ZMA or Protein before bed?

[1392477]

I am curious on what you all think about taking before bedtime. I have been drinking a protein shake (ON Whey) before bed mixed with skim milk and have been pretty happy with the results in combination with training and diet.

ZMA supplements are supposed to be real helpful in increasing natural T and helping you sleep and I was looking to try them. I read that calcium interferes with the absorption of ZMA and so I would need to do either the ZMA or the shake but not both.

What do you all think? What is your experience with ZMA supplements?

 

[MikeMartial]

What I've been doing lately is taking ZMA about an hour before bed, then eating a bowl of cottage cheese right before bed. Seems to work out the best for timing.

I'm not so convinced on all the hype of ZMA; I mean really, what is a little bit of Mg, Zn and B6 supposed to do? For me, it's all about the better quality sleep.

 

[Lifterforlife]

Yep, ZMA is all about sleep. The only reason it really ever got hyped as to a test booster was "psuedo" science at best. It is commonly known that zinc can help with E levels, which rise at night in the normal cyclical cycle, so by default if you control E somewhat, T levels will be higher.

 

[Lifterforlife]

To add to that, I was looking through my research, knew I had the study somewhere. There is one study only I have found that ZMA is a test booster....

An independent study of ZMA was recently conducted at Western Washington University under the direction of sports performance researcher, Lorrie Brilla, Ph.D. A group of 12 competitive NCAA football players who took ZMA nightly during an intensive 8 week spring training program had their total and free testosterone levels increase by 32.4% and 33.5%, respectively. In contrast, the placebo group of 15 athletes engaged in the same intense training regimen experienced a significant decrease in total and free testosterone by 10.2% and 10.5%, respectively. The insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in the ZMA group increased by 3.6% compared to a substantial 21.5% decrease in the placebo group.

Brilla LR, Conte, V. A novel zinc and magnesium formulation increases anabolic hormones and strength in athletes. Sport Med Train and Rehab (in press). Abstract presented November 14, 1998 at the 18th Annual Meeting of the S.W. Chapter of the ACSM.

Does the name Conte ring any bells? Like in Victor Conte, the Balco Labs guy? Guess what he was marketing to atheletes as a "supplement". You guessed it, ZMA, and of course we all now know what it really was!!

 

[blut wump]

I often use ZMA at bedtime but I also like my bedtime amino acids. Either one will give me a great sleep. At least three hours after my last meal, I'll take the ZMA or the amino acids and, after a further half-hour, have my milk, eggs and whey drink.

 

[javaguru]

I use milk isolate as my protein source, one advantage is it maintains most of the mineral content of whole milk, plenty of naturally occuring magnesium and zinc. A USDA study found 2/3 of Americans didn't intake the RDA of magnesium and zinc, thanks to our refined diet. While calcium may interfere with absorption to a small amount humans wouldn't have been able to thrive if we couldn't absorb a threshold amount of magnesium in the presence of calcium; Human milk contains all three in significant amounts.

 

[blut wump]

Calcium also inhibits zinc absorption.

 

[javaguru]

If you're really concerned about absorption just take the ZMA half an hour before your bedtime protein. If you're consuming a diet high in whole grains and dairy then it's probably redundant to supplement with ZMA.

 

[Cynical Simian]

I don't currently take ZMA, although I'll probably try it at some point given all the positive anecdotes of its effects on sleep (as mentioned, the test-boosting properties seem negligible and more like an attempt to sell a few extra bottles to the NO-Xplode crowd). The scheduling that most people have arrived at (ZMA, meal ~30 min. later) sounds solid, although if you're still worried about absorption, a higher dosage (or additional zinc) might help, assuming the effect would be the same when taken separately instead of in a single supplement:


High dietary calcium intakes reduce zinc absorption and balance in humans

RJ Wood and JJ Zheng
Mineral Bioavailability Laboratory, Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture, HNRCA, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.

Optimal calcium intakes of 37.5 mmol(1500 mg)/d have been proposed for elderly people. We investigated the effects of calcium supplementation on zinc absorption and balance in 18 relatively healthy, postmenopausal women aged 59-86 y. All subjects received a standardized basal diet of typical foods supplying 269 mumol (17.6 mg) Zn/d and 22.2 mmol (890 mg) Ca/d during the 36-d study. In two of three experimental periods, an additional 11.7 mmol (468 mg) Ca/d as either milk or an inorganic calcium phosphate supplement was provided. Net zinc absorption and zinc balance were significantly reduced by approximately 2 mg/d during both high-calcium treatments. In a second study, conducted in a separate group of men and women aged 21-69 y, a whole-gut lavage, zinc- absorption test was used to investigate the acute effect of a 15-mmol CaCO3 (600 mg Ca) supplement, with and without extra zinc, on zinc absorption from a single test meal supplying 111.7 mumol (7.3 mg) Zn. Zinc absorption was reduced significantly by 50% when the calcium supplement was given with the meal. Inclusion of an extra 119.3 mumol (7.8 mg) Zn as part of a calcium supplement offset the detrimental effect of calcium on zinc absorption. Our findings suggest that high- calcium diets can reduce net zinc absorption and balance and may increase the zinc requirement in adult humans.


Free full text available at: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/65/6/1803

 

[Lifterforlife]

This is correct...if you look at the marketers of cal/zinc/mag supplements, and there are some very reputable ones in the vitamin industry, this is how they dose their's.