The Myth of Low Carb Diet and Muscle Loss

REDUCE THE CARBS INTAKE BUT DON’T ELIMINATE THEM

Of course, this does not imply that you should eliminate carbs from your diet completely. It just means that you need to find healthier alternative. For example, instead of relying on carbohydrate foods, you can stick to foods rich in fibres, like vegetables and fruit. Fibre is one of the most important ingredients for healthy body.

Fiber can be divided into two basic types. Soluble and insoluble fiber.  Soluble fiber can be found in oatmeal, for example, and it has ability to dissolve in water, becoming viscous. This fiber is very efficient in lowering the levels of blood cholesterol, and regulating the consumption of sugars. Because of this, it’s absolutely essential to include soluble fiber in your diet, despite the fact that you’ll also be consuming some sugar with it. Insoluble fiber is even more important when you want to build lean muscle mass and maintain your low body fat.

In addition to containing high concentration of minerals, trace minerals and vitamins, insoluble fiber is also very efficient in fighting cancer and beneficial for our digestive tract. And having in mind that diets low on carbs and high on protein can cause constipation, adding insoluble fibre to your diet will improve your bowel movement.

In addition, both soluble and insoluble fiber are low on calories. As a result, you can eat it in large quantities, and it won’t affect your line. Lettuce, greens, spinach, cucumber, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, onions, asparagus are just some of the vegetables that are high in fiber and should be found on your table.

The last myth regarding the importance of high carbs diet for muscle building is connected with insulin. The proponents of this theory point out that insulin is an anabolic hormone. Although this is true, it’s also true that elevated insulin levels can be extremely dangerous. First and foremost, they can cause insulin resistance.

Moreover, increased insulin levels trigger the lipogenesis in response to high blood sugar levels. Lipogenesis is the process of transforming nutrients into body fat.

Once again, the facts go against the proponents of this theory. The truth is that our bodies can harvest all the benefits of insulin without including carbs in our diet.

The insulin production can be well kept at bay with certain aminos like the BCAAs (isoleucine, leucine, valine), or arginine and alanine. Not only that, but these amino acids trigger far better insulin response than sugars. The insulin rise triggered by these amino acids is much subtler and causes less stress to our physiology then the insulin spike seen when excess carbohydrates are introduced in our system.

Namely, the sudden rise in insulin is a physiological reflex that our bodies use as a protection and means of purification against unnatural sugar levels that they interpret as poison. When we do it too often, your system can crash leaving you stranded with insulin resistance in which this hormone has little effect both on decreasing and on stimulating muscle growth.

With high quality protein diet you eliminate the risk of missing on the anabolic benefits of insulin. Even more, you’ll balance your insulin production. While your body will still be able to provide you with sufficient insulin production, you won’t notice any spikes triggered by high blood sugar.