7 Reasons to go Low-Carbohydrate By Erick Minor

[tr]

Found this to be very interesting
And eating carbs only when they are needed (pre intra post workout) makes a lot of sense for maintaining the same bf or even droping bf while gaining some muscle at the same time

Over the past decade, research supporting the benefits of low-carbohydrate diets has grown exponentially. Even though
this research is backed by reputable sources, many folks are resistant to change and continue to adhere to the
conventional wisdom of calorie counting and low-fat eating. So, I am going to give you a few more good reasons to
adopt some variation of low carbohydrate eating if you have not already done so.

Low carbohydrate diets are NOT fad diets and they are not new; the first best-selling diet book, “Letter of Corpulence”
was written by William Banting in 1864. Banting, a London undertaker, chronicled his struggle with obesity and
explained how he lost 50 lbs in less than a year by following a diet that allowed ample amounts of meat, fish, poultry,
game, fibrous vegetables, some fruit, and a few glasses of alcohol. While ingesting his fair share of fat and protein, he
did eliminate milk, sugar, beer, potatoes, and sweets from his diet. Calorie counting was not possible at the time, yet he
achieved these great results not knowing how many calories he was consuming. Banting made the observation back
then that is blatantly obvious today; what you eat matters more than how much you eat.

I have been a low carbohydrate advocate for the past 12 years for one simple reason; low carbohydrate diets are the
most effective diets for achieving significant fat loss while improving health indicators.

My adherence to this style of eating stems from the influence of many exceptional practitioners, scientists and authors
but most notably: Dr Mauro Di Pasquale, Jonny Bowden PhD, and Gary Taubes. Gary Taubes, author of “Why We Get
Fat” and “Good Calories, Bad Calories”, has been a particularly convincing influence on my current beliefs relating to
health and body fat. Anyone who has an interest in health and well being should read “Why We Get Fat” which is an
easier book to digest compared to the thoroughly detailed and in depth “Good Calories, Bad Calories”. But until you
have the time to read any one of the books by these authors, I will share with you some nuggets of information that has
changed the way I look at health and nutrition.

1. Natural fats (including saturated) from animal and plant sources are not a cause of heart disease or obesity.
There are no studies that can directly link plant or animal fat intake to incidence of heart disease. Dietary fat has
minimal impact on insulin response, and since insulin is the fat storage hormone (which I will explain further);
dietary fat is not the cause of obesity. According to Dr Michael Eades, one of the authors of Protein Power,
“saturated fat is a completely neutral fat”. On the contrary, if you consume a high carbohydrate diet, the effects
of high levels of fats may be detrimental.

2. People get fat because they are inefficient fat burners, not because they eat fat. Carbohydrate consumption
which elevates insulin, locks fat into storage, and increases fat accumulation. When you decrease starchy and
simple carbohydrate intake and increase protein and fat intake, insulin levels decrease which allows fat to
escape from fat stores and be burned for fuel.

3. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage and appetite; when insulin levels are elevated due to carbohydrate
consumption or a metabolic condition, fat is unable to be released from fat tissue and any excess energy is
stored in fat tissue. Elevated insulin levels rapidly clear the blood of energy which drops blood sugar and drives
hunger.

4. Your hormonal profile determines you sensitivity to carbohydrates and how you store energy and nutrients. For
example, young males with high testosterone tend to send energy to muscles to be burned whereas older males
with lower testosterone tend to store more energy in fat tissue. Hormones determine where, when, and how
much energy is burned and how much is stored. As we age, hormonal changes can make you less efficient at
burning carbohydrates due to muscle atrophy which causes our muscle cells to become less sensitive to insulin.

5. Insulin sensitivity is going to determine, for the most part, how long you are going to live and how healthy you
are going to be. It determines the rate of aging more so than anything else we know right now” –Ron Rosedale,
MD. Low carbohydrate diets improve insulin sensitivity.

6. All diets that work have one thing in common; they lower carbohydrate intake through the elimination of
refined sugars and flour. It does not matter if you follow the Paleo diet, Atkins, South Beach, or any one of the
hundreds of registered diets on the market today; they all start by eliminating simple sugars and starchy
carbohydrates.

7. Low carbohydrate diets are more effective at decreasing body fat than moderate to high carbohydrate, low fat
diets. A government funded diet study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2007,
compared the Atkins diet, LEARN diet, Ornish diet, and The Zone diet, head-to-head for one year. The results
were clear; the Atkins diet was most effective diet for raising HDL, decreasing triglycerides, lowering body fat,
and blood pressure.

 

[Kaladryn]

I have been a low carbohydrate advocate for the past 12 years for one simple reason; low carbohydrate diets are the most effective diets for achieving significant fat loss while improving health indicators.

He's been trying to achieve significant fat loss for 12 years? I'd say it's not working. It's not about taking one macro "low" it's about balance. Sure if you are eating 70% carbs a lower carb diet is going to help.

 

[Swaglantern]

Low carb diets are definitely not for the endurance athlete.

 

[tr]

He's been trying to achieve significant fat loss for 12 years? I'd say it's not working. It's not about taking one macro "low" it's about balance. Sure if you are eating 70% carbs a lower carb diet is going to help.

well he wrote "I have been a low carbohydrate advocate for the past 12 years" he has not followed low carb for 12 years stright that's very clear.
I've seen on of his diets and it's 3 low carbs keto days with 1 high carb (400 or so) day and when you divide all macros you get and average 200-250g protein 100g fats and 100-150g carbs daily. Does this still means that one macro is too low?

 

[tr]

Low carb diets are definitely not for the endurance athlete.

Lifting weights is endurance activity?

 

[Cornelius]

Depends what you consider low....
I usually eat between 100-300 grams per day.
I include all sources of carbohydrate so the low days will be all coming from green vegetables and some carrots normally.

Taking out all of the carbs is some times an option for a very out of shape person....which never has been me so I never bother doing so

 

[jm425]

Depends what you consider low....
I usually eat between 100-300 grams per day.
I include all sources of carbohydrate so the low days will be all coming from green vegetables and some carrots normally.

Taking out all of the carbs is some times an option for a very out of shape person....which never has been me so I never bother doing so

I have to agree with you bro. I think that keto and atkins works great for obese people who want to lose a lot of weight quickly. I think for us bbers it can work to a degree, but it's not so great because w/o enough carbs dieting down, we tend to look very flat. Btw, you are looking monstrous!

 

[PHIL HERNON]

But

This diet looks nothing like the 500 pound 6500000 calorie PRO diet!! Who to follow??

 

[Adonis89]

While these methods work, they work to a point. Trying to be 200-225+ lean with full muscles and this may be tough to do with this approach.

Also, metabolically, I'm not all that much of a fan of taking nutrients in the body during anaerobic training. I think we need valleys to get hills - that's how energy distribution works. It's the same logic as dieting for a contest and then rebounding. During training we break down tissue (ideally glycogen fat and minimal protein) and then after training we rebuild. This is a cycle. The body works in cycles (as with the entire universe and everything in it). without working with these cycles and enhancing them, I think we're going about things less than optimally. Many ways to skin a cat but just my .02c from trying nearly everything meticulously, including this style of eating. It certainly works, but I'd say if one were to limit carbs to around a workout then pre and post workout carbs are great and let the body sensitize during training by not doing something unnatural - consuming highly processed substrate down. What I mean by pre and post workout carbs are a meal 1-3 hours pre workout and a meal around an hour following a workout. BCAA immediately pre and/or post training.

Why skip out on priming the body during training, taking advantage of the hormonal cascade that occurs for about 30-60 mins PWO and then rebuilding...

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Yes

While these methods work, they work to a point. Trying to be 200-225+ lean with full muscles and this may be tough to do with this approach.

Also, metabolically, I'm not all that much of a fan of taking nutrients in the body during anaerobic training. I think we need valleys to get hills - that's how energy distribution works. It's the same logic as dieting for a contest and then rebounding. During training we break down tissue (ideally glycogen fat and minimal protein) and then after training we rebuild. This is a cycle. The body works in cycles (as with the entire universe and everything in it). without working with these cycles and enhancing them, I think we're going about things less than optimally. Many ways to skin a cat but just my .02c from trying nearly everything meticulously, including this style of eating. It certainly works, but I'd say if one were to limit carbs to around a workout then pre and post workout carbs are great and let the body sensitize during training by not doing something unnatural - consuming highly processed substrate down. What I mean by pre and post workout carbs are a meal 1-3 hours pre workout and a meal around an hour following a workout. BCAA immediately pre and/or post training.

Why skip out on priming the body during training, taking advantage of the hormonal cascade that occurs for about 30-60 mins PWO and then rebuilding...

I COMPLETELY agree........I am glad someone also said this. Now, some people workout for 2-3 hours and do MANY sets and may be better suited for intra workout carbs/proteins.......mine take 45 minutes tops.

 

[Adonis89]

I COMPLETELY agree........I am glad someone also said this. Now, some people workout for 2-3 hours and do MANY sets and may be better suited for intra workout carbs/proteins.......mine take 45 minutes tops.

Definitely. My workouts are around the same length. Any more is inefficient, IMO, and better suited for endurance sports - which is what all these fast acting substrates were ORIGINALLY designed for (i.e. gatorade, peptopro, etc).

If people don't want proof of all this using physio/metabolic/hormonal evidence, then the simple objective logic is look someone's average favorite ~250lb pro. Watch their DVD's. I have barely ever seen one chugging 150g of sugar and amino's during their workout, lol.

 

[JonnyO]

I agree with all points made as well as other thoughts. But he is talking about losing body fat and we all know you need to restrict carbs to do so. Also he's talking from a health standpoint in managing insulin levels through our diet and I agree with. We need to take into account what high carbs for 1 person may be low for another, and vice versa. What are this guys views on building muscle and adding size, without taking the long road, we all know it takes a long time to build size obviously, but there are ways more efficient than others that will get you there faster.

 

[Adonis89]

I agree with all points made as well as other thoughts. But he is talking about losing body fat and we all know you need to restrict carbs to do so. Also he's talking from a health standpoint in managing insulin levels through our diet and I agree with. We need to take into account what high carbs for 1 person may be low for another, and vice versa. What are this guys views on building muscle and adding size, without taking the long road, we all know it takes a long time to build size obviously, but there are ways more efficient than others that will get you there faster.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you. Certainly the whole "carbs during/around workouts" is just a modified form of fasting, or at least carb fasting. I think that works very well, however I'm just disagreeing with "intra" workout nutrition for non-endurance athletes. I think for the most part is actually counterproductive, unless using something like exogenous insulin to force it to be productive..which I've actually tried and still disagree with ultimately. Again, just my .02. Many ways to skin a cat, some better than others depending on the person.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Agree

I don't think anyone would disagree with you. Certainly the whole "carbs during/around workouts" is just a modified form of fasting, or at least carb fasting. I think that works very well, however I'm just disagreeing with "intra" workout nutrition for non-endurance athletes. I think for the most part is actually counterproductive, unless using something like exogenous insulin to force it to be productive..which I've actually tried and still disagree with ultimately. Again, just my .02. Many ways to skin a cat, some better than others depending on the person.

After weight training I would sip on grape juice just before /during the treadmill but After training. Off season only

 

[Adonis89]

After weight training I would sip on grape juice just before /during the treadmill but After training. Off season only

I'd do something similar after a hard training session when not dieting. I'd eat a few glucose tabs with 5g BCAA or so. Anything that slightly elevates insulin will be good after really hard training. Just a little icing on the cake, WAY different from taking in massive amounts of substrate during/immediately after training. Doing so overly disrupts hormone signalling and growth factor activity. It only takes a little bit of insulin above baseline to blunt catabolism.

 

[desibaba]

I got in the best shape of my life following the Palumbo diet.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Sure

I got in the best shape of my life following the Palumbo diet.

I can see that for a short period of time......very short......its not a long term solution for growth however.........or health.

 

[Swaglantern]

Lifting weights is endurance activity?

Depends on how many times you lift them.

 

[jm425]

I can see that for a short period of time......very short......its not a long term solution for growth however.........or health.

I agree Phil. My best friend's PT used Palumbo to diet down for the Nationals a few years back and he lost muscle, looked very flat on stage and placed 14th or 15th. I can't remember it's been so long. His diet calls for a lot of fat consumption which can't be good for your health.

 

[Performance Based]

I COMPLETELY agree........I am glad someone also said this. Now, some people workout for 2-3 hours and do MANY sets and may be better suited for intra workout carbs/proteins.......mine take 45 minutes tops.

When everyone on the forum isn't bickering I love your posts buddy! Hope all has been well on your side.