Thanks for an interesting blog.

Regards
Rasmus Rasmussen

One final question.

Do you recommend any vitamins or minerals that can help stave off Carbohydrate cravings?

Thanks again.

Keith – Louisville, KY.

Take plenty of magnesium. That seems to help the most.

I followed the Protein Power Plan before I got married and it worked like a charm, Thank You!

I have a couple of questions…

1. I have heard that doing Low Carb does not work as well when you try it again. The body becomes used to the metabolic pathway and does not react by losing bodyfat?

2. Should Diet Soda be avoided…What about Sucralose?

3. I am concerned about the recent Methylglyoxal research…I did read your responses above but need some reassurance that this diet will not lead to pre-mature aging.

Thanks.

Keith – Louisville, KY

I’ve seen no evidence that a low-carb diet is less effective the second time around. As long as it is followed as it should be and not halfway, weight loss should be the same.

MRE

Doug

http://www.jmedicalcasereports.com/content/pdf/1752-1947-2-45.pdf

Would you please comment? Can low carb be abused or can it work too well?

Thank you in advance.

Doug

See this post I wrote on a similar situation a couple of years ago.

MRE

I’d like to comment on the above – using myself as a current example -

I ate 530 grams protein Monday(3 cans tuna – 100 gr and 430 gr whey protein – and a little cheese – butter – cottage cheese and yogurt with that and a small amount of peanut butter – olive oil – coconut)

and Tuesday had 80 grams protein from plain sugar/fructose free yogurt and cottage cheese and almost nothing else except a few lettuce leaves -

I didn’t eat that way Tuesday because I had to – I simply didn’t want any carbs – from plants at least and all I really wanted was the 80 grams of protein and some carbs I guess from the yogurt and cottage cheese -

I eat this way because I want my daily ‘average’ intake of protein to be about 250 grams a day -

And do this by cycling protein from very high – to adequate or moderate(80 to 130 grams) or so -three high protein days and two days moderate – per week

As you cab see – I simply don’t believe the recommend protein amounts – recommended by the main-stream nutritional scientists –

And this pertains to the Atkins dieter and everyone else –

A fear of protein ? In my meat eating days – I remember my Grandma cooking up a big pan of Deer or Elk liver – no one else in the family could stand it – so I got to eat the whole pan – I could have and would have – ate a big pan of liver every day – then – if I’d had the chance -

I am no longer shackled by what my family eats and can choose what I eat – which is 250-300 grams protein averaged per day day – from fish and whey protein – mostly

Regardless of anyones opinion’s to the contrary -

So – although I consider 12% fat close too ideal in terms of needed fat – up-too 25% is fine if it serves a purpose – an extra 300 calories of coconut – beans – peanut butter or olive oil – each one of these would provide an extra boost of value to a low-calorie diet and if the fat% reached 25% – it would be fine -

Cheese – I think this one food is an exception – I wouldn’t hesitate to eat a pound of it a day – regardless of it’s 80% fat content – and eat little of anything else on those days – however – this doesn’t serve my purposes in getting enough protein generally – so I eat only small amounts most days -

So – I may be a nut of sorts – I guess – but in the end my views are flexible somewhat – simply because nature provides that flexibility -

Metabolically – I suppose on those days I eat 530 grams protein – I certainly have enough glucose if needed – and extra protein for protein turn-over -

I also might be burning some ketone’s as my carbs tend to be very low on those high protein days – and a few days after

Metabolically – I’m not sure what this means – if anything – although I think it’s generally accepted that high protein drives or forces insulin evels down also – where-as low carb – and fat do not spike it in the first place –

Eating plant carbs whole and raw and at least eating cooked plants whole – also tend to limit insulin response -

Beans – even in relatively small amounts – also slow the break-down of any other food eaten with them – so they too are capable of improving insulin response -

But of all of these methods – high protein is the only one that forces insulin levels down – and beans by actively slowing food break-down – limit it that way – the other methods (low carb and fat) work by not forcing insulin up in the first place

My calories on high protein days(530 grams) are 2300 or so – so at least theoretically – there are ‘no’ extra calories to turn into or add to fat deposits -

All the civilized diets on earth – guarantee only one thing – that your young for a while – then get massive cellulite and thunder thighs – then diet away all your muscle – then eat yourself fat again -then at some point in older age you rather suddenly turn into a shrunken – wrinkled up old prune -

At least with my own diet – I’m going to chew my neighbor’s leg off or his dog up – hair – skin and all – before I give up to this sad scenario – metaphorically speaking – of course -

Hi Jeff–

MRE

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/leaneating_1.htm

Lean Eatin’ – Part I
Choosing the right foods to get lean and mean
By Dr. John M Berardi, Ph.D.
First published at http://www.t-mag.com, May 17 2002.

‘ my comment – the article suggests fat and carb’s have an equal Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF) and that protein alone had double the thermogenic power vs. fat or carbs alone! ‘

The TEF, as I’ve said many times before, represents the additional caloric expenditure (above resting metabolism) that it takes to digest, absorb, and process the food you eat. Studies on the thermic effect of different foods have been important in describing the different effects of the macronutrients on metabolism.

The TEF lasts from between one to four hours after eating a meal. When adding up the thermic effects from each of your meals, this extra metabolism represents between 5% and 15% of your total daily energy expenditure. Therefore, if your daily energy expenditure is 3,000kcal, about 150 to 450kcal of that comes from the TEF. Interestingly, different macronutrients tend to have different effects on metabolism.

Welle et al. (1981) and Robinson et al (1990) demonstrated that during a normal six hour period of rest and fasting (basal metabolism), subjects burn about 270kcal. When eating a single 400kcal meal of carbs alone (100g) or fat alone (44g), the energy burned during this six hour period reached 290kcal (an additional 20kcal). Interestingly, when eating 400kcal of protein alone (100g) the subjects burned 310kcal during this six hour period (an additional 40kcal). Therefore, protein alone had double the thermogenic power vs. fat or carbs alone!

‘ my comment – it would have interesting to see what would happen if the fasting state had been longer putting the subjects in deep ketosis before eating – but I suspect probably little difference. ‘

Swaminathan et al (1985) demonstrated that during a normal fasted 90-minute period, both lean and obese subjects burned about 110 calories. When consuming a 400kcal, fat only meal (44g), the lean subjects burned 125kcal (+15kcal) while the obese subjects only burned 110kcal (+0Kcal).
This indicates that while the lean can up-regulate metabolism when eating fat, the obese may, in fact, have a defect in their thermogenic response mechanisms for fat. When fed a 400kcal mixed meal (P+C+F), the lean subjects burned 130kcal (+20kcal) during the 90-minutes while the obese burned 125kcal (+25kcal) during the 90-minutes. These data demonstrate that mixed meals are more thermogenic than fat only meals and that lean people have a better TEF response than the obese.

So now that you understand that different macronutrients (at the same energy intake) can alter calorie balance within a single meal, here’s another interesting argument for the fact that all calories were not created equal. In a study by Campbell et al (1991), 6,500 rural and urban Chinese were compared to the US population norms for energy intake, macronutrient breakdown, and health. This is an important comparison due to the fact that obesity and cardiovascular diseases have reached epidemic proportions in North America while the prevalence is much lower in China. Check out this data on average nutrient intake:

U.S.:

Energy – 30.6kcal/kg
Carbohydrate – 42% (224g)
Fat Intake – 36% (85.86g)
Alcohol – 7%
Fiber – 11g/day
Protein – 15% (80g)
% Protein from Animal – 70% (56g)
BMI (wt/ht*ht) – 25.8
China

Energy – 40.6kcal/kg
Carbohydrate – 71% (504g)
Fat Intake – 14% (44g)
Alcohol – 5%
Fiber – 33g/day
Protein – 10% (71g)
% Protein from Animal – 11% (7g)
BMI (wt/ht*ht) – 20.5
It’s interesting to note that while the Chinese have a much lower body mass index (as represented by weight in kg/height squared in meters) and a much lower prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular disease, they eat about 25 to 35% more food than we do! Now, the Chinese tend to be more active than we are, but when the numbers were corrected for activity levels, the differences remain!

Looking at the macronutrient breakdowns, the Chinese are on a high-carb diet, no doubt. But they’re not fat. And while their protein intake, by percentage, is lower, they do get nearly as much total protein, by gram amount, as we do. Perhaps we could take a lesson from the Chinese. Clearly not all calories are created equal because if they were, the Chinese would be fatter than we are! But instead, the average 100kg Chinese person gets to enjoy a 4060kcal diet while keeping his lean physique.

I know, I know, that study is only epidemiological and therefore lacks some explanatory power, but stay tuned as I present two final studies to demonstrate that all calories were not created equal.

This article also has some other interesting conclusions regarding macronutrient amounts and ratio’s

The above shows clearly no benefit from fat or carb’s – from a TEF standpoint – although coconut and olive oil are slightly better at it – I doubt that much –

So exactly what benefit does the Atkins diet at 60% fat provide ? Aside from 40% protein.

On a 1000 calorie diet the Atkins dieter doesn’t get enough protein by amount – and just the borderline amount needed if the diet is 1500 calories -

Reduce the fat to 10 percent and a 1000 calorie Atkins dieter would about the needed protein by amount – 225 grams –

So – just what is all that fat good for ?

Hi Jeff–

MRE

Everything else I’ve read agrees with you, that ketones improve mitochondrial efficiency and lower MG levels. What I haven’t seen anywhere else, though, are studies that address a longer-term timeframe. This study shows MG increasing to a peak 2 to 3 weeks into ketosis. (Even if they are biased against low-carb diets, I presume they are not lying about the actual experiments and measurements.) Everything else I’ve read applies to shorter timeframes. Do you have links to other papers that address the same longer timeframe as this study?

If I was you, I would be curious about my MG levels and get them checked

As always, thanks for your thoughtful comments!

Hi Tim–

MRE

They also suggest a path whereby ketosis could increase methylgloxal through acetone, which is at elevated levels during ketosis:

“Another pathway that could be very significant to Atkins dieters
is MG production through ketone bodies. On a low-carbohydrate diet such as the At-
kins diet, patients become ketotic, with elevated levels of aceto-acetate and β-hy-
droxybutyrate. Acetoacetate breaks down into acetone, which studies have shown
oxidizes into acetol,7,8 a possible precursor of methylglyoxal.”

Don’t you have any concern about this at all? You seem to be just ignoring it, not responding to either the actual data or the theory about why it might be happening.

No, I don’t really have much concern for this at all. It is just one study, which means nothing scientifically. Studies need to be verified by other studies in other labs before they can be truly meaningful. Plus this study wasn’t even peer reviewed. The NY Academy puts on numerous meetings throughout the year on specific subjects. Scientists speak at these meetings, them publish the text of their talks as papers in the Annals of the NY Academy of Science. This is much different than the rigid peer-review process most journals go through.

MRE

I have a lot of respect for de Gray too, so I paid for a copy of “Ketosis Leads to Increased Methylglyoxal Production on the Atkins Diet” so I could see exactly what they did and what they found.

The increase in methylglyoxal in ketosis was not overnight — it took 2 to 3 weeks to reach a peak. So it looks like every-other-day fasting (per studies showing this equivalent to calorie restriction) is fine, but long-term fasting could increase methylglyoxal in the same way fed ketosis appears to. Or it could be that long-term fasting and fed ketosis have some metabolic differences where fasting does not increase methylglyoxal.

Have you considered getting your methyglyoxal levels checked, assuming you have been in long-term ketosis? If your levels were high, then that would be a real concern and you should change your diet; if normal, then that would really be a strong counter-point to the results from this paper.

And it certainly would be nice to have the experiment done re long-term fasting and check methyglyoxal levels that result.

Thanks for the site — a great resource!

Hi Tim–

MRE