beneficial to consume most of your daily carbs within a shorter window around your workout. Then, the rest of your meals should consist of protein and fat.

7. Promote Metabolic Flexibility

A final benefit of nutrient timing is metabolic flexibility. Or the ability to switch between carbs and fat as an energy source.

Daily cycles of high-carb/low-fat and low-carb/high-fat meals promotes insulin sensitivity. So you burn both carbs and fat more efficiently.

Nutrient Timing Q&A

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Resources
1) Haff, G. Gregory, et al. “Carbohydrate supplementation and resistance training.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 17.1 (2003): 187-196.
2) Baty, Jacob J., et al. “The effect of a carbohydrate and protein supplement on resistance exercise performance, hormonal response, and muscle damage.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 21.2 (2007): 321-329.
3) Zawadzki, K. M., B. B. Yaspelkis 3rd, and J. L. Ivy. “Carbohydrate-protein complex increases the rate of muscle glycogen storage after exercise.” Journal of Applied Physiology 72.5 (1992): 1854-1859.
4) Flakoll, Paul J., et al. “Postexercise protein supplementation improves health and muscle soreness during basic military training in Marine recruits.” Journal of Applied Physiology 96.3 (2004): 951-956.
5) Willoughby, D. S., J. R. Stout, and C. D. Wilborn. “Effects of resistance training and protein plus amino acid supplementation on muscle anabolism, mass, and strength.” Amino acids 32.4 (2007): 467-477.
6) Esmarck, Birgitte, et al. “Timing of postexercise protein intake is important for muscle hypertrophy with resistance training in elderly humans.” The Journal of physiology 535.1 (2001): 301-311.
7) Cribb, Paul J., and Alan Hayes. “Effects of supplement timing and resistance exercise on skeletal muscle hypertrophy.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 38.11 (2006): 1918-1925.