Diet Gurus; Got a question

[NJL52]

If your body has lots of sugar available it will tend to burn that sugar before tapping into your fat stores. If you feed it in a manner that you allow it to tap into your fat stores and use them for energy you lose fat successfully! Your body will get its energy either from carbohydrates or from fat.

That is from a book I'm currently reading. And while I know the statement is true, I don't know why.

Why do you want to burn your fat stores first? Doiong the basic math;


You need 100 calories for an activity you are doing;
If you have sugar in your blood; You burn 100kcal of sugar and you are left with a net body change of 0.
No sugar in blood; You burn 100kcal of body fat but then eat 100kcal of food. You, again, are left with a net body change of 0.

At least that is my logic. Can anybody explain to me the reason why the quoted paragraph works?

 

[NJL52]

And another related quote;

- Fat + Carbohydrates (Eaten Together) = Fat Storage

Then where do you get energy from. If eating those 2 micro nutrients causing immediate storage then your body isn't burning anything and thus producing no energy.

Where is the missing link?

 

[Tatyana]

I think when he says Carbohydrates + Fat = Fat storage (this is Tom Venuto?), he is referring to simple carbs and fat.

There are way to cycle your macronutrients

1. Keep protein high and either have higher carbs or higher fat

2. Keep fat high and have either higher protein or higher carbs

This is also related to how your body processes food, the amount of fibre in the food, and the hormonal responses to various foods.

It is a bit more complicated than calories in = calories out.

Calories are an artificial creation, the body does not know calories.

The majority of foods have protein, fat and carbs in them, even things like celery.

 

[Tatyana]

That was not a complete answer.

There is this new term being thrown around a lot of the diabetes and obesity journals called the 'American Paradox'.

While the fat content of food (processed) and the amount of fat in the diet has been decreasing the last 20 years, the incidence of obesity has been increasing.

This is because people are eating low fat but still energy dense foods (simple refined sugars).

The fats that people are eating are also more saturated (and some saturated fat is needed, just not all of it) and modified/trans fats.

This affects the fatty acid profile of cell membranes, in particular the skeletal muscles.

The majority of carbohydrates stored in your body is in the skeletal muscle, in the form of glycogen.

When the fatty acids are whacked in the membranes, they become 'stiff', and things like insulin receptors and glucose and other nutrient transporters don't work as well.

This combined with a high refined sugar diet has led to insulin resistance, and the carbohydrates people eat are converted to triglyceride and stored as fat.

My concern with all of this is that just as people believed fat is bad and stopped eating anything unless it was low fat, there does seem to be the tendency to carbs are bad now.

Not all carbohydrates or fats are created equally.

I think it is fine to eat all three macronutrients together, just make sure they are quality carbs, fats and protein......................

You do need all three for muscle growth.

 

[Sim882]

Oats are fat and carbs - 15% of their energy is fat in fact. Do people not eat oats as a result? No.

Many people also put flaxseeds on their oats.

Does this make people fat? No.

Moral of story - good carbs and good fats cannot be too bad.

Donuts, chips, pizza of course is another story

 

[NJL52]

Hrmm....Guess I worded myself wrong.

I know everything I need to know about cutting and diet. I eat the way I eat when I cut and see damn good results.

I just like knowing "why"

I don't understand why you are supposed to do things like not eating carbs late night. If carbs get stored because they are extra energy then why does protein not get stored in the same fashion. They both would be supplying non needed nutrients, what makes it okay to eat protein but not carbs?

Basically, I'm looking for the biomechanical processes and reasoning behind all these nuances of diet.

But thanks for the responses still =P

 

[Tatyana]

Oats are fat and carbs - 15% of their energy is fat in fact. Do people not eat oats as a result? No.

Many people also put flaxseeds on their oats.

Does this make people fat? No.

Moral of story - good carbs and good fats cannot be too bad.

Donuts, chips, pizza of course is another story

LOL, I almost used oats as an example.

I got fat from eating too much oatmeal and whey protein when I was studying for final exams last year (result, my current avvie).

When I worked it out, I was probably taking in about 500-600 kcals per meal, which is close to double what I need

 

[Sim882]

LOL, I almost used oats as an example.

I got fat from eating too much oatmeal and whey protein when I was studying for final exams last year (result, my current avvie).

When I worked it out, I was probably taking in about 500-600 kcals per meal, which is close to double what I need

That is why I use oat bran - fills you up on about 20-30% less calories (although I know its an unpopular choice). easier for me to get meals about 400 calories then, which is more appropriate for me.

 

[Tatyana]

Hrmm....Guess I worded myself wrong.

I know everything I need to know about cutting and diet. I eat the way I eat when I cut and see damn good results.

I just like knowing "why"

I don't understand why you are supposed to do things like not eating carbs late night. If carbs get stored because they are extra energy then why does protein not get stored in the same fashion. They both would be supplying non needed nutrients, what makes it okay to eat protein but not carbs?

Basically, I'm looking for the biomechanical processes and reasoning behind all these nuances of diet.

But thanks for the responses still =P

Our bodies can convert ANYTHING to fat, seriously, any calories in excess..........

Carbohydrates to glucose to triacylglyceride (fat)

Fat can obviously go to fat

Amino acids are classified in various ways, some are ketogenic, some are glucogenic.

The glucogenic amino acids can be converted to glucose through a biochemical pathway called gluconeogenesis, it is almost the reverse of glycolysis which is how glucose is converted to acetyl-CoA and ATP.

These amino acids are usually scavenged from your muscle, which is why long term low carb diets are often catabolic, our body makes anywhere from 20-200 g of glucose/day, depending on the diet.

The ketogenic amino acids can slot into glycolysis at the point of acetylaldehyde and (sorry can't remember and I can't be bothered to get out my biochemical pathways textbook).

I have eaten carbs late at night and still cut fat, it does depend on when you train. I have heard one trainer tell me under the correct metabolic conditions, carbs late at night can help you to burn fat. I have also heard some BBers swear you need a small amount of carbs to burn fat, so their 'fasted' cardio in the morning is coffee and a small amount of orange juice.

There is also all of the hormonal responses to when and what you eat.

This is one possible explaination for not eating carbs at night, and it is one that I do practice quite a bit.

GH is responsible for more lipolysis (breaking down fat for energy for growth). It is secreted in response to lower calorie intake, and when we are sleeping.

Insulin and growth hormone are inversely related, meaning that if GH levels are high, Insulin (the nutrient storage hormone) is low, so if you eat carbs late at night, higher insulin levels will blunt the GH release.

The interactions of the biochemical pathways in the body is controlled by the neuroendocrine system, and as modern science is still discovering some interesting interactions between all the hormones, this area is very interesting and complicated.

Also just to throw a bit of another complication into the mix, the glucogenic amino acids also elicit a fairly decent insulin response, and with the combination of carbs, actually elicit a greater insulin response than just carbs on their own...........................this can be used to your advantage by taking in a whey isolate with carbs post training.

 

[Tatyana]

If you are that interested in these things, I would suggest getting a biochemical pathways textbook.

Biochemical pathways at a glance is great.

I am sure you could also probably find something like biochemical pathways for dummies.

I am a biomedical scientist in clinical biochemistry, and I do like to review basic pathways at least once or twice a year, I find it immensely interesting and it really rocks my world