Protein versus Complex Carbohydrates In an article entitled “Carbohydrates—No Villain,” which appeared in Iron Man magazine, Vince Gironda, bodybuilding champion and exercise and nutrition researcher, makes a clear case for the body’s needs for carbohydrates. Even though the article appeared in 1978, his message is still timely:
I advocate a relatively low protein intake, about 45 grams per day. Too much protein creates a negative nitrogen balance, which in turn leads to gout, sluggishness, and liver and kidney problems. The body cannot digest more than 20 grams per meal, and anything beyond that leads to problems. At least one meal per day should be carbohydrates in the form of vegetables or grains, thereby giving the body a protein break. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated repeatedly that protein combustion is not higher during heavy exercise than under resting conditions, while on the other hand the body uses carbohydrates stored first before it turns to other sources. Even after depleting the carbohydrate deposits, continued exercise does not hike protein needs significantly. According to my research, athletes performing strenuous, endurance tasks such as bodybuilding, and burning up 9,000 calories per day, show no noticeable increase in protein needs. If this all is not enough to turn your heads, Dr. Per-Olaf Astrand, a famous exercise physiologist in Sweden, performed a study which concluded that endurance tends to decrease as protein intake is elevated. He discovered that a high-protein diet lowered endurance as well as reduced buildups in muscle carbohydrate, more than high-carbohydrate diet. Experiments by Christensen and Hansen found that in heavy work such as powerlifting or bodybuilding, the major participant toward endurance was, once again, carbohydrates. Also, the subjects were able to perform three times longer on a carbohydrate diet than a protein or fat diet. Probably the most asked question now is, if bodybuilding essentially is the tearing down and building up again of muscle tissue, then is not increased protein necessary for that process? The answer is no. A high-protein intake even after a sustained injury, 
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does not prevent a transient rise in nitrogen losses. Dr. Doris Callaway and a team of researchers found that animals fed three times as much protein as normal recovered no better than those on normal amount of protein. Now let us get one thing straight before we go any further. There is a quality difference between carbohydrates. Do not go out and load yourself up with candy and that type of junk carbohydrates. Carbohydrate loading with sugar is a mistake. Carbohydrates replace glycogen, which the body stores and uses for energy. Sugar in any form leaches the stored glycogen from the liver and produces nervousness, irritability, fears, doubts, and various psychic changes in the personality. The major sources of carbohydrates should be from, as stated earlier, grains, and vegetables.
Muscleman Advocates Low Protein Vegetarian world champion bodybuilder Bill Pearl (Mr. America, Mr. Universe) states quite emphatically that a growing bodybuilder simply does not need 300–400 grams of protein to reach his potential, and that there is absolutely no question that it is possible to build a high-class physique and be a vegetarian at the same time. Mr. Pearl believes that one can build health, strength, and muscles on 50 to 70 grams of protein per day on a well-balanced vegetarian diet. Pearl has been a vegetarian since he was thirty-nine and has been pumping iron for more than fifty years. He is now over eighty years old and weighs well over 200 pounds of solid muscle with Herculean strength to match. Pearl further says that vegetarian eating has had numerous positive effects on his body. His cholesterol gradually dropped down to a normal level of 198, and blood pressure lowered. His pulse rate and other physiological processes improved. One of the most dramatic changes was in his uric acid level. Previously it was so sky high that every joint in his body ached, he could hardly move his hands, and he actually thought he was getting arthritis. Now it has dropped down to zero. His energy levels are incredible, and he feels like a million dollars all of the time. The biggest change has been in his attitude toward himself and his fellow man. He is not as aggressive as he was in the past. Vegetarianism has definitely had a mellowing effect on him. He is a firm believer in sticking to convictions and says that once he began eating as a vegetarian, 
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he could not be swayed away from it by anyone: even if someone offered him $50,000 to eat a steak, he would tell him to stick it in his pocket.