Today we’re in the low-carb phase that has hit the market several years ago. One of the leaders of this trend is the Atkin’s diet that promotes a high protein high fat lifestyle with little or no carbohydrates. This has caused a tremendous backlash against carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are bad for you! Stay away from them! They’re the enemy! They’re the cause of your problems! They’ll make you fat! Neglect carbs and you’ll lose weight! This is what we’ve been hearing from the media. My question is “ If the Atkin’s diet worked, why would we need the South Beach diet? Hampton’s diet?”

We now have more “solutions” than ever before. So why is there widespread failure for people attempting to change their bodies? The answer is simple. NO DIET WORKS! The idea that calorie deprivation will lead to long term fat loss is a myth. To say all carbohydrates are bad is a blatant disregard for human physiology.

The food that we eat consists of three macronutrients. Protein, fats and carbohydrates. Each one of these nutrients work differently inside the body. Protein is responsible for new cell growth and maintenance of healthy tissue. Fats provide long term energy and protect vital organs from injury. Carbohydrates are the body’s main energy source.

When we ingest carbohydrates they get broken down into glucose. As glucose passes through the digestive system it gets broken down into glycogen and then stored inside muscle tissue and the liver for future energy use. Our brain runs on glycogen for proper function. When you deprive your body of carbohydrates you’ll feel weak, tired, irritable, lethargic and depressed. Anyone who’s been on this type of diet knows what I mean! Your exercise performance is greatly diminished. Therefore, minimizing your ability to burn stored body fat.

Some people believe they get results from these ineffective diets because they see a lower number on the scale. Unfortunately, the scale is ineffective in determining progress. There’s a little “dieters” trick that manufacturers use to market these diets along with other supplements that promise “weightloss.” When you deprive your body of carbohydrates your glycogen levels are decreased inside muscle tissue. For every gram of glycogen stored in muscle 2.4 grams of water is stored. So when carbohydrates are reduced so is water storage in the muscles. Brilliant! What a great trick to confuse the public into believing the diet or supplement is working!

What is your metabolism? Your metabolism is your skeletal muscle. When you attempt these diets you end up destroying your metabolism. When your body is deprived of carbohydrates for several days your body decides to break down muscle tissue to slow your metabolism down. The reason for that is because your muscle is active tissue. It needs nutrients to keep it functioning. Stored body fat doesn’t need any nutrients because it’s not active tissue. It’s stored energy! Your body wants to hold on to stored body fat as long as possible because it wants to protect itself. Since your body is in a caloric deficit your body will react to keep itself alive because it doesn’t know when the proper nutrients will come.

The key to changing your body is to balance the right nutrition with an exercise program consisting of the right amount of aerobic exercise and resistance training. If you fail to eat enough carbohydrates you won’t be able to train effectively to ensure long term fat loss.