If you read my last post about the low carb dogma, I said I am not against low carb diets, the context of application just depends. Now, I will talk about low carb on fat loss. Some of us have heard about the book of Gary Taubes (Good Calories, Bad Calories), he claims that calories are not created equal which is a violation of the first law of Thermodynamics which is energy balance. The law of energy balance is correct, it has been proven on numerous studies, it just happen that people were often confused by their specific goal and they don't know the application in real life.
Since I wanna talk about fat loss, fat loss is still a complex matter. The correct question that should be correlated if one's goal is fat loss is up to what degree of fat loss. This is where I think the confusion has begun that people need to be on a certain diet to generate fat loss. It's also worth mentioning that "fat loss" will depend on who you're talking to. If you're talking to an already lean person seeking greater leanness, low carb might be the ideal technique to generate greater fat loss in order to create greater deficit. This is where the claim "carbohydrates" is not essential in human survival. Remember, the means of survival doesn't mean what's optimal when it comes to overall health. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes have shown it's health benefits in numerous scientific studies. One good example is the Okinawans who leads the life expectancy in the world. Just like what I stated above, two factors will be involved in defining "fat loss."
Degree of fat loss
This is a biggie, when someone hear the word "fat loss," the majority of people may automatically assume that fat loss = shredded abs, striated glutes, hamstrings, quads, high def arms etc. Some people may also think of fat loss as a simple healthy weight loss program whose goal is not driven toward aesthetics that's why I said it depends on the context of application. A lot of people on the internet/ real life still believe that a higher protein/ high fat diet will generate a greater fat loss as long as you eliminate the carbohydrates, as always, it depends. I am with Alan Aragon, Lyle Mcdonald and other experts in the industry that an adequate protein should be the baseline of any diets. Protein, just in case you don't know came from the Greek word "Proteos" meaning "first rank of importance." So if there's only one essential macronutrient humans need aside from water, that's protein. People suck at tracking their calorie intake and determining their energy needs (maintenance calories), although some people's method of tracking their intake is correct, their method of estimating their needs in terms of maintaining their body mass (fats, lean muscle mass, water), is incorrect or vice-versa or both. Sedentary people who doesn't have moderate-high activity levels (exercise, NEAT) doesn't need a lot of calories. Some people may go as low as 8 kcal/ lb of body weight just to maintain themselves. The only way of breaking a plateau once fat loss has stopped is by eating less calories or expending more energy through body movements or both. This is the law of energy balance. IMO, this is how some people were stuck in the mindset that calories are not made equal without realizing that they need to eat less to generate further fat loss. Now, to generate fat loss while maintaining positive nitrogen retention, they need to eat adequate protein(1-1.5g/lb of body weight depending on the degree of leanness), take note that when carbs go down, protein needs to go up, carbs has a protein sparing effect.
If your goal is to get leaner than what you are, you need to create another deficit(eat less) to break the plateau, now it boils down to which macronutrient you need to cut down. You may cut down any macronutrient but IMO, it would be silly to cut protein intake because you want to decrease body fat, not muscle mass besides protein is the most satiating nutrient. Since you're eating less, hunger hormones such as Ghrelin will be sky high, that's why you may need to increase the fats to delay gastric emptying to suppress appetite. So, being carbohydrates non essential in human survival, carbs is the easiest thing to cut down. Low carb diets on some people create an appetite suppressing effect. Some people whose insulin sensitivity isn't that great, eating carbs make them eat more; their appetite suddenly increase leading them to EAT MORE but it's really not the carbs that make them fat per se, it's because they EAT MORE calories than they should. The tolerance and impact of low carb diets will vary depending by individual's response. If eating carbs WILL make you eat less, go for it, if the carbs will make you eat more then low carb must be for you. Being on a calorie deficit sucks, that's why not everyone is lean and ripped. The key is finding a diet with adequate protein that will make you eat less calories. That's why it is very important to ask yourself if what degree of fat loss you're talking about whether it's physique contest leanness(maximal fat loss), just flat stomach leanness, T-shirt leanness(whatever that is) or what have you. I should also mention that the leaner you become, it will be harder to generate further fat loss because:
A.)The leaner you become, the body is becoming more efficient in handling and storing calories, there are various hormones that will put you back to state of energy balance (homeostasis), this is our body's defense mechanism to prevent us from getting leaner. Our body fat, again depending on who you're talking to and how you wanna define it has a role in human physiology. That is to sustain life in terms of famine. That's right, the higher body fat you carry, the longer you can sustain life without food. Our body loves us so much that it won't mind making us so fat but it will do it's full arsenal of defense to prevent further leanness. Think of a Honda Fit vs a Chevy Tahoe travelling the same distance at the same speed, smaller body/ engine will always use less fuel(calories) than heavier/ bigger body. Our body requires a certain amount of fat for good health. Fat helps regulate body temperature, store energy and cushion/ insulate organs
B.)Aside from the decline in REE(Resting Energy Expenditure), as a part of maintaining a leaner body, of course you have less fat stores also which also burns calories at rest(about 3kcal/ lb), assuming you maintained as much muscle mass on a reduced-calorie diet, hormones like Leptin which is correlated to body fat stores will also play a role in decreasing the rate of metabolism.
Some people, when they eat less, their body makes them move less or when they overeat, their body make them move more to put them in energy balance state. See, our body has it's own ways on maintaining homeostasis. Homeostasis is our body's set point, it works like a thermostat maintaining energy balance.
DEPENDING ON THE PERSON YOU'RE TALKING TO
Everyone nowadays give us confusing/ contradicting advice. We are now so confused if who we listen to, by this time I hope you know what degree of fat loss you are looking into, now who do we listen to? If you're already lean assuming you can see a hint of your abs, listen to your own body. That's the best advice I can give you. You know yourself better than anybody else. I said that because by this time, at this level of leanness, you already know if which foods trigger your appetite leading you to eat more. At the same time, you should know by now if which foods make you eat less. EAT LESS, that's the key. You can eat unlimited amounts of protein and fats, without calorie restriction, no fat loss. So the best diet for you to generate further fat loss is a diet that will make you eat less calories. I don't know if how many times I should mention in this blog and in other sites that the key in losing weight is by eating less or by moving more or both. No magic voodoo or special diet, what ever diet that will force you to eat less will work! In terms of supplements such as thermogenics and stuff, these supplements simply make you eat less by suppressing appetite or help you mobilize the fatty acids faster.
Back to the person you're asking about diet advice, if you ask a person whose definition of fat loss is 15% body fat, then the diet tips he/ she will give you may or may not apply to you if the degree of fat loss you're striving for is leaner than that. I should also mention that the worst thing a person can do is mimicking someone else' diet just because it worked for him/ her, it doesn't guarantee that it will also work for you(different goals remember). It is because his/ her calorie intake and energy expenditure/ lifestyle/ individual's response to certain type/s of dieting is different than yours. Let's say your goal is 6% body fat, just like what I've said, you need to eat less calories than you need to break the energy balance state. So if you're eating 2,000 kcal/ day at 15% body fat, you certainly need to eat less than that to be at negative energy balance state. Remember, as you get leaner, you need less foods to maintain yourself. Eat more than that and you'll subject yourself to gain weight or put you back to neutral energy balance state hence no fat loss.
What it takes to be at very low body fat
Okay, use your common sense since not everyone is at this level of leanness. I'm talking about ultra lean body fat (3%-5% for men, about 10% for women, these are the extreme ends for both because our body need to have at least the essential fat), to get at this level of leanness, there's not much fat stores except from essential fats, hormones crash -- no libido, impotence for men, menstruation stops on women, decrease in thyroid function, muscle catabolism is at faster rate, etc. In short, a lot of nasty stuff, that's why contest body builders/ physique competitors doesn't maintain this level of leanness for a long time. If you will tell me that "hey I'm at X body fat how come I don't experience such things above?" Well, it's not because you're lying to me but the method of body fat assessment you used is incorrect. I don't know if you know that the only means of measuring a 100% body fat measurement is through conducting an autopsy meaning you need to be killed then scrape your body fat off then weigh it on a scale. Look at the physique athletes, these people step on stage at 3-4% body fat for men, 10-13% for women. Do you have striated quads or glutes, paper thin skin and alike. If not, then you're not even close..
Enjoy
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