Carbs are Not the Enemy for Weight Loss
September 5, 2008
Low carb diets. Slow carb diets. No carb diets. What really works for weight/fat loss? Well, most all do to some degree depending on many factors. Unfortunately with the mountain of diet books out there and all their claims one can get easily confused and lose focus of the big picture. So first we need to understand the role of carbs and how they effect the fat loss equation. With that knowledge we can put an end to all this carb confusion and diet book insanity once and for all!
Do We Really Need Carbs?
In one sense, the answer is “No” we do not “need” carbs to survive. What we DO need is glucose (blood sugar) to survive. Let’s not confuse the two. Sure carbs are essentially broken down into sugars and released into the blood stream but guess what, the body can also use stored proteins and fats for energy. That’s right, if the body needs to it can break down proteins and stored fats into fuel and glucose for the body to survive on (thank goodness for a smart survival system built in). First let’s take a quick look at how things are working:
- The body needs glucose. Heck the brain is the biggest glucose hog there is in the body requiring most of it for use, even while you are sleeping!
- When carbs are ingested and blood glucose gets too high, more insulin (as there is always insulin on some level) is released. Insulin (that is needed to transfer glucose over a membrane like muscle and fat cells) then takes over in an effort to shuttle the glucose out of the blood. It stores it as glycogen in the muscles and liver as needed (which have limited storage), and as triglycerides in fat cells (which as we know has a large never ending storage capacity).
- As the body’s blood sugar starts to lower, insulin falls. In the same process another hormone glucagon rises. Glucagon’s job is to increase low blood glucose by the use of 2 processes called glycogenolysis (using stored glycogen from the liver and muscles to convert to glucose) and gluconeogenesis (using non-carb sources such as amino acids from proteins and glycerol from fats).
This is how we can take stored fatty acids in the form of triglycerides, release them into the bloodstream and break them down in a process known as lipolysis (stimulated by hormones such as glucagon), and use them for energy. Triglycerides break down into glycerol and free fatty acids. Glycerol is converted to glucose through the liver while the free fatty acids can be converted through a complicated process into ATP (usable fuel) for use in the mitochrondria (cell’s poweplant). Everyone still with me?
Ok, so sounds ideal that we never need carbs right? Wrong. Go ahead and try several days without carbs and you will know that doesn’t work so well. You will be sluggish, tired, and just feel misreable for the most part (ever seen a dieter having fun when first going low carb?). Can the body eventually adapt to this? Sure, that is what is known as ketosis. That is why people have a tough time with starting a low carb diet but then suddenly rebound and have more energy, that’s ketosis kicking in. Now do we really need to be in ketosis inorder to burn fat? No, but it does show the ability of the body and what it is capable of doing.
Glucose also has another source and that is it’s stored form called glycogen that is stored in 2 main places for the body to use, your muscles and liver. From these stores the body can use it when it needs an boost in blood sugar or other local muscular requirements (increased energy output). Hence while you sleep your liver glycogen stores are actually depleted by about 75%, because organs like the brain (glucose hog) still needs glycogen even in sleep (you want your organs to keep running right?). Exercise also is a way to deplete localized muscle glycogen. When you use your muscles they will require to burn more fuel in their little powerplants inside of them (otherwise known as mitochrondria). So during short bouts of strenuous and explosive activity (resistance training) you are able to use the muscle glycogen located in that muscle for quick fuel.
So let’s recap:
- Technically we don’t need carbs. We need blood glucose. There are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids (by essential I mean that the body can not make these on it’s own and needs them from diet sources), but there are no essential sugars/carbs (as we see it can make glucose from proteins and fats through many complicated processes if need be).
- Glycogen (stored glucose) is stored in muscles and the liver. We use up alot of our liver glycogen while sleeping (remember the brain). Muscle glycogen is used during low carb eating and during more strenuous and explosive movements (otherwise known as anaerobic training or resistance training). Once those stores are low, they are now primed to be filled back up again at some point of higher glucose intake without creating excess and fat storage in the process (carb cycling anyone?).
- Insulin is the hormone that when elevated (with high blood glucose) will shut off fat burning and start the storing of glucose in muscles/liver and fat cells. Glucagon is the hormone that when elevated (with low blood glucose) will shut off storing and promote the breakdown and release of fatty acids for energy through lipolysis.
Types of Carbs and When You Eat Do Matter
Another aspect that we need to approach is the type of carbs that we are eating. Now if you had asked a person from 10,000 years ago what were all the types of carbs were, you would get a nice long list of plants, tubers, fruits, and other natural sources. Compare that with our list from today and you will get cereals, rice, grains, muffins, donuts, ice cream, bread, candy, soda, and the list goes on and on. So you will see that there are too many sources of carbs and we need to really focus on the “quality” of where we get our carbs from. Not too mention today’s sources as so processed, that they are no challenge for the body to break down. What does that lead to? Quick digestion and a quick stream of glucose into the blood stream leading to high blood glucose levels, increase in insulin levels (storing of glucose), and the shut down of fat releasing hormone glucagon.
When it comes to fat loss (and overall health and longevity), we already know that insulin is the KEY hormone to control. (you can re-read this post on insulin and sugar if you need to). Insulin as you remember will only go up (spike) during periods of high blood sugar (as high blood sugar is dangerous to the body, so it’s self defense that insulin gets releases as a blood sugar monitoring hormone). As insulin goes up, glucagon (our big fat burning hormone) goes down. This will take hours to start to reverse itself, all assuming that blood sugar does not go up again. So as far as maximum fat burning ability goes, we want to make sure our blood sugar does not remain elevated so that insulin is kept in check and glucagon is still present. Keep that simple rule in mind and you will get any kind of fat loss that you want.
As food is digested, it will be broken down into it’s basic components and released into the body for use. As far as carbs are concerned they will be broken down into simple sugars (glucose) and released into the blood. Now what really matters is the SPEED and Amount at which this sugar enters the blood stream. Remember insulin is going to spike once it sees dangerously high blood sugar levels that do not look like they are going down. So if we eat foods that are quickly broken down and release large amounts of sugar into the blood, insulin will spike. However if we have a slower or lower release of glucose into the blood stream, insulin levels remain more stable.
Timing also matters. Why? Because if you can use glucose for either immediate fuel during a strenuous time or maximize storage in empty muscle and liver stores, then you will be minimizing any storage into fat cells. If your muscles are depleted and looking to absorb more glucose (like a dry sponge put in a puddle of water), that glucose will go where it is needed (inside the muscle). If you have extra glucose when the muscles are already full (soaked sponge) and have no where else to go, then insulin shuttles it into fat storage. See how that all works?
So what we do want? A source of carbs that is slow to be digested and broken down/released into the blood stream while also promoting an environment/timing in which those sugars can be used or stored in muscle and not fat cells. This means (well I think you know what is coming) eating slower digesting whole food carbs sources like vegetables vs processed/sugar loaded sources that are quickly broken down like breads, cereals, soda, candy, etc. Also eating after glycogen depleting workouts is the ideal time when your muscles are primed and ready to intake some of those carbs as glycogen. Of course it gets a bit more complicated as to knowing how much glycogen depletion you are actually doing and how many carbs you really need, but that is the principle you need to understand.
So What’s a Person to Do? What is the Right Carb Intake?
Unlike what most diet books try and tell you, here’s the reality: there is NO one right way to eat for everyone. There can’t be! There are just too many variables individualistic to us all. What works for one person could be a disaster for another. The real success factor is understanding how different lifestyle and health factors effect carb usage. From there whatever eating style you chose to have, that is up to you. But you will have total CONTROL of your results now, something that diet books don’t give you (or may not want to give you). These important factors include:
- Current Health and Insulin Resistance - Insulin resistance is a dangerous thing to have as it can lead to hyperinsulinia, increased inflammation, and just increased overall risk for all degenerative diseases (heart disease, cancers, diabetes, etc). So if you are already in a state of insulin resistance (and most people who are overweight are most likely suffering from that), then you want to help reverse that by increasing insulin sensitivity. The best 2 ways for that, resistance exercise and lower carb intake. Remember if you are losing your hearing from loud music and want it to improve what is the best way? Turn the music off! So to keep your insulin levels low (to help try and reverse the situation you want to turn the “music off” by keeping insulin as low as you can).
- Current Activity Level - How often are you working out? How intense are your workouts? A person who enjoys walking for activity is not going to use the same amount of muscle glycogen as someone who does serious weight training or sports. So their intakes should not be the same either. Think of carbs as your “turbo” boost for explosive and strength movements. You can burn fat all day at lower intensity stuff, but if you need to explode, run, lift something heavy for a brief period of time you want that turbo boost right? That’s where your glycogen in your muscles comes into action. When that short burst of streneous activity is over, you can go right back to burning fat as your lower activity fuel (which can be all day long).
Below is a simple outline that can help explain what I mean. When it comes to carbs, eat for your activity level, goals and real recovery (based on performance) needs. It’s that simple and if you can understand that you will have total control over your results and performance.
- IF you are sedentary, overweight, not very active, do no regular resistance training, only do lower intensity activity (such as walking) and your goal is weight loss - Then you will do better on a lower carb approach to help keep insulin low, reverse insulin resistance and slowly burn stored fat (converted into glucose) all day.
- IF you are working a desk job but still are moderately active with some weight training or other activity several times a week - Then you can have a bit higher carb intake. Ideal weight loss here comes from carb cycling and getting in higher carbs only when you NEED it (or your body wants it), and burn fat the rest of the time.
- IF you work a manual labor job and are active all the time, chances are that you are already thin and can get away with eating pretty much anything (just look at the Michael Phelps diet of 10,000+ cal and how skinny he is…because he burns it all off!)
- and no matter what you do, make sure to get adequate protein intake if your goal is to maintain or grow muscle (especially when on a lower carb diet or phase).
Carbs, Cultures and Longevity
Lastly we can look at all the cultures that promote longevity (very low risks of heart diseases and cancers). You may see one culture that favors diets higher in protein and fat like the Inuits, and you may see another higher in carbs like the Okinawians. Both with a reputation of generations that live long and without high incidence of degenerative diseases. So what gives right? High carbs, low carbs…..why are they both living long? Well, what you do see is the same trend of NO sugar and NO processed foods. For the cultures that eat higher carb percentages they only eat whole natural food carb sources and also have a very high active lifestyle! What do all these cultures have in common sadly enough though? Only when the sugars and processed foods (otherwise known as Westernization) move in do you see their long history of longevity compromised and the rise of all chronic diseases especially cancers and heart disease. Moral of the story, sugar is bad and high insulin levels will lead to increasing risks for most all degenerative diseases (especially accelerated aging, which is a fancy word for getting closer to death).
Above picture by wizan
I would like to ask something that is mentioned here ; Do we need to eat more carbs after an intense workout or just a high protein meal just to keep HGH working more?
This a great explanation of the whole topic and how we should best use carbs in our diet. I for one naturally crave fruit in the morning and post workout, makes sense as my muscle/liver glycogen is low. Other times of the day I find it easy to eat protein and healthy fats.
Will definitely be ordering your ebook!! Thanks for the great content Mike….
Suat - depends on what your “intense” workout is, how often it is, and what your goals are. If you intense workout is more aerobic like intervals and your goal is weight loss, then no you don’t need carbs right after. If your workout is more resistance training with muscle breakdown and glycogen depletion, then it would be advisable for pwo whole food (not sugar) carbs with some protein. This is also assuming you are only doing those a couple times a week, as pwo carb intake any more is not ideal. There are more complicated combinations and timing during the week that also matter but overall that is kind of the golden rule. HGH will be fine as it only comes in pulses anyways and whole food will not do much to interrupt that (also remember you get most of your GH release during sleep).
The only problem with your argument is that the food industry makes it’s money off of grains and sugars.
Their lobby drives the government’s policies on food (why are grains the superstar of the food pyramid?).
And when you combine government policy with a massive marketing budget and our need to choose our foods based on convenience rather than nutrition, you end up with a population that gorges itself on processed carbs and as a result is getting fatter and fatter day after day.
Here’s hoping your book opens more than a few eyes.
What format will the eBook be in; pdf or…? I only ask because I have a Mac.
Mike - great post and the book sounds great - to what extent will it cover the science of IF as well as the stuff in this post? I would echo Chris’ fruit-in-the-morning thought - along with egg it always forms the basis for my breakfast…
DR - I agree my marketing budget is slightly smaller than the governments, but hopefully people can start to open their eyes and see what is going on for themselves. People can eat some grains and still live long and healthy (well if they are still active and also have good health too). There doesn’t have to be total avoidance, but there can’t be total reliance either. Economics can be an issue also as to their target marketing to lower income areas (where do you see the most fast food and convenience stores?).
Daniel - I am not a Mac person (but I am sure plenty of people are here). Can you not read PDF on Macs? (I assumed Adobe was universally accepted). Just a quick look I found this plug-in if that helps. http://code.google.com/p/firefox-mac-pdf/ Let me know as I would like to make sure it is viewable in both PC and Mac formats.
Meth - IF will be integrated into the book. As I always say, IF is not a diet….so I didn’t want to do a book just about it. Rather it will focus on using IF as a tool to increase health, fat burning and all the other health benefits. It will cover IF from the standpoint of also “Intermittent Feast and Famine” as an eating model our bodies were designed to function around.
All in all I am excited about finishing the ebook up and getting it out there because there are so many that don’t know the basics of even what insulin is! I wouldn’t expect a super scientific based book, as it’s meant more for the mainstream and people new to really understanding how diets (and IF) will work. It will have technical stuff in it, but not more so that you see above or that I normally talk about (as I am also big on keeping it simple). I don’t want to make it too confusing for people, and I want them to be able to understand all the basic concepts of health and then be able to take action.
I did not see any information about leptin and the interactive dynamics of leptin and insulin. Could you please address this?
Thanks… John
PDF is fine, Mike. Its some of these other custom eBook formats that are problematic.
Thanks,
Daniel
John - Are you referring to the ability of leptin’s ability to control the metabolism through brain signaling (mainly turning on/off hunger) or the issue of fat cells creating too much leptin therefore causing an issue of leptin resistance (similar to how high levels of insulin make insulin resistance)? Overweight people have plenty of leptin, in fact very high levels…it’s the resistance caused by those high levels that is the issue.
On that note I like these quotes from Dr Rosedale about metabolism and insulin/leptin:
“Anything will dissolve faster in hot water than cold water. Extra heat will dissolve, disrupt and disorganize. This is not what I try to do to make someone healthy. It is not an increase in metabolism that I am after. It is improved metabolic quality. It is commonly advised to “increase metabolism” and increase “thermogenesis” for health and weight loss. However, if you are insulin- and leptin-resistant, your metabolism is unhealthy and you increase its rate and increase heat production, all you will do is accelerate your demise.”
and
“If your hormones are telling you that you must burn sugar, you’ll end up tearing down your lean body mass, muscles and bones to make sugar. I have shown that you can actually build lean body mass without an increase in exercise by improving hormonal signaling, especially in this case insulin signaling.”
Also Lyle McDonald does a great 5 part series on Leptin in much more detail than I could ever do justice…but I found these parts especially interesting:
“Leptin production in the fat cell. I talked a little bit about #1 in a previous post, when I talked about refeeds. At this point, and this topic is discussed to some degree in nearly every book I’ve written at this point, interjecting high carbohydrate, high calorie refeeds of varying lengths (anywhere from 5 hours to 3 days) is (currently) the best way to raise leptin while dieting. One of the interesting (and often missed points) is that, as dieters get leaner (and leptin drops more and more), refeeds need to become larger and/or more frequent. That is, rather than necessarily dieting harder as they get leaner, some people are actually doing better by ‘breaking their diet’ (with specific high-carb refeeds) more frequently. I’d note again that leptin production is related primarily to carbohydrate intake in the short-term, high-fat refeeds aren’t the best way to raise leptin levels. I’d also note that single ‘cheat’ meals won’t impact on leptin levels significantly as leptin doesn’t really change on a meal to meal basis. Tangent: I’d note that, in this regards, some of the work being done with intermittent fasting and every other day refeeds has relevance here as some data suggests that leptin may be maintained better with that approach to dieting.”
and
“Both insulin and epinephrine increase leptin transport into the brain. Tying in with my comments above, this might be another reason that high-carbohydrate refeeds ‘work’ after a period of dieting; between (potentially) increased leptin sensitivity in the brain and insulin increasing leptin transport, there is a brief period where leptin signalling should be increased”
So it looks that leptin while stimulated by carbs is not effected by fat intake. Another good reason to cycle high fat/protein days and carb cycling. Also exercise looks to increase leptin sensitivity (not the levels), so exercise is key for people at risk for leptin resistance (overweight) and can also counteract the effects of a higher carb diet (as long as the total calories are still low enough).
In the end, if you were referring to having more leptin detail in the ebook, it probably won’t be that much anymore than what is stated above. The book is meant for beg-int level people of understanding of diet and exercise (as well as other topics of health, prevention, IF), trying to help more of the mainstream people out there get control. As far as for the really scientific type books, I will leave that to much better people like Lyle to cover (as he does a great job of it).
Daniel - PDF is the expected standard I believed in the ebook world. If for any reason you or anyone had an issue reading it I would make sure there was another format (as I really don’t know anyother crazy ones out there) available. Some one a while back mentioned the “kindle” format, but I don’t know what format that is. (will look into it) I may also look at some audio files down the road for an upgrade, I assume that Mac plays the MP3 format correct?
MOD,
Will the book be helpful for losing stubborn fat? I know you recommend Body Opus and Lyle McDonald’s stuff, but I don’t really want to dogmatically follow a diet plan.
Donald - With a title like “The Death of the Diet”….it would be silly for me to even include a diet! That’s not the reason I am writing this ebook as there are enough diets out there…..too many. Stubborn Body fat is more dictated by hormones and providing the right fat burning environment (and of course being “stubborn” means it takes extra effort and will require more than just diet alone). This could be accomplished with several different approaches including IF along with proper exercise. My goal is to provide you all the tools so you know how it all works, and how to adjust along the way. I may put several suggestions in there for workouts, but nothing set in stone. Life is never the same or a set schedule, but if we can understand how our body works….then we have control over our results no matter what life may throw at us. I give you the tools…and then you make it happen on your own terms!
Yep. MP3s work fine on Macs.
Mike,
If 75% of your glycogen is used up overnight then why do you suggest working out on an empty stomach?
Joe - confused by the question. That was “liver” glycogen that gets depleted mostly overnight (although you can also deplete muscle glycogen, but you have much bigger stores compared to the liver). Also it doesn’t define muscle glycogen stores and type of workout you are doing (aerobic vs anaerobic). There’s a difference between doing a workout “fasted” and doing one with “no muscle glycogen stores”.
Thanks for clearing that up, so for a Crossfit type workout vs heavy squats would you recommend fasted or a small carb meal around 3 hours in advance? Just curious if you or anyone else has a recommendation or personal experience with what works best.
What about fruit Mike?, if you avoid processed crap & are faily active do you think you can indulge in a fair bit of fruit?
Joe - a “metcon” could be more used as a cardio, where as the ones that are using weights are more “strength”. It’s really more a question of glycogen draining and replenishment. Many can fast around metcons and feel fine but I would definitely eat after (and maybe some fruit before) heavier glycogen based workouts (reps 8-12 by old school definition). You need to make sure you are replenishing muscle glycogen once in a while too otherwise you will see a dip in performance. Also when are your workouts? AM? Noon? PM? Is your main goal fat loss or muscle gain? Loads of variables.
JC - If you are lean and active there is nothing wrong with fruit. If one is overweight, then fruit should be only around the strength workouts for the most part for better fat loss. Personally I like fruit pre and post workouts (the strength kind) or as my blood sugar tells me (gets too low) with other extended activities.
Appreciate the response.
My main goal has always been fat loss and my workouts are in the AM. I’m in college so that is always the time when there is the smallest crowd at the gym. I’m pretty happy with my body comp currently and by following IF for some time now I have put on a little bit of size and decreased my BF (by visual cues). But lately I haven’t been happy with my strength gains and performance in the gym so I thought maybe eating in the morning maybe like 3 hrs pre-workout would help. So this morning I ate a small meal of brown rise, chicken and almond butter about 3 hours pre-workout and was able to do more reps on more weight for both dead lift and shoulder press. So I pretty much answered my own question. The only problem is breaking the IF in the morning, so do you think I should make that by closing my 7hr window earlier?
Joe - again it’s one of those try and see methods as there are too many varibles. In the end remember IF is a tool, and you need to figure out how it works the best for you depending on your eating and activity levels. Sounds like you have a good start so far, so it will probably just be a little tweaking to make it where you want it to be. By the sounds of the workouts, if you are doing more reps/glycolitic training then you should have some pre-wo food. You can even try keeping it simple and having fruit with some other small protein. You want enough glycogen to get through the workout, but you also want to deplete glycogen if you plan on reloading with carbs pwo. That strategy best works 2-3x a week (max). Have fun and play around….you may find the best results with less workouts and just nailing the IF and food down!
Im not sure how I feel about your opinion on fruit. Ive followed a diet based on fruit, veggies and lean protein, and flaxseed oil and have lost alot of weight doing this. I just dont understand why something natural would be bad for fat loss? No matter what time you eat it.
Personally for me, fruit helps me with low blood sugar and depression. When my carbs are too low and I eliminate or reduce fruit intake, I start to get the negative effects of moodiness, low energy and depression. Am I doomed to never be as lean as I like?
Mandy - I’m not sure I understand where I said fruit was bad. It is healthy and encouraged. What does work for losing weight is calorie deficit and keeping insulin stable, which fruit along with veg, proteins and healthy fat does very nicely. You can get leaner with fruit, you probably just need to do some other more advanced training (like intervals) or exercises to break your plateau and stimulate that stubborn fat.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the response. I remember reading somewhere, but now I cant find it, about keeping fruit within the post workout window primarily and avoiding it at other times during the day. That is what I was referring to, I should have been more clear. I am looking forward to your e-book. I am going through a serious case of information overload.
Mandy - Ok, I know what you are talking about, that is for people who cycle carbs and need glycogen replenishment for the muscles, so you want the “majority” of carbs in a pwo window when muscle insulin sensitivity it peaked….but the effectiveness also depends on your workouts and activity level. That is what is know as carb cycling which is a more advanced technique that is very effective in boosting fat loss when done correctly. That doesn’t mean fruit is not acceptable at other times. Many also still won’t give up their breads and other carbs, so adding fruit to that may not aid in weight loss. I know what you mean about info overload….I think that is the biggest problem nowadays for weight loss, so I’m hoping my report can help simplify it and get people to just keep it simple and get results…as many people suffer from “paralysis by analysis”.