Fat Burning Nutrition - High Fat vs. High Carb Diets with MCT Oil
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In my honest opinion and from many scientifically written pieces of literature out there, the high-fat diet
simply doesn't make any sense. It can contribute to heart disease and cancer. It deprives your muscles of
the carbs required for high-intensity exercise like weight-lifting. If you're eating extra calories to gain
lean body mass, excess fat calories have a high tendency to be stored as bodyfat. Remember, fat cannot be
conveiled to muscle and it cannot be stored as glycogen. The only thing your body can do with excess calories
from conventional fat is to store them as bodyfat.
The theory behind the high-fat diet is to use dietary fat as fuel in place of carbohydrates. This results
in lower insulin levels. In theory this sounds like a good idea since insulin stimulates fat storage and
blocks fat breakdown. Too bad we can't avoid the health problems associated with a high-fat diet!
But wait a minute-we can! Simply use MCT oil, along with the proper diet of natural, complex carbs and
lean protein. Divide your food equally among six meals spread throughout the day. Next comes the MCT oil.
Start out with 1/2 tablespoon per meal, mixed with food, until your system gets used to it. Work your way
up to one or two tablespoons per meal, depending on your size and level of caloric intake. (Some people
eat as much as five tablespoons per meal.)
A good rule of thumb here is to try to derive 30 percent of your calories from MCT oil while limiting
conventional fat to 5 percent of calories. You should see and feel a dramatic effect at this level. Then
make up the rest of your calories from unrefined, complex carbohydrates.
How does this approach compare with the high-fat diet? There are two big differences. First, this diet uses
MCT oil instead of conventional fat. Whereas regular fat found in conventional food has very high tendency
to store as bodyfat, MCT oil does not. MCT oil is fat with a specially engineered molecular structure that
causes it to be metabolized differently than regular fat. MCT oil has almost no tendency to store as bodyfat.
Instead, excess calories from MCT oil are simply released as body heat in a process called thermogenesis.
This is really a bodybuilder's dream since it allows fat calories to be substituted for carbs in order to
decrease insulin levels, while avoiding the pitfalls of regular fats.
The second big difference has to do with carbs. The high-fat diet calls for limiting carbs to 5 to 10 percent
of calories so that you can enter a fat- burning state called ketosis. But once carbs get below about 100
grams a day, your body starts to break down muscle tissue and uses the amino acids to make glucose in the
liver. Intentionally constructing a diet that results in muscle breakdown to maintain blood glucose never
made much sense to me. Losing a pound of fat doesn't really get you anywhere as a bodybuilder if you have
to lose a pound of muscle at the same time. The other thing is your muscles require carbs to thel the
anaerobic activity of lifting weights. If your muscles need carbs, feed 'em some carbs, It's not that
complicated.
But by using MCT oil, you can maintain insulin at low levels and shift your metabolism into a fat-burning
mode, all while still consuming 40 to 60 percent of your calories from carbohydrates. This works because
combining protein and fat (MCT oil) and fiber at each meal slows the release of carbs into the bloodstream,
resulting in a much lower insulin level.
A downside of carbs, as proponents of the high-fat diet are quick to point out, is that they induce a big
insulin response. This is why I continue to advocate the use of only slow-release complex carbohydrates
(maltodextrin-based carb supplements and complex carbohydrates). If you structure your diet using these
foods, protein, and MCT oil, you'll be able to eat a high-carb diet while minimizing insulin response.
The truth is, I can see the logic of the high-fat diet, and I've had great success with it in bodybuilders
- as long as the fat is MCT oil and not conventional fat.
My experience with top bodybuilders over the last 20 years has taught me that the best diet is one which
provides one to one- and-a-half grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, about 30 percent of
calories as MCT oil, and the rest as complex carbs. (And believe me, I've taken them from the basement
to the Olympia, literally.) This usually works out to be around 30 percent protein, 30 percent MCT oil,
and 40 percent carbs, but the percentages vary among individuals depending on their protein and calorie
requirements. The ratios also change depending on whether you're trying to gain muscular weight in the
off-season or lose fat before a contest.
My critics will say that all I'm doing is just trying to sell MCT oil, but that's not the case. I'm trying
to sell proper nutrition to get optimal results for athletes. If MCT oil is not for you, that's fine. I've
always said that food is the foundation of nutrition and that you can get great results with the proper diet
of wholesome foods.
My opinion is you are better off with a high-carb diet, with or without MCT oil, than with the high-fat
diet, and an overwhelming body of scientific literature backs me up. Plus, it's healthier, you feel better,
and you'll have more energy to train.
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