We deal with pretty much every aspect of coaching as we have found that it is extremely difficult to separate them into individual parts. This is because the different parts of our lives such as our personal, social and work lives all intermingle and impact on each other and a big topic for us is how to live a healthy life with the right nutrition. There are so many different diets out there and I have a problem with the word diet as it is implies a short period of time, people don't usually stay with a diet for the rest of their lives so we promote changing your lifestyle to your advantage and work long term for your benefit.
The low carb way of eating has had mixed press and a lot of confusion as to what it is all about and I wanted to explain it from my perspective here and hopefully highlight why it can be a great way to eat everyday. It is not for everyone and it may be worth you seeing a nutritionist to get advice about your specific needs. However adapting your lifestyle to include this nutritional plan is a great way to lose excess fat and to maintain the body that you want, IF you are prepared to make the changes necessary for it to work. There are so many delicious and healthy meals that you can make with our guide and then you can adapt and change them to keep variety in your life.One of the main reasons why people get concerned about low carb diet is that they worry whether our bodies can function without adequate amount of carbs (glucose).
The term "adequate" is very subjective and what's considered adequate for some may seem meager to others. If you're used to eating carb dense foods like cereal, bread, pasta, rice, and other grain foods...going a day without any of these foods may seem unthinkable!
Believe it our not, before grains (and the advent of agriculture) were introduced into our evolutionary diet, it's quite likely that we were all "low-carbers!" and that most of our foods came from animal meat, fish and even insects. Carb rich foods like fruits and vegetables, which are seasonal, were probably hard to come by and even if they did, there probably weren't enough food available to keep them nourished for long periods of time.
Although I'm speaking about our hunter and gatherer ancestors which doesn't seem applicable to our modern society, it's a lot more relevant than you might think considering that our bodies internal mechanisms like endocrine (hormones) systems and digestive systems haven't changed much at all since our hunter and gatherer ancestors.
So evolutionary speaking, our bodies (most likely) evolved to handle the kinds of foods available during those times, which were mostly animal meat, high in protein and fats and some sparingly available vegetation which made up for modest amounts of carbohydrates. It's also likely that food was hard to come by and that our ancestors likely went without food for prolonged periods of time. This would indicate that their bodies were probably in a state of ketosis more often then not.
Ketosis is a state where your body uses stored fat instead of glucose for energy. It can happen during periods of famine where lack of food intake results in a drop in blood glucose levels, or if you're on an extremely low carbohydrate diet. Either way, when the glucose level in your body drops below a certain level your body automatically shifts the metabolic pathway to produce ketones from fat which are used to fuel your body.
Ketone is produced as a by-product when fat is converted to energy and is a perfectly good fuel source that your body and brain can utilize.
Keep in mind that your body's functions are based on gene expression. So, if you're used to eating a high carb diet, you've been signaling genes that express metabolic pathways to burn glucose/sugar as your primary fuel source. However, just as easily you can shift your metabolic pathway to burn fat as your primary fuel source by signaling the correct genes through diet.
As you start eating a diet lower in carbs and higher in protein and fat, you start signaling genes to up-regulate your fat metabolism and ketone production while down regulating your sugar metabolism. This can take anywhere from 3 weeks or longer depending on your situation, but once you're "fat adapted" your body and brain starts to function very well on this new energy pathway.
In fact your brain prefers ketones over glucose especially in state of ketosis.
They even did a study where they found that people with mild cognitive impairment improved their memory on a ketogenic diet as supposed to a typical diet high in carbs.(1)
Also, it's important to note that ketogenic diet and low carb diet are not the same. It's often grouped in as the same but, ketosis only occurs when you're carb intake dips below 15 - 20 grams of carbs a day. Most people that are on a low carb diet keep their carb intake between 50 - 100 grams a day, which keeps you out of ketosis, but still shifts your metabolic demands from sugar burning to fat burning, essentially making fat your primary source of energy.
If you follow our Lean Body Program you will learn that 100 grams a day of carbs is what I call the "sweet spot". I find that it's enough to get all the nutrients available from nutrient dense vegetables (even some fruits) while keeping your carb intake low enough to keep you an efficient fat burner as supposed to reverting back to being a sugar burner.
So here are 6 key points to keep in mind when you're on a low carb diet:
(1) Ketosis is a normal shift in your metabolic pathway to burn fat as your primary source of fuel when glucose in your body is low.
(2) Low carb diet is not the same as ketogenic diet.
(3) Your brain does completely fine on a low carb diet, and does quite well on a ketogenic diet as well, since it prefers ketones as fuel in absence of glucose.
(4) If you're switching to a low carb diet, give yourself at least 3 weeks of feeling sluggish while your body adapts to becoming "fat adapted".
(5) My recommendation is to keep your carb intake to about 100 grams a day and keep our carb intake mainly from vegetables.
(6) If you look at our ancestral/anthropological history along with the various studies done on ketosis, it's strongly evident that a low carb diet is not only safe, but has evolutionary significant health benefits...not to mention it's one of the most effective ways to naturally burn body fat!
For more details on our Lean Body program send me an email at:
In the meantime stay fit and stay healthy
Simon
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