The benefits of controlled carbohydrate nutrition cannot be ignored forever.
Low-carb was big news a few years ago.
Then it kind of died out.
Now I believe it’s making a big comeback.
Whether it’s:
- The Swedish Government’s recent decision to recommend a low carb diet as part of it’s dietary guidelines. (Thanks to Dr. Annika Dahlqvist).
- The American Diabetes Association’s decision to recognize low-carbohydrate nutrition as a strategic method for producing weight loss in their 2008 Clinical Practice Recommendations.
- The release of the ground-breaking book Good Calories, Bad Calories
by Gary Taubes
Low-Carb is back in the headlines, and for all the right reasons.
Recently while speaking about his new book on the Larry King Live show, Gary Taubes was given a somewhat unexpected ‘valentine’ by one Dr. Andrew Weil. Check it out…
Dr. Weil totally gets it. On top of understanding the hormonal regulation of fat tissue, he also states that it’s not a matter of going zero carb, but rather eating carbs that have a minimal impact on blood sugar.
It now seems that Dr. Weil has taken his own advice and is now happily losing weight on a low-carb diet.
The following is from Dr.Weil’s website:
“So what ideas have you changed?
I think there is more of a change in my thinking about carbohydrates. In the past five or six years, there has been a real explosion of quality research into the glycemic load and its effect on weight gain and insulin sensitivity.
And are you using this insight personally? You were on the Martha Stewart show recently, and she was quite effusive about how good you looked.
Yes, I think I am quite sensitive to high-glycemic-load carbohydrates. Most of the processed, refined, manufactured foods are the ones that are quick digesting and problematical. Cutting back on them has helped me get my weight down, because my metabolism is certainly carbohydrate sensitive.”
Pretty cool, we’re really starting to see a change in the thinking of the mainstream surrounding carbohydrates.
Dr. Weil mentioned the Glycemic Load, something I mentioned in my ‘Future of MuscleHack‘ article. I’ll soon be creating a bodybuilding diet plan based on low Glycemic Load food choices. The aim is to allow a more liberal intake of carbohydrates but still with a minimal impact on blood sugar and therefore minimal lipogensis (creation of body fat).
Once I get ‘Total Six Pack Abs‘ finished I’ll have this diet plan up for you guys.
Stay Tuned,
Mark McManus
Thanks to Jimmy Moore of LivinLaVidaLowCarb for the news and the video
That’s great news! It’s always cool when seeing more and more exposure to this way of eating. I used to weigh around 220 lbs at 6feet a couple of years ago and my bodyfat% was thru the roof. Then I tried a low carb diet and lost 64lbs in a few months with lots of excercise. Of course, i didn’t develop any muscle and then tried a couple of diets for bulking involving carbs and was never really successful.
Next week, I’ll give the MANS diet a go to try and bulk and keep my body fat% in check and see what happens! Can’t wait.
That’s great Homy.
Glad you’re going to take control of your body. Yes you’ll be able to gain muscle and keep fat accumulation at bay with MANS.
Remember to eat a lot on the low carb part of the diet.
Cheers,
Mark
Very interesting news and certainly a big coup for the low carb advocates. I remember back in the day (2002) when i did low carb after reading the article from Taubes in the NYT, What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?, that Dr. Weil was one of the people I HATED for being so pro carb. I did low carb for 6 months and lost about 30kg, went from 112 kg to 82 and felt so great. since then I have gained back and my plan is to go back to low carb but I like the plan you present here on this website. I did a lot of weight training back then but I would love to gain some more strength and muscle this time around, would you recommend going straight into your low carb – high carb or perhaps start by losing some weight with low carb prior to building up the muscle?
thanks for a great website, bjorn
Another great post! I have a few questions though.
First, what type of carbs are optimal to consume during my 32 hour “carb-load ?” I have good mix of both high and low glycemic carbs.
Second, I have a giant fear of eating to much. Right now I’m 157 lbs. and in the 13-15% range in terms of body fat. Only two months ago, I was at 17% and weighed 165, so in all honesty, I’m downright scared to consume large quantities of food, especially fat. Got any encouraging words?
Again, another great post, Fabian
If your afraid of fat than there are so many articles and books out there that should take that fear away. I am not sure if Taubes old article is available online = What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie but if it is then it´s a good place to start.
I appreciate that Fabian.
Did you read my post ‘What If You CAN’T Get Fat On A High-Fat Diet?’ If not look it up in the archives and read it. That should put an end to the fat fear.
You should be more concerned about the carb-up period. Try low GI carb sources during this time. Here’s a fantastic website where you can search you’re favorite carb foods for GI and GL rating
https://www.glycemicindex.com/
It’s a great resource. Also consider dropping to a 24 hour carb-up.
Thanks,
Mark
It can still be found Bjornv.
It’s a great read, thanks for mentioning it.
Mark
Bjornv,
Sorry I didn’t respond to your first comment earlier.
I would recommend you focus on losing the fat first then bulking with the MANS diet. However, you can still lift. Workout and do MANS without the carb-up session.
If you want to achieve very low body fat percentages, the strategy will be detailed in ‘Total Six Pack Abs’.
Hope that helps. By the way, losing 30k, that’s fantastic and you can definitely do it again!
Mark
Thanks for that. It is a smart idea atleast to get down to a lower fat percentage before doing the MANS diet. let´s see in the summer if the time will be right.. thanks again for a great site.
Regarding forums, I think it´s a good idea and there are many free forum websites outthere which you could use to make a forum that is linked back to your webpage.
Another question- Are nuts permitted on the MANS diet? I am asking because I’ve heard the argument that consuming too many nuts is bad because the carbs add up. Almonds (my favorite), seem like a perfect fit for the MANS because of it high fat content and protein content.
Yes absolutely Fabian! Nuts are great and Almonds are one of the best. Walnuts are another great choice.
Enjoy!
Mark