Low carb, No carb, ketogenic dieting.....MY opinion!!
I will start by saying that this, IN NO WAY, is an attack against anybody's personal views or opinions. It is simply MY take on what I feel is a dangerous and unhealthy dieting practice. I see more and more posts/threads asking about these types of eating plans and I truly believe that it has no place in attempting to build a healthy looking fully functioning physique.
First a little history lesson (I hope I do TNT proud). The ketogenic diet was written by UCLA kinesiology student Lyle MacDonald. He suggested that by limiting the amount of carbs ingested your body is forced into a state of ketosis where it burns fat for energy. Ther are several other's who have written about, and made money from ,the same concept...Dr. Roberta Atkins, Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale and Dan Duchaine (Body Opus). It works for quick fat loss and that's why many bodybuilders use it as they get close to contest time. But it is NOT healthy and should NEVER be followed for long periods of time. Here is why.
First of all, using ketones for energy causes tremendous metabolic stress. It works short term and causes a dramatic loss of weight but it's temporary and due mostly to dhydration...not fat loss. It causes you to have low blood sugar levels and places an undue amount of strain on the kidneys. Since the brain requires carbohydrates for fuel limiting carbs can lead to dizziness, disorientation and nausea. Also, you can expect energy levels to drop drastically, your breath becomes terrible because of the rotting meat and fat in your gut, bowel movements are strained and your muscles fatten out...people will not even think you touch weights let alone train hard. This process (depleting the body of carbs) is also extremly catabolic so expect to lose alot of muscle as well. Bottom line here folks is, this is a very un-natural and un-healthy state to put your body in for the sake of a few pounds.
Re: Low carb, No carb, ketogenic dieting.....MY opinion!!
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pete235
I will start by saying that this, IN NO WAY, is an attack against anybody's personal views or opinions. It is simply MY take on what I feel is a dangerous and unhealthy dieting practice. I see more and more posts/threads asking about these types of eating plans and I truly believe that it has no place in attempting to build a healthy looking fully functioning physique.
First a little history lesson (I hope I do TNT proud). The ketogenic diet was written by UCLA kinesiology student Lyle MacDonald. He suggested that by limiting the amount of carbs ingested your body is forced into a state of ketosis where it burns fat for energy. Ther are several other's who have written about, and made money from ,the same concept...Dr. Roberta Atkins, Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale and Dan Duchaine (Body Opus). It works for quick fat loss and that's why many bodybuilders use it as they get close to contest time. But it is NOT healthy and should NEVER be followed for long periods of time. Here is why.
First of all, using ketones for energy causes tremendous metabolic stress. It works short term and causes a dramatic loss of weight but it's temporary and due mostly to dhydration...not fat loss. It causes you to have low blood sugar levels and places an undue amount of strain on the kidneys. Since the brain requires carbohydrates for fuel limiting carbs can lead to dizziness, disorientation and nausea. Also, you can expect energy levels to drop drastically, your breath becomes terrible because of the rotting meat and fat in your gut, bowel movements are strained and your muscles fatten out...people will not even think you touch weights let alone train hard. This process (depleting the body of carbs) is also extremly catabolic so expect to lose alot of muscle as well.
Many have taken the opposite stance in claiming that ketones are anti-catabolic. There is certainly logic behind why the body in a state of ketosis would be sparing on muscle protein. Think about it, your body is programmed for survival. When your body is shifted to metaboling fat and ketones, less protein is converted to glucose. Next, excreting ketones via the kidneys has shown to be nitrogen sparing in which the kidneys produce ammonia which requires nitrogen in order to balance out the pH due to the acidic nature of ketones.
Re: Low carb, No carb, ketogenic dieting.....MY opinion!!
Quote:
Originally posted by Pete235
your breath becomes terrible because of the rotting meat and fat in your gut, bowel movements are strained and your muscles fatten out...people will not even think you touch weights let alone train hard.
I've done the Body Opus many times and I've had great results. I always get leaner and stonger but then that is what the diet is supposed to do. It does it well and fast.
The bad breath is not from rotting meat but from ketones. As they can't be stored as fat they have to be expelled in some way. This is accomplished by working out, they are sweated out, and also breathed out (hense the bad breath and stinky urine).
I used the diet for my last contest and my muscles were full and hard (I did do the glycogen super-recomposition phase prior to the contest).
One thing the body opus does do is lower your blood pressure and blood sugar level. You do dehydrate at first but I always drink tones of water and on the weekend carb load it is never a problem.
Keto diets are bad for people that are inactive and never should be done for more than 8 weeks at a time. I also don't think that anyone should stay in ketosis for more than 5 days at a time either.
As far as strength goes you're always stronger after the carb up (body opus is 5 day carb deplete and 2 day carb load). over all though you're strength will go up. On the last day of carb depleteing I've notice that while I'm still strong I don't have a lot of staying power in an exersice, I'd say that my one rep max would stay the same. Endurance is there for cardio if you don't move too fast.
The brain loves the old ketones too! I've found that sometimes when my feet feel slugish my brain is still working.
It's not for everyone but it works good for me.
Re: Why I love the Keto diet
Quote:
Originally posted by demetri
Here's some before and after picture's of me. The before was taken on March 14 and the after was April 27.
Props bro Props..you made quite the trasition....good luck in september..keep us up to date on progress.