ExRx.net

tried to do a search but couldnt find anything

my GF had success with it but it seems kind of strict for me and im trying to understand the science behind it:

quick summary from wiki:



the first 2 weeks seem tough... what is so magical about eliminating these substances? my social group drinks, and my schedule involves a lot of eating out in the city where avoiding carbs completely isn't somewhat feasible. So if i drink on the weekend or have a sandwich the diet is completely fv(k and i have to start again??? cant i just prolong it or something? what is the biochemistry behind it

High Glycemic Index Foods

1) Sugar (high glycemic index foods) trigger hunger. Thus, it hard to maintain a diet when you are always hungry.

2) High gycemic index foods cause the body to store calories as body fat.



Motivation

It not that it isn't feasible but fall more into the catagory that you aren't motivated to make changes at this point.

There are always choices you can make that will allow you to be social follow the program.



Yes

...if you follow the South Beach Diet.

Other Diet Options

Another alternative for weekend drinks and a sandwich is the Metabolic Diet and TNT Diet, which are basically the same.

You follow a low carb diet for 5-6 days. Then for 1-2 days you pretty much eat what you want.



Insulin

High glycemic index carbohydrates trigger the release of insulin. "Insulin is a fat maker...", as Jay Robb (nutritionist put it).

Chronic insulin ceates a cascade of other problems, as well.

"There ain't no free lunch."

That is as about as simple as it gets. To understand the biochemistry behind it, you need to read the book.

A snapshot won't give you much.

Kenny Croxdale

ok... I read about the TNT diet and they say that you need to put your body into a "fat burning state" vs your previous "carb burning state". Maybe this initial period up-regulates the enzymes and pathways of fat oxidation, I dont know...

also.. they discourage relying on chicken, turkey and fish for the protein, saying you should eat high-fat things like red meat.... i presume this is also to up-regulate fat oxidation? Again, i'm not sure, all of the original menshealth pages are gone...

Harpoon,

Yes, well put.



Dark meat chicken and turkey are a bit more high fat. I know catfish has fat to it. So, I don't see any problem.

Low Carb Diets

A good book on the various low carb diets is Living The Low Carb Life by Dr Johnny Bowden (nutritionist).

One of the best recommendations Bowden makes for carb choices is, "Eat thing of color"...green beans, broccoli, lettus, etc.

Those type of foods have very few carbohydrates/calories, have fiber and are low glycemic index foods. Thus, they fill you up and do not trigger the release of insulin.

Again, chronic high insulin levels throughout the day cause a cascade of health problems, weight/fat gain being one of them.

Consuming the "foods of color" means you're eating low carb. As an example, a can of green beans contains about 16 grams of carbohydrates. That is approximately 64 calories.

So, there are a multitude of diets. The main thing is to grasp the concept, find the diet that best fills you needs and maintain the course.

That doesn't mean you can enjoy a little junk food every now and then.

Kenny Croxdale

It's been a while since I read the TNT Diet but red meat would be likely be recommended since the fats are more saturated and monounsaturated where poultry and fish are more polyunsaturated. That would suggest to me that the authors regard saturated fats as more anabolic than polyunsaturated fats.

Is that true though?

Yes. Stu know his stuff.

"...the effect of dietary fat on testosterone levels depended on the kind of fat consumed. Specifically, they found that monounsaturated and saturated fat raise testosterone levels, but polyunsaturated fat does not (Faigin, pp. 329-330, emphasis in original)." http://www.fitnessforoneandall.com/nutr ... rt_two.htm

Kenny Croxdale

I was asking because he said "suggest to me that the authors regard". Which suggested to me that stuward might not agree with that, which confused me.

Yes, that's my opinion as well. I know many authors are coming to that conclusion but, as I said, it's been a while since I read the book. I know Jeff Volek is state of the art on this subject so it would make sense to me that he would hold that view, but it's also a few years old so I didn't know if that was his opinion then.

I generally think of saturated fat as deisel fuel for the body and carbs as high octane fuel. You can use either one, but one's going to burn a hole through your piston while the other will keep you engine running longer. Think of polyunsaturates as motor oil. You need it to stay running but you don't want to use it as fuel.

but wait, isn't fat loss supposed to be a catabolic process? thats what we're going for here, right?

The TNT diet is meant to support muscle while you shed fat. If all you want to do is lose weight, then it doesn't matter what you eat. Just eat less than you burn. Of course that means that you will become fatter and weaker over the long term.