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I was wondering if anyone else has done a little more research on the anabolic diet. I was reading on WebMD that there are a few dangers to this diet. It seems like it works from all the responses but I dont want to start a diet that'll work NOW and hurt me LATER. Here's the link for the site, http://women.webmd.com/guide/high-prote ... rate-diets , Check out the article, Any feed back would be greatly appreciated!! Hopefully I have nothing to worry about.

There are studies for and against this type of diet. Each side of the fence tends to cling to the specific studies that support their own particular belief.

If you read a basic college nutrition book (like the extent of nutrition education most doctors get) you will find that they stick to the common government-supported food pyramid style type of diets where 50-60% of your calories are from carbs, 20-30% from fat, and 10-20% from protein. This is what is considered "healthy" by most doctors and while you would think a doctor would be a very good source of information on this topic, they really get very little education on the subject of nutrition.

Personally I take both sides with a grain of salt. I do think however, that high fat/protein diets have to be done correctly to be healthy, as there is lots of room for unhealthy choices to be made. The typical food pyramid is very "safe" and doesn't leave much room for unhealthy choices which is why the government sticks to it (among other less legitimate reasons of course).

Consider a piece of meat for a second, it can come from many sources, many different cuts, many possibilities of hormones and flavor additives, and can be prepared in many different ways. When studies have shown high fat/protein diets cause high levels of bad cholesterol and all other nasty stuff, what exactly were their subjects eating? Were people eating fresh and naturally prepared meats? Or were they eating out at McDonalds and Burger King like the rest of the U.S. does every day? I'm guessing their idea of a high protein diet is more along the lines of eating double western bacon cheeseburgers every day rather than a fresh steak, chicken, or fish.

This is why I think many food studies are inconsistent, there are so many factors to consider, and not all calories are created equal. My strategy for eating has always been stick mostly to the perimeter of the grocery store, the food should either have grown out of the ground, or moved around. If it's packaged and processed, look at the ingredients with much more scrutiny and determine for yourself whether or not you think it's appropriate to eat in your diet.

Not all high protein diets are created equal, I think you can do it right and get a very healthy result out of it, or do it wrong like most of the U.S. when it comes to our complete incompetence at eating appropriately and get the result that doctors and nutritionists warn you about.

Do I get to debunk more bullshit studies again? Here goes...

From the article:

* Kidney failure. Consuming too much protein puts a strain on the kidneys, which can make a person susceptible to kidney disease.

I've debunked this time and time again, but this myth keeps rearing its ugly head. High protein in the bloodstream is only a risk factor if your kidneys have already failed. Regardless, high levels of uric acid are a symptom of kidney failure, not a cause. The number one risk factor for mortality in the US, aside from accidental death, is obesity. Insofar as you find an eating regimen that makes you not be obese, you're taking a step in the right direction.

High cholesterol. It is well known that high protein diets (consisting of red meat, whole dairy products, and other high fat foods) are linked to high cholesterol. Studies have linked high cholesterol levels to an increased risk of developing heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Wow. Just... wow. It's 2009, and someone is still parroting the "high cholesterol is bad for you" line? "High protein" diets (I would say HIGH FAT) are only linked to high cholesterol in combination with high carbohydrates. WebMD should really read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. If you eat a high fat, low carb, moderate protein diet like MANS, your lipid profiles will look great. There is some small possibility your overall cholesterol may be high at first as your body dumps fat into the bloodstream, but after three months or so on low-carb your lipid profile will look great, particularly if you are overweight.

For reference, here are the results of my recent blood test after living a low-carb, high-fat, moderate protein lifestyle for several months:
Reference: I'm thirty-six, overweight, non-smoker, male, and was seriously OBESE with HORRIBLE blood profiles and health risks a year ago. All my statistics on what is "normal" is based upon a male, not a female. I'm currently around 20% body fat, not where I want to be but moving in the right direction.

* Cholesterol: 177 (Anything below 200 is healthy)
* Triglycerides: 93 (Less than 150 is "normal". You should read the number to the left as "holy shit, that's good.")
* HDL: 54 (less than 40 is very bad, 40-50 is normal, above 50 is optimal, I'm working on adjusting my diet to reach above 60.)
* LDL (calculated): 110 (100 or below is "optimal", 100-129 is "near optimal"; I'm adjusting my diet to include a bit more flax seed to see if I can drop this a few points.)

Osteoporosis and kidney stones. High protein diets have also been shown to cause people to excrete more calcium than normal through their urine. Over a prolonged period of time, this can increase a person's risk of osteoporosis and kidney stones.

The studies alleging this are wrong about the cause. The extra calcium in the urine of low-carbers comes not from depleting bone calcium, but because we're ingesting more calcium. Once again some members of the medical community with an axe to grind are confusing symptom and cause, just like with kidney failure. Low-carbers excrete more calcium because we're eating more calcium.

Kidney stones occur in the same proportion amongst low-carbers as among the general population, and the solution is simple: if you have a family history of kidney stones, drink even more water. And to prevent them from ever occurring, drink more water.

Why do you think just about every diet plan encourages you to drink more water? Well, this is one reason.

Additional reading: High protein consumption increases bone density.

Cancer. One of the reasons high protein diets increase the risks of certain health problems is because of the avoidance of carbohydrate-containing foods and the vitamins, minerals, fiber and anti-oxidants they contain. It is therefore important to obtain your protein from a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Not only are your needs for protein being met, but you are also helping to reduce your risk of developing cancer.

This is a richly contested area, and the jury is still out. Anti-oxidants may not be needed at all if you aren't ingesting inflammation-producing foods in the first place. What are your inflammatory foods? Grains top the list.

That said, I do have some small concern about this. IGF-1 has been linked to cancer risk. But natural bodybuilders attempt to create an optimum hormonal environment for muscular hypertropy, including elevation of IGF-1 levels through exercise and eating correctly. Will lifting heavy weights give you cancer?

So far, people are only making the connection to cows injected with Bovine Growth Hormone and elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans. However, simply lifting heavy weights also elevates IGF-1. It will be interesting what the studies will show in ten years. My advice for any adult male is to get annual blood and physical exams. Normally insurance will pay for it, as a basic physical will often find conditions you wouldn't expect (and men who get annual physicals live longer, too.)

Unhealthy metabolic state (ketosis). Low carb diets can cause your body to go into a dangerous metabolic state called ketosis since your body burns fat instead of glucose for energy. During ketosis, the body forms substances known as ketones, which can cause organs to fail and result in gout, kidney stones, or kidney failure. Ketones can also dull a person's appetite, cause nausea and bad breath. Ketosis can be prevented by eating at least 100 grams of carbohydrates a day.

This is a richly disputed area, and attempting to characterize ketosis/lipolysis as a "dangerous metabolic state" is a political move, not a scientific one. I'm going to refer to this as "lipolysis" from this point on, rather than "ketosis", but the two are similar.

Your body already goes into lipolysis every single day while you're sleeping. It is the natural state when your body is burning body or dietary fat rather than carbohydrates or protein for fuel. It's why most of us aren't hungry first thing in the morning. It's why most of us don't wake up ravenous in the middle of the night. It's why we over-eat a little during the waking hours: our fat stores naturally give us energy back while we're sleeping through lipolysis.

Low-carbers simply keep this process going the other 16 hours of the day.

Please go buy yourself a copy of "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. Read it all the way through; I know it's a long read, but it's worth it. Debunk the junk science that passes for nutrition science today and learn what really can help you to live a healthy lifestyle.

--Matt B.

redgiki wrote:Your body already goes into lipolysis every single day while you're sleeping. It is the natural state when your body is burning body or dietary fat rather than carbohydrates or protein for fuel. It's why most of us aren't hungry first thing in the morning.

So what's my problem then?! When I wake up first thing in the morning, I'm usually starving enough to eat the leg off a table!

Thanks for all that great information, Matt!

Thanks for all the feedback everybody! I appreciate it. I'll def look into the book you mentioned.

Jag wrote:Thanks for all the feedback everybody! I appreciate it. I'll def look into the book you mentioned.

I did forget to mention one thing. There's a large chance that you'll eat far more vegetables on MANS than you ever ate before. Really, if you're doing it right and getting the majority of your carbohydrates from the green leafies, you're getting gobs and gobs of anti-oxidants anyway.

My vision was blurred so red from seeing a respected web publication spouting off the same long-since-debunked baloney that I didn't think to address that part of the point

--Matt B.