Low Carb Dieting 101 - by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale
Low Carb Dieting 101 - The Different Diets
In the low carb group of diet gurus there are proponents of every level of dietary carbohydrate intake from the almost zero amounts espoused by the ketogenic diet used to treat some forms of epilepsy in children to the Zone diet that proposes that only 40% of the daily calorie intake come from carbohydrates.
First of all let me state that for weight loss purposes all diets work. All it takes is a drop in calories to a level below your calorie needs. The proponents of the lower carb diets feel that the type of weight lost is as important as the amount of weight lost. As such they feel that conventional high complex carb, low fat diets result in the loss of lean body mass, especially all important muscle, and less fat than the same amount of weight lost with a carbohydrate reduced diet.
Also, it’s important to realize that the low carb diets run counter to the general dietary rules that are accepted by physicians, dieticians and other health professionals. The low carb diet is seen as an unhealthy fad diet; in some ways it is. Especially in its ketogenic mode where an excess of ketones build up in the body and are excreted and detected in the urine. Detractors to the ketogenic diets maintain that the ketosis is dangerous and can lead to life threatening ketoacidosis. Proponents of the diet, on the other hand, maintain that the dangerous ketoacidosis seen in diabetics is unlikely to result from dietary manipulation. There are various reasons put forward and some validity for both claims.
Dietary ketosis, whether or not it can lead to the dangerous ketoacidosis, is not a desirable state to stay in. That’s because it is a starvation state and leads to excessive muscle catabolism if it’s allowed to continue unabated for any length of time. As such, at least in the case of continuous ketosis, the results on muscle mass and energy can be counterproductive for anyone who exercises as chronic ketosis is conducive to losses in muscle mass, strength and exercise performance.
Another criticism of the low carb diets is that it decreases muscle and liver carbohydrate stores, in the form of glycogen, and as such decreases one’s ability to do useful high intensity and endurance exercise.
Studies have shown that athletic performance, both high intensity and endurance, is dependant on muscle and liver glycogen stores. As such, the general consensus is that a lower carb diet will decrease glycogen stores and will impair performance. On the other hand, many recent studies have shown that acclimatization to a lower carb diet results in endurance performance on par or even greater than those on higher carb diets and higher initial body glycogen stores.
That’s because the body tends to preserve its glycogen stores and use fatty acids as a primary source of energy. The end result is, even though there is less glycogen in the muscles and liver, it lasts longer and performance, rather than suffering, may actually improve.
And it’s the same in our everyday lives. If we decrease dietary carbs then the body will utilize both dietary and body fat for energy, sparing the initially lower levels of glycogen and also sparing the use of amino acids, obtained to some extent by cannibalizing skeletal muscle.
On the other hand if we decrease carbs too much, and the amount depends on the individual, as we’ll see later, then both liver and muscle glycogen will be at a constantly depleted state with not enough glycogen to support any type of beneficial exercise. Also the state of ketosis that is present under these circumstances presents its own set of problems as mentioned above.
