The result, both at rest and after exercise, is incomplete
fat metabolism and the accumulation of acid by-products
called ketone bodies. This situation can lead to a
harmful increase in the acidity of the body fluids,
a condition called acidosis or ketosis.
The ketogenic diet was conceived in the 20s by doctors
in France and the United States. They discovered that
prolonged starvation promotes ketosis as the body
uses its fat reserves. So, they devised a way to mimic
the chemistry of starvation through diet.
The current diet revolution is nothing new, it's
just an adaptation of these old concepts. The problem
is, most people get their information from uninformed
sources which fail to understand the scope of their
recommendations.
Low Carbohydrate Diet - What You
Need To Know
If you've started a higher-fat, lower-carbohydrate
diet then there are a few things you should know:
1) By reducing carbohydrates you will see a drop
of body weight and body fat. However, if you drop
them too low while exercising, you could alter your
body's T3 levels.
T3 is an active thyroid molecule that helps regulate
your metabolic rate. Diets low in carbohydrate tend
to cause a reduction of T3, which in turn can slow
down your metabolic rate. This is particularly true
for people who under-eat and over-exercise.
2) A lot of the weight you drop while on a low-carbohydrate
diet is water weight. For every gram of carbohydrate
you ingest, about three to five grams of water usually
accompany it. By decreasing your carbohydrate intake
you naturally drop body water.
Although this may sound like a good idea, when you
resume eating carbohydrates you may find that your
body rebounds and retains excess water. The water
retention will dissipate after several days, but it
wreaks havoc on the dieter's mental state.
3) During the 70s, clinicians began noticing that
people that followed the Atkins' diet regained their
weight very rapidly once they ceased the diet. In
fact, they found the longer a person had been on the
low-carbohydrate diet, the more carbohydrate sensitive
they became.
Further, when this diet was combined with exercise
it caused people to become even more carbohydrate
sensitive. This could be the devastating pitfall,
because once the low-carbohydrate diet has ended,
and the person tries to resume eating carbohydrates,
his body tends to horde and store the carbohydrates
as opposed to using them for energy.
The person notices a fast accumulation of body water
that's followed by an abnormally fast body fat gain.
Although the water weight will eventually drop off,
the person notices that he gains body fat very easily,
but loses it more slowly in the future.
4) Carbohydrates provide a "protein sparing"
effect. Under normal circumstances protein serves
a vital role in the maintenance, repair, and growth
of body tissues. When carbohydrate reserves are reduced
the body will convert protein into glucose for energy.
This process is called gluconeogenesis. The price
that's paid is a reduction in the body's protein stores.
In other words muscle! All, in turn, causes the metabolic
rate to slow down as well.
5) There's another problem that eating too little
carbohydrate creates. Your muscle fullness depends
to a large extent on your carbohydrate intake. Low
carbohydrate levels tend to make muscles lose their
density and flatten out.
Carbohydrates are a great source of fuel, so not
eating enough can lower your energy level and make
your muscles feel softer.
6) These diets focus on the relationship between
carbohydrates and insulin (a hormone that shuttles
fuel into fat). However, their suggestion that insulin
exerts negative effects is not only misleading, it's
downright flawed.
Insulin does play a role in fat storage, but it also
causes glucose to be shuttled into muscle cells as
well. Our diets should keep blood levels of insulin
as stable as possible, not try to suppress its release.
7) On the flip side, you'd have to be totally out-of-the-loop
if you haven't heard that more fat increases your
risk of heart disease, cancer, and obesity. Naturally,
everyone wants to hear that they can eat fats and
lose weight. I guess if you want to look good in your
coffin, then it's okay with me.
I've always disagreed with the American Dietetic
Association and the idea that 30 percent fat is healthy.
I believe that a diet of 20 percent or less fat poses
a substantial health benefit as well as a reduced
risk of obesity.
It amazes me that this diet is back. Are people's
memories really that short that they can't remember
the reason that the Atkins' diet vanished the first
time?
Consider what bodybuilders learned years ago. During
the 70s and early 80s, every major bodybuilding competitor
dieted on a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet, yet most
of them ended up very smooth and not very well defined.
The bodybuilders of the late 80s and 90s have improved
dramatically. By having a diet high in protein, low
fat, and moderate in carbohydrates, some of the best
physiques ever have been produced.
Some confusion about carbohydrates could stem from
the fact that people see and hear bits and pieces
of information from gym buddies and accept the information
as fact.
While it is true that as a contest nears bodybuilders
decrease their carbohydrates, that doesn't mean that
cutting back excessively yields better results.
Over the years I have found that by removing the
starch at the final meal during the last three to
four weeks before a show, bodybuilders tend to get
very tight and more defined. And for others, a biased
article designed to sell books placed prominently
in a major magazine could be all it takes to attract
everyone's attention.
When you hear people talking about a "new"
diet approach, stop and ask yourself does it follow
healthy guidelines? Does the diet call for measures
that you cannot do for life? If so, don't even try
it.
>>
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