Atkins & Low-Carb – Part 3

Papa Murphy’s has a new low-carb pizza. Burger King has a
low-carb hamburger. Applebee’s has rolled out a new low-carb
menu, as have dozens of other national restaurant chains. There
are low-carb tortillas, breakfast cereals, breads, and just
about anything else you’d care to eat! No doubt about
it…..low-carb dieting is the biggest trend since deep-fryed
turkeys!

But as we’ve discussed in the last few articles, low-carbing may
not be right for everyone. While the evidence does support the
claim that a reduction in carbohydrates will help you lose
weight, conclusive evidence on the long-term impact of
low-carbing remains elusive.

In this article we’re going to take a look at some professional
bodybuilders. With single-digit bodyfat and loads of muscle,
bodybuilders are arguably among the most fit people on the
planet. After all, professional bodybuilders are paid to
exercise!

Jay Cutler, the IFFB 2002 and 2003 Arnold Classic Champion,
includes brown rice in his diet when preparing for a contest.
The sample menu shown on his website, jaycutler.com, states that
Jay eats brown rice at least twice per day. With 32 grams of
carbs per serving, brown rice certainly would not make the grade
with some low-carb diets.

Garry Holmen, who among other things gives nutritional advice to
bodybuilders, advises his clients to ‘carb cycle’ when preparing
for a competition. Without going into a long explanation, carb
cycling is simply reducing carbohydrate intake for 3 days and
then replenishing carbohydrates stores on day 4. On carb
depletion days, Garry recommends that bodybuilders still get 20%
of their calories from carbohydrates.

Female competitor Debbie Patton (debbiepatton.com), on her FAQ
page, says: “I eat a diet high in protein, with moderate carbs.
Lots of chicken breasts, egg whites, tuna, protein shakes, brown
rice and potatoes.” Debbie is the November, 2002 NPC Mid States
Muscle Classic 1st Place Women’s Middleweight Overall Title &
Best Abs Champion.

While there are literally hundreds of other examples of
bodybuilding diets, these three are sufficient for our purposes:
how do bodybuilders eat to get them so lean?

The consistent theme you’ll find when examining the diets of all
bodybuilders is that they do not ever completely eliminate carbs
from their diet. That’s because not all carbs are bad. On the
contrary, some carbohydrate in your diet helps you maintain a
balanced diet.

Although most bodybuilders do not completely eliminate carbs
from their diet, it is important to note that they do restrict
carbohydrate intake. Rarely, if ever, will you see a
professional bodybuilder eating the ‘garbage carbs’ that are so
popular today: french fries, cake, cookies, crackers, white
bread, etc.

Bodybuilders are also very careful to get their carbohydrates
from quality sources like brown rice, vegetables, and whole
grains. So although they are not eliminating carbs altogether,
they are eliminating ‘garbage carbs’.

So what’s the bottom line? Can we learn more about low-carbing
from bodybuilders? After all, they’re paid to be healthy! Most
of them employ a personal doctor, trainer and nutrition expert!

Here are the low-carb lessons from professional bodybuilders: 1)
Most people should not remove all carbs from their diet. 2) Get
your carbs from high-quality sources. 3) Don’t consume ‘garbage
carbs’ which are those high in fat and/or have no other
nutritional value. 4) If you do follow a restricted-carb diet,
consider cycling in some moderate-carb days. 5) Talk with your
doctor before starting a low-carb diet. 6) Don’t forget to
exercise!

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