Tamara Makar

IFBB Pro Athlete

About glucosamine

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Tammy

Glucosamine

Glucosamine is a compound naturally found within the cartilage of our joints, made from chains of sugars and proteins bound together. It acts as one of the body’s natural shock-absorbents and joint lubricants. Glucosamine possesses natural anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. One of the most popular supplements taken by people with bone and joint pain glucosamine aids in treating common symptoms of age-related disorders like arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Using glucosamine supplements or obtaining it from natural sources increases the amount of cartilage and fluid that surrounds our joints. This helps prevent joint breakdown and reduces pain.

Glucosamine slows down deterioration of joints when used long-term, plus it offers other benefits that prescription painkillers cannot (such as lowering chronic inflammation and improving digestive health).

Chondroitin

Chondroitin is a natural substance found in the human body and a major component of cartilage, which helps build connective tissue throughout the body. Because it works by retaining water, it helps add lubrication and flexibility to tissue and joints.

Chondroitin used with glucosamine helps lower symptoms associated with loss of collagen and cartilage, which are found in tendons, joints, ligaments, skin and the digestive tract. These conditions can include tendonitis, bursitis and so on. In healthy people, when cartilage becomes damaged due to overuse, injury or inflammation, new cartilage is normally produced to take its place. Unfortunately, as we get older our ability to regenerate lost cartilage and repair damaged connective tissue becomes less efficient.

In both humans and animals, glucosamine and chondroitin stimulate the production of new cartilage and can also help reduce inflammation in the process.

Source: https://draxe.com/chondroitin/

About L-glutamine

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Tammy

L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the bloodstream.

L-glutamine benefits the body in the following ways:

1. Improves gastrointestinal health because it is a vital nutrient for the intestines to rebuild and repair

2. Helps heal ulcers and leaky gut by acting as a Band-Aid for protection from further damage

3. Is an essential neurotransmitter in the brain and helps with memory, focus and concentration (

4. Improves IBS and diarrhoea by balancing mucus production, which results in healthy bowel movements

5. Promotes muscle growth and decreases muscle wasting

6. Improves athletic performance and recovery from endurance exercise

7. Improves metabolism and cellular detoxification

8. Curbs cravings for sugar and alcohol

9. Fights cancer

10. Improves diabetes and blood sugar

Doing approximately one hour of exercise can cause a 40 percent reduction of glutamine in the body. It can also cause suppressed immune function. This has a negative impact on your resistance training and may lead to overtraining syndrome.

Supplementing with L-glutamine allows your muscles to fight and push a bit further, which boosts your strength and helps repair your skeletal muscles.

L-glutamine supplementation makes it possible to recover quicker from intense weight training sessions because it improves muscle hydration. This aids the muscle recovery process and reduces recovery time for wounds and burns.

L-glutamine also burns fat and builds lean muscle mass by helping suppress insulin levels and stabilize blood glucose. This enables the body to use up less muscle mass to maintain blood sugar and insulin sensitivity in the cells. For this reason, L-glutamine benefits diabetics and those with sugar and carb cravings as well.

About beta-alanine

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Tammy

Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid. It is not used by the body to synthesize proteins. Instead, together with histidine, it produces carnosine.

Carnosine reduces lactic acid accumulation in your muscles during exercise, which leads to improved athletic performance.

In muscles, histidine levels are normally high and beta alanine levels are normally low, which limits the carnosine production.

Since beta alanine supplements increase carnosine levels in muscles, they help the muscles reduce their acid levels during exercise. This leads to reduced fatigue.

Beta-alanine improves athletic performance. It can reduce fatigue, increase endurance and boost performance in high-intensity exercises.

In general, muscle acidosis limits the duration of high-intensity exercise.

For this reason, beta-alanine specifically helps performance during high-intensity and short-duration exercise lasting one to several minutes.

It’s possible that beta-alanine improves body composition by increasing training volume and promoting muscle growth

L-carnosine’s health benefits are generally due to its antioxidant properties, which support many age-related conditions. The specific uses of L-carnosine include support for the skin, joints, digestive system and memory. Carnosine also prevents changes in the structure and function of proteins in the body. This may give it some anti-aging properties.

Moreover, carnosine seems to elevate nitric oxide production. This may help against the aging process and improve immune function.

Lastly, carnosine increases the quality and function of muscles in the elderly.

It is generally recommended to consume 2-5 grams of beta-alanine daily. Taking it with a meal may be even more effective.

The most common side effect of beta-alanine is paraesthesia.

This is an unusual sensation typically described as “tingling of the skin.” It’s usually experienced in the face, neck and back of the hands.

The intensity of this tingling increases with dosage size. It usually starts with doses of 800 mg or higher, and disappears 60–90 minutes after consumption. But there is no evidence that paraesthesia is harmful in any way.

Wawan WBCAA recovery contains 1.8gr of Beta-Alanine, 10gr of BCAAs and 2.5gr of L-Glutamine, with 12gr of carbs – it makes it a perfect intra workout drink.

About the different types of proteins

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Tammy

There are 4 common types of protein:

When protein concentrate
Whey protein isolate
Hydrolysed whey protein
Casein protein

All whey proteins are easily digestible, therefore they break down in your body quickly, hence they can be a very essential part of your breakfast (after the fasting hours of your night sleep), and after your workout.

Whey protein concentrate is one of the most basic forms of protein. This is probably the most common protein for anyone who works out. This is a great starting point for beginners, it’s slightly cheaper than the other types and it does the job. It has around 75-80% of protein in it (which means in a 100gr of powder you get 75-80 gr of protein), and it’s reasonably low in fat and carbs. However some people might have some gastric discomfort from this protein especially if they have any digestive issues already. For those people I recommend they try the other types of protein below.

The next level is the whey protein isolate. This protein has been filtered further than the concentrate, and therefore it’s lower in carbs and fats, lactose has been removed as well, therefore it usually doesn’t give any digestive issues. Its protein content is a bit higher, too, you can expect about 85-90% of protein in 100 gr of powder.

Hydrolysed whey protein is the clearest form of protein. It has no fat or carb content, therefore it’s almost 100% protein (around 90-95%). It’s very quick to absorb in the body.

Casein protein is different from whey protein. It breaks down slower in your body, over the course of 5-7 hours therefore it makes it a great ‘snack’ before you go to sleep. It also has high glutamine content, which is great for recovery.

WAWAN ISO Tamrya is made from EU sourced grass fed Cross-Flow Microfiltered Whey Protein Isolate, which makes it a great choice for breakfast or after workout.

About ephedrine

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Tammy

The main ingredient in fat burners or thermogenics is ephedrine, a synthetic version of a chinese herb ephedra, or also known as ma huang.

Ephedrine is a drug, rather than a nutrition supplement. It is also used in low concentrations in flu and cold remedies (pseudoephedrine).

Ephedrine is chemically similar to amphetamines, which act on the brain and the central nervous system.

There is some evidence that ephedrine helps fat loss: partly due to an increase in thermogenesis, partly because it suppresses your appetite and partly because it makes you more active.

When taken as an ECA stack (ephedrine – caffeine – aspirin) ephedrine has a greater effect in terms of weight loss and thermogenesis. However the fat burning effect of ephedrine seems to decrease over time.

Ephedrine is judged to be safe in doses between 18-25 mg, that’s the amount that’s used in cold remedies. Doses more than 32 mg a day may triple your risk of bleeding in the brain. Prolonged use and higher doses combined with heavy exercise increase your risk of side effects, like increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, palpitations, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Ephedrine is addictive, and people can develop a tolerance to it, which means you will need to take more and more to get the same effects.