Living Low Carb (50 page)
Authors: Jonny Bowden
So far, so good. The authors recommend a diet composed of natural, unrefined sugars; whole, unprocessed grains; vegetables; fruits; lean meats; fiber; and alcohol, in moderation. There are a few dozen fruits that are allowed, as are whole-grain breads and pastas, virtually all dairy products, lots of vegetables, and of course meats, fowl, and fish. There is no counting of carbs, calories, fat grams, or protein, but the authors do recommend cutting saturated fats. Foods to avoid include potatoes, white rice, all kinds of corn, carrots, beets, white bread, and of course sugar. The authors state that if you follow their recommendations, you will wind up with a diet of about 40% carbohydrates (of the low-glycemic variety), 30% protein, and 30% fat (exactly what Barry Sears recommends in
The Zone
, though the authors of
Sugar Busters!
do not credit him).
They recommend not eating after 8 p.m.; and they also recommend eating multiple (three) meals, because they believe several small meals produce less overall insulin secretion than one or two large meals. They believe portion control is key, and they state that if you place proper servings on the plate, counting grams is not necessary.
Other than offering general rules of what to stay away from, there is no specific “diet,” though they offer a sample 14-day meal plan and many recipes.
Sugar Busters! as a Lifestyle: Who It Works for, Who Should Look Elsewhere
Sugar Busters!
is not really a diet and is very loosely constructed. As an alternative to the standard American diet, it’s a move in the right direction. The basic concept—less white sugar and fewer foods that contain it—is a good one, though awfully simple, and not necessarily one that by itself will produce results in metabolically resistant people. If you need more structure, or if you are very carb-sensitive or carb-addicted, this is not the best place to start.
JONNY’S LOWDOWN
It’s funny—when the first Sugar Busters! book came out, the conventional nutrition establishment (dietitians, etc.) attacked it for blaming sugar and insulin for overweight instead of putting the blame where it “belonged”—on calories. On the other hand, we on the “left wing” didn’t think very highly of the book because it didn’t go far enough. It’s filled with some half-baked concepts, such as the idea that fructose is a “good” sugar because it doesn’t raise blood sugar a lot (ignoring the fact that it raises triglycerides more than any other sugar and actually raises insulin through a different means). The book doesn’t—even in the newer edition—make any distinction between the glycemic index and the glycemic load, a difference that readers of Living Low Carb will understand is very important (see page 187). It makes a big deal about carrots but allows fruit juice and “whole-grain pasta” (let me know if you can find a real-life example of the latter). The first sample meal on day 1 is “orange juice, 1 package instant oatmeal with skim milk, Equal and coffee,” which is ridiculous from a glycemic and insulin-control point of view. But with that said, the authors are very clear that they tried to design their way of eating for compliance, not cheating. For most of America, it’s a step forward. People who are knowledgeable about carb intake, insulin resistance, chronic weight problems, and the like will probably find this program far too lenient and somewhat unsophisticated. The stars are awarded for effort.
J
EFF
V
OLEK
, P
H
D, RD
AND
A
DAM
C
AMPBELL
, MS
WHAT IT IS IN A NUTSHELL
An excellent program of low-carb eating and intense workouts particularly suited for guys.
About the TNT Diet
In the acknowledgements section of
The TNT Diet
, co-author Jeff Volek, PhD, RD, thanks Dr. Robert Atkins, calling him “a man of great vision” with the “perseverance and willingness to challenge the conventional dogma of the time at the expense of ridicule.”
The reason for the acknowledgement to Dr. Atkins soon becomes clear. Volek has been researching low-carb diets for a long time, and—unlike most researchers—he’s an athlete and an exercise physiologist (and a Registered Dietitian to boot). And he knows what he’s talking about—Dr. Volek is probably responsible for more careful, published research on low-carb diets than almost anyone else in academia today. His co-author is the noted features editor for
Men’s Health
, Adam Campbell, an exercise physiologist in his own right. Full disclosure: I am on the Editorial Advisory Board of
Men’s Health
, and I work with Adam on projects from time to time. I firmly believe he is one of the most knowledgeable people writing about nutrition for the general public that you’re likely to find. “There!,” as Chris Rock would exclaim, “I’ve said it!”
You know this is no ordinary “how to lose weight” book from the moment Volek and Campbell begin exploding some of the common myths of low-carb diets and exercise.
First on the hit list: “the fat-burning zone.” The authors correctly point out that you lose the most body fat when you exercise in the “carb-burning” zone, exercising hard as you can for 30 to 60 seconds at a time. Busting the myth on the fat-burning zone—an urban legend if there ever was one—is an enterprise close to my heart. Early on in my career, I remember Daniel Koscich, PhD, then a major educational presenter for IDEA (one of the major personal training organizations in the country), saying, “If you want to lose weight, you should exercise as hard and as long as possible.” Fatburning zone, hoo-hah!
Volek and Campbell also take on the age-old myth that “fat makes you fat,” quoting research showing that people who get 60% to 70% of their calories from fat actually lose weight faster than those who get just 20% of their calories from fat!
Behind the excellent practical advice in this book is this basic science: your body stores both carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen) and fats. But the glycogen stores are limited to about 1,800 calories. If you continue eating carbohydrates once your glycogen tank is full, those carbohydrates have to be either used as immediate fuel, or stored by the body as fat. According to Volek and Campbell, by keeping glycogen stores low (with a low-carb diet), you prime the body to use fat as a fuel source. You become a more efficient fat-burning machine.
The “TNT” in the title stands for Targeted Nutrition Tactics. While a low-carb diet is definitely at the core of their program, the authors show you how to maximize fat loss while building muscle by incorporating “reloading” periods when you can eat carbs (even pizza!), and “muscle-building” intervals that fuel your workout and help you recover. Their idea: use carbs most effectively to manipulate insulin levels, signaling your body to build muscle while not turning off its ability to burn fat. They emphasize what they call “
well-timed
” carbs, as opposed to “
poorly timed”
carbs, a novel approach to the age-old problem of building muscle while losing fat.
The authors depart slightly from the conventional wisdom about “good” carbs and “bad” carbs. “While we certainly believe that some sources of carbohydrates are better than others, we believe that the total amount of carbs, and when you eat those carbs, are more-important factors to focus on,” they write. The TNT Diet revolves around the fact that there are “welltimed” carbs and “poorly-timed” carbs. “Eat carbs at the wrong time—for instance when your glycogen tank is full—and your body stops burning (and starts storing) fat,” they say.
To address this issue, the TNT Diet takes a novel approach, focusing on what they call Time Zones. “The Fat Burning Time Zone” is a basic low-carb diet that speeds fat loss and regulates your appetite. You eat this diet most of the week. It includes all the vegetables, meat, cheese, and eggs you want (no wonder the Atkins folks love Volek!). An example of dinner? “A hunk of prime rib served with a Caprese salad of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, and topped off with a glass of red wine.” The purpose of this “Time Zone” is to maximize fat-burning—and, surprisingly to many—to actually reduce your risk for heart disease.
Then there’s the “Reloading Time Zone,” and this is where it gets interesting (and will probably gain more than a few converts). “The Reloading Time Zone” is basically a high-carb diet. You use this up to 2 days a week, depending on your goals. On this phase, you’ll eat plenty of protein and—believe it or not—lots of carbs including “guy favorites” like pizza, pasta, and rice. “Although any type of carb is acceptable, we promote the healthiest ones, such as the 100 percent whole grain versions of bread, pasta and rice, as well as beans, sweet potatoes, yogurt, fruit and milk,” write the authors.
How can the program promote a high-carb diet even for 2 days a week? Simple—for the very reason many people shy away from it—a surge of insulin. Remember, this program is geared toward people who are working out hard and trying to maximize muscle. And remember that insulin does a number of things in the body, not all of them bad. Just as it “escorts” sugar into the muscle cells to be burned as fuel (and into the fat cells, for those who are insulin-resistant), it also escorts the nutrients like amino acids from protein foods right into the muscle cells. “It’s like your internal traffic cop is not only directing these nutrients toward your pecs, lats and quads, it’s as if he opened up a couple of more lanes for them to travel,” write Volek and Campbell.
Granted, you won’t burn fat as fast on the Reloading Time Zone. But your muscles will “soak up carbs like a sponge,” causing them to feel pumped and look larger almost immediately. “This is a great strategy to coordinate with a trip to the beach,” say the authors, while warning that the trick is to avoid overeating those carbs and producing an “overflowing” glycogen tank.
Finally, there’s the Muscle-Building Time Zone—a short period from an hour before you lift weights to 30 minutes after your training session. This phase is based on the well-established fact that there’s a “golden hour” when your muscles just soak up nutrients right after a workout. The authors cite Australian research showing that men who consumed a protein shake just before and right after their weight workout gained twice as much muscle in 10 weeks as guys who had the same shakes but downed them at least 5 hours outside their exercise session.
How long do you stay in each Time Zone? Depends on your goals. There are actually five “Plans” (A through E), and you select the one that is most appropriate for you, depending in large measure on how much weight you have to lose. How long you stay in each “Zone” depends on what plan you’re on. For example, if you’ve got 25 or more pounds to lose, you won’t be on the “high-carb” phase at all—unless you’re willing to go slower for the benefit of more flexibility (in which case you’ll choose plan C, which gives you 1 day a week on the high-carb plan).
Though the book is clearly aimed at men, it has great value for anyone wanting to tone up and lose body fat at the same time, something that Volek and Campbell claim is completely possible due to the science of
nutrient partitioning
. Nutrient partitioning refers to the process in which calories are diverted
away
from fat cells and redirected
toward
muscle cells. We already know how to do this with farm animals; the question is, can we do it with humans?
According to Volek and Campbell, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Exercise is not incidental to this program, it’s central to it. There’s a ton of workout information, complete with photos and instructions on how to do all the muscle-building workouts.
It’s a terrific addition to any library and an especially valuable gift for the men in your life.
The TNT Diet as a Lifestyle: Who It Works for, Who Should Look Elsewhere