High fat/ low carb?
mike_gee15
Posts: 46
How exactly does that work? I lift weights often, but I don't train in the crossfit way, more like bodybuilding. I've recently incorporated some crossfit into my workout regimens and I gotta say, I love it.. but this paleo diet is on my mind right now. How exactly does the low carb, but high fats work? Someone care to explain?
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bump, I eat paleo as well and weight lift, no crossfit , curious too
...however my BF has gone down 3% in 3 months from 19 to 16% 0 -
Check out the Mark's Daily Apple website, lots of useful info there.0
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As crazy as it sounds, eat the whole egg not just the whites, include the skin when you eat meat, eat whole fat coconut milk,organ meat, avocados, fatty fish. If you go primal and indulge in dairy - seek out high fat dairy. These things, and avoiding grains should result in what, in comparison to the standard diet, is low carb, high fat. (Avoid non-natural seed oils. As metioned by other posters, Mark's Daily Apple is an excellent resource.
Suposedly, this works by encouraging your body to burn fat as fuel (even munching away on your own stored fat). Fat has a nutral effect on blood sugar so insulin spikes are avoided. Fat encourages saity - reducing cravings. There are also certain nutrients which are fat soluble and more available when you include fat in your meal.
I wonder though, if you reduce insulin production, if that would also inhibit muscle growth? Any other posters have an answer?
Good luck!0 -
Hope I don't confuse anyone, but my understanding of the whole process is this:
When we consume carbs, the carbs are broken down into glucose, which enters the blood stream and causes spikes in blood sugar. Your body then signals the pancreas to release Insulin. Insulin instructs the liver and muscles to absorb glucose from the blood. The liver then converts the glucose into glycogen, which is used as fuel for the body to function. Muscle glycogen is used exclusively as an agent for muscle activity. However, there is only a limit to how much glycogen can be stored, therefore any additional glucose is converted into fatty acids and packaged into lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are then transported to adipose tissue for conversion into fat and fat cells become increasingly larger, until they split and produce more fat cells.
Beyond the bloodstream, the body can only store a few hundred grams of glucose. The amount any individual can store varies amongst size and body composition, but the high mark is around 100-150 grams, which can be used in one day from normal activities. If you are extremely active and depleting your storage, then your requirement would be higher.
When your insulin is active, another hormone is inactive Glucagon, which has the opposite effect of insulin. Between meals, Glucagon levels rise, activating Lipase release to stored fat from adipose tissue cells and supplies fuel for most of the body's organs until the next meal. Essentially Glucagon puts our body into a burning mode, so in order for our body to stay in a fat burning mode, we have to ensure the ratio of Glucagon to Insulin is higher. Fat does not cause insulin spikes, allowing us to continue to burn fat. However, everything must be taken in moderation, too much fat can also cause you to only use dietary fat, and not stored fat.0 -
I like Mark. I think he's a great guy with an amazing information and is a great entrance point on the way to a Primal/Paleo lifestyle. Out of all Paleo "celebrities" I rank him at the top. He's just plain awesome.
That said, I HATE the carbohydrate curve.
It's lead far too many people to believe that Paleo/Primal is low carb. It's not. No matter how many times people say "it's hard to eat lots of carbs on a Paleo diet", that's not true at all; I eat 200g or more carbs a day, and haven't gained "insidious weight". I just get my carbs from safe starch sources such as sweet potatoes, potatoes and white rice. Also, fruit if I feel like it.
Sure, t's low carb if you compare it to SAD - which involves the consumption of 4000+ kcal a day, a majority of which is processed food.
I won't deny that a higher fat intake leads to greater satiation and is great for people who aren't all too physically active, but I believe for someone who is active and strength training, carbs are absolutely necessary. Hell - anyone can enjoy sme carbs, even the "sedentary".
My advice? Well, it's advice you'll hear a lot around the forums, really. So long as you're counting calories, eat around 1g Protein for every lb of bodyweight or LBM and .5g fat respectively. From there, my can fill your calories with whatever you like. Add more protein? No real benefit. Add fat? Slower burning energy, essentially if you fill all the remaining calories with this, you have low carb.
I suggest as a strength trainer, for maximum results, get the rest of your calories from carbs. I also suggest those carbs come from potatoes. Maybe rice, if you can take it.
This is just my two cents, anyway, from my experience. I eat 200-300+ carbs a day, strength train 3-4 times a week for about 45-60 minutds and spend the rest of the time lazing around on the interwebz or playing video games, and have yet to experience "insidious" weight gain. And I'm TRYING to gain.
....so, TL;DR: There is no real advantage I can think of eating hgh fat low carb other than satiation and to sustain slow endurance activities, such as walking. For someone lifting heavy, eat dose dere carbs. They're tasty.
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Fullofspice and Howl_Sharowkn have good advice....
The main point is: substituting fat for energy instead of carbs/sugar.
All carbs get converted into glucose, and get used first (as energy if you're active, or converted to fat if you're not) because glucose in the bloodstream cause a host of long term, systemic issues. Fat, on the other hand is what the body is meant to use for energy - which is why our bodies store it.
A low-carb lifestyle allows you to wean yourself from a reliance on (and hassles from) glucose for energy: insulin spikes and crashes, energy walls while exercising, etc. Whatever Howl's personal carb needs are, most people do best on Mark's recommendations - he does mention that if one is physically very active, they may need to supplement their carb intake by adding additional safe carbs like Howl does.0
