Vitamin A And Increased Risk Of Musclular Injury

mmb82

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I have been following Peat's guidelines for about 2.5 years now and really feel great. However, I am looking for some assistance from forum member because more recently, I have been getting a lot of muscle related injuries and I am trying to narrow down the cause to see if it possibly diet related (deficencies or excess of vitamins).

I enjoy powerlifting and have always lifted weights, but out of nowhere, I seem to be very prone to injury. I only lift 3 times a week and am used to this workload, so I don't suspect it is just "overuse" injuries.

The only things I can think of that have changed around the time injuries began popping up is 1) I began taking supplemental vitamin A, working up to about 10,000 I.U., 2) began taking EstroBan,3) tried experimenting with thyroid, and i4) have been transitioning to drinking normal milk, switching from lactose-free milk. I stopped the thyroid experimentation, but still am drinking normal milk and taking EstroBan. I am considering stopping vitamin A.

Is there any connection between vitamin A excess and increased risk of muscle-related injuries? It seems unlikely, but I am desperately searching for answers as to why my body is so vulnerable to muscle strains/tears now. Everything else feels fine; sleep is good, libido is high, I have energy, digestion is good despite the lactose, and pulse/body temperature are about the same before starting any of these things.

Any ideas or similar experiences, specifically with vitamin A?
 

Gl;itch.e

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I haven't noticed anything like this from Vitamin A. If anything I notice slightly better muscle growth when supplementing A.

Your injuries do sound like something experienced by steroid/anti-aromatase using bodybuilders/powerlifters. Supposedly (according to gym lore) when estrogen or bodyfat gets really low, joints and ligaments are purported to "dry out" and become more prone to injury.

Ill ask the standard meat head questions. How much protein you getting in? What type of training are you doing? How is your strength now compared to before you started eating more "Peaty"? What doe's you diet typically look like?
 
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mmb82

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I am a 120 lb female and get an average of 120 grams of protein a day. For training, I focus on dead lifting, squatting, and benching, typically doing high volume work at about 75 - 90% of my maximum lifts. My strength is increasing, but I would not say that my rate of progress has increased much with dietary changes.

A typical day of eating is coffee with coconut oil and gelatin with some sugar (fruit, honey, or both) for breakfast. I have a carrot salad an hour or two later. For lunch, I have cottage cheese and fruit with some coffee to drink. Dinner is more fruit with a nutritiously dense animal protein (e.g. liver, shrimp, oysters, eggs, steak) and decaf coffee. I also sip coffee throughout the day at work, but always with milk and/or sugar. On days I exercise, I have some gelatin dissolved in coconut water before I go to the gym. I consume roughly 1850 calories/day on average with about 55%, 25%, and 20% calories coming from carbs, fat, and protein, respectively. Supplements are calcium, vitamin D, EstroBan, and vitamin A (at the moment).
 

Gl;itch.e

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I mean if you feel good you could also pull back on some of your supplements and see if it has any effect. Maybe you have gone over your requirement for some like Vitamin A. Nothing in your diet seems detrimental to muscle function or recovery.

One thing I have considered (because I have noticed a tendency to inflammatory type injuries of the knee tendon, shoulder myself lately) is that I may, as paradoxical as it sounds, be killing inflammation too much and not allowing for proper adaptation to the training stress. So I actually took out most of the glycine I was using, and now only use it on off days and not before training. I don't know what made me think to do so but knee tendon pain has cleared and shoulder is on the mend. Perhaps suppressing inflammation and cortisol too much doesn't allow for proper healing and repair from training stress. Just an idea at this stage.
 

tara

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I have been getting a lot of muscle related injuries and I am trying to narrow down the cause to see if it possibly diet related (deficencies or excess of vitamins).
I consume roughly 1850 calories/day on average

Hi mmb :)
Running a prolonged energy deficit eventually reduces the energy available for lots of things. I don't know exactly what mechanisms are at play for you, but 1850 calories seems unlikley to be enough to sustain a strong metabolism for most adults. Amongst the possible consequences that come to mind are reduced base metabolism (monitoring waking temps and resting pulse for a few days can give an indicatioon of this), less energy for injury repair, and also reduced ability of muscles and tendons to relax fully after contracting, which I think makes them more vulnerable to injury (eg. achilles tendon reflex used to be used clinically in diagnosing hypothyroidism). Conversely, if you take steps to increase base metabolism while continuing to undernourish, you can deepen various nutritional deficiencies.
 

ballomar

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Hi mmb,

don't make things more complicated than they need be.

I have been following Peat's guidelines for about 2.5 years now and really feel great. However, I am looking for some assistance from forum member because more recently, I have been getting a lot of muscle related injuries .... I seem to be very prone to injury.

This screams over-training. Because you are powerlifting it might also be form. Before you try to fiddle with micro-nutrients, you should probably take time off, at least a week, perhaps two, maybe more. You should probably get someone to look at your form.

Hi mmb :)
Running a prolonged energy deficit eventually reduces the energy available for lots of things. I don't know exactly what mechanisms are at play for you, but 1850 calories seems unlikley to be enough to sustain a strong metabolism for most adults.

Yes, completely agree. This seems way too little.

With possible overtraining and a calorie deficit, that's probably the causes of injuries. If you upped your calories, the overtraining issues might disappear quickly. You should look at both of those, before worrying about micronutrients.
 

Gl;itch.e

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1800 calories isn't that low for someone of her weight to be honest guys. Of course it depends on the amount of activity she is doing and whether or not she had to diet severely to get to 120lbs and 1800cals, but this is really not that low. I get an average of around 3000-3500 calories a day and weigh 80-90lbs more than this lady. Her basal metabolic rate is around 1400 calories if I put that into a calculator at 20 years old (don't know her age) 5' 8" (don't know her height) and 120lb female.

"Overtraining" or more precisely incorrect training or unvaried training could certainly be a potential injury factor however.
 

tara

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With possible overtraining and a calorie deficit, that's probably the causes of injuries. If you upped your calories, the overtraining issues might disappear quickly. You should look at both of those, before worrying about micronutrients.
That makes sense to me.

1800 calories isn't that low for someone of her weight to be honest guys. Of course it depends on the amount of activity she is doing and whether or not she had to diet severely to get to 120lbs and 1800cals, but this is really not that low.
It is probably very common, and commonly recommended. There are lots of calorie calculators that will support this view. Probably lots of trainers, too.

I think Olwyn has done her research, and that many of these recommendations are based on flawed research. 1800 calories might do weight maintenance, but that is probably maintaining a slightly suppressed metabolism, which seems unlikely to be adequate for recovery.
Gwyneth Olwyn said:
Calorie Needs for Everyone Else
We lie about what we eat. Yes, in health survey after health survey, adult women report eating on average just under 2000 kcal/day and men around 2500 kcal/day. i, ii, iii

And yet, when we actually measure the intake in laboratory settings rather than relying on self-generated food journals or survey responses, then we eat about one quarter to one third more than the surveys would suggest we are eating. And just in case the following quote is obscure— we are eating more than we say we do because our energy expenditures are actually higher. In other words, we are not overshooting our energy needs when we are eating a third more than we say we are eating.
MinnieMaud Method, Doubly-Labeled Water Method Trials and Temperament-Based Treatment
 

ballomar

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Hi all,

The problem with most calorie counters is that they rely on studies in which most people underreport their calorie intake.

1800 calories isn't that low for someone of her weight to be honest guys. Of course it depends on the amount of activity she is doing and whether or not she had to diet severely to get to 120lbs and 1800cals, but this is really not that low. I get an average of around 3000-3500 calories a day and weigh 80-90lbs more than this lady. Her basal metabolic rate is around 1400 caloriesr.

I think Olwyn has done her research, and that many of these recommendations are based on flawed research. 1800 calories might do weight maintenance, but that is probably maintaining a slightly suppressed metabolism, which seems unlikely to be adequate for recovery.

According to Scooby's calculator (Calorie Calculator - Scooby's Home Workouts), OP should be eating 2162/day for maintenance. This sounds right to me. I'm obviously bigger and heavier, and my mainenance is around 2800-3000.

According to this calculator: Total energy expenditure, I get 2500 for OP. This seems a bit high. 2000 - 2200 seems right. However, OP needs to try and see what happens.

I'll just add that under-eating is a major problem for gym bunnies.
 
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mmb82

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Thanks for all the replies. I would not think that 1850 calories is low for someone of my age, height, weight, and gender. I am a 26 year old, 5 ft. 1 in. female weighing in at 120 lbs. All calories calculators I checked online suggest about 1895 calories, which isn't far off from what I am getting.

Also, I don't spend that much time in the gym...only 1 hr, 3 times/week, which includes stretching/foam rolling. I wouldn't call that "overtraining" compared to what most people do, but I will take everyone's advice and eat more while taking some more time to recover.

Thank you everyone for your input!
 

Gl;itch.e

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All good mmb82. If you want to talk Peat and Powerlifting hit me up anytime. Both my girlfriend and I powerlift and eat pretty "peaty" :):

I think the athlete/strength performance and peat angle isn't something that's been fleshed out optimally as yet. Functionalps.com has some resources that may prove of interest however.
 

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