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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 15, 2003

SHAPE UP
Low-carb diet may disappoint muscle builders

By Dave Patania
Cincinnati Enquirer

Q. I have worked out for years and have been doing a lot more aerobic work recently, lifting harder and eating a very low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet to add muscle and lose more body fat. I had my body fat tested, and it went up. What's going on?

A. You got caught up in the low-carb craze. If you are a highly active individual who works out intensely and frequently, a low-carbohydrate format may not be the best plan. If the goal is to exercise harder and add mass, you are going to need carbohydrates to fuel your workouts.

Carbohydrates supply the body with the energy to perform physical activity. For example, if you eat a healthful carbohydrate such as oatmeal, your body breaks it down into blood sugar (or glucose) and distributes it to the cells, where it's used as energy for muscles and the central nervous system.

Some of it is stored as glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrates) in the liver and muscles for future use, and any excess is converted to and stored as fat.

If you are eating high-quality carbohydrates in proportion to your activity level, you will store few carbohydrates as fat.

The myth is that all carbohydrates are bad and that eating lots of protein and no carbohydrates is the wave of the future. People who are on a low-carb diet train with me and they can barely make it through one of my workouts because they don't have the necessary energy levels to perform and recover.

If you are a basic low-carb exerciser and your goal is to just lose a few pounds, realize that the weight loss is lean tissue and water. As soon as you resume any normal eating pattern, the weight will go back up.

You must learn how to choose the right types and amounts of carbs for your situation and exercise intensities. If your goal is to add muscle mass, you are going to need carbohydrate energy to fuel the intense workouts that are necessary for muscle growth. When you are lifting weights, you are using primarily blood sugar to fuel your muscles, and aerobic activity uses even more carbohydrates, thus depleting your energy stores.

What people don't realize is that when a person is highly active and their carbohydrate levels are too low, they lose muscle mass. Losing muscle mass means that the amount of lean tissue has dropped, which means fat mass is going to increase. This explains your body fat going up despite your hard work.

You need carbohydrates to fuel your increased activity. This doesn't mean eating platefuls of spaghetti, but high-quality carbs such as whole-grain brown rice, sweet potatoes and oatmeal. Combine those quality carbs with 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight and you will be well on your way.