No carb diet-> Body will use fat THEN muscle

[JEDI]

from what I understand, the body gets it calories from 3 sources:
carbs
fat
protein

is the gist of no/low carb diet (ie: Atkins), the body will burn fat before it burns muscle?

 

[z1ggy]

I think the idea of the low carb (border line ketosis) diet is you'd burn more fat when you are in a catabolic state. I feel crappy though when I don't have many carbs, and recovery for muscle tissue will be much slower.

I haven't read enough on the subject though to really know a ton. Would be interested to read controlled studies of subjects where 1 group is on a low carb diet, and another is on a non-low carb diet. See the resulting body comps after 12 weeks or something.

 

[gar655]

from what I understand, the body gets it calories from 3 sources:
carbs
fat
protein

is the gist of no/low carb diet (ie: Atkins), the body will burn fat before it burns muscle?

Don't think it's something that can be done long term. Not good if you do any type of endurance work.

And it makes your breath stink.

 

[Kaido]

Read up on the Keto diet:

https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/27vx2z/beginners_guide_to_keto/

A little more in-depth:

https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/2ck0fb/how_keto_works_for_the_layman/

 

[adamantine.me]

I was looking at that post a few weeks ago, Kaido. It seemed interesting but I do endurance workouts so probably a no go for me.

I was curious to try it out, as an "experiment". Why not?

 

[RealDecoy]

Carbs, fat and protein is one way of looking at things, but it isn't the whole story. People have all kinds of food allergies that they misattribute to something else. I get certain reactions from things like wheat, rice, potatoes, or too much protein, and I start packing on the fat.

There are a lot of diets now recommending basically the same thing - lots of vegetables, some fruit, some protein, no processed sugar. It has been working pretty well for me for losing a few pounds, keeping up my energy and maintaining muscle.

 

[Muse]

Lee Haney, 8 time in a row Mr. Olympia (after Arnie's days), used to say "it's 85% diet." He didn't elaborate, but I think of this frequently. Of course, he knew how to:

1. Put on awesome amounts of muscle
2. Get cut as a mofo

Lee also used to quote his father, "if it don't kill you it'll make you strong!" I used to watch him on cable in the day.

 

[marvdmartian]

Atkins is nothing more than a fad diet. The idea isn't to lower your overall carbs to a low amount (especially as most people forget that pretty much anything but water and air have carbs), but rather, to cut out the worst offenders, the starchy carbs. In other words, bread, pasta, white potatoes and white rice. Most Americans eat those in excessive amounts, and once their metabolism starts slowing down, don't adjust their intake to prevent the excessive carbs from adding to their waste line (and elsewhere).

Cutting out carbs altogether is nearly impossible (as I already pointed out), which is why I say diets like Atkins are nothing more than fads. Limit your starchy carb intake, and practice portion size control, along with exercise, and you'll see better results. Turn those practices into a lifestyle, and you'll not only see the pounds go away, you'll see them STAY away. :thumbsup:

 

[Mai72]

Stay away from the Atkins diet. A diet on meats is not the way to go. Look up what meat does to your arties and how many people die from meat consumption.

I'm thinking about going Vegan or at least partly. I've been watching a guy on You Tube called Vegan Gains. He just did a worst of the fitness industry video on Arnold Schwazenegger.

 

[KeithP]

Cutting out carbs altogether is nearly impossible (as I already pointed out), which is why I say diets like Atkins are nothing more than fads.

"Cutting out carbs altogether" isn't what the Atkins diet is about. RIF

-KeithP

 

[Ancalagon44]

from what I understand, the body gets it calories from 3 sources:
carbs
fat
protein

is the gist of no/low carb diet (ie: Atkins), the body will burn fat before it burns muscle?

Yes, this is also true for fasting.

A lot of people tell you that if you fast, you will burn muscle before fat. Completely untrue.

Your body will use the glucose in your bloodstream first, then the glycogen stored in your liver in muscles and liver. When that runs out, it will start burning your fat - oxidizing it.

The only time your body will burn muscle, as far as I know, is if you do heavy exercise while having no glycogen. I think it does so because you cannot oxidize fat fast enough to provide for your energy needs.

It's not necessary to completely cut out carbs, but neither is it necessary to eat that much of them. You can get by without eating any carbs at all - the only exceptions may be if you are a long distance runner or something. Most people have no need for carbs.