Do Low Carb Diets Really Work

May 1, 2011 by  
Filed under Diets

Many people are interested to know if there are lose weight low carb diets that they should concentrate on and also what type of workout will give them the body they want and how do they go about achieving this? Gaining the body we want requires a two pronged approach of both exercise and diet. Whatever program you utilize will not cannot conquer unhealthy eating.

Often people look into a starting a workout program in order to lose weight, even more so than trying to improve their health or fitness levels. By concentrating on working out to reduce weight without looking at the diet will make it difficult to lose weight.

The ideal program will contain both elements of nutrition and exercise to lose fat, improve fitness, and lower health risk. Newspapers, magazines, and the Internet have covered a diet comprised of different portions of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. They have recommended high carbohydrate, low fat, high protein, and more recently the lose weight low carb diets. Nevertheless our genetics allows us to overcome the changes. The problem is that we need to provide enough energy for our muscles to work effectively while not providing too much that will be stored as fat.

We need to provide the energy for our muscles so that they have sufficient prior to exercise and enough to recover afterwards without breaking down muscle to provide needed energy. Basically protein is utilized in growing and restoring muscle; carbohydrates for an extra boost of energy; and fat gives the hormones required. All 3 factors are important to well being and in being able to live a healthy way of life. If there are insufficient carbs the muscles can then utilize fat and protein to obtain sufficient energy.

Taking a more complex approach, muscles obtain energy from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is mainly produced utilizing glucose. This is stored in the liver, and the muscles themselves, as glycogen. When a muscle contracts anaerobically it can utilize the glycogen stored in the muscles directly and forms ATP. Only limited quantities can be stocked up, after these are utilized the muscles will fail.

When muscles are used aerobically ATP is produced, in the main from glucose, and is accessible straight away. The next step is to utilize the fatty acids, which are located in fat cells, which gives energy. Finally we move to anaerobic means to produce energy.

Therefore the common perception in the health sector is that the lose weight low carb diets are not a good combination with working out. As a point, marathon runners often consume high carbohydrate loadings prior to training or a race. If insufficient carbs are accessible to meet the requirements of the muscles then fatty acids are next utilized to provide glucose. This is a foundation of ATP which is utilized by muscles.

This process is not as efficient as glycogenesis which uses glucose to provide energy. People mistakenly think that the use of these fatty acids by the body has led to genuine weight loss. Our ambition is usually to lose fat rather than weight itself. By not feeding the muscles much of the early weight loss will come from the muscle loss instead of the desired drop in fat. Instead we need to maintain or grow muscle mass while reducing fat percentages.

Our long term goal is not generally to lose weight, even though we may call it that, it is loss of fat. What we are hoping to achieve is an adjustment in bodily constitution so that fat becomes a smaller proportion. There are not many of us around that would have a problem with being over-muscled!

The lose weight low carb diets are not useful for extended periods if you are looking for a healthy alternative in spite of being over the moon with the first weight loss. How-ever it will generally be at the expense of also losing muscle mass which is certainly not the goal.

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