From: jonathan@psych.psy.uq.oz.au (Jonathan Dwyer)
Subject: Extra iron and amino acids - Good or bad?
Followup-To: sci.med.nutrition
Organization: Psychology Department, UQ, AUSTRALIA
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 10:41:11 GMT

Hello all,
 
    A net-lurker arises...

I have a question to which  I hope  some  scientists  here  can
provide  some  answer,  as it is outside my field  (Psychology/
Statistics/Research design).  I haven't been reading this group
for long enough to gauge its politics, and hope that I will not
scratch any taboo subjects.   Of course,  from all the vigorous
flaming I _have_ seen here thus far,  I assume I'll surely find
out if I have done anything wrong:-)

OK, here goes, first, some background:

I'm 28 years old, a white anglo male PhD student and have eaten
a very  traditional western diet for years,  as well as smoking
for 11 years and  being  fairly  inactive  (no sport since high
school,  driving from home to  parking spaces inside  buildings
where I have worked, not much time spent outside).   Also, I am
an ectomorph, at 6'3" and 145lb for the past 5 or 6 years.

This year I began  weight  lifting,  stopped all  smoking,  and
changed my diet to dramatically reduce simple sugars,  alcohol,
fat and meat.   I have  increased my fruit and vegetable intake
to about 60% of my diet,  and grain products to about 25%.   To
further increase the number of  confounding variables (:-) I've
also increased my JuJutsu training regime,  walk about 10 miles
(alongside a  lovely wide river to get to work)  per week,  and
run about 20 miles (in nearby rugged mountain trails) per week.

I have always thought of  vegetarians as a little wierd,  and I
thought  "NEED STEAK TO GROW!!"  but now,  in stark contrast to
what I would have believed before I began all this,  I'm eating
less fat and  sugar and  meat,  and  many  more  vegetables and
fruit,  but I have put on over 50lb of muscle!   In case you're
wondering,  I am  definitely not taking any strange steriods et
cetera  (in fact,  no supplements of any kind, which is what my
questions relate to), and I am aiming toward putting on another
50lb, with working out and a careful diet.

Why do I wish to do this?  Simple.  It feels good to be bigger,
fitter and stronger than I was before.  I like it how I can run
further with less effort and generally feel much healthier than
I used to!  In fact, I've never felt so good in my life!!!

Anyway, my question is:

   I have seen some chemical supplements in the local health
   food store. These include amino acids to stimulate growth
   hormone release,  and iron and protein supplements.   Are
   any of these of any use,  or more importantly, dangerous?
   The ones I have noted as being possibly relevant are:

   a) l-arginine/l-orthinine tabs  (to 'naturally' stimulate
                                   growth  hormone  release)
                                   :-)))) for the naturally!

   b) Liver 10,000 tabs  (lots of calories,  amino acids and
                          apparently masses of IRON.   Can I
                          damage  myself by  adding Fe to my 
                          diet in this way, or should I just
                          take fibre-gelatin (as the man who
                          sells fibre-gelatin suggested:-))

   c) Protein powder (just what _is_  conventional wisdom on
                      this?  Should I buy some,  or just add
                      powdered milk to my morning smoothie?)


Thankyou for reading this far!

Jon

--
    __  __ ____
   / / / // __ \ Jonathan Dwyer (FAX+6173654466) 
  / / / // / / / Department of Psychology
 / / / // / / /  The University of Queensland
/ /_/ // /_/ <   St. Lucia, 4072. AUSTRALIA 
\____/*\_____/*  jonathan@psych.psy.uq.oz.au  
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition