Who here really keeps track...

[Joshua Davis]

Keeps track of their day-to-day eating that is, as far as cals/protein/etc...

I haven't been lately, but I hopped on fitday and did today. Without dinner, I have put down close to 3k calories, 200g protein, 100g of fat (beef and eggs), and 300 carbos.

This is with my oatmeal + 1 pear + 3 eggs over easy breakfast, my banana and apple I had in-between breakfast and lunch... my 12oz of ground round cooked with brown rice and carrots/spinach, and my 2 scoops of protein powder in gatorade before and after training.

I guess the fat caught me off guard today. I don't mind the carbos, in fact, I have been eating a ton more carbos than I used to, and I have been heathier and stronger than ever before. I am wondering if I should cut back on the eggs if I plan on having beef the same day, or if I should just say "screw it" and keep eating like this...

Before anyone asks what my goals are, lets put it like this. I was over 420lbs and sedentary about 4 years ago. I started lifting and eating better, and got down to 335-340 or so. I stopped lifting for about a year after my son was born, and my weight went up to 375. I started training again about a month ago, as well I started watching mealtimes a bit better (instead of eating all the time, I only ate when I actually felt hungry). I weighed in wednesday at 350 even fully clothed. I want to continue to lose bodyfat, but I am also doing my best to get as strong as possible. I have recently "cleaned" up my diet - which even during my recent weightloss, was full of white bread, low protein, junk food, your average Joe-Schmo American diet. I figure I was getting about 2500-3500 daily calories in 4 daily meals - but alot were empty calories. I hope to keep the same caloric content (as I am getting stronger and losing bf%), but eat cleaner and get more protein.

[BrianKing]

You can cut a ton of fat out of your diet by dropping the ground round for x-tra lean ground beef. Wal-Mart has a 96% lean ground beef. Eat egg whites instead of whole eggs. Get your carbs from fruits and whole wheat pastas, brown rice, and whole wheat breads. Keeping your insulin and blood sugar levels stable is crucial for you in fat loss. By eating the above carbs, you can eat more frewuently w/o the fear of ingesting a huge amount of calories. For example, eat two apples and a protein shake for one of your meals. This will keep yoour insulin levels in check and help your body burn fat. I also would eliminate gatorade as my protein mixer. Too many simple sugars and excess carbs. Use skim milk or water.
In closing, I would lose the desired amount of bodyfat and weight first, then concentrate on getting large and strong. Because people with low bodyfat levels are much more efficient in burning fat then those with high fat levels.

[Cassidy Drake]

I keep track to a T of what I eat everyday.

[Joshua Davis]

You can cut a ton of fat out of your diet by dropping the ground round for x-tra lean ground beef. Wal-Mart has a 96% lean ground beef. Eat egg whites instead of whole eggs. Get your carbs from fruits and whole wheat pastas, brown rice, and whole wheat breads. Keeping your insulin and blood sugar levels stable is crucial for you in fat loss. By eating the above carbs, you can eat more frewuently w/o the fear of ingesting a huge amount of calories. For example, eat two apples and a protein shake for one of your meals. This will keep yoour insulin levels in check and help your body burn fat. I also would eliminate gatorade as my protein mixer. Too many simple sugars and excess carbs. Use skim milk or water.
In closing, I would lose the desired amount of bodyfat and weight first, then concentrate on getting large and strong. Because people with low bodyfat levels are much more efficient in burning fat then those with high fat levels.

Thanks for the points, however, I don't think you fully understand my goals Brian. I am already large and strong. I am competing in my 4th Strongman competition on December 10th, which happens to be a pro-am... as well I have been involved in highland games, competitive tug of war, wrestling, etc before then. I also happen to carry around some fat. As I said in my post, I am losing weight at a pace that most would consider excellent (approx 25lbs in the past month and 1/2), and getting stronger... my only concern was the amount of saturated fats I was getting after making a recent switch to eating more beef.

As far as the carbs go, my only simple sugars are pre and post workout. I used to restrict my carbs, and my workouts were crap. In fact, I have restricted my carbohydrate intake for the past 3 years or so... (Scott Downey can vouch for this, as he has seen my low-carb ramblings on other forums) I have so much more energy now on 250+ carbs per day, it isn't even funny. The majority of my carbs are coming from fruit, brown rice, oatmeal, and pasta. I will not eat protein powder as a replacement for any meal either. That is like using leg presses as replacements for squats.

The difference in my workouts when I was cutting carbs? I would do a regular workout in about 3 hours. That's usually 5 movements or so, with maybe some accessory thrown in. I get the whole thing done in exactly 70 minutes now (the length of my training cd). I don't need the rest, don't need to sit and chug water, I just "git 'r dun".

I know results like this are subjective at most, but I definately feel alot better. I don't have any issues with the above diet, just that I have been there, and done that.

I was hoping to hear from one of our 2lbs-per-day grassland gurus about their feelings on excess fat in their diet. Even if it is rich in CLA and Omega 3, calorically speaking, it's still fat.

[Cassidy Drake]

It's not just "still fat" the coorelation between saturated fats and healthy fats is not there. Healthy fats have a number of benefits from heart health to preventing mental disorders and degeneration. Bad fats have none of these.

[Cassidy Drake]

This mainly applies the the zone diet(which may be what you are looking for) but none the less.




The Role of Fish Oil in the Zone

One of the basic tenets of the Zone diet is daily supplementation with high-dose, ultrarefined fish-oil concentrates. Even if you are eating two to three servings of fish per week, I still recommend taking a fish-oil supplement of at least 2.5 grams per day (or about one teaspoon).

Your grandmother probably used fish oil in the form of cod-liver oil, which is rich in vitamins A and D. It was used to prevent rickets (a disease resulting in weak bones that is caused by a deficiency of those vitamins). Even though cod-liver oil is one of the most disgusting foods known to man, daily consumption was a given in many households. It turns out the reason that cod-liver oil was so beneficial was not because of those vitamins, but because of its high levels of the long-chain, omega-3 fatty acids called EPA and DHA.

EPA is a key factor for controlling insulin levels, and DHA is essential to maintain and rebuild your brain. So, while your grandmother was forcing your parents to eat cod-liver oil for the wrong biochemical reasons, she was doing an excellent job of controlling insulin and improving brain longevity.

Equally important, many neurological conditions such as depression, multiple sclerosis, and attention deficit disorders are linked to low levels of DHA in the diet; supplementation with fish oils rich in DHA often show dramatic improvement within a few weeks.

The need for long-chain, omega-3 fatty acids is only now being realized. One-third of the brain's mass is composed of long-chain, omega-3 fats (like DHA). No other organ has such a concentration of DHA. Connections have also been made between the DHA content in breast milk and better brain development in nursing infants.

Just as DHA is important for the brain, EPA is incredibly beneficial in reducing heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and other chronic diseases because of its effect on an important group of hormones called eicosanoids. I discuss eicosanoids in greater detail elsewhere on this site and in my books The Zone and The Anti-Aging Zone. Simply stated, if you want to reduce the risk of developing most chronic diseases, you must have an adequate intake of EPA from fish oils.

[Joshua Davis]

It's not just "still fat" the coorelation between saturated fats and healthy fats is not there. Healthy fats have a number of benefits from heart health to preventing mental disorders and degeneration. Bad fats have none of these.

I should have been more descriptive (I have edited the post to reflect this). What I mean is, despite the health benefits of the fats in grassfed beef, the caloric density is still the same. I am fully aware of the health benefits of grassfed beef and my eggs - just questioning the amount of overall calories that I am getting per day because of them.
Saturated fats can still be healthy, i.e. Coconut Oil, beef, dairy, yolk fat, etc...

[Cassidy Drake]

I should have been more descriptive (I have edited the post to reflect this). What I mean is, despite the health benefits, the caloric density is still the same. I am fully aware of the health benefits - just questioning the amount of overall calories that I am getting per day because of them.
Saturated fats can still be healthy, i.e. Coconut Oil, beef, dairy, yolk fat, etc...
Huh? The caloric density of fat is almost double that of protein and carbs. So are you wanting to lower the fats? If anything healthy fats should be the least of your problems since fat does not instigate a insulin response, where as the carbs most definately will. What is it that you are looking for exactly?

[Joshua Davis]

Huh? The caloric density of fat is almost double that of protein and carbs. So are you wanting to lower the fats?

Yes Cassidy. that is why I said "it's still fat". I was comparing commercial to grassfed, as far as fat CALORIES. I wasn't comparing protein and carbs to fat, you mentioned that I was trying to compare grassfed fats to commercial meat fats... I was clarifying my comment... hence the edit of my original post.

Reduction of calories to assist in weight loss, for the most part. Due to the amount of fats I am currently eating (150+gm per day), I was just trying to find out what results people have seen with doing this... or if it is even worth me cutting out eggs on the same day I eat beef, etc... I would be happy with seeing my fats down to under 70gm per day.
I am happy with my carb consumption, as I have mentioned before, because my training has been exponentially more productive since I started eating 250-300 carbs a day... and I have been eating high fiber/nutrient dense carbs - pretty much just fruit, veggies, oats, and brown rice.

Tell you what, instead of confusing everyone further here because I can't seem to communicate what I mean, I will just continue to do what I am doing and see if I continue to have the results I have been getting.

[Matt Burns]

Josh, I won't get all technical on you since you seem to have it figured out. Take it slow bro. Since I started eating like I lived on a farm, I dont wory about macro breakdowns I have gone from 305 and soft to 295 ish and a lot harder in the last 6 weeks. I eat a ton most days and 2-3 days a week go very low carb(50g max) on non training and have been keeping or improving on all gym lifts and I've lost 2 inch's on my pants size. Keep us updated and good luck on the 10th, wish I was coming down to get my ass kicked.

[Matt Parkes]

Josh it sounds like you're currently accomplishing or at least on your way to accomplishing the goals you've put down in the post. BF is going down and strength is still good. I personally made a drastic body transformation about 3 or 4 years ago around a diet that used lean beef the main food staple.(No it wasn't Fatkins). I would say dude if it ain't broke why try and fix it?

[Paul Neuhaus]

Well, I just got back from Hardee's!! I got the 2/3lb Monster Thick Burger with bacon and mayonnais!! Keeping track?? Nah. Just enjoying the off-season!!

[Joshua Davis]

Well, I just got back from Hardee's!! I got the 2/3lb Monster Thick Burger with bacon and mayonnais!! Keeping track?? Nah. Just enjoying the off-season!!

I tried to eat one of those. Nosirree - it was just too much.

Now, a double burger from Sonic on Texas Toast, with a Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper and tater tots... that's something completely different!

[Jacob Sauter]

PM me your eMail address. I use an excel spreadsheet, along with data from www.nutritiondata.com Fitday is garbage..

[Joshua Davis]

Josh it sounds like you're currently accomplishing or at least on your way to accomplishing the goals you've put down in the post. BF is going down and strength is still good. I personally made a drastic body transformation about 3 or 4 years ago around a diet that used lean beef the main food staple.(No it wasn't Fatkins). I would say dude if it ain't broke why try and fix it?

Well, it wasn't broke, even though I wasn't eating as well. The addition of beef as a lunch meat is new (I was eating chicken or tuna... EVERY DAY). I was expecting that I was losing weight on a guesstimate of 3k-3.2k calories or so, but adding 3/4ths of a pound of beef for lunch was putting me in over 4-4.5k daily, which I don't see myself burning off effeciently.

[BrianKing]

If you want to burn fat you have to cut the amount of fat you are consuming. Fat holds on to fat. Just eat extra lean ground beef. There is hardly any fat in it. This will drop your fat intake levels.

[Cassidy Drake]

If you want to burn fat you have to cut the amount of fat you are consuming. Fat holds on to fat.
There could not be anything further from the truth than that. If you want I can post numerous studies etc to back this. In fact is the only food source that does not trigger a insulin response which is more often than not the cause for weight gain and rapid rising and dropping of the insulin levels in your body leading to major havoc of weight loss and hormonal balance.

[BrianKing]

I didn't say cut out fat entirely. But if you eat like shit all time your gonna look like shit. How the hell do you think you get fat? Ya, some fat is good but there is nothing wrong with cutting some of your saturated fat. Read my post more thouroughly. I said get extra lean ground beef because it will reduce your fat intake levels. By the way, why do we have a glycemic index that we go by in order to eat carbs that stabilize insulin levels?

[Cassidy Drake]

*sigh* "fat holds on to fat" that was out of you not me. Sure cutting some fats is good. However it is not always beneficial especially from a athletic standpoint. Healthy fats are the true wonder of natures world. Nothing prevents heart problems or dimensia and other neurological problems more so than healthy omega fats and other forms. Seriously read up on this, you are way off base here. Do you want me to give you likns so you can better understand this?

[Cassidy Drake]

11/29/2004 - Lots of olive oil, red wine and plenty of fish. Sounds like a familiar formula to good health? A number of studies had shown that sticking to diets rich in omega-3 and monounsaturated fats found in fish and walnuts can mean longer life.

In one 10-year survey of elderly European men and women, researchers found that those who adhered to a ''Mediterranean diet,'' did not smoke, drank moderately and remained physically active were about half as likely to die during the study period as those whose diets and lifestyles were less healthful.

A second, smaller study found that when patients at risk for developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes followed a Mediterranean-style diet for two years, they lost more weight and lowered their blood pressure, insulin and glucose levels and ''bad'' cholesterol -- and increased ''good'' cholesterol -- more than a similar group who were put on a low-fat diet.

It should be noted that Mediterranean diet is similar in approach to the one prescribed in the Metabolic Diet in emphasizing the quality or type of fats consumed rather than quantity typical of low-fat diets.

The studies, which drew together researchers from France, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, were published in the Sept. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the first study, researchers spent a decade following 2,339 men and women from 11 European countries who were ages 70 to 90. The researchers tallied the participants' eating, drinking and smoking (or nonsmoking) habits and activity levels, and then recorded who died and of what.

Those who received a ''lifestyle'' score of 4 points ate a diet typical of the Mediterranean region, drank a moderate amount of alcohol daily, either did not smoke or had quit smoking cigarettes at least 15 years earlier, and engaged in at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day. When a study participant fell short on any one of these measures, his or her score would drop a point.

At the end of the study period, about 70 percent of those with a lifestyle score of 4 were still enjoying la dolce vita. Slightly more than 40 percent of those with initial scores between 0 and 1 were still alive.

It appears that important components of the diet in the region promotes longevity. Consuming the Omega-3 fatty acids in fish such as tuna, lake trout and salmon several times a week has been found to reduce the likelihood of heart disease, and the minerals and monounsaturated fats in olives and many nuts have been linked to lower levels of cardiovascular disease. And red wine, taken in moderation, has significant antioxidant properties and is a vasodilator that has been found to reduce the incidence of strokes when consumed regularly.

[Cassidy Drake]

11/26/2004 - More evidence have come out from a number of research pointing to the significant role of insulin in human longevity.

In a study conducted by a team of Brown Univeristy researchers led by biology professor Marc Tatar, when chemical messages sent by an insulin-like hormone are reduced inside the fat cells of the fruit fly, the fly's lifespan increases significantly.

Same results had been observed in worms but the fruit fly study is more significant as the fruit fly's 13,601 genes are shared in many ways by humans.

One of the important findings is the role insulin plays in the regulation of its own synthesis.

The key is blocking the hormone's action inside a few specific cells with the body ending up healthier. The study found that insulin regulates its own production and that it directly regulates tissue aging. If insulin levels are kept low, cells stay stronger and are protected from age-related diseases such as cancer, dementia and stroke.

“Think of the body like a car,” Tatar says. “We knew insulin controlled the car’s speed by regulating things like the gas pedal and the fuel injectors. Now we know that insulin is also the fuel that makes the engine go.”

Tatar and four other Brown researchers created a line of genetically altered flies which had dFOXO – a protein controlled by the fly equivalent of insulin – inserted into the genetic material of fat cells near their brains.

Some flies were fed mifepristone, a chemical copy of progesterone. This hormone activated a switch attached to dFOXO, which in turn repressed the normal insulin signals inside the cells. As a surprising result, insulin production was lowered throughout the body. These flies lived an average of 50 days – 18 days longer than flies whose insulin signals went unchecked.

“We now know that insulin is a direct player in the aging process,” Tatar says. “So the research fits some key puzzle pieces together. And it should change the way we think about aging.”

Tatar’s research is part of a growing body of evidence linking low insulin levels to increased longevity. In recent years, scientists have found that mice and other animals live longer when they eat a low-calorie diet, which reduces insulin production.

“Aging regulation is a complex physiological process of nutritional inputs, metabolic regulation and hormone secretion,” Tatar says. “But we still have so many unanswered questions.”

In another study, a group led by Andrzej Bartke, professor and chair of physiology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine seek to find out why dwarf mice postpone aging, living longer than their normal siblings from an average of two years to an average of three.

One clue was the improved responsiveness to insulin. Humans usually lose sensitivity to insulin with age and in some cases this led to adult-onset diabetes.

In contrast, dwarf mice have low sugar and low insulin at the same time. ''This means that they respond to insulin better than a normal animal,'' according to Bartke. This endocrine situation is the opposite of type 2 diabetes.

Bartke notes that diabetics can increase their insulin sensitivity using diet and exercise. ''So this is something which even without the use of drugs can be achieved by a normal person by very accepted means.''

These studies colloborate Dr. Di Pasquale's views expressed that when insulin is chronically high or see-saw up and down, as it does when you're sitting down to those big carb meals, it becomes an extremely lipogenic (fat producing) hormone. It begins to lay down all sorts of fat on the body and then you increase your risk of heart disease and other age-related conditions.

[BrianKing]

You are missing my point. What kind of fat does ground beef have? That's right saturated. Last time I checked that is the type of fat you would like to minimize in a diet. And yea, if you carry a lot of BF around and you eat alot of fat, are you telling me he/she is gonna burn that off? Hell no. I understrand you need ESSENTIAL FATS in your diet but you sure as hell don't need extra amounts of animal fats, especially when you are trying to burn fat off.

[Cassidy Drake]

NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!! You are missing my point. What kind of fat does ground beef have? That's right saturated. Last time I checked that is the type of fat you would like to minimize in a diet. And yea, if you carry a lot of BF around and you eat alot of fat, are you telling me he/she is gonna burn that off? Hell no. I understrand you need ESSENTIAL FATS in your diet but you sure as hell don't need extra amounts of animal fats, especially when you are trying to burn fat off.
I am not missing the point. proove to me with some sort of scientific literature that fat binds to fat. Until then you hold no proof af anything. Not to mention you are incorrect on the ground beef. It is not completely saturated, much like a egg it is about half nd half, and if we go into the realm of grass fed beef it changes even more so. Yes if a person is fat, and they eat a substantial amount of healthy fats it will help them loose weight. Look up a study on CLA or any other type of fat in that category. Now chill out, because you are only make yourself look like a grump who can't back his point. If you have literature backing your point I myself as well as others here would like to read it.

[Cassidy Drake]

By: Mauro Di Pasquale

Obesity is of increasing concern in health issues in the world, surpassed only by cancer and heart disease. Dietary fat is often implicated as the primary root cause of the prevalence of obesity in developed countries. However, research continues to mount that support all fat is not evil. While high intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol are highly correlated with obesity, insulin resistance and heart disease, other fats are gaining respect as actually attenuating these factors. The most favorable fat in recent research is fish oil.


What Are The Benefits?


The benefits of a diet comprised mostly of polyunsaturated fats are well documented. The essential fatty acids omega-3, 6, and 9 must be obtained from food sources. These fatty acids are the precursors for several classes of hormones and comprise most of our cell membranes. Studies are now suggesting that the omega-3 fatty acids are our friends in a number of ways. Since our modern diet typically is high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in omega-3 acids, it may prudent to increase our consumption of foods that contain a higher amount of omega-3 fatty acids. The richest source of omega-3 fatty acids is fish oil from cold water fish.

Omega-3 fatty acids improve insulin action and glucose metabolism in fat and muscle cells. The fatty acids in the phospholipid layer of cell membranes determine the physiochemical properties of the membranes. This in turn influences the cellular functions, especially hormone responsiveness. Increasing the membrane content of polyunsaturated fatty acids increases membrane fluidity and the binding of many hormones to their respective receptors, thereby increasing their action.
They also decrease plasma triglyceride levels. This is hypothesized and supported by studies to play a role in increasing insulin action. It involves fuel switching due to increased utilization of glucose. It is also thought that fish oil supplementation reduces insulin secretion.
Another important aspect is that a diet derived mostly of it fatty acids from fish oils (high 0-3:0-6/9) was shown to reduce white adipose tissue mass, or body-fat, significantly. This has been demonstrated repeatedly in rat models, and also in humans. While omega-3's also increased thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue in rats, that probably has less significance for humans. However, they have detected much lower levels of enzyme activity for fatty acid synthesis in fish oil fed rats (and in vitro human fat cells) than in those fed diets with omega-6, omega-9 and saturated fats. Rats fed diets with omega-3 lost more fat mass (and had much lower triglyceride levels) than those fed a low-fat, high carb diet that was matched for calories.
They have shown in both rats and humans that the composition of adipose fatty acids basically resembles the fatty acid composition of the diet. However, those eating diets high in fish oil EPA and DHA (omega-3's) were not stored in the adipose tissue in similar proportion to the concentrations in the diet. Therefore, these fatty acids may be preferentially oxidized and not stored. Thus, such rapid fatty acid oxidation might prevent a significant portion of lipid accumulation.


Other Benefits


The other positive benefit is the consumption of a diet high in 0-3 induced an increase in UCP2 in white adipose tissue. Increased UCP2 uncoupling is associated with reductions in body weight and white adipose tissue.

Interestingly, a reduction of leptin levels, the fat-stat hormone, was reported with high omega-3 consumption. However, as most of the researchers stated in these studies, this may be an artifact simply due to the reduction in fat mass (leptin is secreted by fat cells).

However, in the studies that reported this, they also demonstrated a sustained decrease in appetite and no change in energy expenditure concomitant with decreased leptin levels, which indicates that decreased leptin levels may not be a concern unless they become acutely low, such as in a lean person. In that case, rotation or a blend of fatty acid sources would be necessary. But considering that our diet typically contains a high ratio of o-6:o-3, that may still be a moot point.









I rest my case.

[Cassidy Drake]

By: Mauro Di Pasquale

If you think we really know what's going on with dietary fats, you've been deluded by the dreaded common consensus.



Let's Cut The Fat Crap And Get Real


I never believed all this saturated fat and red meat propaganda. Over the last four decades I've maintained that a certain amount of saturated fat, especially saturated fat from red meat, is good for you. It's the best for maximizing body composition, increasing testosterone levels, and even for health reasons.


What's The Difference Between Unsaturated And Saturated Fats?
Unsaturated fats are derived from plants and saturated fats, on the other hand, are derived from animal products.



In my original Anabolic Diet, and subsequent Metabolic and Radical Diets, and Anabolic Solution books, I've made saturated fat, and red meat, an integral part of the diets.

Why? Because it made a lot more sense than the studies and advice coming from the medical and scientific community. Even though I'm part of that community.

So I don't blithely accept that the dogmas that are being handed out today apply to everyone. That saturated fat is bad for you. That it increases cholesterol levels, especially LDL, the bad cholesterol, and accelerates coronary artery disease. And that unsaturated fats have the opposite effect.

Or that saturated fat will increase fat and weight gain, and make you insulin resistant, to the point of even making you diabetic. Or that the poly and mono unsaturated fats, including the essential fatty acids, will make you skinny and insulin sensitive.

Why? Because there are too many inconsistencies to make solid sense. And because there seems to be no room for individual response. After all we all react differently to various dietary fats.


Learn More About Fats...

Insulin Sensitivity And Resistance




Blood Sugar & Insulin.
Lately I've received a whole bunch of questions about the benefits and drawbacks of insulin, so why not straighten out the issue...

[ Learn More ]



And while I'm at it, this whole business about insulin sensitivity and resistance is also a real crock. Being insulin resistant can be a good thing under certain circumstances.

It may not be good for the couch potatoe, who eats mainly potatoes, and who's paunch measures twice as much as his chest, but it can be good for the person who's fit, trains with weights, and wants to maximize health and body composition.

Why? Man that word comes up a lot.

Because first of all insulin resistance is a relative thing. It means resistance to sugar. It means that your body can't or won't use carbs as efficiently as it once did. But that doesn't have to be bad and in fact can be a good thing. Especially if you're on a low carb diet and want to use fat, either dietary or body fat, as your primary fuel. If you want to have less body fat and more muscle than the average mall shopping, carb munching, TV addicted, normal male and female in this anemic society of ours.

All of this just doesn't jive, Clive. Or maybe nowdays it should be it just doesn't rap, Pat. And let me tell you why.

The usual deal in the literature is that dietary fat and especially saturated fat are bad. The mantra still exists. Fat is bad, carbs are good, although even they're realizing that the simple carbs in fact, really, truthfully, and honestly, aren't.

In reality, fat is good, as long as it's under the right circumstances and the right kind. And I'm not just taking about the monounsaturated olive oil kind of fat, or the essential fatty acids kind of fat, or even the fish kind of fat. I'm talking about the red meat kind of fat.


Learn More About Insulin...

Is Fat Bad For You?


Fat is bad under some conditions but you can't generalize. All that the famous Finnish study back in the seventies, one of the hallmark studies that's the foundation of how much better unsaturated fat is than saturated fat, showed was that high levels of saturated fat didn't go over well with mental patients.

But then we're not all institutionalized are we? Maybe some of us should be but as a whole you can't use data from a weird subset of the population, under even weirder conditions (how can you replace the saturated fat from dairy products with soybean oil and margarine and not get some pretty distorted diets?) and then apply it to everyone.

You can't but they did, and do. And this criticism applies to almost all of the other studies that make a bad fat connection. But the weight of all these studies is having some effects that might not be to our best interests. For example, our agricultural and food manufacturing industry is gearing up to produce foods with lower saturated fat even though we still don't have the answer as to what levels are optimal or if in fact we should be reducing our saturated fat intake.

And there are studies out there that show the opposite association.

As an example, let's start with a recent study published just a few months ago. The authors of this study found that a higher saturated fat intake is associated with less progression of coronary artery disease.

In a nutshell they found that a high fat, high saturated fat diet is associated with a lessening of coronary artery disease in women who are insulin resistant, and have other symptoms consistent with the metabolic syndrome.

In other words feeding women a diet high in saturated fat, women who are already suffering from some pretty hefty diseases, which are partly supposed to be a result of eating too much saturated fat, results in an improvement rather than making their situation worse.

Couple this with the French Paradox, the traditional Eskimo and Masai diets, where diets high in fat have resulted in low levels of cardiovascular disease, and various other inconsistencies, and you've got a problem with the popular "saturated fat leads to cardiovascular disease" hypothesis.


What About Red Meat?


Red meat has been maligned now for the past few decades. It seems that nothing good can be said about it except that it's great barbecued.

I've always said that red meat is good. And there are several reasons for this. First of all I never believed in what the naysayers were preaching. Again, just as with saturated fat, there are too many inconsistencies. After all red meat has been a staple in our diets since the beginning of time. So why all of a sudden is it poisonous to us?

Red meat is one of the best sources for amino acids. It's high in vitamins A, E and B complex. Vitamin B12, while plentiful in meat, is not found in vegetable products.

Red meat is loaded with iron that is easily absorbed, unlike iron that is present in many plant sources. As well, red meats are excellent sources of other nutrients including L-carnitine, taurine, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), coenzyme Q10, potassium, zinc and magnesium - all vital nutrients, especially for those of us who want to improve our body composition.

For example, L-carnitine is primarily found in meat. And red meat is the best source of L-carnitine with about 600 mg present per 100 grams. Fish contains only 35 mg per 100 grams. For athletes, plentiful L-carnitine means not only a larger proportion of lean muscle mass, but increased use of energy-rich fat as fuel during exercise.

We'll cover the specifics concerning L-carnitine in another article. As well, CLA, by increasing insulin sensitivity and helping to regulate protein and fat metabolism in the body, can result in a reduction of overall body fat and an increase in lean muscle mass.


The Importance Of Red Meat.
It does not matter how well you train, or even what supplements you take... Learn the importance of having beef in your diet!


Red meat is also one of the best foods for maximizing body composition. A recent study found that women on a low calorie red meat diet lost more weight and were healthier than those who a low calorie low meat diet. As well, there were no adverse effects on bone metabolism because of the high red meat/protein diet.

In another study, red meat was shown to have beneficial effects on serum cholesterol and triglycerides, the other important fat. At the end of the nine month study, the researchers found that the red meat group had an average decrease of 1 to 3 percent in "bad' low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and an average 2 percent increase in "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and an average drop of 6 percent in their levels of triglycerides.

As well, red meat, with its saturated fat, increases serum testosterone levels. I've seen this in clinical studies that I've done on athletes who I've put on my diets, with the emphasis on red meat. And this association has also been shown in some studies.


All About Beef...

[Cassidy Drake]

What About Insulin Resistance?


I'll leave a detailed discussion of insulin sensitivity and resistance for another article. However, it's important to know that insulin resistance, because of its complexity, can actually be a good thing in certain conditions, and can be used to maximize body composition. That's because insulin resistance can be manipulated so that it applies differently to different body tissues and metabolic processes.

Insulin resistance in glucose metabolism, which can allow increased use of free fatty acids, and therefore body fat, as fuel, can be present along side of insulin sensitivity in amino acid transport and protein synthesis, which maximizes muscle mass, and with insulin resistance to fat tissue, which increases lipolyis and decreases lipogenesis.

It is this type of environment that's created by my diets, resulting in decreased body fat and increased muscle mass.


Learn More About Fat Loss Diets...



References


Miettinen M, Turpeinen O, Karvonen MJ, Elosuo R, Paavilainen E. Effect of cholesterol-lowering diet on mortality from coronary heart-disease and other causes. A twelve-year clinical trial in men and women. Lancet 1972;2:835-8
German JB, Dillard CJ. Saturated fats: what dietary intake? Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Sep;80(3):550-9.
Mozaffarian D, Rimm EB, Herrington DM. Dietary fats, carbohydrate, and progression of coronary atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:1175-84.
Gaullier JM, Halse J, Hoye K, Kristiansen K, Fagertun H, Vik H, Gudmundsen O. Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for 1 y reduces body fat mass in healthy overweight humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jun;79(6):1118-25.
Eyjolfson V, Spriet LL, Dyck DJ. Conjugated linoleic acid improves insulin sensitivity in young, sedentary humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 May;36(5):814-20.
Clifton PM, Noakes M, Keogh J, Foster P. Effect of an energy reduced high protein red meat diet on weight loss and metabolic parameters in obese women. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2003;12 Suppl:S10.
Davidson MH, Hunninghake D, Maki KC, et al. Comparison of the Effects of Lean Red Meat vs Lean White Meat on Serum Lipid Levels Among Free-living Persons With Hypercholesterolemia - A Long-term, Randomized Clinical Trial. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:1331-1338

[BrianKing]

Thanks. You just proved my point in the opening statement by Dr. DiPasauale concerning saturated fats. And sorry I am not a scientist or a doctor, but when say fat holds fat, that was my point. How come a lean, muscular person could get a way with eating an unclean diet moreso then a person with high amounts of BF? Unused calories can get stored as fat. If I am wrong then please enlighten me. Never, never said eliminate all fats, just minimize your saturated fat intake.
Also, I didn't say red meat was bad. I said eat extra lean to cut out some of the bad fat you may receive by eating high quantities of it. Damn.

[Cassidy Drake]

Thanks. You just proved my point in the opening statement by Dr. DiPasauale concerning saturated fats. And sorry I am not a scientist or a doctor, but when say fat holds fat, that was my point. How come a lean, muscular person could get a way with eating an unclean diet moreso then a person with high amounts of BF? Unused calories can get stored as fat. If I am wrong then please enlighten me. Never, never said eliminate all fats, just minimize your saturated fat intake.
Also, I didn't say red meat was bad. I said eat extra lean to cut out some of the bad fat you may receive by eating high quantities of it. Damn.
Hahaha, umm sure ok :D Unused calories can get stored as fat no matter what type it is. You didn't bother to read a damn thing man. DOES FAT CAUSE A INSULIN RESPONSE? IS ALL SATURATED FAT BAD? It is comical when people have no idea what they are talking about and can't admit to it. :LOL:

[Matt Parkes]

didn't we just have this same argument in another thread? Wait my mistake that was protien absorbtion rates, sorry it just seemed so familiar.

Cassidy just bugging you dude, I enjoy reading and learning from the studies you post, makes for effort free research for me.

[BrianKing]

Read my very first post on this subject. I never said fat affects insulin. I never said saturated fat was bad. Too much is, but a little won't hurt. I never said eliminate ALL FATS from your diet. Seems like the only thing you have a problem with is when i said fat hold on to fat. Well sooorrry. I didn't know it was going to hurt your feelings. I don't need a bunch of dissertations and countless studies to know what works and what doesn't. Furthermore, who really gives a damn. What works for one person does'nt mean it will work for the next. Wasn't trying to argue, but I will always stand my ground if I think that what I say is right. And in a non-scientific way, I am right. Just read my first post. I am done with this subject after this post.

[Cassidy Drake]

Ummm sure ok guy whatever you say.