High protein, high fat and low carbohydrate diets result in rapid weight loss early on. This is one of the main reasons they are so popular. The other reason is that they allow dieters to continue to eat their favourite rich foods.
These diets are, however, denounced by every nutrition body in the world. No one with a basic knowledge of nutrition can call them ‘healthy’. While weight loss is going on, inflammatory processes are being set up in the body which can have far-reaching effects. The rapid weight loss is actually a symptom of some of these unhealthy processes.
Losing around 5kg in less than a week gives any dieter a feeling of success. But this success is really just unhealthy body processes and has little to do with fat loss. This post looks at some of the processes that cause this rapid weight loss.
What are carbohydrates?
What are these big scary ‘carbs’ we are so sure put weight on us? Carbohydrates are simply linked chains of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms. They come from carbon dioxide and water bonding chemically.
For a split second, H2O (water) is split and the H’s join onto the carbon atoms. Hx2 + O (oxygen) joins to CO2 (carbon dioxide). The carbons have now been hydrated with water – they are now carbo-hydrates. The simplest carbohydrate is glucose.
Carbohydrates are those foods that are made up only of atoms of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms in uniform configurations. These happen to be plant foods. (Fats also contain carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, but in different configurations, so they act differently in the body. Proteins contain these atoms also – but with added nitrogen).
How losing muscle glycogen causes rapid weight loss
Glucose is the fuel that makes our muscles move. If our muscles cannot move when we need them too, we are in trouble. If we want our muscles to move faster or for extended periods of time, we need more available glucose. The body plans for this by storing excess glucose right there in the muscle cells. It also stores some in the liver for emergencies. This stored glucose is called ‘glycogen’.
When eating few carbohydrates, very little glucose is consumed. What comes in is rapidly used for fuelling red blood cells and the brain which rely on glucose to survive. But there is none left for storage as glycogen. As a result, stored glycogen empties out to fuel normal daily activities – but is not replenished. This results in weight loss of between 1/2 to 1kg.
However, each gram of glycogen holds 3-4g of water. So losing 500g of glycogen (1/2kg) would immediately result in also losing 1 1/2 – 2kg of water. At the upper end of the scale, this would result in losing up to 4kg water. This shows up on teh scales as 4kg weight lost – but it is actually glycogen and water – not fat loss.
How this glycogen loss affects sports
Sports performance depends upon a high carbohydrate diet. The body draws heavily on stored glycogen to fuel exercise performance.
Athletes worldwide have rejected pre-race carbohydrate loading which involves extremely low carbohydrate intake in the week before a race, coupled with very high carbohydrate intake in the day or two before the race. They report – across the board – feeling weak, exhausted, often nauseous, constipated, unable to continue with training regimens during the low-carb phase. This is because they have low glycogen reserves to fuel the muscles while in the low-carb phase.
How limiting fibre causes rapid weight loss
As the low carbohydrate diet continues, the fibre in the digestive tract diminishes. Fibre comes from plant foods which are the main carbohydrate foods. Fibre is bulky and holds a lot of water. Together, the fibre and water it holds in the human digestive tract can weigh up to 7kg together. Without replenishment from plant foods, fibre and the water that it holds, can result in more rapid weight loss.
It stands to reason that reducing fibre in the diet will come with health problems – and it does. Repeated studies show that such diets commonly result in constipation, bad breath and dehydration at the cellular level. It also results in a change of bacterial concentrations; the healthy bacteria are reduced because they are the plant-food eaters.
How reducing gut bacteria causes rapid weight loss
Fibre feeds the bacteria in the gut. So as the fibre is reduced from not eating high fibre plant foods in sufficient quantities, good bacteria begins to die off. This causes further weight loss. Now the dieter is getting into some serious problems which they are not yet aware of.
The loss of good bacteria and its replacement with flesh-eating bacteria results in the release of particular toxins called ‘lipopolysaccharides’. These gram-negative bacteria feed upon rotting animal flesh – which is what fills the gut of low carbohydrate eaters. Some of their names are Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Pseudomonas and Neisseria. These toxins begin to shed from the outer shells of the bacteria. They damage the thin, one cell thick, intestinal lining, leading to its permeability, or ‘leakiness’. As they leak through into the underlying bloodstream, the immune system reacts – resulting in allergic reactions, food intolerances, all manner of inflammatory diseases and most of what we label as autoimmune diseases.
How raising ketones causes weight loss
As fewer carbohydrates are consumed in these diets, the body falls back on getting needed glucose from fats.
The body stores fat as triglycerides. Each triglyceride is made up of three fatty acids and a glycerol backbone. It is this backbone which can be cleaved apart to make glucose. This chemical reaction results in the formation of what we call, ketones, which can be measured in urine.
The release of ketones into the blood produces a natural appetite suppressant. A dieter is now eating fewer calories and would achieve weight loss for this reason alone.
Most people on these diets think it is the magical formula of high protein and fat that causes weight loss. It is actually the eating of fewer calories that is causing ongoing continuing weight loss. Unfortunately, the rise of ketones in the body comes at a high cost. It leads to higher acidity in the body which causes metabolic changes which can be dangerous.
Long term affects of low carb diets
Most studies done on low carbohydrate diets which show weight loss benefits last only 6 – 12 weeks. One year follow-ups show no greater benefit to any other calorie deficit diet.
Longer studies show higher cholesterol, weight gain, dieting problems (yo-yo dieting is more dangerous for the heart than no dieting at all), bowel problems, kidney problems and conditions related to osteoporosis (as the body loses more calcium on a high protein diet).
Summary
It is true that low carbohydrate dieters lose a lot of weight quickly. Twelve-week challenges tend to show amazing results. Unfortunately, 12-month follow-ups don’t show the same results in any studies.
This is because the body fights to maintain health – which is not what the diet is producing.
The reasons for short term weight loss, however, is:
- glycogen loss
- fibre loss
- diminished bacterial colonies
- water loss and
- high blood ketone levels.
All of these factors are endemic of disease states.If you’d like to read more about low carbohydrate diets and how they affect health, click <here>.
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