Of all the animals on the planet, humans are the most confused about
how to eat...Today, it's pretty trendy eat low carb. But most dieters
don't even know what that means.

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! Nobody else should be eating "low carb" because healthy
individuals, and especially athletes, would face more risk than benefit
when lowering carbohydrate intake to less than 50% of calories.

(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.

Why are carbohydrates bad for the metabolically challenged?

For those who are overweight and obese or Type II diabetic 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.

Want to learn how to eat to slow the aging process and optimize your
hormones? Start the 6 simple habits of the AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery
at www.ampmfatloss.com

Dare to live young!

The People's Chemist

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