Champion Nutritions ULTRAMET: The Ultimate Meal Replacement Drink

By Robbie Durand, M.A.

Senior Web Editor

              Walk into any health food store for meal-replacement shakes, and more than likely you will be overwhelmed with the number of meal-replacement shakes on the market. If you are looking to make gains in strength and size, meal planning is the base on which your body is built. Many top-ranked bodybuilders that I have spoken to state that eating healthier and more frequently has been the key to making more gains in strength and size. Eating three or four meals a day is not going to cut it for the serious strength athlete or bodybuilder.

            Many MD readers have full-time jobs and can’t walk around with a cooler full of food. Champion Nutrition’s ULTRAMET Meal Replacements offer the ‘next best thing’ to carrying around a refrigerator full of food; ULTRAMET Replacement Shakes are the ultimate meal replacement for the bodybuilder or athlete on the go! They provide an excellent source of fiber and a full assortment of essential vitamins and minerals to keep your engine running. ULTRAMET’s high-protein shake is also high in fiber and low in sugar, which provides the optimal balance to keep insulin levels low and support lean muscle mass. Fiber is essential to proper digestion of protein. ULTRAMET contains 5 grams of fiber from Inulin per container, to ease digestion and promote healthy intestinal health.

            Compared to most other meal-replacement powders, ULTRAMET has relatively few calories and a unique protein blend of whey and casein. ULTRAMET Meal Replacement contains 240 calories, 35 grams of protein and only 2 grams of sugar. One shake of Ultramet gives you 70 percent of your daily protein requirements! Try getting that from a hamburger. In addition, you get 50 percent of your recommended daily intake for over 18 essential vitamins and minerals. One of the major benefits of ULTRAMET replacement packs is the overall nutritional value they provide. The convenient, ‘ready-to-go’ packs contain essential vitamins and minerals.

Aseptically Packaged!

            ULTRAMET combines milk protein with fast-digesting whey protein and slow-acting casein, plus L-Glutamine and the naturally-occurring branched-chain amino acids isoleucine, leucine and valine. The precise combination of proteins in ULTRAMET offers a sustained-release of amino acids for up to seven hours, and provides your body with a highly bioavailable fuel that helps build lean muscle mass and strength.

            All of ULTRAMET’s proteins come from the highest quality whey and milk sources. You are not going to find soy or similar “filler” proteins in Champion Nutrition’s ULTRAMET. When making a high-protein beverage, how it is processed and packaged is just as important as the ingredients that go into it. Many high-protein beverages use what is called retort processing, which is the method of sterilizing the product by heating it in its own container, usually a metal can, at very high temperatures (over 300 degrees).

            This is bad for several reasons: one, it denatures the proteins, leaving you with a less substantial and less-quality protein. Two, when heated, the metal ions “leach” into the product, giving it a metallic aftertaste. ULTRAMET uses aseptic technology that is minimally invasive to the ingredient quality. High temperature steam is injected into the product just before filling time and then pulled out. The liquid is then immediately packaged and sealed, creating a perfectly processed product.

ULTRAMET’s ALL MILK AND PROTEIN BLEND

            The patented protein blend in ULTRAMET’s Meal Replacements contains two main components: whey protein and casein protein. Whey protein is rapidly digested and absorbed, which shuttles amino acids into muscle quickly, but this effect is temporary. Increase in amino acid blood levels inhibits muscle breakdown and stimulates protein synthesis. However, research has shown that whey protein is oxidized (burned up) very quickly in muscle— in short, protein synthesis is stimulated acutely, but its effects are very short.

            This is where casein protein comes in. Casein protein forms a gel-like mixture in the stomach, which is slowly broken down over a period of hours. It makes the ULTRAMET formula work more efficiently, because casein proteins have a slower rate of digestion and absorption— and this gives it more time to fuel protein synthesis, and less into energy production. So now you can see how ULTRAMET’s Meal Replacements, by combining whey and casein, make a good combo for energy production and protein synthesis. The result is a highly bioavailable fuel that helps build lean muscle mass and strength.¹

ULTRAMET BEFORE BEDTIME HELPS YOU GROW!

            Unless you have been living under a rock these last few years, bodybuilders have come to know that whey protein is described as a “fast-acting” protein, whereas casein is classified as a “slow-acting” protein. Casein protein is a slow-digesting protein, because it forms a “gel” in the gut, which results in a steady release of amino acids into the bloodstream over time.

            Research shows that when you consume casein, you will reach a peak in blood amino acids and protein synthesis between three to four hours. The total release of amino acids in the bloodstream, however, can last as long as seven hours after ingestion of casein protein. For years, bodybuilders have been saying to take whey protein immediately post-exercise to get a rapid increase in protein synthesis, but take a casein protein powder at bedtime to maintain a steady supply of amino acids while you sleep... that sounds good in theory, but is there any proof to validate taking a casein supplement later in the day to enhance muscle growth? Based on a new study, I can finally say YES!

            Researchers examined two different timing frequencies of casein over an eight-week period in conjunction with a heavy resistance exercise program. Body mass, body composition, and muscular strength were measured three to four days before the beginning of training and supplementation (Pre), during the week (on Wednesday and Thursday) between the two eight-week periods (Post 8), and three to four days after the end of the second eight-week period (Post 16). The subjects consumed a protein supplement twice a day. The protein contained 70 grams of protein (82 percent casein), approximately 0.8 grams of carbohydrates, and approximately 0.2 grams of fats. The daily dose was divided into 2 equal portions. The subjects were divided up into two supplementation groups:

            Group A: Subjects consumed the casein protein supplement between breakfast and lunch (at 10:00 a.m.) and after lunch, 10 minutes before the training session (at 3:50 p.m.).

            Group B: The casein supplement was first ingested in the morning as in group A and then in the evening, 2.5 hours after dinner and at least 1.5 hours before bedtime; that is, at 10:30 p.m. The supplement was administered according to the same timetable on training and rest days.

            At the end of eight weeks, the researchers found that the group that consumed the casein closer to bedtime had increases in muscle mass, compared to the group that consumed the casein earlier in the day before exercise.² Additionally, the increase in fat-free mass in the group that consumed casein later in the day was related to the increase in squat strength. So the big question that the researchers had to address was: Why would consuming a casein protein powder later in the evening result in greater increases in muscle mass, compared to consuming it earlier in the day?

            In group B, the daily protein intake was spread more evenly over time, due to the ingestion of the second portion of the supplement late in the evening, approximately 2.5 hours after dinner, whereas in Group A, the last protein shake was consumed at 3:50 pm. The subjects in Group B spaced out the consumption of the protein shakes. This means prolonged duration of moderate amino in the system each day could lead to greater increases in muscle mass over several weeks. So it seems that taking a casein protein such as that found in ULTRAMET before bed is ultimately going to help you put on more muscle mass.

ULTRAMET After Resistance Exercise Increases Muscle Anabolism

            Taking ULTRAMET after or before exercise may be conducive for increasing muscle mass and strength. Since whey rapidly increases protein synthesis and casein blocks protein breakdown, a combination of both would be ideal.

            A recent study compared the effects of supplementing with either a combination whey and casein protein versus carbohydrate on several markers of muscle anabolism during strength training. Men participated in a 10-week resistance training program and either supplemented with 40 grams of carbohydrate or 40 grams of protein with a mixture containing whey and casein. Half of the supplements were consumed one hour before and then immediately after exercise on workout days.

            The results were overwhelmingly positive for the combination protein group of casein and whey. Despite similar background diets and identical training programs, supplementation with whey and casein protein resulted in greater increases in several measures of muscle anabolism, including greater increases in lean muscle mass, thigh muscle mass, muscle strength, anabolic hormones and muscle specific proteins.²

            In a similar study that lasted 14 weeks, men performed resistance training and received either 25 grams of carbohydrate or 25 grams of a combination whey and casein protein one hour before and immediately after exercise. The combination protein group had significantly greater increases in muscle fiber size, compared to the carbohydrate group. These studies provide strong evidence that a combination protein consumed before and after workouts increases muscle size.³

            You know that to reach your potential, you need your body fat at an absolute minimum while maximizing lean muscle and energy levels. ULTRAMET continues the CHAMPION NUTRITION commitment to improving your nutrition by combining seven different proteins. These proteins supply your body with a steady stream of amino acids that help support muscle recovery, strength and stamina. In addition, ULTRAMET is enhanced with L-glutamine, taurine and alpha-ketoglutarate, to help improve post-exercise recovery.

            Let's face it, sitting around and dreaming isn't going to get you the body you want. Instead, combine two to four Ultramet shakes a day with exercise and a sensible diet, and you are well on your way to enjoying your new body. Give your body what it needs and it will repay you by looking its best. ULTRAMET contains everything you need to support lean muscle mass:

            • 42 grams of high-quality protein per serving

            • Fortified with L-Glutamine and Taurine

            • Enriched with fat-burners and lipotropics

            • Formulated to reinforce your body's nutritional needs

            For more information about Champion Nutrition Products, please go to: www.musculardevelopmentstore.com/champion-nutrition.html.

References:

            1. Burk A, Timpmann S, Medijainen L, Vähi M, Oöpik V. Time-divided ingestion pattern of casein-based protein supplement stimulates an increase in fat-free body mass during resistance training in young untrained men. Nutr Res, 2009 Jun;29(6):405-13.

            2. Willoughby DS, Stout JR, Wilborn CD. Effects of resistance training and protein plus amino acid supplementation on muscle anabolism, mass, and strength. Amino Acids, 2006 Sep 20.

            3. Andersen LL, Tufekovic G, Zebis MK, Crameri RM, Verlaan G, Kjaer M, Suetta C, Magnusson P, Aagaard P. The effect of resistance training combined with timed ingestion of protein on muscle fiber size and muscle strength. Metabolism, 2005 Feb, 54(2):151-6.