Do Low Carbohydrate Diets Blunt Muscle Growth? by Jerry Brainum 5/24

 

 

Regular readers of Applied Metabolics know I advocate low carbohydrate diets, primarily about lowering body fat levels. I base this on my own experience with low-carb diets. When I began regular bodybuilding training, I tried every known diet touted to promote body fat reduction. Most of them failed, usually because the stringent changes in my eating habits mandated by the diets couldn't be adhered to. Simply put, I was starving on most of the recommended weight-loss diets and usually went on an eating binge within a week or two of starting the diets, which ended the diet. My diet breakthrough came from two sources. The first was a book by a New York cardiologist named Robert Atkins. Atkins published his book, Dr.Atkin's Diet Revolution, in 1972 and was immediately criticized by the medical profession. Medical journals warned of the potential dangers of following Atkin's diet advice: consuming a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet. The primary objection to the diet was the high fat content. Atkins didn't restrict dietary fat in his recommendations and didn't discern the different types of dietary fat, such as saturated versus unsaturated fat. His views about consuming fat were considered heretical and not based on existing science. In his diet plan, Atkins allowed such "unhealthy" foods as bacon and whole eggs.

In those days, dietary fat was considered the primary cause of cardiovascular disease, especially saturated fat. This was based on the idea that saturated fat was a precursor for cholesterol synthesis in the liver. Since cholesterol appeared in the blood vessel plaques that were the cause of atherosclerosis, a forerunner of heart attacks and strokes, the notion of eating unlimited amounts of saturated fat was horrifying to most mainstream physicians, who predicted that those who followed Atkin's diet would succumb to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Atkins was vilified for years by his fellow physicians. Despite that, those who followed his diet lost body fat quickly, far faster than conventional low-fat, low-calorie diets. His book soon became a best-seller. But what about the alleged dangers of saturated fat?

Atkins explained that in the absence of carbohydrates, which is usually the primary fuel source in the human body, the body would tap into stored fat. One reason why low-carb diets allowed this to happen had to do with insulin. Carbohydrates provoke the most significant release of insulin. While insulin's major role is to promote glucose entry into cells, it is also a storage hormone, promoting the storage of carbohydrates as glycogen in the liver and muscle and the storage of excess calories as body fat. Atkins noted, however, that insulin also blunted the use of stored fat by inhibiting . . .