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2 Comments on “Is it best to go on a ketogenic diet or high carb diet for bodybuilding?”

1. 
   Live for the pump
   May 13th, 2010 at 12:14 am

   that dont sound very high i do 2 grams per pound it works well but if you have problem staying lean do lower carb (1 gram) idk about ketogenic diet unless you juiced up you will find it real hard to grow on no carbs/very low carbs thats like shreding diet

2. 
   cyn_texas
   May 13th, 2010 at 12:29 am

   I would imagine that depends on your current body type. Some people can metabolize carbs & some people can’t. Accumulating visible fat stores is usually a sign of someone who can’t metabolize carbs well. I personally believe that a low carb way of eating is the best way to bring any body to a state of optimal health. Glycogen plumps up the muscles with water to make them appear larger though.

   If you eat only meats without fuel calories from fats or carbs, then you convert dietary protein to fuel leaving no protein for cellular needs, forcing the body to catabolize it’s own lean tissues. Carbs may be optional, but fuel calories are not but they can come from fat or carbs, but not protein.

   If you don’t keep your calories high enough, the body will strip it’s own lean tissue for nutrition. Although that may look great on a scale it will make it MUCH easier to accumulate fat in the future (since all that pesky lean tissue burning up calories will be gone).

   Protein is a very inefficient fuel to use exclusively for long term & the byproducts of the conversion to fuel can be dangerous if they overwhelm the body faster than the body can clear out the nitrogen & ammonia..

   Just for example – Someone asked “what if” about a diet of 500g of pure protein (2000 calories a day)

   500g protein with no fat would be fatal. Fat is essential but protein without fat will cause diarrhea & then death. So this next bit is only hypothetically speaking.

   500g of protein only would turn the protein into a fuel source and not be able to be used for tissue repairs & cellular regeneration. So although you would think 500g of protein would be sufficient for these needs, it would be converted to a very inefficient fuel source with a dangerous buildup of nitrogen & ammonia (byproducts of gluconeogenesis). The body can handle some of these byproducts but not large quantities for long term. So in essence, all this protein would be processed as fuel and the body would STILL have to catabolize it’s own lean tissues for a protein source. 100% of the protein would be needed to convert to 58% glucose – it would be equal to fueling the body with 1160 calories of carbs and NO protein (IF your only ingestion was 2000 calories (500g) in pure protein).

   It’s confusing to eat SO much protein and have none bioavailable but your body requires FUEL calories (which can come from fat OR carbs or both) AND protein.

   BUT if you ate more than sufficient protein with more than sufficient dietary fat calories AND controlled carbs to less than 9grams per hour. (Maximum carbs would be 144grams day or 576 calories – the balance of fuel calories would HAVE to be from dietary fats – at 9 calories per gram)

   As long as you have <9grams carbs per hour, you will maintain insulin control & shouldn't gain weight, no matter the calories because insulin, the fat storage hormone is not activated. Controlling insulin levels will balance out other hormones & allow sex hormones (testosterone in males) & human growth hormone (HGH) to be produced naturally so lean tissue will be gained even without exercise.

   from the article below -

   Numerous current studies show that dieters who follow high-protein low-carb strategies--even plans with higher fat intake--lose more fat and maintain or gain more muscle mass than dieters who rely on higher carb diets.

   Yes, you read that right--many dieters actually gained muscle mass without working out, simply by eating a high-protein diet. This is due to several factors. First, amino acids from protein drive muscle growth. When you consume a high-protein meal, amino acids from the protein travel to muscle cells and actually initiate the processes that cause muscle growth.

   http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_4_23/ai_n13790123/?tag=content;col1

   It takes awhile to convert the body from being fueled by glucose to being fueled by fat but it does convert. Low carb marathon runners don’t “hit the wall” with mid race fuel changeovers. It’s not being fueled by fat that slows them down, it’s the fuel conversion period.

   This study:

   http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/1/1/2

   seems to suggest that after one has become fat adapted, endurance exercise performance returns to normal, but sprint performance remains poor. The suggested reason is that this type of exercise can not be fueled by fat, it must be fueled by glucose.