Low Carb 101

[Accomplished]

This is an article I found in MD magazine, and I thought it was so good that I would share it with all of you. Of coarse, if your not into all that reading, I’ve highlighted the important parts, which may cause you to take interest and read that paragraph. If you like the article, please check out the magazine, availble at newstands! It's got a ton of awsome stuff just like this!

Victor’s Gym
By Victor Martinez

Low-Carb 101

Hey Victor! You are the man! I have a question regarding carbohydrates. In my office at work, everybody is super conscious of carbohydrates, as the general public finally understands what we bodybuilders have known for decades: too many carbs can make you fat. People have been asking me for advice on diet, since I’m the only guy in the office who can qualify as a bodybuilder. Unfortunately, I can’t give them many details, be I really don’t know much about how carbs actually affect the body and make you fat. I just know to cut carbs and fat when I’m dieting for a show. Can you give me a detailed explanation of carbs and body fat so I can break the stereotype of the dumb bodybuilder and let people know we can be smart too? Thanks, Victor. And I repeat, “You are the man!”

Hey, no worries! I know, I hate it when I ask someone for advice and all they can five you is, “I don’t know, I just do it man.” That’s not advice! That doesn’t help anybody, not even the person who is “just doing it”. You have to know how and why something works for you so you can implement it in the future and improve on it. So here’s the role carbs play in turning someone into a fat you-know-what.

Its taken a long time, but the mainstream public has finally caught on and learned to identify carbohydrates as one of the prime reason so many Americans are absurdly fat. In the struggle against obesity, fat itself has been labeled public enemy number one. A host of diets, menus, food plans, charts and pyramids are dedicated to reducing the amount of fat the population consumes. Entire companies are devoted to nothing but the creation of fat-free items to be a mainstay of the everyday diet. Is all this energy being channeled in the right direction? Is fat the culprit it’s made out to be? As any educated bodybuilder will tell you, no! There’s been a lot of noise concerning the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets and superior to low-fat diets for shedding unwanted pounds. The main staples of low-fat diets are invariable carbohydrates. Clinical studies have proven that not all carbohydrates are good for us. Furthermore, research is finding direct correlations between excessive carbohydrate intake and obesity.

Carbohydrates are abundant throughout nature and cover a wide spectrum of food groups. They are present in bread, rice, beans (rice and beans, one of my favorite Dominican dishes), dairy, vegetables and even some sources of animal protein. There are three main types of carbohydrates: sugars, starches, and fiber. Clearly they have a place in our diet, but exactly where they fit needs to be examined it greater detail.

All carbohydrates are made of sugar molecules, which can be either straight or branched chain. Fibers and starches are comprised of several chains, some of which contain hundreds of sugars. Carbs are often divided into either simple carbohydrates, which include sugars such as fructose, dextrose, glucose, and sucrose, or complex carbohydrates, i.e., those carbohydrates comprised of three or more linked sugars such as potatoes, rice and whole grains, among others. It was thought that of the two, simple carbohydrates were bad while complex ones where healthy. However, research shows there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

The problem is the body doesn’t distinguish between simple and complex varieties quite as distinctly as we once thought. Whether composed of single or multiple sugar molecules, the body breaks them down in identical fashion as single sugar molecules for easy absorption into the main energy source. Fiber is the exception to the rule as it’s indigestible and passes through the body.

They glycemic index is a relatively new and far more accurate way of classifying carbohydrates. It measures the speed and amount of blood sugar induced after consuming carbohydrates. A high glycemic index causes a rapid rise in blood sugar (spike) because the glucose is absorbed almost immediately. Candy bars and highly processed breads (white) all have a high glycemic index. Processed foods remove the fiber-rich outer bran, leaving the high starch endosperm to be converted to glucose at a rapid rate. Low glycemic carbs such as brown rice are digested more slowly. This produces a more gradual rise in blood sugar. Diets consisting of high glycemic foods that spike blood sugar have been associated with diabetes and heart disease.

The problem caused by high blood sugar is that as glucose enters’ the bloodstream, it must be cleared away to the cells for use as energy. Insulin, a hormone created in the pancreas, removes glucose from the blood stream to the cells. The quicker your blood sugar spikes, the more insulin must be created at identically fat rates, to clear the bloodstream of glucose. The insulin then transports glucose to the cells for use. However, not every molecule of glucose in the blood can be utilized. The excess amount gets stored in the cells as fat by insulin. The spike in blood sugar and insulin gives the body a temporary jolt of energy (the sugar high). Unfortunately, there’s an inevitable crash resulting in extreme tiredness and the need to replenish blood sugar. This in turn causes people to eat more, even though they aren’t really hungry. Carbohydrates seem to have a far more addictive quality than other goods. Of course, the body already has ample stores of glucose for energy, so what can it do with more? The excess is stored for future use.
With an abundant amount of glucose in cells for use, the body has little need to metabolize fat for energy. Fat is the backup source for fuel and is utilized in the absence of carbohydrates. In fact, your body can use protein for energy if necessary, in the absence of both carbohydrates and fat.

People who eat low fat and are having trouble losing weight need to look at the foods they’re eating. For years we’ve been told that low fat is the way to get lean and stay lean and healthy. Low-fat alternatives and substitutes to just about every kind of food are available at most supermarkets. We’ve assumed that because gram of fat has more than twice the calories as a gram of carbohydrate or protein, we’d do well to limit fats and consume carbs. However, many low-fat alternative goods are loaded with sugar and processes carbs to make the palatable to the taste buds. In fact, even tough the product maybe be low fat, it’s possible that due to the extra sugar and processing, it contains more calories than the regular fat content counterpart. Imagine what the sugar and refined carbs are doing to blood sugar and insulin. Unless blood sugar is stabilized and insulin production lowered, fat can’t be used as a source of energy. The stored fat in the cells with remain. Bodybuilders have known this for years. That’s why fat-free cookies and muffins are nothing but a joke. Only the uninformed would eat such foods.

Studies of the effectiveness of low-fat diets and low-carb diets on weight loss showed that after a period of six months, people on low-carb diets experienced more weight loss than those on low-fat diets. Low-carb eaters also had superior feeling of satisfaction after meals because protein and fat take longer to break down than carbohydrates. In addition, there were no insulin spikes to counter blood sugar spikes, hence there were no rapid energy bursts followed by fatigue and desire to eat more carbs/sugar. Energy levels remained stable throughout the day.

Ultimately all foods stimulate the production of insulin, but it’s a slow and gradual process that doesn’t cause erratic levels of hyperactivity followed by lethargy and increased hunger. That’s why I always recommend slow-burning carbs like oatmeal, brown rice and sweet potatoes.

Restricted carb diets help the body utilize stored fat for energy as the alternative to sugar and don’t cause rapid over-production of insulin. It’s time to see the real connection between all the nutrients we ingest and the effects they have on our bodies, our appearance and finally, our health.

[Accomplished]

Now that you know the ins and outs of low carbs, here are some helpful tips on how to stay on a low-car diet without killing yourself. First, here’s a list of the best protein choices, which are all essentially carb free (less that one gram):

Meats: Lean beef, calf liver, chicken, Cornish game hen, duck, goose, ham, lamb, very lean pork, quail, turkey, veal, buffalo, ostrich, venison, rabbit, other game meats
Fish: Bluefish, catfish, cod, flounder, halibut, herring, mackerel, mahi-mahi, salmon, sardines, scrod, snapper, trout, tuna, shark
Shellfish: Clams, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops, shrimp, squid, abalone
Dairy: Fat-free or low fat cheese, eggs

And here’s a list of approved vegetables and grains:

Vegetables: Alfalfa sprouts, arugula, bok choy, Boston lettuce, celery, chicory, chives, cucumber, endive, escarole, fennel, jicama, mache, morels, mushrooms, olives, parsley, peppers, posse pied, radiccio, radishes, romaine lettuce, sorrel, asparagus, avocado, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, beet greens, broccoli, brussel sprouts cabbage, cauliflower, celery root, chard, christophene, collard greens, dandelion greens, eggplant, hearts of palm, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, onion, pumpkin, rhubarb, sauerkraut, scallions, snow pea pods, spaghetti squash, spinach, string or wax beans, summer squash, tomato, turnips, water chestnuts, zucchini.

It will take a number of weeks before the body shifts from burning carbohydrates for fuel to burning stored fat for fuel. This mechanism is know as lipolysis, which crates ketones that are then excreted through the urinary tract .This state of ketosis is the desired result, as the body will use fat as the main source of energy to replace the now depleted carbohydrate stores of the body. That’s why it’s always recommended you ease into your pre-contest diet, allowing yourself a couple of weeks for the body to adjust.
Of particular note is the avoidance of sugar products and highly processed foods. Reading labels and being aware of ingredient is vital to successful navigation through the early stages of low-carb dieting. Sugar, corn syrup and white flour, staples of everyday menus, are to be scrupulously avoided. Sucrose (table sugar), fructose (natural sugar made by fruits) and dextrose (a form of glucose, found naturally in plant and animal tissue and manufacture from starch) are definite no-no’s. The following are red flags to be avoidedb: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, raw sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sucrose.
Beware of sugar-free items, which may still include starch, processed white flour, natural sugar and sugar-alcohols such as glycerin or malitol, so read labels carefully. Standards set by the FDA allow items to be counted as zero carbohydrates as long as the actually measure is nine-tenths (0.9). Be certain that you’re indeed eating a zero-carb item and not the FDA allowable measurement. When in doubt of the genuine carb count of an item, you can utilize this formula,

(fat x 9 ) + (carb x 4) + (protein x 4) = Calories

(Calories listed on label per serving) – (calories from calculation) = New Total

(New total) divided by (4) = Actual number of Carbs.

There are some major adjustments that need to be made when going from an off-season to pre-contest diet. Here are a few of them:

Hydration: Water is tantamount to maintaining excellent health. Water is necessary for lipolysis, the metabolization of fat cells. Water keeps the kidneys flushed to remove byproducts released from fat cells as they’re burned for energy (ketones). Carry a liter bottle with you everywhere you go.

Supplementation: Supplements can aid the fat burning process so you can shed those pounds at an optimal rate. The most beneficial supplements are CLA, chromium picolinate, carnitine, selenium, the family of B-complex vitamins, and flax seed oil, which is high in omega-3’s, a thermogenic aid. These will supercharge the body’s fat-burning engines.

Minerals: Potassium is a mineral that easily flushed out of the body via water because the body can’t store it. Loss of potassium may result in cramping and feelings of exhaustion. To avoid this, take adequate potassium supplements to remedy and adverse symptoms.

[b[When the body starts burning fat for fuel in place of carbohydrates, ketones will be released through the urine. Measure your ketosis by using test strips knows as Ketostix.[/b] These strips read your urine to determine if you’re in ketosis. It will turn anywhere from pale pink to dark purple. Darker colors don’t necessarily equal heightened fat metabolization, as they could be indicative of either the actual fat content consumed or a lack of water. The strips don’t distinguish between stored body fat that’s been burned or fat burned from ingestion.

Some people become obsessed with weighing themselves everyday. However, they fail to recognize the number of the scale also measures water and waste in addition to fat. Also, the human body, due to these and other physiological factors, fluctuates in weight from day to day. Once week is a more accurate indicator of your progress. Be consistent and weight yourself at the same time every week. Measurements are also a good way to track your week-to-week progress. Above all, use the mirror as your guide. If you’re looking harder and more conditioned as the weeks go buy, there’s no need to fiddle with a working plan.

Now you can impress your co-workers and spread the image of the typical bodybuilder as a well-read, knowledgeable and helpful egghead – with massive guns and pecs, of course (you don’t to take this bookworm thing too far). Of course, I’ve given you far more information that requested, but I was anticipating your next questions. In any case, I would suggest not unleashing all this information at once. Throw your office mates a tidbit every now and then to keep them coming back for more.

Muscular Development, Volume 43, Number 1, January 2006, pages 344-346.

[Accomplished]

I do bolding on large article's to avoid any Collin's, although I'm sure I'll still get one from one or two people