Are Low Carb Diets The Best Way To Lose Body Fat

liftsiron

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Posted by Intimidor on WCBB
These days, the carbohydrate issue seems to be the burning question on the minds of nearly everyone who is interested in getting leaner. Not a single week goes by that I don?t receive an e-mail with a question about the low carb/high protein diet. Last week I got this one:
Are Low Carb Diets The Best Way To Lose Body Fat
"Dear Tom,


Are you a proponent of the low-carb diet for bodybuilders? Although this is hotly debated, I don't know many "ripped" bodybuilders that have not tried such a diet. Thanks."

It?s no wonder why there's such a buzz about these diets: everywhere you look lately there are low carb bars, low carb drinks, low carb meal replacements, low carb frozen dinners and so on. In the bookstores, The Atkins diet, Protein Power and Sugar-Busters have all been best sellers.

Even though there has been a huge resurgence in the interest in low carb/high protein diets, the low carb vs. high carb issue is still the subject of much controversy. For every "low carb guru" who says that low carbs are the ultimate diet, there is a "high carb guru" with the opposite opinion. This has caused a lot of people a lot of confusion.

So what?s the deal? Is the low carb/high protein diet the best way for bodybuilders to get ripped or just another fad? From a bodybuilding standpoint, the answer is an unequivocal yes; reducing carbohydrates really works! Most bodybuilders can't get that "ripped" look without some degree of carb restriction. Almost every bodybuilder or fitness competitor I?ve ever met uses some version of the low carb diet when getting ready for competition. The problem is, most people fail to take into account their goals and their unique body type, so they follow the advice of the latest "low-carb guru" and take the carb restriction too far. Zero carb or close to zero carb diets are in my opinion, TOTAL INSANITY!

The other extreme; the high carb, very low fat diet, isn?t the best approach for bodybuilders either. These diets (60-70% carb, 20-30% protein and 10% or less fat) were trendy with bodybuilders for a while, especially back in the 80?s and early 90?s (Remember Nathan Pritkin, Dean Ornish and Robert Haas?), but their popularity quickly faded. Those who tried it discovered that it wasn?t nearly as effective as the low to moderate carb, high protein diet.

Why does dropping your carbs help you lose more fat? There are several reasons, but to avoid getting into a complicated discussion of nutritional biochemistry, let?s just say that eating less carbs forces your body to burn fat for fuel instead of sugar. Reducing carbs and increasing protein accelerates fat loss by controlling your insulin and blood sugar more effectively. The high protein in these diets also speeds up your metabolism because of the "thermic effect" of protein food. It also helps eliminate water retention, giving you the "hard" and "dry" look you need onstage to win contests.

In my opinion, a moderate carb diet, with slight carb restriction (especially at night) is the most effective (and most "sane") way for bodybuilders to get ripped. For example, my contest diet is about 175 -200 grams of carbs with most of the carbs eaten early in the day. Every 4th day, I have a high carb day (350 grams) to replenish my depleted glycogen stores. By contrast, my off-season diet is 350 - 450 grams of carbs. With 175 - 200 grams of carbs, that is just enough fuel to provide the energy I needed to train hard and to prevent me from losing muscle.

Would dropping carbs even further to 30 or 50 grams a day (like many fad diets recommend) get you more ripped or get you ripped faster? Maybe. But the problem is, without carbs, you?ll have no energy to train hard. Sure, tuna fish and water will get you ripped alright, but if your workouts suffer because your diet is "killing you," you aren?t going to look or feel your best.

Another big problem caused by very low carb diets is loss of lean body mass. The lower you drop your carbs, the more likely you are to lose muscle along with the fat.

A third problem with very low carb diets is the rebound effect. The lower you drop your carbs, the faster you will rebound and gain the fat back when you add the carbs back in. I swear I?ve seen guys blow up 30-40 lbs in a matter of DAYS after their contest because they went on a carbohydrate and fat binge after a four-month zero carb diet. It wasn?t a pretty sight!

When I experimented with a very low carb diet, (about 40-70 grams a day), I lost huge amounts of lean body mass and looked very "flat" and "stringy." I was also one irritable, grouchy SOB. My friends nicknamed me "fog boy" because (sez them) I stumbled around in a fog-like daze. One friend who hadn't seen me since the previous year when I was a "bulked up" and carbed up 208 lbs, saw me 48 lbs lighter after the low carb diet (yes, 160 scrawny pounds) and he said, "holy sh** Tom, what happened to you? You're HALF the man you were last year!" That was the last time I ever tried an extremely low carb diet.

Nutrition is a highly individual issue. Some people can?t seem to lose weight unless they reduce their carbohydrate intake. Other people can eat bagels and pasta all day long and they have six pack abs. How many carbs you eat therefore, depends on your body type. Are you an endormorph or an ectomorph? Do you have a fast metabolism or a slow metabolism? Are you naturally lean or naturally heavy? Depending on your genetics, you might thrive on high carbs or you might need a high protein, low carb diet to get results. But beware: even if you think you are the carb sensitive, slow-metabolism type, the middle path (moderate carb restiction) is the most sensible way to go.

The only way to determine how many grams of carbs is right for YOU is to experiment until you find your "critical level." If you start dropping body fat rapidly at 200 grams a day, then why on earth would you subject yourself to the torture of going even lower and doing one of those 30-40 grams a day "ketogenic" diets? Why kill yourself?

Remember, there is no single diet that works for everyone. There are certain universal nutritional laws that apply to everyone, but be very careful of "gurus" who use the words "always" and "never" or who make sweeping statements like "carbohydrates make you fat."

If you want to get ripped, you should also pick the type of carbs you eat carefully - it?s not just the quantity, it?s the quality. In addition to moderating total daily carb intake, I also recommend getting off ALL processed carbs including bread, crackers, pretzels, pasta, bagels and switching only to natural, unprocessed carbs like vegetables, oatmeal, yams, rice, potatoes, etc. That single change will go a long way in helping you get leaner (and healthier too!)

The bottom line is that it?s not correct to say, "carbs are fattening," but there IS some truth to the assertion that a low carb diet will get you leaner compared to a high carb diet ? you just have to approach it in a sensible and individualized way. As in most areas of your life, going to the extreme with your diet will usually do you more harm than good.
by Tom Venuto
__________________
 
I COULD SIT HERE AND REPLY TO THAT POST ALL DAY..SOME BULLSHIT IN THAT ARTICLE...EXAMPLE ; NO TRAINING HARD OR HAVING NO ENERGY TO TRAIN NOR KEEPING MUSCLE MASS..AGAIN READ WHAT I WROTE ABOUT THAT IN THE "IM CONFUSED" THREAD


HE DOESNT SAY A THING ABOUT ESSENTIAL FATS WHILE ON LOW TO 0 CARBS DIETS..THATS WHATS HE'S MISSING..IN THE ABSENCE OF CARBS YOU NEED A MODERATE 'ESSENTIAL FAT INTAKE...

BUT IN A NUTSHELL,CARBS ARENT THE ENEMY, IVE GOTTEN RIPPED EATING CARBS UP TO 300 G DAILY , BUT IF YOU'RE AN OBESE PERSON OR WANNA GET LEAN IN THE FASTEST WAY POSSIBLE..KETO DIET WILL GET YOU THERE IN LESS TIME!!!
 
Im currently on the Southbeach diet just started ,i lose motivation easily.any helpful advice
 
no one can advice you how to stay motivated..that comes from within.
 
your right oly. i tried dieting befor without carbs. all the muscle and strength that i gain was lost its a matter of balancing them
 
Saw the following posted on another board this morning. No link to the study.

********************

Low-carbohydrate diets are notoriously difficult to adhere to for long periods of time. Many of my patients have tried a low-carb diet and lost weight, some over 100 pounds, but most often the weight came back... and then some. Repeatedly gaining and losing weight (yo-yo dieting) can slow metabolism and pose risks to your overall health. Now, scientific studies are questioning whether these diets are dangerous to your brain's memory function, too.

Slower brain functions

Researchers at Tufts University have found that dieters who strive to eliminate most carbohydrates from their diets scored significantly lower on memory-based tasks than did subjects who simply reduced the amount of calories they ate.

The study subjects included 19 women ages 22 to 55, 9 of whom were put on a low-carbohydrate diet and 10 on a low-calorie but balanced diet. All subjects attended 5 memory-testing sessions in which their spatial memory, attention, cognitive skills, and short and long-term memory were assessed. These sessions were conducted throughout the 3 weeks of the study.

After 1 week of severe carbohydrate restriction, memory performance among the low-carb group, especially when dealing with difficult tasks, gradually decreased compared with the low-calorie group. In addition, the low-carb dieters had slower reaction times and faltered during tests of their visual-spatial memory.

Feeding the brain

The brain uses glucose as its main fuel but has no way of storing it for future use. The nerve cells use glucose immediately for energy, and if they cannot get this fuel, they aren't able to operate at peak capacity -- potentially leaving you feeling forgetful or unable to concentrate.

I read a study recently that found students and others who continually challenge their minds actually require more carbohydrates, and thus, seem to crave carbohydrate foods in direct proportion to how much they have to exert their brains. Perhaps carbohydrate cravings in such cases are the body's way of getting the brain the fuel it needs.

This study only tracked the dieters for 3 weeks and the study's sample size was small, but the authors suggest that, although low-carb diets can affect weight, they result in a lack of glucose to the brain that may be detrimental to learning, memory, and thinking.

According to the Tufts study, the popular low-carb diets—and particularly the "no-carb" diets—have the biggest potential for decreasing the ability to think and concentrate, and may also negatively affect overall mood. This could be one of the reasons many people have a hard time sticking with a no-carb meal plan.

What you need to know

Although carb-free diets may seem appealing, aim for at least a moderate amount of carbohydrate in your diet. In my weight-loss/nutrition practice at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, I refer to clinical research findings that suggest that for optimal function the human brain needs a minimum of 125 grams of carbohydrate each day.

To put this into perspective, 1 medium piece of fruit or a slice of bread is about 15 grams of carbohydrate. So if you aim for 6 servings of whole grains per day for a balanced diet, that's 90 grams right there. Similarly, 1 cup of cooked rice provides 3 servings of starch or 45 grams of carbohydrate, while an 8-ounce glass of milk will give you another 12 grams of carbs.

If you aimed for 3 starches, 3 fruits, 4 vegetables, and 1 (8-oz) glass of milk a day, you're right around the 125-gram goal, which should keep your brain clear and your body energized -- and will supply plenty of vitamins, minerals, and fiber for a healthy, balanced diet. To find healthy meal guidelines, go to the USDA's MyPyramid Web site, or see a registered dietitian who can provide you with an individualized meal plan.
It's a good idea to limit the carbs from processed foods, such as those little snack packs containing 100 calories. They may seem like a bargain but they're generally devoid of vitamins, minerals, and fiber and leave you feeling even hungrier an hour later.
If you're not sure if your brain is really hankering for carbs or you're just bored, wait about 30 minutes before you eat and see if you feel either true physical signs of hunger or signs of carb deprivation (e.g., irritability, feelings stemming from low blood sugar, and shakiness or dizziness).
 
chocolate gives cancer if you eat it on wednesdays but not on Sundays.:rolleyes2
 
chocolate gives cancer if you eat it on wednesdays but not on Sundays.:rolleyes2

and drinking will hurt your liver on every day except your bday and nye.. it actually has fat burning properties on those 2 days :)
 

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