Atkins Diets – Low Carb Diets
Here is the first episode of a two part broadcast explaining why people seem to lose weight on low carbohydrate diets.
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Tags: Atkins, Atkins Diets, Broadcast, Carb, Diets, Episode 111, Low Carb Diets, Low Carbohydrate Diets, Weight Diets
There is no “metabolic advantage.” When I was on low carb I FELT like I was eating a lot of calories too because of the higher fat food choices. BUT, without all the carb calories, I was surprised to find that I was taking in way fewer cals then I thought when I did an actual calorie count; how could all those fatty foods only add up to that much? But they did. Lots of eggs and cheese and steak and fish. But it only added up to about 1500 cals daily without all the carbs. LOST tons of muscle!
A lot of Low-Carbers report they eat a ton of calories. It’s the metabolic advantage.
Insulin is widely lauded for its direct role in muscle building…many professional bodybuilders on gear say that insulin injections result in faster and larger muscle gains than use of anabolic steroids
For sure with the low carb diet I did 11 years ago, I lost 45 lbs and about half of that was muscle. I took very careful waist/weight measurments along with the mirror; about 19 to 22 lbs of muscle lost. I believe that insulin acts more as a “shuttle” to push excess blood sugar into the cells to be stored (glycogen)and used for energy later. Any excess is converted to fat “I think?” No, I just don’t see any role insulin has directly in muscle building. I’ll have to get the books out and read.
I don’t know HOW he stays on high protein, low carb, low fat diet? Talk about torture. From what I remember he said like 350g protein, 40 g fat, 50 g carb? Something like that? You know, that’s what it might be. Because when I asked him what his total cal intake for the day was, he said 2000-2100 calories. But that would again put the majority of his calories,…like 65-70% from protein. Man that seems high!!!!
I certainly agree with Fats. Many benefits come by way of Omega-3 fats. They satisfy the stomach, they are healthy for all tissues, organs and brain function. I believe they do other things as well that help you get lean…and stay there. I remember the days of very low or NO fat. Diets were impossible to stay on and frankly people looked terrible I thought. I’m speaking about bodybuilders. I’m glad those days are gone. Glassy eyed, dried out, mentally zombied looking bodybuilding contestants.
To stay lean, I simply control calories. I don’t think I lower my carbs. In the Winter time (it’s cold here), I tend to increase my carb intake although if I had more discipline, I probably would not do that. I try to do more indoor biking during colder months to burn off excess calories..carbs or whatever and therefore I stay lean. I’m trying to figure out why insulin would play such a part in building lean muscle tissue? Why would it have when combined with protein, such an anabolic effect?
We NEED fat for homone production. Fat gets a bad wrap because people eat EXCESS fat and there a good and bad fats.Carbs also get called the enemy because if not consumed correctly they can lead to fat gains.
High protein /low fat/ low carb is going to make you skinny and unhealthy.Without carbs the body won’t get an insuil spike and insulin acts as a “shuttle”to push nutrients into every cell in the body. Fat promote hormones and hormones are what controls every function in the body.
Hmmm..O.K. I generally think of insulin as a hormone from the pancreas that’s released to control blood sugar levels. I eat natural carbs that reduce the amount of the insulin spike…or at least keep it on a relatively even keel all day. You’re saying that this increase of daily insulin into the blood stream will,..along with protein, increase the amount of muscle mass? I’m a little confused, but is that what you mean by “bulking up? ” I have NO idea how steroids would affect all this either!
He would have consumed carbs for their effect on insulin which is the most anobolic hormone( when mixed with protein). He would have bulked up to get to a certain size and now he is on a lower carb diet as he wants to stay lean all year round. I cannot comment on anobolic steroids as I do not know enough about them to understand your friends approach.
One other thing regarding my friend who’s a low carb bodybuilder. He didn’t always do low carb. I know he won our state bodybuilding title back in 2004,2005 and was consuming a diet of lean steak and buckwheat pancakes….sugar free syrup ect. He got very lean on that diet. Why he switched to lower carbs and higher protein I don’t know? I have to be clear about one point however, he does and always has monkeyed around with and cycled a certain amount of anabolic steroids.
The funny thing with my friend is, he is not high fat however. He consumes mostly protein, something like 350 grams per day of protein. His fat intake is minimal. He says he believes that the body needs very few carbs. So Dean is basically High Protein, Low Carb,.Low Fat. Which basically makes him…Low Calorie. He’s very lean. But actually so am I. We’re both 46 years old. So I don’t know. But what Steve relates in one of his Atkins videos as far as problems is what happend to me excactly
When it gets to the competitive level of bodybuilding and low carb, then I’m beyond my level of understanding. When I did low carb 11 years ago, as basically a powerlifiting athlete who did minimal, but hard cardio, I lost quite a large volume of muscle. It’s the only time I ever had that happen to me. I remember ending up suprisingly smooth..and weak, for all the supposed muscle building protein I consumed daily. I have a friend who is a State Bodybuilding champion,..who is low carb constantly.
That depends on how much quality lean mass they had to start with. If they were experienced bodybuilders with a lot of quality lean body mass then you would be correct but in this particular vid of Steve’s he would be targeting ppl who aren’t experienced and want to lose fat and maybe gain a little muscle too.Low carb/high(good)fat high protein diet is the way to achieve fast results. Steve has really helped me through my body tranformation but on this one he is wrong.Insulin does play a role.
Exactly.Last year I was obese and decided to go on a minimal carb diet of less than 30g daily while perfoming resistance training and cardio.I was in a state of ketosis throughout this entire period.I lost 37.4lbs (and gained muscle as I was new to lifting) in 14 weeks and then decided to take up a bodybuilding lifestyleI’m now almost at my heaviest weight with minimal body fat.Understanding the effects of carbs and insulin is the key to manipulating our bodys.Steves wrong this time but hes good
While the guy that made this video has a persuasive argument, the science doesn’t back it up, and you are right.
One word, ketosis. Your body does not enter into ketosis on high carb diets, even if the calories were the same between group A 2000 calories of carbs vs group B 2000 calories no/low carbs.
Bob will lose weight faster initially, but then it will slow. Rob will lose a bit slower but will lose a higher percentage of fat overall and keep more muscle. Large portions of Bob’s initial weightloss is water loss. Rob’s diet will be healthier AND more sustainable in the long run. It’s got larger volumes of natural healthy food, fiber, vitamins and minerals. His body in the long run will be better for not going low carb.This is a well known fact among most doctors, dieticians and athletes.
Everyone on YouTube is a genius.
I must point out that the human body is not a “calorie counter” ,it is a “chemical engine” therefore reacts differently to different macronutrient ratios.For example;take two identical twins named Rob and Bob. They consume exactly the same amount of calories and perfomed exactly the same amount of exercise everyday however Bob is on a higher fat/ low carb diet he will definitely lose weight at a faster rate than Rob’s low fat/higher carb diet. This is a well known fact in bodybuilding.
Insulin has nothing to do with it. It’s simply eating LESS calories even though you’re eating more fat calories.
I was once prone to agree with you, though I’ve been low carb quite some time and have lost weight, though I’m likely taking in more calories then I’m burning off. The upped fat intake normally seen w/ a low carb approach would seem to more than counter your argument for calorie reduction, fat has 9 calories per gram vs. 4 for carbs. The “mystery” which makes low carb diets effective likely has to do with the role of insulin as a “storage hormone,” which carbs spike.
I am hardly the one who’s inexperienced or misinformed.
I guess you haven’t seen all the studies showing greater weight loss in isocaloric low-carb diets than in higher carb diets. One study showed a greater weight loss on the low-carb diet even when it had 300 more calories than the high-carb one.
You are a little misinformed.
FATS are not COMPLETELY burned unless your body HAS carbohydrates!!!!!!!
Carbs are just another form of energy. if you have carbs in your system you will not burn fat. your body saves the fat because it is the BEST form of energy once broken down. the reason why low carb diets work is because your body runs out of carbs to burn and starts burning fat. but as an Italian giving up pasta and sweets is hard.