cycling carbs

[makedah]

wilson6 -- It's clear to me that carbohydrates are the body's preferred fuel (which, it seems, is why the body is inclined to store fat when carbs are readily available). It's also clear to me that people who are less active would need fewer carb grams. But...

Don't most humans eat a high-carbohydrate diet*? So why isn't every single human being (or at least the 75% mentioned in the post above) fat? Is it a matter of energy output (like the long-distance runners), the type of carbohydrates eaten (complex vs. simple, whole vs. refined, etc.) or percentages of other macronutrients in their diets? I'm sure the answer is "all of the above," but can you elaborate a little for me?


Thanks!


*I know that endurance athletes eat 60-70% carb and Ornish folks eat 80% carb. But what I'm calling a "high-carbohydrate diet" would be 50+% calories from carbs.

 

[CrystalChick]

Hey Spatts,

If you just have your carbs in the AM do you find yourself restless late at night hungry or craving carbs other than fibrous?

I have my morning oats, and then fibrous and protein the rest of the day. Why? Because I don't need to put gas in my car if I'm not going to drive it.

Thanks CC

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Ok, question? If you're eating below maintenance, how is your body storing carbs as fat? Or storing fat as fat for that matter?

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Ok, cool so first problem solved. Now, if one has really stubborn fat deposits, and I mean stubborn. How do they get rid of them? Assuming they already have a sh*tload of lean mass.

I love that I can count on spatts for such a quick reply. Thanks.

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Spatts - you are much leaner than the person I am thinking of, at least at in your current shots.

Will dropping carbs completely, or keeping low carbs, but avoiding ketosis start to metabolize fat that just refuses, and I mean refuses to disappear? Like around the biceps and triceps and on the stomach. Is there ever a point where someone would have to get something lipo'd off?

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Ok, I'm going to suggest this diet or some kind of carb cycling diet.

Still though, have you ever heard of fat that for all intensive purposes the body has just "forgotten" about. Do you know if this is a possibility?

BTW - This is after seeing some, but very little chane in BF after 1 yr of hard training, total explosion in strength, and a relatively good diet. No overeating whatsoever.

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Ok, cool thanks for the feedback.

 

[wannabeBB]

Hey Spatts, you said you cycle your carbs but leave the fat and protein alone. So if one day you have los carbs, would you not bring up the amount of fat to compensate? Or would you just have lower calories that day?
I hope what I asked made sense.

 

[wilson6]

The problem in our society is high fat + high carbs and inactivity.

Level of training is also an issue. Women that are highly trained (aerobic) have the same substrate utilization patterns as men and also glycogen deplete/load to a similar extent. There are a number of recent papers on these topics.

Having said all of that, genetics plays a significant role in metabolism. My guess is that the myostatin and lepin gene and their promoters are key regulators in what happens to what you eat (i.e., does it go to muscle, fat or simply produce heat).

You have to take all the experiences of people on this board and come up with a solution that works for you.

First you have to separate those that take androgens from those that do not. Androgens regulate both myostatin and lepin that in turn regulate body fat and muscle mass and there's much we don't know about that interaction.

W6

 

[SteelWeaver]

You'll never find a ref that concludes that carbs make you fat, because they don't. It takes massive, chronic carb overfeedings to get significant conversion to fat. However, only small amounts of carbs (particularly high GI carbs) will shut down fat oxidation via a small rise in insulin. Those that consume a lot of carbs, burn primarily carbs. If you're running 60 - 70 mi per week, then you can eat all the carbs you want, if you're not, then you can't.

Carbs keep you fat by preventing fat oxidation and keep the enzymes that cause fat storage turned on so even small amounts of fat (that 1 tablespoon of flax) will get stored as fat and over time this adds up.

W6

If this is the case then technically the best way to either lose fat and/or gain muscle would be to eat how ever many carbs, but keep fat as low as possible. I thought low fat diets had been discredited, though?