I know a lot of RX readers like shorter nutrition pieces, so here’s a quick one for today. I get a lot of questions from people who are confused on a lot of smaller nutrition matters. As a result, I thought I would try to squash some popular nutrition myths.
Myth: Carbohydrates Can Not Be Directly Stored as Body Fat
Truth: Don’t laugh. That’s been the idea held by many astute physiologists over the years. The belief has been that excess carbohydrates are not directly stored as body fat but must first be channeled through more complicated metabolic pathways in order to make you fatter. Well, the gig is up. Carbohydrates can make you fat in three different ways. Yes, that’s right THREE! First, all carbohydrates will be stored as body fat when muscles are already full of glycogen. It follows that a continuous high carb diet will lead to fat gains. Second, the insulin burst associated with eating carbs can trigger the fat storing machinery in the body. Third, and here’s the surprise, carbohydrates can directly increase fat storage. Known as “de novo lipogenesis” or the “conversion of carbohydrates into fat”, this helps explain why many remain weary of involving their midsections in a nefariously high carb intake.
Myth: Eating More than 3500 calories a day will result in a gain of 1 pound of fat.
Truth: Not always. The rule of thumb, that eating 3500 calories beyond your caloric needs results in a pound if fat, is more of a ballpark estimate and often skewed in the real world. In a very famous study, one researcher put the idea to test. He ate 1766 calories daily for an entire year. During the full year, his weight remained the same, didn’t budge up or down. The following year he upped his daily caloric intake to 2199 a day and he upped it again to 2403 the third year. That translates into 158,000 more calories in year two than year one and 232,000 more calories in year 3 than year 1. If you run the math and hold onto to the idea 3500 extra calories is equal to one pound of fat, the guy should have gained 45 pounds in the first year and 66 in the second. Astoundingly, the scientist reported a gain of only a few pounds. What gives? The stability of the bodyweight can only be explained in changes in metabolism. As he ate more, he burned more. The extra burning of calories is a result of many things that occur with overeating, such as thyroid and IGF levels increase in tandem with thermogensis, the wasting of calories as opposed to the storage of calories as body fat. That’s why, although calories are important, I don’t get caught up in micromanaging the numbers and relying on them as a rock-solid means to devise diet plan.
Myth: Carbohydrate Reserves Have To Be Full To Train Hard
Truth: You can train as hard as you need with sub-full levels. Can you drive your car for 30 miles from point A to point B on a half tank of gas? You bet your chicken breast loving ass you can. In fact, your car can drive as fast as need be without anything close to a full tank of gas. The same is true with your body and energy needs. While glycogen, the stored collection of carbohydrates found in muscles, is a main fuel source for balls out training, reserves never need to be full to hit the gym. In fact, that’s a reason bodybuilders with the right diet plan can lean down and strip off all the fat they need, without losing mass. With the right diet, you can smash a workout just as hard, if not harder than when your muscles are jammed full of carbohydrates.
Myth: Carbohydrates Increase Insulin Sensitivity.
Truth: Carbohydrates can increase insulin sensitivity, a “muscle’s ability to lock up with insulin” the anabolic hormone that assists in growth and repair. However, two paradoxes exist. First, chronic excess carbohydrates make you fatter and actually hinder insulin sensitivity. This could lead to an increase in fat storage and a compromised anabolic drive. Second, studies have shown protein also increases insulin sensitivity. This is another reason to make sure protein serves as a backbone to your nutrition strategy.
Myth: Ketones Are Bad
Truth: They are good! Ketones are fragments of fat burning that are a litmus test determining whether or not you are in a fat burning zone. Low carb and keto diets require severely lowering the intake of carbs. In turn, this causes greater fat burning and greater ketone production. Some of these ketones are burned as fuel, some exert a mild increase in calorie burning and others are used to prevent the burning of muscle tissue that comes with any hardcore “I want to get ripped and see the striations on my ass diet”.
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