low carb diets cause muscle loss

[tiff22585]

I was reading a magazine the other day and it said that low carb diets starve your fat cells and that if you go off of them they make you gain weight like crazy. It also said that your body thinks it is starving no matter how much fat and protein you eat, so your body starts eating it muscle. I don't know what to think. I was wondering if anyone who has lost weight kept an eye on your muscle mass.

[Mack]

Can you find the article?
Dr. A said in '72 ~?~ something like your metab. changes after getting into dietary ketosis
and I know certain bad carbs trigger that binge urge - could be those 'starving fat cells' if that's what it is.
But if one incrementally increases good carbs as it says to do, fat cells shouldn't be 'starving'.
Please try to get mag name and month.
Thanks.
I know I've been thinking a lot about those Wawa fruit cups - melon ones - like body needs it -or just wants it. ha.

[wifezilla]

LOL....I would stop wasting money on that magazine.

Muscle loss does not occur on low carb if you are eating enough protein.

[vicki71]

Well, I don't know about the muscle loss thing, but I went off of Atkins 3 years ago, and I didn't gain like crazy. Yes, I have gained weight, but I haven't even gained back up to where I was when I started Atkins 3 years ago. Mine came back gradually - and not like crazy.

So you never know. Some people may find otherwise, but I'm just saying I'm not one of them! Thank goodness - I'm fat enough as it is! lol

Plus, I wonder with studies and/or articles such as this one, how many people are truly following Atkins as it is written. I know many people, including my DH and a friend who was on Atkins with me 3 years ago, who have never even touched the book. They think they know what they are doing, but they really have no idea. So when it fails to work out for them, it's the diet's fault - they seem to conveniently forget that they were actually following their own made up verson of Atkins.

So I do think results can be skewed because I think a lot of people think they are "doing Atkins" when in reality they are most certainly not. So unless people are in a really and truly controlled environment where they are all getting prepared Atkins meals and nothing else, it's hard to tell if what the article is saying is really true.

Just my humble opinion - and probably more than you asked for!

[tiggerr]

*flexes* biceps and looks at calf muscles.

Enough protein is the key.

I lost no muscle so far and it's been over 5 years.

[wifezilla]

Awesome point Vicki. How many studies have been published saying "low carb is dangerous", but when you dig in to it you find that they were eating over 150g of carbs a day and low fat?!?

[kwsmith2]

>>It also said that your body thinks it is starving no matter how much fat and protein you eat, so your body starts eating it muscle.<<

My experience is exactly the opposite. Low carb seems to be highly anabolic (muscle building). I workout every day with weights and both my lifts and my size has taken off since I started low carb.

Indeed I have only lost about 8 - 10 pounds over the last month but I might have gained 6 - 8 pounds of muscle which is unreal for a month of training.

[ragtopwife]

I went off for two years and gained back 14lb out of 48 lost. The first year I maintained within 4lbs. It was mostly gained in the last 6 mos of that two years and was purely due to my own stupidity with carbs... esp donuts and cakes... I love to bake and am so addicted to baked goods. Still it was less than 1 lb a month avg.... certainly not flying back on.

My muscles have not wasted away while lo carbing, but the fat around them has. I will never forget the first time I felt true definition in my leg muscles while shaving my legs. I about sliced my knee cap off I was so shocked...

I am back on my WOE where I should be and feeling great and not leaving it again!

[wifezilla]

Ragtop....LOL....I have a scar on my knee where I keep nicking it....I lost the padding that used to be there! LOLOLOLOL

[TheDogAteMyName]

It seems as though this has been in magazines or on the news countless times since low carb became well known. I have never had the core that I have now. I thank Atkins and strength training to that. Honestly my body is becoming very strong and I've never been this strong in my life.

[Jean@125]

I think any diet will cause muscle loss if you don't eat enough protein. As for the gain when going off a diet that is a given as well. When we first start a diet the initial losses are water so it only makes sense that the water would be replaced.

[Zer]

Originally Posted by tiff22585

I was reading a magazine the other day and it said that low carb diets starve your fat cells and that if you go off of them they make you gain weight like crazy. It also said that your body thinks it is starving no matter how much fat and protein you eat, so your body starts eating its muscle. I don't know what to think. I was wondering if anyone who has lost weight kept an eye on your muscle mass.

Properly done, a LC eating plan is heavy on fats, so how can it starve fat cells? Think about it. I'm working Atkins, and I look for 75%Fat, 20%Protein and 5%Carb (mostly vegie carbs) as I toss my food plan into FitDay. How can a LC plan like that starve fat cells? Doesn't seem likely, does it?

On the other hand, a LC plan done IMproperly as a protein-only plan based on lean meats might well damage a body and starve cells that crave fat and carbs.

What is the source of your info? Are you working from some LC book? That is what is recommended as the basis for anyone on this LCFriends site. What's your book?

[Houston Heather]

So that's why I can keep lifting more! My muscles are atrophying. [/sarcasm]

I disagree. My own personal experience shows just the opposite. Heck, I ran a half marathon low-carbing and I powerlift regularly.

Bad data! Very bad!

[Zer]

Um, I just noticed that OP has made a single posting - this thread starter - since joining in Feb.2008. Possibly this is not anyone seriously involved in LC'ing.

tiff22585
Junior LCF Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 1

Guess I should consider a source before spending time writing a reply to what strikes me as a curious comment. Silly me. Well, onward to other threads!

[wifezilla]

Actually, trolls DO serve a purpose. Imagine the newbie who stumbles on this thread by accident?

[TheWildHaggis]

Originally Posted by tiff22585

I was reading a magazine the other day and it said that low carb diets starve your fat cells and that if you go off of them they make you gain weight like crazy.

If they mean that after losing all the weight, you go back to your former lifestyle where eating hundreds of carbs per day was the norm, yeah, you'll blow up and then some because, well, you stop LCing. There are painful examples of that all over LC forums.

IMHO, at least with the Atkins book, which I have read, Dr. A sets you up so that when you reach your goal weight, you'll have the know-how tools to stay there. You'll know what your CCLL and CCLM are and how to use them to your advantage.

[wifezilla]

It's kind of like saying "I was smashing my hand with a hammer and then I stopped. It healed up, but when I went back to smashing it with a hammer again, it got all mangled!"

[jackiee]

Hi,

Dr. Jeff Volek from the Univ. Of Conn is an RD and has done a number of studies on Atkins plans. He found an increase in lean mass without any increase in exercise. The intake of certain amino acids due to protein intake likely accounted for that.

Other studies have found loss of less lean mass as compared to the standard weight loss plan with low carb.

As usual, one of the many silly myths about Atkins that still find theri way into print.

jackiee

[fastlerner]

I agree with all of the above. I first did Atkins about 10 years ago and lost just over 60 pounds plus added a bunch of muscle as I was working out too. As everyone else mentioned, you gotta have protein. Atkins burns fat + protein. The fat comes from your body and the protein comes from your food. As long as you supply the body with protein, it has no need to steal it from your muscles.

Also, it took me YEARS to gain the weight back, and it was all due to my own dietary stupidity. I let sodas creep back into my life, so here I go again.

As long as I ride my bike regularly and stay low carb, I average a consistent 20lbs a month loss.

[maizenbluebabe]

what poppycock! yep, sure sounds like a troll to me.

anyhow, we all know better: the idiots who go on a starvation diet are the ones who lose MUSCLE mass.

And we all need to keep in mind THE HEART IS A MUSCLE! Remember Karen Carpenter? Poor dear destroyed her HEART (perhaps our most important muscle) because of her anorexia--repeated ventures into grotesquely low calorie eating --and died tragically young. How many people have we ever heard of who died a similar death from following Atkins? People on very low calorie diets are the ones who destroy "muscle." And it is absolutely necessary to have plenty of protein if you are to build muscle--no sane medical expert that I have ever heard of has ever claimed this about carbohydrates.

And I agree wholeheartedly with Vicki71 that a lot of misinformation is passed around by people who have never read a word Dr Atkins wrote. They read or hear a line or two that someone else says about his plan and think they know what it is all about...declaring themselves Instant Experts!! How lucky we are who actually know what Atkins is about and make use of his wisdom in finding a healthy WOE and WOL.

[Lil Red]

I have twice as much muscle as I did before doing LC....but also twice as much energy to hit the gym. Coincidence?

[wenig]

Was this article right after or before the noodle recipe?

[wifezilla]

...and the coupon for soy/wheat bars

[willyd]

Low Carb Success Stories - Dan & Karen's Story: 11 months and 136 pounds ago this guy didn't lose any muscle and he's not young.

[amiga74]

i think any diet can cause muscle loss over time. low carb diets are not unique in that respect. by eating more protein, no matter what the diet, some of the loss of muscle can be spared.

[ElleH]

I agree with that. Even Dr Eades, who is a big advocate of eating enough protein, says that individual muscle mass is largely determined by body weight. In the beginning of a LC program, if the person doesn't have enough muscle to start with for their weight, muscle will be built from the diet alone to the amount they need. Then, as you lose weight, the muscle mass will decrease as needed along with the decrease in weight. It's not an issue as long as protein intake remains adequate.

I think those articles are just relying on the old "ketosis=starvation" thing. Of course one will lose muscle mass in starvation! It's not the ketones causing the muscle loss...it's the lack of protein (and to some extent, total calories) causing the muscle loss.

[2big4mysize]

standard weight loss studies show their is a 25% loss of lean body tissues.
and since muscle is lean body some folk thought all the loss was muscle tissue and neglected the fact that overweight folk have extrablood vessles several miles worth for each 25 pounds over weight they are, more nerve tissues to reach all the way to the expanded body areas, and more body fluids too. There are allso freepool amino acids in organs and muscles that are stored there for just that purpose to be removed as the body needs them should protein intake not be adaquate.

Yep lower cal dieting does result in lean body losses and if protein intake isn't adaquet to meet glucose needs then some muslce and organ protein will be lost even if it is a high fat low carb diet.

But Atkins proper eating results in increases in muscle tissues even as the scales decrease

[LoraJR72]

Originally Posted by tiff22585

I was reading a magazine the other day and it said that low carb diets starve your fat cells and that if you go off of them they make you gain weight like crazy. It also said that your body thinks it is starving no matter how much fat and protein you eat, so your body starts eating it muscle. I don't know what to think. I was wondering if anyone who has lost weight kept an eye on your muscle mass.

I wonder which magazine it was?

I've read some body building websites that claim this.