Note: This article is a copy of a Q&A session with Layne Norton.
Layne’s Favorite tasting whole food protein source
What is your favorite forms of food to get your protein (not for nutrition-wise but for taste)? I’m curious.
For taste? Probably a good steak.
Cocoa and Testosterone levels
I was reading an article on bb.com and it said that the fats and cocoa are really good for testosterone levels. You haven’t heard anything about this?
That is nonsense. you can’t have your fats too low or test will drop that’s true. but the notion that eating a bunch of bad fats is going to raise your test in a dose dependent manner is a dumb statement.
On horse chestnuts and vascularity
Hey Layne, I read something in Flex about horse chestnuts to bring out your striations and veins. What’s your take?
Sounds like straight up nonsense.
On Alcohol
Question : this a honest question sorry if it offends you. Do you drink alcohol in the off season?
Answer: occasionally I’ll have a beer or two. You know alcohol is actually quite good for you in small doses, it’s just when you have 5 or more drinks you have precipitously bad effects.
Question:
So in small amounts, like say 1 beer with a meal… once or twice per week (offseason obviously) does that not have any negative effect on testosterone or GH levels?
No, less than 2 drinks per day in a normal weight person is not going to have any negative health effects that I could possibly conceive of.
On Nighttime nutrition:
Layne , just wanted to hear how you go about nighttime nutrition , do you take any time released protein , whole food, carbs etc.?
I have a whole food meal, usually a meat w/ rice or something or perhaps oats; then when I wake up to pee (I wake up every night pretty much at the same time) I down some Xtend (BCAAs) & a protein bar then go back to sleep.
On night feeds:
Why not? You wouldn’t go 8 hours during the day without eating would ya?
Question:
I am looking into the metabolic diet to see if it will work for me. On the dairy issue I must be the only one here(or seem to be) where dairy does not bloat me, give me the shits, or hold water. Does that only happen to people who are lactose intolerant?
It mostly happens to lactose intolerant people, but many people also have allergies to the peptides in milk like the lactalbumins and I knew one girl who was even allergic to casein.
On Fast food fried products:
Just a question regarding nutrition. Specifically: I notice places like McDonald’s advertise the fact that they deep fry in healthy oils. Isn’t this totally pointless as the heat destroys the good oils and turns them into trans fats?
I’m not really sure, but healthy oils are only healthy to a point and at the quantity they are using it’s all unhealthy.
On Water consumption
On the topic of water, is drinking 3 gallons overkill?
Unless you are an endurance athlete working out in the heat, yes.
On Fiber Caloric value:
I did a bit of searching and established that insoluble fiber provides no energy and soluble fiber all told ends up giving about 2 cals per gram. Does this sound right to you?
2-3kcal/gram.
On Layne’s main carb source:
Layne what do you eat as your main carb source?
I don’t really have a main one… I use a bunch of different sources.
On Fiber One:
Do you think fiber 1 would be OK for a carb source to replace oatmeal/sweet potatoes ?
Fiber one is fine.
On Whole Eggs and Cholesterol Concerns
Is there a guideline for maximum number of whole eggs a day (just concerned about overdoing the cholesterol)? Is 6 too many?
Honestly, your cholesterol levels are much much moreso determined by liver production of cholesterol. It is very much a genetic thing. Typically people with low cholesterol won’t increase their cholesterol over the long term even if they eat more. Whereas someone who has high cholesterol can lower dietary cholesterol and still have elevated cholesterol because their liver compensates by producing more. I think you could have 3 or 4 whole eggs per day and be OK.
On Milk:
Wasn’t sure where to ask this so came here. Not a fan of milk at all makes me sick most of the time. So I put 8th Contient Soy Milk in my protein shakes proba bly 2-3 times a day is this hurting me in anyway or is there another alternative?
Have you tried lactose free milk?
On Counting Fibers during Diet:
Anyhow, I’ve got a question regarding carb counting. I am eating Trader Joe’s High Fiber cereal, it’s just wheat bran and a few other things in it, per serving it’s got 23g of carbs, and 9g of fiber. Would I count that as 14g of carbs since the fiber doesn’t actually count as carbs, or would it count as 23g regardless?
Contrary to popular belief, fiber SHOULD count. Fiber is not absorbed as a carb, however soluble fiber is fermented in the lower intestine and reabsorbed as short chain fatty acids and thus you still get almost ALL the calories from fiber. (it’s about 3kcal/gram as opposed to 4kcal/gram with carbs).
On Acesulfame K:
I was wondering if you’ve done any research or know anything regarding the artificial sweetener Acesulfame K? It’s offered in the flavorings from where I order protein and was wanting to know your thoughts on its safety.
I have not seen any evidence that it is dangerous.
On Fruit Consumption
Layne I am a natural bodybuilder as well , I was wondering what your feelings on fruit are , mainly bananas , apples , grapes , peaches?
I think fruit is fine in moderation.
On Salt intake:
Hey Layne. Someone just posted an article regarding salt (sodium chloride specifically). It said that salt doesn’t cause hypertension (only exacerbates it) and that bodybuilders don’t eat enough and should be eating way more for reasons including enhanced anabolism, workout performance and simply to make the physique look better. It also said not to worry about eating too much as the excess is just flushed out in urine. What are your thoughts about this? Does salt not contribute to the hardening of the arteries?
For most people this is true. today’s sodium intake is just tomorrow’s output. But I’m not quite sure how it could be anabolic by taking more… since the body will just increase it’s own output; whoever said it was anabolic defeated their own argument by bringing up the fact that serum sodium levels are so tightly regulated (another reason why it’s stupid and futile to deplete them for a contest).
However about 10% of the population are sodium responders and a high sodium will indeed permanently increase their blood pressure and they do need to monitor their sodium intake.
Regarding Egg quality:
For the eggs, besides the stress, I was also thinking in terms of what/how much of the crap chickens are fed, is passed through the egg. And even worse if the egg would be to some extent used in kind of a purging/ excreting purpose?
I wouldn’t worry about it.
On EZEKIAL bread
Layne, are your thoughts against EZEKIAL bread positive or negative?
Nothing wrong with it.
On Lettuce:
There is no such food that actually uses more calories to burn due to digestion than what the food actually contains in calories correct? I’ve been told by a prof in university that there is no such thing and people seem to think lettuce is a food that can achieve this.
As far as digestion… lettuce hardly has energy in it; but your body does get some from it; albeit very little.
Author: Layne Norton
