Low Carbohydrate Diets, Is it really necessary?

Carbohydrates have had a bad reputation in the fitness community for most people. About a decade ago, fat was the thing we all had to avoid. But today, carbohydrates have taken their place.

Some say that carbohydrates cause us to be fat, and to be more lean and healthy, we have to eat as few carbohydrates as possible.

You will not lose fat faster on a low-carb diet

The claim that low carb diets cause a faster decrease in body fat is false.

There are only about 20 studies that support a low carbohydrate diet that causes a faster reduction in fat tissue.

Like here, here and here for example.

The problem with this type of diet is that it contains a high protein content with a low carb content – it offers no advantage for a faster weight loss.

Protein consumption is important when you try to lose fat. You want to maintain as much muscle mass as possible, even for people who are not into building muscles, and especially for athletes.

If you do not eat enough protein when you try to lose weight, you can lose quite a bit of muscle mass and in return, it will affect:

1. Your metabolism
2. Reduces the amount of calories you burn in training
3. It damages the metabolism of glucose and fats.

As you can see, your main goal while cutting fat is to preserve as much muscle tissue as possible.

There are four studies:

Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16685046

Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18195164/

Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19246357

Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058203

According to the studies, when you on a high protein diet compared to a low-carbohydrate diet for a high-carbohydrate diet, there is no significant difference in weight loss.

The bottom line is that if you have a negative calorie balance and maintain a high protein content, you will lose body fat while keeping as much muscle mass as possible.

It’s easier to eat more when you’re on a low-carb diet

Low carbohydrate diets usually come with hunger attacks. Understand… carbohydrates, especially those rich in fiber, have a great effect on satiety. While fats are not. Protein is also very satisfying (another reason why we should eat more of it). Also, do not forget that a carbohydrate is equal to 4 calories while making fat equal to 9 calories so it will be easier to get through your daily calories intake when you eat a higher amount of fat.

From my experience with clients I’ve worked with, low-carb diets almost always cause more hunger problems than a high-carbohydrate diet. People who follow a low carbohydrate diet often experience low energy levels, which is not surprising because studies show that low carbohydrate diets increase fatigue and weakness during exercise.

You build less muscle mass on a low carbohydrate

When you lower your carbohydrate intake, you reduce the amount of glycogen stored in your muscles. And in return, it lowers your performance in the gym. Which makes you lift less weight and not get stronger, which, as you know, less strength = less muscle over time.

A low carbohydrate diet weakens the performance of athletes

If you want to improve your performance in the best way possible, eat enough carbohydrates.

Although I’m recommending high-carb diets, there are few benefits to low carbohydrate diets:
1. If you plan to get on the bodybuilding stage or have photoshoot you want to look as shredded as possible.

Tracking a low-carb diet for a period of 7-10 days will reduce the amount of subcutaneous water in your body. Which will make you look better. Then, increase your carbohydrate intake back to 1-2 days to fill your muscles with glycogen to make you look fuller and muscular.

2. If you barely move
The main purpose of a carbohydrate is to give us energy. If you do not do much with your body, it does not need much energy. So it makes sense to give to a person who moves less – less carbohydrate (somewhere in the area of 100 grams of carbohydrate per day will be enough).

3. If you have a response problem or insulin sensitivity

“Insulin sensitivity” refers to how your cells respond to insulin signals. “Insulin response” refers to how much insulin is secreted into your blood in response to the food you eat. Studies show that weight loss does not get better or worse whether you insulin sensitive or insulin resistance.

It does not really relate to you unless you are overweight, couch potato and close to diabetes and do not want to exercise to lose weight.

If you weigh a little more than average and exercise 2-3 times a week, you probably will not have problems with insulin response or insulin resistance. Therefore you will better consume a medium to high amount of carbohydrate.

But there is evidence that people with low insulin sensitivity can lose more weight on a low-carbohydrate diet.