Low carb diets?

Moonlitedi

If anyone is looking for Low-Carb High protein bread only 90 calories slice 16grams protein check out http://www.julianbakery.com/bread-product/smart-carb-1/

curvygirl77

Tried it and did not see any point to it---lost more and feel much better just eating in moderation and working out harder.

zebisis

Low carb works for me, and is a completely maintainable diet for long term. I have done it before extensively, but then got pregnant with my 2nd, and decided to just eat what I wanted. I gained 70lbs that pregnancy. My 2nd just turned 4 yesterday, and I am only NOW finally back into the swing of things enough to see real results.
I know it is really hard for some, and doesn't suit many. For me, though, it is the way to go. I feel mentally better, my moods are more stable, my energy is far less rollercoaster-y, and I don't struggle with the guilt. I am exercising a lot, and doing weight training on top of that.
Sugar is a drug for me, and I have issues with addiction, so it is best to cut it right out. One is too many, a million isn't enough, if you know what I mean.
Different things work for different people.
My carbs are REALLY low, though, under 20 or less net per day.
The elimination of sugar cravings that happens with low carb eating helps me keep my caloric intake at 1200 or less, and I really do see results when switching my lifestyle over to low carb. I really ADORE MFP. Being held accountable EVERY DAY for food is a huge benefit, and I have exercised more frequently and far more intensely since logging everything into My Fitness Pal.

Low carb: I love it... but people will always disagree on this one.

Silver_Star

it helps when your body is not burning carbs all that well...like MINE!!!:grumble: i lowered my carb intake and its going great!

Spartan_Maker

No, it means that how you represented yourself. My apologies if I misread. Sure looked that way to me based on your recommedations though.

You did misread. I accept your apology.

As for your last edit, humor me.

In response to your questions:

"Do you really think BMI is a useful measure?" For those who aren't black swans -- probably.

"Would you consider yourself obese?" No. I'd consider myself a black swan.

In response to your comment:

"The name of the site is MyFITNESSpal not MyObesityPal or MyWeightLossPal." Yes, it's called a euphemism.

It's not a euphemism. There are just as many people on here working on bodybuilding as well people trying to gain weight as there are people trying to lose weight.

To belabor the obvious, I'm one of those people, and to the extent that it's important at all, we're a significant minority, at best.

bcattoes

There are just as many people on here working on bodybuilding as well people trying to gain weight as there are people trying to lose weight.

Really?? There are a lot of bodybuilders and some people trying to gain, but I would think far more are trying to lose or maintain a loss.

CATindeeHAT

Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage. Insulin downregulates fat burning, as you've just eaten, and your body is switching to the food you've eaten as your main energy source. Insulin's main anabolic responsibility is to transport glucose into muscle tissue and vital organs, and regulate growth hormone and IGF-1. Fat can travel and store itself in fat tissue all by itself, no insulin required.

Yes, you are right. However, I disagree with your statement about insulin's 'main' responsibility, that I feel is more of an opinion rather than a fact, but you dead on:

Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage. It is responsible for the activity of lipoprotein lipases which break fats down to fatty acids.

More details:

---

Fat Storage

...fat in the body is broken down and rebuilt into chylomicrons, which enter the bloodstream by way of the lymphatic system.

Chylomicrons do not last long in the bloodstream -- only about eight minutes -- because enzymes called lipoprotein lipases break the fats into fatty acids. Lipoprotein lipases are found in the walls of blood vessels in fat tissue, muscle tissue and heart muscle.
Insulin

When you eat a candy bar or a meal, the presence of glucose, amino acids or fatty acids in the intestine stimulates the pancreas to secrete a hormone called insulin. Insulin acts on many cells in your body, especially those in the liver, muscle and fat tissue. Insulin tells the cells to do the following:

-Absorb glucose, fatty acids and amino acids

-Stop breaking down glucose, fatty acids and amino acids; glycogen into glucose; fats into fatty acids and glycerol; and proteins into amino acids

-Start building glycogen from glucose; fats (triglycerides) from glycerol and fatty acids; and proteins from amino acids

The activity of lipoprotein lipases depends upon the levels of insulin in the body. If insulin is high, then the lipases are highly active; if insulin is low, the lipases are inactive.

The fatty acids are then absorbed from the blood into fat cells, muscle cells and liver cells. In these cells, under stimulation by insulin, fatty acids are made into fat molecules and stored as fat droplets.

It is also possible for fat cells to take up glucose and amino acids, which have been absorbed into the bloodstream after a meal, and convert those into fat molecules. The conversion of carbohydrates or protein into fat is 10 times less efficient than simply storing fat in a fat cell, but the body can do it. If you have 100 extra calories in fat (about 11 grams) floating in your bloodstream, fat cells can store it using only 2.5 calories of energy. On the other hand, if you have 100 extra calories in glucose (about 25 grams) floating in your bloodstream, it takes 23 calories of energy to convert the glucose into fat and then store it. Given a choice, a fat cell will grab the fat and store it rather than the carbohydrates because fat is so much easier to store.

Spartan_Maker

tigersword wrote:

"Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage."

______________________________________________________________________

Are you prepared to confidently proclaim to hyperinsulinemic MFP members that insulin is not involved in de novo lipogenesis?

CATindeeHAT

tigersword wrote:

"Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage."

______________________________________________________________________

Are you prepared to confidently proclaim to hyperinsulinemic MFP members that insulin is not involved in de novo lipogenesis?

1.) I have type 2 diabetes so I fall into the hyperinsulinemic catagory.

2.) No where did I say that insulin was not INVOLVED - insulin is not RESPONSIBLE, but is most certainly INVOLVED.


If you believe insulin is RESPONSIBLE for fat storage, you truly do NOT understand the mechanism of insulin or how fat is stored in the body.

Spartan_Maker

tigersword wrote:

"Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage."

______________________________________________________________________

Are you prepared to confidently proclaim to hyperinsulinemic MFP members that insulin is not involved in de novo lipogenesis?

1.) I have type 2 diabetes so I fall into the hyperinsulinemic catagory.

2.) No where did I say that insulin was not INVOLVED - insulin is not RESPONSIBLE, but is most certainly INVOLVED.


If you believe insulin is RESPONSIBLE for fat storage, you truly do NOT understand the mechanism of insulin or how fat is stored in the body.

You're tigersword?

In any event, whether you're bouncing between multiple accounts and having a conversation with yourself or not, I agree with you that it's "involved"; that's why I asked the question and made the distinction.

By the way, I admire your enthusiasm throughout the thread and elsewhere. However, you're not going to inspire a lot of confidence misspelling words like "category" and "nowhere."

skinnyitaliannn

Maybe if you have energy on it. Tried it, sucked each day I worked out, I could barely run. I ended up binging out of deprivation. If you're fine with being deprived unless you really love eating just eggs, nuts, meat & protein shakes.. and can handle ketosis and the lower energy levels, great. Not for me.

heatherzitterkopf

I love eating low carb! I consume around 1300 calories a day and try to work out three times a week. I am loosing weight consistantly and have a lot of energy and feel great. I especially feel better with cutting wheat out of my diet. A good book to read is The Wheat Belly.

NovoActive

Spartan_Maker have you read the the post from KatasticCat?

Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage. ... Fat can travel and store itself in fat tissue all by itself, no insulin required.

Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage. It is responsible for the activity of lipoprotein lipases which break fats down to fatty acids.

---

Fat Storage

...fat in the body is broken down and rebuilt into chylomicrons, which enter the bloodstream by way of the lymphatic system.

Insulin

When you eat a candy bar or a meal... Insulin tells the cells to do the following:

-Absorb glucose, fatty acids and amino acids

-Start building glycogen from glucose; fats (triglycerides) from glycerol and fatty acids; and proteins from amino acids

The activity of lipoprotein lipases depends upon the levels of insulin in the body. If insulin is high, then the lipases are highly active; if insulin is low, the lipases are inactive.

The fatty acids are then absorbed from the blood into fat cells, muscle cells and liver cells. In these cells, under stimulation by insulin, fatty acids are made into fat molecules and stored as fat droplets.

In case you missed it... you quoted: The fatty acids are then absorbed from the blood into fat cells, muscle cells and liver cells. In these cells, under stimulation by insulin, fatty acids are made into fat molecules and stored as fat droplets.
and then you want to say

Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage

?
You just screen munched from:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/fat-cell2.htm
You just screen munced without reading/understanding what was written.

Pheeia666

They offer nothing, I did it for 2 weeks. Nothing really changed in weight loss department I use to get tired easily my mood would be all over the place and I just ate heaps of carbs later on down the track. In the 2012 Olympics a trainer said to his swimmer he couldn't eat any carbs for a year leading up to the Olympics he came 6th. Just goes to show its pointless but hey everyone is different

NovoActive

Insulin is NOT responsible for fat storage. Insulin downregulates fat burning, as you've just eaten, and your body is switching to the food you've eaten as your main energy source. Insulin's main anabolic responsibility is to transport glucose into muscle tissue and vital organs, and regulate growth hormone and IGF-1. Fat can travel and store itself in fat tissue all by itself, no insulin required.

Also, the average person carries roughly 12 pounds of glycogen/water. That is a significant amount of weight lost. A low carb diet depletes glycogen stores, as you use more glycogen than your body can replenish (the body converts protein to glucose through gluconeogenesis, but gluconeogenesis doesn't replenish glycogen supplies, as the body only converts as much as is minimally necessary to function.) This is why most people on low carb for extended periods of time have diminished athletic performance, a lack of stored glycogen. It's also why short term low carb diets tend to show a higher total weight loss than a more balanced diet, it's a front loading of water weight as the glycogen is depleted (which takes roughly 24 hours or so.)

I agree with

Insulin downregulates fat burning

, but that is partly due to the suppression of hGH (read: Effects of growth hormone on glucose, lipid, and protein metabolism in human subjects. available from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19240267 )

Insulin's main anabolic responsibility is to transport glucose into muscle tissue

--> not 100% true.
Liver glycogen replenishment also has a high priority as liver glycogen release is used to fuel the brain that can only use glucose (derived from liver glycogen) as energy when the body is not in ketosis (the only alternative brain energy source)
Also muscle cells only absorbing glucose will surely not be the reason for anabolism as we know you need the amino acids (from "complete proteins") to create an anabolic environment in the cell. And as your friend stated:

Insulin tells the cells to do the following: ... -Absorb glucose, fatty acids and amino acids

which is true.

the average person carries roughly 12 pounds of glycogen/water

---> Well is it 12 pounds of glycogen + water, glycogen OR water or is it the glycogen molecule bound to water? This is a bold statement and I might be wrong, but could you state your source for this information?
If you read from more credible sources (such as Glycogen storage capacity and de novo lipogenesis during massive carbohydrate overfeeding in man. available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3165600 ) you will see the figure is closer to 500 g ( or 1.1 pounds for the Americans ) not 12 pounds.

A low carb diet depletes glycogen stores

Not a given. This could happen if the body is not fat adapted and is still dependent on glucose as its primary source of energy.

This is why most people on low carb for extended periods of time have diminished athletic performance

Yes, because they do not know how to effectively train their bodies to use fat as their primary fuel source.
Read The Primal Blueprint, it will help in understanding this concept.

CATindeeHAT

In case you missed it...
You just screen munched from:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/fat-cell2.htm
You just screen munced without reading/understanding what was written.

I absolutely screen munched. Any idiot with a search browser knows that.

Their website explains so eloquently how insulin IS NOT solely to blame for fat accumulation. It is a VERY complicated system that YOU are misunderstanding.

Oh, and in case you missed...

The conversion of carbohydrates or protein into fat is 10 times less efficient than simply storing fat in a fat cell, but the body can do it. If you have 100 extra calories in fat (about 11 grams) floating in your bloodstream, fat cells can store it using only 2.5 calories of energy. On the other hand, if you have 100 extra calories in glucose (about 25 grams) floating in your bloodstream, it takes 23 calories of energy to convert the glucose into fat and then store it. Given a choice, a fat cell will grab the fat and store it rather than the carbohydrates because fat is so much easier to store.

NovoActive

"The name of the site is MyFITNESSpal not MyObesityPal or MyWeightLossPal." Yes, it's called a euphemism.

It's not a euphemism. There are just as many people on here working on bodybuilding as well people trying to gain weight as there are people trying to lose weight.

To belabor the obvious, I'm one of those people, and to the extent that it's important at all, we're a significant minority, at best.

lol I vote euphemism

Same here... initially all I wanted was too loose weight (reduce body fat %, to be more precise) and after I achieved that goal I switched to adding lean muscle mass so I no longer use MFP for the initial intended purpose as it is a useful tool for both.

NovoActive

Their website explains so eloquently how insulin IS NOT solely to blame for fat accumulation. It is a VERY complicated system that YOU are misunderstanding.

I agree it is a complicated matter. But look at how you have made a fundamental change to your statement

insulin IS NOT solely to blame for fat accumulation

All I wanted to point out was that it can increase stored body fat.

Oh, and in case you missed...

The conversion of carbohydrates or protein into fat is 10 times less efficient than simply storing fat in a fat cell, but the body can do it. If you have 100 extra calories in fat (about 11 grams) floating in your bloodstream, fat cells can store it using only 2.5 calories of energy. On the other hand, if you have 100 extra calories in glucose (about 25 grams) floating in your bloodstream, it takes 23 calories of energy to convert the glucose into fat and then store it. Given a choice, a fat cell will grab the fat and store it rather than the carbohydrates because fat is so much easier to store.

I missed this because it was not relevant to fat being stored by insulin. Here you are merely saying that fat cells have a preference of storing fat over protein and carbs (kinda obvious) and that energy needs to be spent to convert protein/carbs into fat. You are dressing a whole different ball game here.

I'm sorry I don't intend on stepping on your toes, but that is not really a good source for complicated topics like this. They water down a lot of the specific details so that it would be easier for laymen to get an idea of what happens. Rather go for text books and peer review articles. (and bare in mind they also don't always have it correct, that's the nature of science. We just try to explain things as best we can with our current knowledge and keep on working on improving it)

zeuse

There are numerous studies out there promoting carbohydrate restriction diets, they work flawlessly; they can be a bit much for a first timer though, a step up would be carb cycling, playing with your macros throughout the week in a controlled manner adjusting carbohydrates as you go along depending on activity. I've done and continue to do a low carb cycling diet, i can maintain, bulk and cut while doing this. If you'd like specifics on a low carb, ketogenic or cycle let me know, i'd be glad to help guide you.

-Dan

TonkaDanteFriend

Ketosis works wonders for my body.