Six common beliefs addressed, Part 55

1. Carbohydrate restricted diets will not affect athletic performance.

Unfortunately athletes, or any other person, who requires high intensity performance, will have a very difficult time on low carb, since carbohydrate is the fuel required for explosive energy demands. So, unless your sport/activity is steady state like running, climbing, hiking or cycling, low carb will affect your performance. Gluconeogenesis is just not enough to sustain frequent, high intensity, energy requirements. Certain athletic activities simply require carbohydrates in order to replenish enough glycogen stores to continue performance at peak level.

This is not something that the average person has to be concerned with, as the body's normal state does not require significant amounts of fuel from glycogen. Hunter/gatherers do not "play sports". They aren't athletes. They only do steady state exercises, of long duration, which use fat as the primary fuel. This is why we have a large fat storage capacity and a small glycogen storage capacity. We evolved this way, because activities that required glycogen were a rare and unusual occurrence, so there was no need to develop a large storage system for it.

This puts the athlete between a rock and hard place. They must bypass the natural metabolic state of the body, to increase their performance in order to succeed with these unusual, man-made activities. This is why so many athletes end up with terrible health later in life. It takes a lot of dietary diligence to keep a balance of enough glycogen, for performance, but still keep blood glucose regulation in check. Remember, glycogen was meant to be used on rare occasions, not chronically.

Since low carb will most likely not be an option for athletes, they will have to watch their diet very carefully and their metabolic markers. They really need to know, with as much accuracy as possible, how their blood glucose homeostasis is being affected over time. Acquiring fuel from complex carbohydrates, can delay, not halt, any negative metabolic effects.

Athletes should follow a blog dedicated to athletes. This blog will not be of much help, since my advice is not designed for athletic performance.

2. Do low carb diets "cure" the thyroid though reduced inflammation?

No. Low carb is beneficial to the thyroid through reduced insulin levels. Chronically high insulin causes a state of hyperthyroidism and eventually this can lead to thyroid malfunction.

3. The body cannot have too much glucose as glucose is only stored as glycogen and those stores have a limit.

Glucose, in the body, is stored as glycogen for fuel, but that's not the only glucose it has. The body also has intracellular glucose and in excess, it can be harmful to the cell. This excess intracellular glucose triggers further disruption in blood glucose regulation. This causes certain metabolic effects, which promote excess body fat production and storage.

If glucose only became glycogen and stayed as such, there would be no metabolic dysfunction. The problem occurs when glucose can no longer be stored as glycogen, because those stores are exceeded. Then it starts becoming fat and that eventually becomes disease.

4. Can medications make you fat?

Yes. Certain medications disrupt blood glucose regulation by affecting different feedback loops in the body. Antidepressants, glucocorticoids and biologics are some of the most commons ones known to have this effect. 

This is why if you are on medications, which are known to facilitate weight gain, you must follow a dietary regimen that helps reduce this effect. Consuming a fattening diet alongside fattening medications is a recipe for disaster.

5. You should listen to your body on when to eat. Eat "intuitively" and not "by the clock". 

If the clock is being used to restrict meal times, then it’s beneficial. If the clock is being used to eat "round the clock", then it’s detrimental. People bring me all kinds of crap they read on low carb pages and groups, across the internet. "Not eating to the clock" is one often cited BS, that you will probably come across.

I get a kick out of obese "keto" advocates advising other obese people to "let their bodies choose when to eat" instead of the clock. Isn’t that what they have done their entire lives, so far? Allowing an obese person to decide when to eat usually means eating constantly or never eating. Both practices disrupt proper blood glucose homeostasis. The obese do not have the hormonal balance required to eat “intuitively”.

You can listen to your body about when to eat, if you have adequate and intact satiety signaling because this means you have a healthy metabolism. Then, and only then, can you ignore the clock. In the meantime, I recommend you keep that clock handy and have an appropriate eating and fasting schedule in place that you can consistently follow. 

6. "Keto" is so easy.

Obese people claim that living "keto" is easy, but I constantly see them trying to make up ways of avoiding it through the creation of  mock "keto" foods and slathering real foods with franken sauces.

Consuming real food, though satisfying, can be boring for most people. This can make the diet unsustainable for many, in the long term, especially when they require constant palate stimulation, as is the case for many obese. This is typical of a society where food becomes the only pleasurable pastime. That’s when they start needing "keto" pies, ice cream, sauces, pizza and all kinds of "reinvented processed foods".

You must get use to the natural taste of real food and forget sweetness in order to sustain the diet long term and follow it correctly. That is the only way to adapt your palate to your new diet. There is nothing easy about that. There is only commitment.