Most recommendations seem to be for a fixed grams/day based on activity level such as club-level training and elite-athlete level training, but it seems logical that body weight must somehow be part of this equation. Please advise.

Thanks and best regards,

NIKT

I’ve been dieting for three months, consuming about 500-600 calories a day, and cut out all carbs, apart from those found within vegetables, a small cup of branflakes, and about 15g of carbs in the soup I drink. I’m worried that this will damage my muscle, and wondered whether it would be a good idea to start protein shakes? I don’t weight train but I am currently meeting my goal of walking three miles a day. I have sourced a very low calorie/carb, high protein shake and wondered if drinking one of those a day would prevent muscle breakdown sufficiently?

Thanks very much

Regards,
Kevin

http://fit-free.blogspot.com/

Your article is fantastic! Thankyou…

I am a 28 y/o recreational natural bodybuilder. I currently weigh 100kg and I have visible abs but a little soft towards the bottom of my abs (i.e not as lean as a competing bodybuilder).

My aim is to increase my mass slightly over the next 2 months and then “cut up” for three months and get as lean as possible while maintaing muscle mass..

I currently train with weights 4-5 times per week and do 45mins of intense cardio per week (soccer).

I currently consume about 210 grams of protein per day, consisting of three main meals & 4 Whey Protein Concentrate shakes.

With regards to carbs, I currently have a cup of oats for breakfast and a piece of fruit, a small amount of canned beans (100 grams approx) for lunch, 1 Ryvita biscuit in the afternoon, an apple in the afternoon and a small sized potato for dinner.

I try to fill up of vegetables such as broccoli or salad at luch and dinner.

My question is, how much can I reduce the carbs I currently consume (as per above diet), without losing muscle mass? How can I change my diet to get lean as possible whilst maintaining muscle mass? I plan to perhaps increase my cardio to 3-4 20 minute sessions of running if neccessary and do 3 weight training sessions a week during the 3 month ‘cut up’ phase

Kind regards,

Luke

Anyway, besides the cashews, I’m getting only 25 to a max of maybe 50 grams per day of carbs, eating about 100-150 grams of fat, and about 100 grams of protein, so my breakdown is about 75% fat calories, 20 % protein, and about 5% if that, from carbs…

How long will it take me to get into Ketosis?? I’m so frustrated…I should be there by now, no? I work out 5 days a week with about 50/50 being high cardio and the rest moderate to low. I do about 45 min of weights and I take on some intense, very aerobic hikes.

Any comments?

Anyways, I know you commented previously on how a gentlman “needed to read a physiology book dated after 1970″. Well I know that’s false: there are indeed text books in the past ten years that conclude that a minimum level of carbohydrate is needed for basic brain function. But I’m not arguing about our body needing it, I just wanted to point out your statement was false.

Secondly, there are many studies on acidosis and weight loss. I’m not referring to DKA and understand the differences. Without finding peer reviewed articles yet on the topic, and the reading I have done, I have found that ‘extended periods of ketosis will cause acidosis’– do you have a time frame? I believe this is what a lot of the medical field has a hard time swallowing. As a nurse, and have worked in the ICU, I would say nearly 95% of those patients were in a state of acidosis, a lot metabolic acidosis or respiratory acidosis, and our bodies are amazing at compensating for this in a healthy state. What bothers me is hearing type I/ (and moreso bothersome type II) diabetics that recklessly try fad diets without consulting their doctors OR go against doctors advice by doing so. It may be stated somewhere in your articles, but I’d love to see you add something along the lines of “please see your doctor before starting any type of exercise or diet regime” as like you said, everyone is different and requirements differ. It scares me that people with multiple diagnoses will put themselves into a state of ketosis, and already are in acidosis due to a lung/heart disease (which many do have multiple diagnoses as a type II diabetic, generally speaking). It also scares me to think that people are taking bicarbonates to counteract this acidosis. There are many studies to support negative affects of long term use of bicarbonates, and I know very well that bicarbonate (just like the kidneys excrete) is only short term solotion for an initial problem that needs to be fixed. Long term acidosis damages all your body organs. On a side note, it is why soda pop is so terrible (even aside from the tremendous amounts of added sugar).

We do know that having acidosis in our blood makes it more difficult for our body to function in general, and of course we need our body to function to live (if its not obvious to all) and of course to lose weight on a cellular level.

It also scares me that you use the words starvation when you type about ketosis, because of course, its what it is. And personally, I agree with a few previous points (but are still willing to listen by reading journals, not anecdotal books, no offense). I think by being in ketosis for short term may be beneficial, but logically, I cannot accept starving my body and disrupting its processes. Its not all about burning sugar, there are a million other processes that run the show, and many we do not know of yet.

Until I know more, and I’m always searching, I’ll do what I know best: do everything in moderation. Everything we put in our mouth is at a risk– even your own foot.

Cheers And yes, tomorrow I’ll do more reading, maybe by then I’ll have more to say!
PS: do you have any information on medium chained fatty acids? Another topic that has been controversial
Dana

Or would you recommend a higher carbohydrate intake to keep the metabolism functioning optimally?

I just wasn’t sure if it was mostly low calorie diets that caused the problems and this could be offset by bringing calories up regardless of carb intake or if it was the specific carb intake also playing a role. Thanks.

My question is, if I am to consume 100g carbohydrates in a day, could some of this number be made up from sweet potatoes. I know sweet potatoes are a starchy tuber but if you are staying on your figure, does it really matter if you’re consuming tubers? Or should it come solely from low carbohydrate vegetables and fruit advocated on the Paleo diet.