Friend,

What do you think about eating low carb?

I hear this all the time. And here is the deal:

There are many variations of the low-carb diet.

While some gurus advocate higher amounts of healthy fat in place of
carbohydrates, others push for higher protein. In general, the
higher-healthy-fat approach to the low-carb diet can be ideal for people who
suffer from a metabolic illness such as obesity, insulin resistance, and
Type II diabetes.

And that's it!

Neither of these low carb variations are optimal for everyone because healthy
individuals, and especially athletes, would face more risk than benefit
when lowering carbohydrate intake to less than 50% of calories (as long as
they choose the right carbs!).

(Overall, the best source of carbohydrates are non-sweet, naturally
occurring complex carbohydrates found in vegetables.)

The low-carb diet began in 1797, courtesy of Dr. John Rollo, who treated
his diabetic patients by removing carbohydrates from their meals. The
medical community followed his lead, and today most people are familiar
with the diet as a result of the late Dr. Atkins, who advocated replacing
carbohydrates with fats and a bit of protein for his obese, Type II
diabetic patients.

More recently, the low-carb craze has been purported to lend a "metabolic
advantage" to those who overeat, while pursuing a low-carb and high protein
diet. But it's baloney. Overeating will always cause an energy imbalance
that favors fat storage.

Overeating is overeating, whether you are eating eggs, broccoli, seeds,
nuts or cotton candy. Although the hormonal effects will be different, the
end result will still be weight gain.

Why are carbohydrates so important for healthy populations?

Carbohydrates are macronutrients that come from foods like grains, dairy
products, fruits, vegetables and legumes (beans and peas). Biochemically,
they’re known as saccharides, or molecular chains of sugar. Once
consumed, your body breaks these chains into individual sugar units and
your blood sugar rises to various degrees depending on the type and amount
of carbohydrate you consumed.

To shuttle these sugary molecules out of your bloodstream, your pancreas
produces insulin, which triggers the muscle cells to vacuum them up and use
it as energy. For athletes and healthy individuals, this is a very
efficient process. Sugar and insulin are rapidly taken up by the muscles.

For those who are overweight and obese or Type II diabetic these carbohydrates
are going to compound their growing problem. For these people, insulin
and sugar linger in the bloodstream for long periods of time. This causes
numerous health problems and ensures that your body's fat- burning furnace
will stay permanently switched off!

Biochemists have also shown that excess insulin among sufferers pushes
testosterone, glucagon and other fat burning compounds out of the blood,
causing overt weight gain and critical imbalances of these essential
hormones.

Removing carbohydrates, helps the obese or Type II diabetic reverse the
illness. By lowering (not eliminating) carbohydrate intake and replacing it
with healthy fats (not just any fats), diabetics and the obese can rapidly
change their metabolism from constantly burning sugar to burning fat
instead.

At the cellular level this process gives rise to compounds called ketones,
the byproducts of burning body fat at the most basic level – in the
powerhouse of each cell, called the mitochondria. The more ketones that get
charred through the cellular engine the better. Eventually, the low carb
diet became the ketogenic diet.

Why is cutting carbs bad for athletes and healthy people?

If you're not insulin resistant, Type II diabetic, obese, or epileptic, the
low carb diet can potentially cause serious problems. Excessively lowering
carbohydrates removes an important source of micronutrients. But it also
causes a weighty compound known as glycogen to quickly become depleted.

This is a very undesirable scenario for athletes…Glycogen comprises about
8% of the human body mass and provides long term energy to the muscles,
organs and brain cells. This is the first source of energy to be lost to a
low-carb diet. The resulting weight loss is mistakenly thought of as a good
thing among devoted followers of a ketogenic diet.

For fit people, the loss of glycogen and micronutrients from an excessive
low-carb diet leads to muscle weakness, fatigue, poor thyroid function and
the inability to think as clearly. Even worse, it can almost immediately
cause irritability, aggravation and a short temper – a condition I call
"psychoglycemia."

Brain cells use twice as much energy as all other cells in the body. And
your brain cells cannot use fats and proteins to produce the fuel they
need. The energy for the brain comes strictly from glycogen. And just as
muscle cells can't function without water, brain cells are unable to
produce enzymes and neurotransmitters that aid in memory and problem
solving when glycogen and micronutrients plummet.

So, while low carb diets can be an effective therapeutic tool for the
obese, Type II diabetics and epileptics, they are not applicable to the
masses or those that are already healthy and fit.

Most people are so misinformed about eating that they have NEVER in
their life eaten right! They mess around with every fad diet. Eventually, they
give up fat and confused.

To remedy this, I wrote the Bible on how to eat right! It's a very
simple read that outlines 6 habits to live by. Once you master them,
your fat burning and anti-aging hormones come to life. Learn more at
www.dietbookthatworks.com

Dare to live young,

The People's Chemist