Low Carb Article on CNN.com

[tjsix]

"Low Carb diets beats other diets in study"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.....ap/index.html

[warrioe-sage]

Look back at all the oldtimers who followed Rheo Blairs diet. Low carb, Heavy cream, lots of meat, and lots of eggs. Most of them are still alive and well. I myself eat this way and have been doing so for a couple of years now. Just had my blood done not too long ago and all my levels were not only great, but low. My blood pressure was 116/69. I usually eat at least 6 eggs every day, raw in my shakes. But, But, But, I DO NOT EAT CARBS! I would never do this or recommend this to anyone who eats carbs this could be bad and lead to health issues in the long term.


I am 6' tall 218 lbs and currently am at 8% bodyfat at 36 yrs old. I also am able to maintain a 32" waist and an 18 1/4" arm. I currently ingest over 450 grams per day of protein I also take in 100-150 grams of healthy fat per day. I do not count carbs due to the fact that they come from fibrous vegetables and maybe 1 apple per day or perhaps some blueberries or strawberries in my morning shake.

Now if you are one who chooses to eat carbs as is the norm there is no way you could ingest this much protein or fat without getting FAT!!! So I believe diet type to be the single most important factor in determining how much protein you should ingest or are able to process.

cholestorol is more heriditary than dietary. Yes you can worsen your levels through years of bad nutrition habits, mainly by including all of these saturated fats with carbs. As we now know the carbs would go to energy production and the fats to bodyfat storage as well as circulating in your blood raising cholesterol and other blood lipids as well as causing plaque on the arterial walls. But unless you have a family history of high cholesterol you would have to practice some pretty lousy eating habits for years to cause any real negatives. I honestly believe that one can eat a very large number of eggs every day with no negative effects, as long as they aren't pounding the carbs.

Usually about an hour before I will drink a shake of 2 scoops of whey isolate in water and 2 tbsp of natural peanut butter. Occasionally I will have the same shake with only 1 tbsp of peanut butter and an apple if I have squats or deads that day. Always the same after its 2 scoops of hydrolized whey isolate in water and a 500 mg vitamin c along with a 400 iu of vitamin e. The hydrolized whey in water is the fastest way to get high quality protein to the muscles. The vitamin c and e is to fight the buildup of free radicals from an intense workout. Usually about an hour to an hour and a half later I will throw down a steak and a huge salad. Have done this now for almost 3 yrs and am bigger, leaner, and stronger than I have ever been.

Another interesting thing I remeber reading is how the benefits of lower carbs and the inclusion of higher amounts of healthy fats was responsible for what has been dubbed the healthiest country in the world. Crete. They have little or no incidence of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. Whats their secret apparently olive oil. They are said to even drink a small glass in the morning before heading off to work for energy. They also are not big eaters of the so called "Bad" carbs. But, even with all this being said. The funny thing I remember was that if an American doctor were to do a physical and apply American health standards on these perfectly healthy people, they would be appalled by their insanely high and "unhealthy" cholesterol levels. But at the same time us "healthy" Americans and our "healthy" standards are dying daily by the thousands from our #1 killer, HEART DISEASE. So how smart are we after all. Or are we just too arrogant to admit when we are wrong and that someone else might know a little more than we do?

I do not believe in bulking. Been there done that and believe me adding 5-6 pounds per year of quality muscle tissue is much better than bulking for 3-6 months to gain 20-40 pounds and then by the time you cut and diet it off you only gained 5-6 pounds of muscle anyway. I do however differ in the diet recommendations. I do not belive in eating carbs and have also learned with my own pysique that you CAN bulk to a certain extent on a no/low carb diet. The great thing is that you don't put on near as much bodyfat as normal bulking. You will not gain as much weight but most of what you gain will be muscle. Don't even measure you calories just eat a large amount of protein 40-60 grams at each meal and include 20-30 grams of HEALTHY fats as well. An example would be 2 or 3 scoops of protein powder in water with 2 tbsp of natural peanut butter. Or 3 eggs, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop protein powder, and 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in water. Make your solid meals a large portion (12 oz) of meat prefferably from steak, fat and all then a large green salad for the fiber. Try and eat some raw green veggies in large amounts with each of your solid meals, they are good for you and will give your body the fiber it needs. They also don't count against you in the calorie dept. You can also add certain fruits and natural honey into some of your shakes every couple of days. Strawberries, Blueberries, and you can eat an apple once in awhile. Just remember you can eat an unbelievable amount of steak and NOT add much bodyfat BUT you will add muscle. See what happens to you eating less protein and getting most of your calories from carbs. Even if you are eating the same amount of calories you will put on much more fat using carbs. Potatos, yams, rice, bread etc. will make you fatter than steak, chicken, and tuna in equal amounts but, the latter will add muscle and the carbs won't. And for your next question ENERGY. Yes for the first week or so your body will have to adjust but after that you'll be just fine all that fat from the peanut butter, meat, and olive oil is a much better form of energy than the starch and sugar in carbs. Just my opinions and some suggestions. P.s. you get to eat alot more food this way too.


If I am trying to get lean and maintain what I've got I take in no carbs other than one cheat meal per week. If I am trying to stay lean while adding small amounts of mass (.5-1 lb ) per month this is with minimal fat gain I'm only talking muscle gain. Anyway during this phase I will add a very small amount of select carbs early in the day only. For example strawberries and blueberries in my morning protein shake. And maybe every other day I will add a cup of dry oatmeal to my morning shake with the berries. Also I may sometimes eat an apple with my preworkout shake in the afternoon. But I do eat raw vegetables anytime I want and as much as I want without counting them as carbs or calories since they are what we call thermogenic foods. This means they basically require just as many calories to digest and process by your body as the actual calorie content that the contain so essentially they cancel each other out calorie wise. The good news is that you still get the benefit of all the phyto chemicals and nutrients that the provide as well as all the vitamins and best of all tons of great fiber which keeps your cholesteral good and your colon clean and healthy. Just be sure to stick mostly to the green leafy types as well as celery and brocolli and cucumbers. You can have one tomato and one carrot per day but thats about it due to the higher sugar content in them. Also you can usually get away with an entire cheat day per week rather that just one cheat meal.

As far as the thermogenic carbs go I can't remember what book/books I read that in but it's pretty well known by anyone that has spent as much time researching nutrition as I have. Raw brocolli for example. Look how hard it is to chew and masticate in your mouth alone then envision the remaining effort that your stomach and intestines must put out to finish the digestion process. This burns calories. Thus negating the calorie content of the brocolli making the caloric impact on your diet zero. As far as energy goes the idea that the human body needs carbohydrates to transform into glucose for use as energy is a complete falacy. Carbohydrates are a NON ESSENTIAL nutrient. I repeat NON ESSENTIAL. The human body can live it's entire lifespan without any carbohydrate intake whatsoever. On the other hand however the human body will die without the intake of either protein or fat. PERIOD!!! One thing magical about the body is it's ability to somehow find a way to get what it needs. For example even when given zero carbs the body can somehow still manufacture glucose from the fats and proteins that you take in. So once you go through what they call the "induction period" of the no/low carb diet and make the switch into ketosis (which means burning fat for energy instead of glucose) this usually takes 7-10 days with no carb intake. Once you are in full blown ketosis your energy levels will skyrocket due to the fact that fat is a much better source of energy than glucose anyway and pretty much anybody has an abundance of fat to burn even if you are fairly lean to begin with. I have made this a lifestyle for about 3 years now and have never felt better. Eating carbs causes insulin spikes as well as seretonin release in the brain which causes you to get tired and sluggish. Now my energy levels are off the chart. Just make it through the "induction phase" and you've got it made.

hope this isn't too confusing and is helpful.


The dietary and medical establishment have fallen hook, line and sinker for the "carbs are good, fat is bad" idea.

check these links;
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.paleodiet.com/

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/

http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/

this is an excellent article, and the author has also published a book debunking the carb/low fat diets.

[Starky1177]

^^^

Did you really just write all that?

Btw, good CNN Article, its good for shuttin up the parents

[Ouchburns]

Great write up! I am also an advocate of going low carb and staying low carb along with alot of other people that post in the Keto section! I too eat anywhere from 3-12 raw eggs per day in a shake and, I take them for breaksfast, I have about 2 thirty minutes before working out and 3 afterwards. They are awesome for building muscle aswell as burning fat.

[johnnyironboard]

It's not a CNN article they just carried it.