high fiber before bed? good or bad?

i have been adding 25g of high fiber bran to my whey protein shake before i go to bed at night granted it doesn't taste that great but it does give some bulk to the shake,my question is : will the fiber before bed help my metabolism whilst i sleep and will the 8grams of carbs really be a detriment to my cutting diet?

There is no need to add this to the shake. Take your fibre and carbs earlier on in the day.

If you want to add substance to the shake try half a tub of fat free cottage cheese ( smooth) this is mostly casein and is great before bed. It tastes great , like cheese cake. It will keep you fuller for longer. You can also add sugar free peanut butter to this , you can get a low carb option as well.

Try this.

1 serving vanilla whey , half tub fat free cottage cheese, teaspoon sugar free peanut butter , cinnamon , 5 ice cubes and about 150ml water. Blend that up... Try that before bed and let me know what you think. I also struggle sleeping due to being hungry when I diet. That sorts it out , you can cut the peanut butter out if your really aiming for low digits.

ok cool i will try that one out...

Just to add onto what Kevin said. If you are trying to get ripped, your last carb intake should be no later than 30 minutes after your workout - none further, that is if you train like most people do, at 17h00 or so. High fibre is good for you, especially if you are on a high protein/low carb diet, as the latter tends to make you constipated. The fibre helps you to be regular with bowel action, by drawing water into the bowel and \"bulking up\" your stools.

Another benefit of high fibre is that it helps control the body's sugar levels - giving less spikes in blood glucose. It also assists in clearing fat from your gut by having a high affinity for the cholesterol rings - from there the one group of drugs, called fibrates, which are primarily used in cases caused by Hypercholesteraemia due to high Triglycerides(free fat in your blood).

Just one thing to keep in mind. Fibre can give you bloat, especially if you have a sensitive gut with a tendency to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Hence the reason for us Doctors not prescibing more than 35gr fibre/24h.

Remember, us body builders ALL have an eating disorder - we do not eat what the General Population does, so we tend to bloat easily....

Peanut oil is a very good source of EFA's, something of which any body builder should be taking on average 25 - 30ml/24h. A good substitute for Flaxseed oil. Very important to take before you retire to bed, esp if your are trying to get \"ripped\".

Have tried Kevin's \"Wimpy Shake\"( it does taste like Wimpy's milkshakes), but instead of using casein prot, I mix in about 40gr of pure Whey. There is no better natural stimulator for Growth Hormone secretion than pure whey, esp having it in your system within the first hour of deep sleep, that's when GH gets secreted. If you do wake due to hunger, then throw in some casein. In your first 6 months of being a baby, your GH levels are at its peak of secretion - usually you tripple your birth weight. Why?? Mom's milk is very rich in pure whey.....

you say no carbs after you training,i train at 2,and by the time i get home i have my meal by at latest 3:30. then my next meal is dinner,can i not have lean protein and veg with my dinner? or must i stay away from the carbs in the veg aswell?

It depends at what you are trying to achieve. If you are bulking up, in general you should be eating a higher carb content in your diet, compared to when you are dieting for a show. Most body builders will up their prot intake and in general try not to eat carbs at nigth. But it all depends on timing of your work out. In your case I would probably have a good post workout drink containing ± 60 - 70gr carbs and 40gr high grade protein, the latter preferably of whey prot origin. Then still eat my last complex carb intake no later than 17h00. From there on onwards, only protein. Try to eat veggies that are seen as \"free veg\" in the Weigh Less diet, like cabbage, baby marrows, spinach, gems, green and red peppers, broccoli. Stay away from butternuts, peas and carrots - their carb content is of the more comlex kind.

About timing your prot intake to optimize GH secretion. GH normally gets secreted only once a day, during your first hour of sleep. It gets quickly metabolized by the liver within 20-30min, being converted to Somatomedine-C, also known as IGF(insulin growth-like factor) The latter binds to receptors in the wall of your gut, stimulating the uptake of large quantities of nutrients. It is precisely during this period that you want the uptake of as much as possible of proteins. It is a known fact that pure Whey is much better absorbed than cassein and that's why it is a better choice just before retiring to bed. If you do get hungry during the early morning hours, IGF has already done its good work - then take some cassein. The other time during the day when GH is also secreted, is during strenous training. By the time you leave the gym, you already have a good quantity of IGF working in your gut - hence the ingestion of amino-acids and/or Whey prot intake as part of your post-workout drink.

Great post Doc,

I personally would only use a small amount of whey before bed and a larger or equal amount of casein based protein. Id rather have a consistent supply of protein through out the night as I sleep for 6 hours than a rapid spike for 1-2 hours as I fall asleep leaving me on empty for the rest of my sleep. I understand your logic behind getting the most out of your GH secretion with in the first 2 hours but at the same time you will still be able to take advantage of that with a mixture of whey and casein. Protein is required through out the night just like any other time in the day. We are most catabolic when we get up due to the fact that we have fasted for a long period. I would say the more we can elevate this situation the less chance we have in muscle wastage. The BV value of casein is still higher than chicken , fish or steak so its still and excellent source of protein. It’s more about a consistent supply of amino’s through out the day. Try 6 egg whites and 100g lean cut steak before bed J

I don’t like shakes and use the bare minimum at the right times. 20g as I wake up , 20g post work out , 20g before bed with Casien mixture. The rest is solid food. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

In my opinion fibre and fats (EFA) are very important in a pre-bed time shake.

I prefer using a blend of proteins, I use Evox synergy (blend of whey isolate, concentrate and casein) and normally add a high fibre source - oat bran if im not cutting and digestive bran if im cutting. I also add flax seed oil (5mls) to this mixture. It seems to be working great for me.

Kevin Im going to try your recipe tonight though, and see if i'll be able to make it through the night

just thought i'd say that i hate u so much right now kevin!!! i can't go back to having a normal shake after having the way you told me to have it...hehe its the shit i wont lie!!

Yeah I think it tastes unreal for something that has little carbs in it. Try it with out the peanut butter if you want even less. I must be honest that when I diet if something tastes to good it puts me off becuase it feels like im cheating...