John Berardi - Large Professor: The Anabolic Imperative (Text Version)

The Large Professor - The Anabolic Imperative
By George Parigian
First published at www.johnberardi.com, Aug 4 2003.

Since this article spends much of its time rooted in basic hormonal physiology, I’d like to begin with a disclaimer of sorts. I have no formal training in medicine or science; instead, I’m more of a computer geek. But wait! Don’t hit the “back” button on your browser just yet. While my official occupational title may not be “Dr Parigian” (although on some especially kinky weekends I may play doctor), the following article briefly presents a series of scientific ideas that have come to shape my personal health philosophy. This philosophy, called The Anabolic Imperative, is one regular guy’s attempt to conquer death and disease. Ok, ok, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic. To put it more mildly, The Anabolic Imperative is my attempt to define the physical relationships that determine our quality and quantity of life, and in understanding them, take proactive steps toward a healthier, happier, and more vital existence.

So, what’s The Anabolic Imperative? Simply put, this philosophy highlights the relationships between lean body mass (everything on the body that’s not fat), a healthy hormonal profile, and overall health and longevity. It should be no surprise to readers of this site that lean body mass is built and maintained in an “anabolic environment”. Anabolism is defined as “the constructive part of metabolism concerned especially with macromolecular synthesis.” So, in essence, anabolic processes are those in which body tissues are synthesized or built up. Considering that lean body mass is slowly (but surely) lost as we age, the importance of maintaining lean body mass through the maintenance of an anabolic environment should be evident.
The Catabolic Cascade, on the other hand, is the enemy of The Anabolic Imperative, and all I believe in. The Catabolic Cascade is a phrase I use to refer to a very damaging and debilitating process that can be set into motion by the stress accompanying physical or emotional trauma, and/or by the declining levels of certain hormones with advancing age. Although these precipitating factors can occur separately, they often occur simultaneously in ageing individuals, often with devastating results.

Catabolic processes, the opposite of anabolic processes, refer to the breakdown of tissue, characterized by muscle “wasting”, and seen very often in diseases like cancer and AIDS. Of course, catabolism isn’t only associated with disease. The normal aging process is marked by catabolism; heck, even exercise and the stress of daily living can cause catabolism. What happens in this condition is that the body begins to break down muscle, in part because there has been a shift in the relative levels of anabolic vs. catabolic hormones. In healthy individuals, you would want the anabolic hormones like Human Growth Hormone (or HGH as it’s called) and Testosterone to be at relatively high levels, adjusted to age and gender of course. Likewise, you would want the catabolic hormones such as cortisol to be relatively low. The waters get muddy when we introduce insulin. Insulin is an anabolic hormone, but it’s one that, if chronically elevated, can lead to diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Therefore, not surprisingly, with insulin we need to perfect the balancing act; just enough to be anabolic but not enough to cause disease. Therefore insulin concentrations should be relatively low. Now, to clarify, I use the term relative when discussing hormones because it is beyond the scope of this essay to get into the details of what these levels should be for individuals of every age or gender. I am speaking in general terms, when I say that for the most part, the levels in healthy individuals should show this pattern.

Human Growth Hormone – relatively high

Testosterone – relatively high

Cortisol – relatively low

Insulin – relatively low

Of course, there are literally hundreds of hormones in the body and there are a myriad of others associated with anabolism and catabolism. However, these hormones are the best characterized and most dominate the anabolic and catabolic conditions. At this point, it’s important to recognize that while I laid out these hormones individually above, often the ratio of these hormones offers a good index of overall anabolic state. An example of this is the Testosterone/Cortisol ratio. This ratio is very important when attempting to maintain a healthy state in the body. The ratio should reflect Testosterone as being higher relative to Cortisol. This is, I believe, a good starting point for addressing the problem of The Catabolic Cascade.

Remember, The Catabolic Cascade is the enemy. But this enemy often begins its attack as nothing more than a subtle irritant. Things like illness, pain, trauma, fear, or grief can slowly, cumulatively bring on The Catabolic Cascade. And as you can imagine, it is insidious, often preceding the general physical decline in a person’s health. If not countered by the right medical or nutritional interventions, it can even lead to premature death. How so? Well, as The Catabolic Cascade is set in motion, lean body mass is lost. As lean losses accumulate, dysfunction results, leading to further lean losses. Considering that death can result when an individual loses as much as 40% of their lean body mass, I believe that a good portion of the health issues of older people and also those recovering from some sort of trauma, involve these destructive processes.

The Anabolic Imperative is the only way to overcome The Catabolic Cascade. As most experts would tell you, an appropriate anabolic strategy rests upon what I call The Three Pillars - proper exercise, proper diet, appropriate nutritional supplementation. The Three Pillars are proactive steps toward squelching The Catabolic Cascade. Of course, in some situations, when things are too far-gone, the judicious use pharmaceutical agents may be necessary but that, again, is for another discussion. And reiterating what I addressed earlier, The Three Pillars have as their goal, the establishment of a general physiological condition whereby the body is maintained in a strong, healthy, and vital state.

As part of the first pillar, especially important is the recognition that progressive resistance training has a large role to play as the major exercise component in The Anabolic Imperative. Weight training can actually have the effect of acutely increasing the levels of anabolic hormones such as Human Growth Hormone, and Testosterone, especially in the post-exercise period. These hormones facilitate the development and maintenance of lean body mass. Furthermore, resistance training improves lean body mass (both muscle mass and bone density) independent of the body’s hormonal status. Since exercise and improvements in lean body mass help to maintain better insulin sensitivity, keeping blood glucose levels and blood insulin levels under control, better cardiovascular health, body composition, and greater longevity are the result.

As part of the second pillar, diet has a very important role to play in the maintenance of this all-important anabolic environment. Sufficient high quality proteins, including fish, poultry, eggs and red meat are important. A moderate to high protein diet will assist in the maintenance of lean body mass and an optimal hormonal status. Furthermore, few people understand that the body actually needs some saturated fat to produce hormones such as Testosterone. Fat sources can vary, but more recent research also indicates the importance of omega 3 and monounsaturated fatty acids in maintaining health. Again, a discussion of fats and fatty acid metabolism is too complex to get into here, but this site has many articles on the optimal diet composition. Finally, unrefined carbohydrate sources are best, as the fiber content will serve to slow the breakdown of the carbohydrate into glucose and prevent rapid elevation in blood glucose and insulin. Therefore a diet high in quality protein, unrefined carbohydrates, and good fats (maintaining a small amount of saturated fat intake) is a critical component of The Anabolic Imperative.

And the third pillar is made up of nutritional supplementation. The recent appearance of high quality supplements and nutraceuticals is making what I feel is an important contribution to this strategy. What I call “hormonal manipulation” can be to some degree achieved with supplements such as tribulis terrestris (testosterone production), 6-oxo (testosterone production, estrogen suppression), alpha-lipoic acid (insulin sensitivity), phosphatidylserine (cortisol suppression) and others. Since these compounds are not considered drugs and therefore not regulated, it is important for the individual to do some research of their own into these compounds before considering their use.

As for the pharmaceutical end of things, there are the infamous “anabolic steroids”, the dangers of which have been quite a bit overstated. They can be useful in certain medical conditions, but of course have to be used “holistically” and by that I mean in concert with other therapies during a comprehensive hormone replacement strategy. Remembering that the endocrine system is highly complex, hormonal manipulation with powerful chemical analogues should proceed with care. In short, an individual’s lifestyle, diet, and supplement regimen should reflect an effort to maintain a favorable anabolic profile. I believe this approach will become much more common in years to come, as the current medical system struggles to come to terms with our aging population.

In closing, again, The Anabolic Imperative is representative of my personal health philosophy, a philosophy generated from reading the work of countless authorities (including JB and other contributors to this very site). While I’m no doctor and therefore am not qualified to give medical advice, I can say that adopting The Anabolic Imperative has made a tremendous difference in my quality of life. Furthermore, let me state that it is my belief that everyone, not only athletes or fitness enthusiasts, will benefit from adopting The Anabolic Imperative, a health philosophy that’s not difficult to embrace. With this approach, we can extend not only maximum lifespan, but also the healthy and active years that people can enjoy. We will also be able to prevent loss of function, and even loss of life where The Catabolic Cascade was allowed to progress without intervention, causing premature disability and death.