Carbohydrates and Weight Loss: Should You Go Low-Carb?

Do carbohydrates actually cause weight gain and prevent fat loss?

The hysterical crusade against carbohydrates has reached a frantic pitch these days.

From the scientifically bankrupt theories of guys like Gary Taubes to the trendy low-carb diets like Paleo, Zone, Dukan, and so forth, the carbohydrate is now the victim of the same level of persecution that saturated fat endured for decades.

Well, we’ve come to learn that saturated fats aren’t the evil heart killers they were made out to be (excluding the processed form known as tran fat, which is known to increase risk of heart disease, among other issues).

If we’re to believe the leaders of the Carbohydrate Inquisition, this molecule will blow up ourblood sugar levels, break our metabolism, force us to be fat, give us diabetes and many other diseases, and, well, just generally turn us into hungry, horrible people.

If we just ditch the diabolic carbohydrate, “experts” claim we will melt fat away and keep it off without having to count pesky calories, build an invincible immune system, live forever, and maybe even develop superpowers. And we’ll be part of the cool crowd to boot.

So, is this culture war actually justified? Does it have a basis in science?

Carbohydrates, Insulin Levels, and Weight Gain

Much of the carbohydrate controversy revolves around its relationship to the hormone insulin.

As the claims go, insulin “makes you fat,” and carbohydrate “spikes insulin,” thus, “carbohydrate makes you fat.” Sounds so simple, right? Well, yeah, the story is simple…but it’s false.

While yes, it’s true that insulin’s job is to pull glucose out of the blood and store excess as fat,it’s also responsible for driving amino acids into our muscles for protein synthesis and clearing dietary fats out of the blood as well (which are stored as body fat more efficiently than carbohydrate, I might add). On top of all that, insulin has a mild anti-catabolic effect(meaning it helps preserve your muscle).

And while it’s also true that eating carbohydrate increases insulin levels in your blood, many common sources of protein (such as eggs, cheese, beef, and fish) are comparable in their ability to do the same.

Some people claim that because your body generally produces more insulin when you eat carbohydrate, this leads to more fat storage. They’re wrong—research has shown that the amount of insulin your body produces in response to eating food (or insulin response, as it’s called) doesn’t affect the amount of fat stored.

So, in short, insulin is your friend, not a part of a conspiracy between your pancreas and fat cells to ruin your self-image.

That’s one strike against the “carbs make you fat” camp. Let’s now look directly at carbohydrate intake and fat loss.

Diet Composition and Real-World Weight Loss

Many low-carb gurus will claim that you can lose weight much quicker if you consume very few carbs every day. Some people even believe they can only lose weight if they cut their carbs to nil.

The problem with these advices and beliefs is they fly in the face of both basic physiology and scientific findings, and mask the most common weight loss roadblock: eating too much, and moving too little.

A simple review of scientific literature shows that diet composition has no effect on long-term weight loss.

For example, let’s first look at a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers assigned 63 obese adults to either a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high fat diet (20 grams of carbohydrate per day, gradually increased until target weight was achieved), or a conventional diet of 60% of calories from carbohydrate, 25% from fat, and 15% from protein.

The result: the low-carbohydrate group lost more weight in the first 3 months, but the difference at 12 months wasn’t significant.

The 3-month result isn’t surprising, considering the fact that reducing carbohydrate intakedecreases the amount of glycogen we store in our liver and muscles, which in turn decreases total body water retention. This, of course, causes a rapid drop in weight that has nothing to do with burning fat (and anyone that has reduced carbohydrate intake as a means of cutting calories for weight loss has experienced this).

Harvard University published a study in 2009 on the effects of diet composition and weight loss. They assigned 811 overweight adults to one of four diets, which were comprised of the following percentages of fat, protein, and carbs: 20, 15, and 65%; 40, 15, and 45%; and 40, 25, and 35%.

After 6 months of dieting, participants had lost and average of 6 kg. They began to regain weight after 12 months, and by 2 years, weight loss averaged out to 4 kg, with no meaningful differences between low-protein or high-protein, low-fat or high-fat, and low-carb or high-carb groups.

A study published by Arizona State University found that an 8-week high-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-protein diet was equally effective in terms of weight loss as a low-carbohydrate, low-fat, high-protein diet.

So, the conclusion we can derive is brutally simple and clear: as long as you keep yourself in a caloric deficit, you’ll lose weight regardless of the dietary protocol you follow.

The Exceptions to the Rule:
When Low-Carb—or High-Carb—Might Be Better

Despite the body of evidence presented above, practical experience in coaching hundreds of people has taught me that some people tend to just do better on high-carb or low-carb diets, and some do fine with either.

For instance, some people—like myself—do very well with high-carbohydrate diets. They can lose weight very easily, feel energized all day without any crashes, and are able to maintain considerable strength in the gym. Others don’t do well with a high-carb approach. Weight loss is slower than optimal, it makes them very hungry, which leads to over-eating, and  it comes with frustrating energy highs and lows.

It goes the other way, too. Some people don’t do well with low-carb, high-fat diets (myself, again). They feel lethargic, mentally clouded, lose a ton of strength, and have trouble getting lean. Others thrive on it, having plenty of energy and a general sense of well-being.

What gives?

Well, while feeling like crap makes you more likely to over-eat or mess up your diet in other ways, and give less than 100% in your workouts, there’s more at work here.

Research has shown that some people’s bodies deal better with large amounts of dietary fat than others, responding with positive metabolic changes like an increase in resting energy expenditure and fat oxidation to maintain energy balance, and better appetite control. Some people’s bodies respond negatively to high amounts of dietary fat, however, and are more likely to store it as body fat. Such research sheds some light on why some people respond so well or poorly to low-carb, high-fat diets. A ketogenic diet can be a disaster for some, and a godsend for others.

The above also relates to research on how insulin sensitivity and insulin response affect diet effectiveness. (Remember that insulin sensitivity refers to how responsive your cells are to insulin’s signals, and insulin response–or insulin secretion–refers to how much insulin is secreted into your blood in response to food eaten.)

Research has shown that weight loss efforts aren’t improved or impaired by insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance per se. When we move away from a balance of nutrients, however, and use high-carb, low-fat, or low-carb, high-fat diets in conjunction with different levels of insulin sensitivity and insulin response, things change.

For instance, a study conducted by the Tufts-New England Medical Center found that a low-glycemic load diet helped overweight adults with high insulin secretion lose more weight, but not overweight adults with low insulin secretion.

A study conducted by the University of Colorado demonstrated that obese women that were insulin sensitive lost significantly more weight on a high-carb, low-fat diet than a low-carb, high-fat diet (average weight loss of 13.5% vs. 6.8% of body weight, respectively); and those that were insulin resistant lost significantly more weight on a low-carb, high-fat diet than a high-carb, low-fat diet (average weight loss of 13.4% vs. 8.5% of body weight, respectively).

What we can take away from my anecdotal observations and these studies is if you have good insulin sensitivity and low insulin secretion (good insulin response), you’ll probably do better on a high-carb, low-fat diet. On the other hand, if you have poor insulin sensitivity (insulin resistance) and high secretion (poor insulin response), you’ll probably do better on a low-carb, high-fat diet.

So, Which Approach, Then? High-Carb or Low-Carb?

Unfortunately it’s not easy to tell if you’re a “high-fat” or “low-fat” body type, but it’s fairly easy to take an educated guess regarding insulin resistance and sensitivity, and insulin response.

After eating a high-carb meal, signs of good insulin sensitivity and response are pumped muscles that feel “full,” mental alertness, stable energy levels (no crash), and satiety. Signs of insulin resistance and poor insulin response are bloat, gassiness, mental fogginess and inability to focus, sleepiness, and hunger soon after eating.

Based on the above symptoms, you can decide which approach to try. And remember these are only general guidelines—in the end, actual weight loss is what matters most. You should be able to lose 1-2 lbs per week, and if you’re not despite being absolutely certain that you’re in a proper caloric deficit, you may benefit from altering diet composition.

HOW TO REDUCE THE MEDICAL COST OF DIABETES

In 2011, the Center for Disease Control estimated that there were over 25 million individuals who had either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. The America Diabetes Association estimated, in 2012, that the national health care cost of diabetes is $245 billion, which includes $176 billion in directed medical costs and $69 billion due to reduced productivity.

Modern medicine only has so many answers and in spite of all the advances in medical and surgical treatments for our diabetic patients, over 60 percent of them still die prematurely from a cardiovascular event like a heart attack or stroke. The main reason is that by the time a patient is diagnosed as having diabetes almost 60 percent already have major hardening of their arteries. This is because most of these patients have been struggling with pre-diabetes for 10 to 15 years before they are diagnosed and during this time their arteries are aging much faster than they should.

This is why the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American College of Endocrinology now recommend that physicians treat pre-diabetes as aggressively as they do diabetes. They looked at the worldwide medical literature and concluded that the best thing we as physicians can recommend to our patients is intensive lifestyle changes—not drugs.

I detail these healthy lifestyles in my book, Healthy for Life, and in my Healthy for Life Program located at www.healthconceptsint.com, which are basically a healthy diet that does not spike your blood sugar, modest exercise and nutritional supplementation. I have now done three separate clinical trials using this online behavioral modification program and have found that nearly everyone who has pre-diabetes is able to improve their insulin sensitivity enough to actually tip back into a normal metabolic state.

I personally feel that most cases of diabetes is now preventable and that it is a choice even if you have a strong family history of diabetes. So, the best way to save on health care costs in regards to diabetes is to make lifestyle choices that will help prevent it. Even if you have diabetes, following these simple, doable lifestyles allows you to control it better and significantly decrease your risk of having complications because of your diabetes.

Nature’s Not in It: Naked Juice Forced to Remove ‘All Natural’ From Labels

A class-action suit laid Naked Juice's ingredients bare. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Pepsi's popular Naked Juice line has been forced to strip the words "all natural" from its labels after a class-action suit determined the claim was misleading and false. 

Naked Juice Co. agreed to pay $9 million to settle the suit, which was brought by a group of consumers who alleged the juices and smoothies could not be called natural and GMO-free. Under the terms of thesettlement, Naked Juice can continue to deny that they misled the public, but they are changing the labels nonetheless. 

The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleged that Naked Juice couldn't call their products all natural because they contained Archer Daniels Midland's Fibersol-2 ("a soluble corn fiber that acts as a low-calorie bulking agent"), fructooligosaccharides (an alternative sweetener), and genetically modified soy. 

Naked Juice laid the blame for the labeling confusion at the feet of the Feds, saying there's not enough "guidance" as to what can be called "natural."

"[U]ntil there is more detailed regulatory guidance around the word 'natural,' we've chosen not to use 'all natural' to describe our juices and smoothies," the company told BeverageDaily.com.

And to the layperson, the company could be right. 

According to the FDA website: 

"From a food science perspective, it is difficult to define a food product that is 'natural' because the food has probably been processed and is no longer the product of the earth. That said, FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances."

How Testosterone Levels Affect Muscle Growth and Fat Loss

Higher testosterone levels are often equated with more muscle growth and fat loss. Is it that simple?

If you ask the average gymgoer what single physical factor most affects muscle growth and fat loss, they would probably answer “testosterone levels.”

And they’re right.

Testosterone is certainly a primary hormonal driver of muscle growth. Research has shown that anabolic steroids, which drastically raise testosterone levels, given to even young, healthy men can induce muscle growth and fat loss without any exercise whatsoever.

Thus, it would be fair to assume that the higher our testosterone levels are, the more muscle we build and the leaner we get, right?

Well, this is where things get interesting.

Testosterone Levels and Muscle Growth

We already know that dramatically elevating testosterone levels induces muscle growth.

Yes, if you take enough of the right steroids, your testosterone levels will skyrocket, and if you lift weights regularly, you will be able to achieve more muscle growth than if you were drug-free.

But here’s something that most people don’t know:

Fluctuation of testosterone levels within the physiological normal range does not affect muscle growth.

That is, if your testosterone levels are right-down-the-middle normal, and you increase them to a high-normal, you may feel a little better and notice a boost in libido…but it won’t enable you to build more muscle.

I know that sounds kind of blasphemous, but it’s actually been scientifically proven.

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science conducted and published a study about a decade ago wherein they administered varying amounts of  testosterone enanthate along with drugs to inhibit natural testosterone production to young, healthy men for 20 weeks.

While higher testosterone levels did produce greater muscle gains, it wasn’t as pronounced as you might think.

What researchers found was that so long as testosterone levels were within the physiological normal range, between 300-1,000 ng/dl, muscle growth didn’t change very much. That is, the subjects on the low end of normal weren’t that far behind subjects on the high end in terms of muscle growth.

A statistically significant increase in muscle growth wasn’t seen until testosterone levels surpassed the top of “normal” by about 20-30%.

Now, this study does have a limitation: subjects weren’t exercising. While total amounts of muscle and strength gained would clearly have been higher if they had been weightlifting, the relationship between testosterone levels and overall muscle growth would still be seen.

This was partially demonstrated by another study, this time conducted by McMaster Universitywith young, resistance trained men.

Subjects lifted 5 times per week for 12 weeks, and followed a standard dietary protocol (high-protein intake, post-workout nutrition, etc.). The primary finding of the study was that the exercise-induced spikes in anabolic hormones like testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1, which all remained within physiological normal ranges, had no effect on overall muscle growth and strength gains.

That is, all subjects made gains in muscle, but the variations in the size of the hormone spikes among them had no bearing on the results.

The key takeaway here is not that you should take steroids, but that things you can do to naturally raise your testosterone levels are unlikely to affect your muscle growth.

And speaking of steroids, the above findings are in line with steroid research as well.

For instance, researchers at Maastrict University conducted an extensive review of literature related to the use of anabolic steroids and found that the muscle gains in people engaging in resistance training while on anabolic steroids mostly ranged between 2-5 kg (4.5-11 pounds) over the short term (less than 10 weeks). The largest amount of muscle growth researchers found was 7 kg (15.5 pounds) over 6 weeks of weightlifting while on steroids.

The point is this:

Even steroids don’t always dramatically increase the amount of muscle you can build (it depends what you take, in what dosages, and for how long), so what does that tell us about how fluctuations of testosterone in the normal physiological range relate to muscle growth?

As I talk about in my article on the best supplements for muscle growth, this is why buying natural testosterone boosters for muscle growth purposes is a complete waste of money. Even if they work (and most don’t), it’s just not going to help you build more muscle.

The only exception might be someone whose testosterone is at the absolute bottom of the physiologically normal range, or even below that, and who is then able to naturally increase it to the top of the range. That person would probably notice an improvement in muscle growth, not to mention overall well-being, libido, cognitive function, and so forth.

Now, I’m not saying that there’s no reason to do anything to naturally improve your testosterone levels. Improving muscle growth just isn’t on the list. Losing fat, however, is…

Testosterone Levels and Fat Loss

Unlike muscle growth, researchers at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Sciencedid find that fluctuations of testosterone within the physiological normal range had significant effects on body fat percentage.

The higher the testosterone levels, the leaner subjects were. And conversely, the lower the testosterone levels, the fatter they were. When researchers decreased certain subjects’ testosterone levels from the baseline average of 600 ng/dl to around 300 ng/dl, they saw a dramatic 36% increase in fat mass.

Although the exact mechanisms behind this aren’t fully understood just yet, research has show that testosterone directly inhibits the creation of fat cells and that low testosterone is a contributing factor to obesity.

So, doing things to naturally increase your testosterone levels can help you get and stay lean.

6 Ways to Kick Your Metabolism and Fat Loss Into High Gear

Do you want to speed up your fat loss? Here are my six favorite strategies for melting fat away as quickly as possible.

Have you ever been in the following situation?

You feel like you’re giving 110% in the gym, you’re doing cardio, and you’re eating clean…but you’re still a bit soft in the middle. What gives?

Well, what many people don’t know about getting really lean is it is really nothing more than a slow accumulation of doing a bunch of little things right. If you do only some of them right, you probably won’t get there.

At its core, all effective weight loss methods do two–and only two–things:

1) They limit the amount of food you eat.

2) They increase the amount of calories and fat you burn.

#1 is simple enough (stick to your meal plan precisely), and #2 is a matter of speeding up your metabolic rate. In this article, I want to talk more about #2.

#1

Do HIIT Cardio

Studies such as those conducted by Laval University, East Tennessee State University, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of New South Wales have shown that shorter, high-intensity cardio sessions result in greater fat loss over time than low-intensity sessions. Research has also shown that high-intensity training is more muscle-sparing than low-intensity cardio.

Therefore, I recommend doing HIIT for all cardio, and keeping your sessions 20-30 minutes long. Here’s how it works:

1. You start your workout with 2-3 minutes of low-intensity warmup.
2. You then go all-out, as fast as possible, for 30-60 seconds (if you’re new to HIIT, 30-second intervals will be plenty, but you want to try to work toward being able to do 60-second intervals).
3. You then slow it down to a low-intensity recovery period for the same period as your high-intensity interval. Again, if you’re new to HIIT, you may need to extend this rest period to 1.5-2 times as long as your high-intensity interval. If you’re still out of breath and your heart is racing, you’re not ready to hit the high-intensity again.
4. You repeat this cycle of all-out and recovery intervals for 20-30 minutes.
5. You do a 2-3 minute cool-down at a low intensity.

You can apply the HIIT style to any type of cardio that you would normally do. You can head outside and walk and sprint, or you can hop on the elliptical trainer or recumbent bike to get it done.

#2

Lift Heavy Weights

If you’re familiar with any of my work, you know I’m a big fan of lifting heavy weights. Well, among the many benefits of lifting heavy is the fact that it helps speed up fat loss.

A study published by Greek sports scientists found that men that trained with heavy weights (80-85% of their one-rep max, or “1RM”) increased their metabolic rates over the following three days, burning hundreds more calories than the men that trained with lighter weights (45-65% of their 1RM).

Another study showed that the increased energy expenditure after lifting heavy weights ismainly derived from burning fat (and researchers weren’t sure why).

So hit the weights and hit them hard if you want to jack up your metabolic rate and in turn, speed up your fat loss.

And if you want to score extra points, focus on compound lifts like squats and deadlifts, because these are the types that burn the most post-workout calories.

#3

Avoid Consecutive Days of Rest

Doing no exercise for two days in a row can slow your metabolic rate down.

Instead of training for 5 or 6 days straight and then taking two days of complete rest, train 3 or 4 days and then take a day off, followed by another 3 – 4 days of training.

#4

Split Up Your Weight Training and Cardio

Instead of lifting for an hour or so followed by 30 minutes of cardio, split them up. Lift in the mornings and do your cardio after work, or vice versa.

Not only will this rev up your metabolic rate twice per day, keeping it constantly elevated, it can help preserve muscle.

Researchers from RMIT University worked with well-trained athletes in 2009 and found that “combining resistance exercise and cardio in the same session may disrupt genes for anabolism.” In laymen’s terms, they found that combining endurance and resistance training sends “mixed signals” to the muscles. Cardio before the resistance training suppressed anabolic hormones such as IGF-1 and MGF, and cardio after resistance training increased muscle tissue breakdown.

Several other studies, such as those conducted by Children’s National Medical Center, theWaikato Institute of Technology, and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), came to same conclusions: training for both endurance and strength simultaneously impairs your gains on both fronts. Training purely for strength or purely for endurance in a workout is far superior.

Cardio before weightlifting also saps your energy and makes it much harder to follow tip #2.

#5

Eat Spicy Foods

Spices such as red pepper and cayenne can actually increase your metabolic rate and thus help with fat loss. They also go great with chicken and other lean meats, and veggies too, which makes them perfect for making cutting a bit more enjoyable.

#6

Don’t Drink Your Calories

Liquid calories are a disaster when you’re cutting.

They’re way too easy to consume when you don’t even have an appetite, they don’t fill you up when you do, and most are full of sugar, which keeps your insulin spiked (which in turn leads to more fat storage).

Instead of drinking juice, sodas, sugary teas or coffee drinks, etc., stick to water, plain tea (or sweeten it with a natural sweetener like stevia or Truvia), black coffee, or other no-calorie beverages.

Summary

If you’re planning on losing weight or are currently struggling with it, try incorporating each of the tips above. As long as your diet is in the right place, your body won’t be able to do anythingbut  melt away the fat!