There Is Something Called A Clean Bulk

There is something called a Clean Bulk. And it’s real. Adding Lean Muscle without the extra layer of fat and without the need for cutting. But not with the protein sources most of us use which are generally over 80% converted to sugars.

There is actually a lot of misinformation that goes around about protein sources and the need for bulking and cutting.

In reality, with the right protein source you wouldn’t need to bulk and then cut, trying to save as much muscle as you can. It really isn’t necessary.

This comes down to protein utilization. There is a datum that 1 gram of protein has 4 calories. But that’s just a generalization. Different protein sources have different calorie amounts depending on how much of the protein is actually used for building new protein and how much is converted to sugar or fats – the actual calories.

When you consume protein it’s broken down into its basic building blocks, the amino acids. Your body then sifts through them looking for the essential amino acids – the amino acids it can’t make on it’s own.

If all are present, and in the right ratio one to another, your body then uses them not only to make protein, but to make any of the other non-essential amino acids necessary to make different types of protein.

But if there are extra essential or non-essential amino acids left over, that couldn’t be put to use, your body doesn’t store them for later like it does with fat. It has no way to. Instead it converts them into glucose, sugar, and burns them for energy. Or, if you have a slower metabolism, it may convert them into fat for use later on.

How does this play out with other protein sources?

Well, BCAAs are only 3 of the Essential Amino Acids. But to make protein you need ALL of them. So BCAAs for the most part are converted straight to sugar. That’s the energy boost you get but also the sugar-low later on.

Whey and soy have enough essential amino acids to be 18% utilized in making new protein for muscle. The other 82% is converted to sugar or fat.

Meats are 32% utilized for protein building and whole eggs are 48% utilized.

But each of these provides a large source of calories when taken and it is this that makes it necessary to bulk and cut.