I have worked with a lot of people and one of the most important components in getting my clients the best results around is working towards a deadline. There is no better example of this than with a new bride to be. It’s amazing what happens to women as soon as they set a wedding date- they are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get in their dream dress and inspire awe in all those who attend this very important day. 




But a bride still needs an exercise blueprint in order to get the job done. We need to build muscle in all of the right places (with a particular emphasis on the shoulders and arms – these are going to be on show ladies!) and burn fat in all the right places (think hips, thighs, and belly fat). The following training guidelines have produced both body and life-changing results for our many clients around the world. Typical results are losses of 0.5-1.5kgs of unwanted body fat per week and a reduction in at least 1 clothing size per month. Remember this - the focus must be on improving overall health, body composition, and performance, NOT just on weight loss!
 


The Fit Bride Mentality:
 
TRAIN to Elevate Metabolism and Lose Fat (NOT Weight)
 
Exercise Tip#1- Get Strong to Get Lean:
 
- Strength training strengthens muscle and bone leading to increases in lean body mass that increases RMR (resting metabolic rate), the number of calories your body requires to function on a daily basis regardless of activity. In other words, strength training will ramp up your metabolism so that you will be burning more stubborn fat 24/7-365 days a year. Talk about a good return on investment!
 
- Most people who strength train perform straight sets of the same exercise with super long rest periods in excess of 2-3 minutes. Rather, cut your workout time in half or more AND accelerate fat burning by performing alternating sets of non-competing exercises with short rest periods between sets. For example, perform an upper body exercise, then a lower body exercise, and then a core exercise. This will allow for full recovery for each exercise since you are resting your upper body while performing lower body and core exercises and visa versa. Furthermore, short rest periods allow for both the completion of more total work at each training session and also create the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss. Or better yet – use exercises that work the upper, lower, AND core all in one!
 
- For best results, perform 3 total body strength workouts per week with at least 1 day of rest between workouts. See below for a Sample Total Body Circuit Strength Workout:
 
50-10 Interval Five Exercise Total Body Circuit- You will alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 s of rest for each exercise in the following five-exercise circuit. Perform this 5-minute circuit up to four times for a 20-minute total body workout. Be sure to switch between the 2 exercise options within each category for best results:

Exercise#	Exercise Name
1	Squats OR Deadlifts
2	Push-ups OR Dips
3	Lunges OR Single-Leg Hip Extensions
4	Rows OR Pull-ups/Curls
5	Front OR Side Pillars/Planks

 
Exercise Tip#2- Intervals Burn 9x More Fat Than Ordinary Cardio:
          
- With interval training, the focus is on the intensity of exercise (quality). Intervals consist of alternating between shorts bouts of all out high-intensity effort and active recovery periods for a much quicker and focused amount of time (typically 10-20 minutes of intervals works best). This approach is scientifically proven to burn nine times more fat AND lead to faster improvements in fitness than the aerobic alternative (going slow for long). And anyway, it’s really boring putting in hours on that treadmill… you’ve got better things to do with your time!
 
- The Tabata study compared the effects of four minutes of high-intensity interval training (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) with 45-60 minutes of low to moderate intensity cardio. The interval training group burned just as much fat as the endurance group and also had greater improvement in both anaerobic (think sprinters) and aerobic (think distance runners) fitness… in only four minutes!
 
- For best results, perform 3 cardio interval training workouts per week on non-strength training days. Below is a sample Cardio Interval Training Workout:
 

Exercise#	Exercise Name
1	Squats OR Deadlifts
2	Push-ups OR Dips
3	Lunges OR Single-Leg Hip Extensions
4	Rows OR Pull-ups/Curls
5	Front OR Side Pillars/Planks

20-10 Tabatas- You will alternate between 20 seconds of work and 10s of rest. You will perform this 30-second set up to 8x for 4 total minutes followed by a 1-minute rest and transition. Perform this 5-minute sequence up to 4x for 20 total minutes. You can perform this workout on your cardio machine of choice (airdyne or spin bike, running, etc.) or by alternating between body weight cardio exercises like stationary running, jumping jacks, squat thrusts, mountain climbers, etc. for the ultimate in-home workout!
 
Exercise Tip#3- Use Stubborn Fat Cardio to Accelerate Results:
 
-       Aerobic training does have its uses in conjunction with a strength training and cardio interval training base. Aerobic training is of low to moderate intensity in nature and burns a larger proportion of fat per effort than sugar. On the other hand, strength training and high-intensity interval training rapidly eats up your body’s sugar stores thus forcing your body to use fat for fuel in the recovery from exercise.
 
-       By performing some low to moderate intensity cardio following your strength and/or cardio interval training workouts you can accelerate the fat loss process. More specifically, 5 minutes following high-intensity exercise your body dumps stored triglycerides (fat) into your bloodstream, making it the perfect time to do some aerobic training to eat up that fat before it gets re-stored.
 
-       We like to call this stubborn fat cardio and we prescribe a maximum of 10-20 minutes of high-intesity cardio (where you go as fast as you can without stopping) with 5 minutes of slower cardio; following strength and cardio interval workouts. This really helps accelerate the fat burning process, specifically for those trouble spot areas like the abs, hips, and thighs!






Exercise Tip#4- Use Total Body Exercises to Build Stunning Arms:
 
-       You don’t have to be a genius to know that most brides are really focused on working their arms and shoulders since these areas of the body are often highly exposed in wedding dresses. But, doing a bunch of single-joint, isolation exercises like curls and triceps extensions is not going to get the job done. Spot reduction is a myth- no number of triceps kickbacks will ever put a dent into the “turkey-arm phenomenon” many women deal with.
 
-       Rather, you should focus on performing compound, multi-joint movements that work as many muscles in your body as possible (including your arms and shoulders) for best results. Not only do compound exercises allow you to use heavier loads which stimulate maximal lean muscle gain (think push-ups over triceps extensions), but they also burn the most calories and create the optimal hormonal environment for burning the fat covering those sexy, toned muscles!
 
-       To take it to the next level, use total body exercises exclusively in your workouts. Whole body movements that work your upper body, lower body, and core at the same time will allow you to get lean all over in addition to ensuring that you are working your upper body during every moment so that you are ARM-ed and ready for the big day. For example, instead of doing presses, do squat to presses. Be sure to check out “THE OFFICIAL DESIRE FITNESS BRIDE WORKOUT” for some sample workouts using the aforementioned total body exercises- they are killer!
 
Exercise Tip#5- Recovery is Key:
 
-       Though this may be the least sexy tip of all, I truly believe it is the most important. Recovery from exercise is where all of the beneficial changes from high-intensity training occur. Don’t forget, a tough workout actually causes small micro-tears in your muscles that stimulates growth and repair. If all you do is work hard and break your body down this can lead to overtraining issues that may results in you limping down the aisle on the big day- not good!
 
-       Do yourself a favor and invest in your own personal massage therapist in the form of a foam roller. It’s cheap and easy to use. Simply spend at least 5 minutes post-working performing 5-10 rolls on the most tender and sore areas of your body, with a specific emphasis on your hips and thighs and your upper/mid back area.
 
-       This corrective self-massage both lengthens your muscles and improves tissue quality, preventing nagging aches and pains in your joints that can leave you on injured reserve in your get sexy bride quest. Furthermore, self-massage brings blood flow and nutrients to your muscles which accelerate recovery and reduce soreness from high-intensity exercise.
 
-       If you don’t have access to a foam roller, you can also use a tennis or lacrosse ball or even a rolling pin to achieve the same effect.
 
Well, those are my top 5 workout tips to help you look your best on the biggest day of your life. When it comes to exercise, keep it simple and stay the course. And remember, it’s not about weight loss- it’s about being as visually stunning as possible via losing cms in all the right places ;)

Watch this video to discover how you can look 10 times better before you have lost any weight.

Let’s talk today about maintenance. How do you maintain your successes after you have achieved them? Do you have to keep eating strictly and exercising so much? Can you slack off a bit?

The answer is an infuriating “it depends”. It depends on how you achieved your results in the first place. If you achieved your results by using a diet like weight watchers, jenny craig, sureslim etc etc, then you are clearly going to have to find a way to eat that isn’t that diet forever. The trouble with losing weight with ‘diets’ is that you can’t do it forever. You can’t be in a calorie deficit (eating less calories than you burn) forever. The trouble with low calorie diets is that they destroy your metabolism – when you go back to eating regular amounts of food, you’re going to pack the weight back on.

If you achieved your results by doing heaps of exercise, like an hour or more a day, well that probably isn’t realistic for the long-term. Not only does it take up your time, but extended periods of intense exercise causes your body to be stressed, increases inflammation and weakens your immune system.

I totally agree that you can’t keep up the above regimes for life. That would make for a pretty miserable life. What I do think is that you can follow a realistic eating philosophy and workout the right way 3 times per week for 30mins each time. That is a great way to both achieve AND maintain results. If you think that you have to eat bread, pasta, rice, sugar, chocolate, wine etc every day, well you can’t eat that stuff and expect to either achieve or maintain your results. Sure you can eat that stuff every so often, but not every day. If you can base your daily food around quality fats, proteins and less than 150gms (that’s plenty) of carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts etc then you’ve got an eating philosophy that will let you effortlessly lose and maintain fat for good. It tastes great, you can eat yummy food, you’re not hungry and you feel great - you wouldn’t want to stop doing that would you?

Let’s talk about the exercise bit. If you can’t find 30mins three times per week to workout using resistance training mixed with cardio, plus a few hours to just hang out in nature and walk lots, well you may as well just choose to stay fat. 1.5 hours a week of structured exercise is nothing compared to the benefits it gives you. Exercise has to be a part of your life, not just something you do to achieve a goal. Walking in nature helps your movement patterns to stay balanced and helps you to de-stress – boosting your immune system and reducing stress in your body – win-win!

Achieving results requires lots of hard work and commitment and you may as well just do that once and do it right! Performing 1.5 hours of structured exercise per week, plus following a healthy eating philosophy is an achievable and maintainable thing. You can keep your fabulous new body for life – maybe even keep improving it past your initial goals.
Make the commitment to good health for the rest of your life – not just until you lose 10kg, 20kg, 5kg or fit into your wedding dress. It’s surprisingly easy to keep your results. Many people struggle to motivate themselves to exercise even after they have got into a habit of it. If that’s you (and I think its like 90% of the population!) you might need to maintain a personal trainer at some level for the long-term. If you’re training with me that could cost as little as $20 per week for 2 group training sessions. That’s the surest way to make sure you never lose your results or slip backwards!

Want to get started with personal or goup training right now? Click here to book a free consultation today

I’ve recently heard about a new concept (at least it’s new to me!) called Nutritional Cleansing. Now I am a BIG SCEPTIC when it comes to new stuff in the fitness industry. There are so many trashy fads and scams out there just wanting to take your money and sell you a dead-end promise. When I heard about nutritional cleansing I rolled my eyes and figured it was just another one of these scams to trick people into spending money and then leaving them to fail again. I decided to look into it so if my clients came asking me about it I would know what it was.

Nutritional cleansing is basically achieved by using super-nutritious food made up from nutrient rich plants and substances from all over the world. It’s the cutting edge of food technology I suppose you could say. The idea is that the body is laden with lots of toxins, and these toxins are stored mainly in the fat cells. I know that this is true – toxins are stored in our fat cells in order to keep them out of our circulation, so they can’t do as much damage to us. What I didn’t realise at the time I was looking into this is just how toxic we actually are. While I was listening to some of the information available to me about this nutritional cleansing, I heard that the breast milk and cord blood of the Inuit people (these are people who live far away from cities and modern life, who still hunt and gather their food) was so far off the chart for toxic contamination, especially of mercury and PCBs that is could be classified as industrial waste! That scared the living daylights out of me. I investigated that claim (coz I never just believe anything I hear or read in just one place) and it’s true. Toxins are a very real part of everyone’s daily life, and we consume and absorb far more of them than we care to think about.

What nutritional cleansing achieves is helping the body to remove these toxins, as well as providing it with super-nutrition so it can repair damaged cells and DNA, boosting circulation, immune system function, thyroid function and liver function. When the body receives all of this nutrition is can release the toxins, remove the toxins, and this allows it to release excess body fat. Releasing excess body fat was really interesting to me, because I know that some of my clients have had lots of trouble releasing excess body fat even when they are exercising and eating the way I recommend. It is also really hard to lose fat when you get down to the last 5kgs or so. It makes a lot of sense to me that the body is reluctant to release fat if it is using that fat to buffer a large toxic load.

The food technology and science behind these products also helps to repair and boost metabolism. Many people’s metabolisms are essentially broken – through yo-yo dieting, improper eating, poor nutrition, being overweight, lack of exercise and ever too much exercise. After having a look at all of this information I decided to try some of the products that facilitate this nutritional cleansing process. WOW!

I did not know how bad I actually felt until I felt how good I could feel! I started sleeping really well and actually waking up refreshed in the morning – with less total hours of sleep. I didn’t really have any excess body fat to lose but I reduced bloating quite a bit and my muscles became more defined. Cellulite reduced. My energy levels were out of this world, and I live a pretty stressful life most of the time! I could cope with all the exercise I do as part of my job, and even started doing my own training again! I maintained my muscle mass and didn’t put on any fat, which I would usually do with all that chronic cardio and stress in my daily life.

I’m sold on this concept. I do not go a day without using the products and they have actually saved me money at the supermarket because they are food, not just supplements. I was very sceptical, but I’ve had to eat my words because there will never be a day of my life from now on that I do not use the products. I can’t go back to feeling the way I used to feel now I have experienced feeling so fantastic. That might sounds cheesy and unrealistic but the effect they had on my life was that dramatic, and I thought I was a very healthy person with a really healthy diet before I started.
So no, I don’t think nutritional cleansing is a scam. I think you’d be crazy not to investigate it further, because I don’t think there is a single person in the world who doesn’t want to lose fat and feel better than they ever have in their entire life.
Want to see more? Visit this link to see a video that explain the whole nutritional cleansing concept: www.desirefitness.isagenix.com

This is the August 2010 Newsletter, enjoy!

Hi guys and welcome to a very cheery, Spring-is-in-the-air August (yes, the random rain is all a part of it!). I thought this month would be a good opportunity to talk about something that is an issue for pretty much all of us, and that is excess body fat. Even if you are one of the minority of people who have ‘skinny’ genes, you might still have excess body fat. This is the kind of fat you might have heard of as ‘skinny fat’. If you are one of the majority who doesn’t look quite so skinny you just plain out have too much of it!

We all know this, we all struggle with this. But WHY is it such a struggle?
I am here to tell you this month that having excess body fat is NOT your fault. BUT it IS your responsibility. There are so many factors in our lives that conspire to keep the kgs piling up on our tummies and thighs; it just is not your fault. But just because something is not your fault doesn’t mean you don’t need to take responsibility for it, after all, it is your body and you have to live in it!

So WHY do we have this excess body fat?
First of all there’s what and how we eat. This is a huge topic and we will talk more about it in future articles and e-mails, but the basics are:

• We have an unlimited supply of low-nutrition food, made up of cheap, bad quality, high carbohydrate ingredients.
• Our consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods has skyrocketed in the past 30 years, and we are now suffering badly for it.
• We have become carbohydrate-addicts, yip, quite literally our bodies are addicted to carbohydrates.
• We have been encouraged to have a negative relationship with our food based on guilt, not a positive one based on all the great things that food does for us.
• We have been given conflicting, confusing and down-right WRONG information about the sort of food we should eat and how we should eat it.

Second - we have all been made to feel terrible about ourselves when we try and fail to lose weight. I’m sure you have heard “it’s calories in, calories out” “you just have to eat less and do more” “you just need more willpower” “It’s not hard to lose weight, it’s simple”.

THAT IS TOTAL ABSOLUTE RUBBISH!
I am not going to lie to you, losing excess body fat can be a tough job and it requires commitment, time and dedication. But if you have a programme to do it right and banish the excess kgs forever, it will be a hell of a lot easier and actually quite enjoyable. It definitely is not as simple as calories-in-calories-out. So many trainers, dieticians, doctors, your mum, your teacher… will tell you that and make you feel bad for not managing to achieve this ‘simple’ thing. It’s not about calories at all! Don’t count calories! We have been told so much wrong information is can be easier just to shut off and live with the body that you have at the moment.

Third - lots of us have jobs that require us to spend a large amount of time during the day sitting. This is bad for our bodies as well as bad for our waistlines. Sometimes these inside, desk-bound jobs leave us so tired out and stressed we don’t feel like we have the time to exercise. Unfortunately this is a bit of a catch-22 situation, taking the time and effort to exercise and eat better will make you feel 100s of times better than you do right now, but you need to find the energy to take the first step!

I want you to ask yourself this: ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE WAY YOUR BODY LOOKS RIGHT NOW?

If the answer is no, then you are cheating yourself out of what you really deserve if you give up on your goal of losing the excess fat. You CAN get the body you deserve, and that you were born to have. You CAN achieve fat-loss that will get you the body that you want and keep that body for you for the rest of your life.

I want all of us reading this email to make a commitment to ourselves and to our families to make a stand and claim our bodies back from the excess fat and the lifestyle that got us to this point. Fat is NOT your fault, but it IS your responsibility.

Tips for staying active in winter

Winter. It’s cold. It’s often wet. We all know we would rather just curl up on the sofa, put another log on the fire, and watch tv. Unfortunately that is generally a recipe for the kilos to creep on around your middle. This is great for me, a fitness trainer, because I know I’ll get a late-spring rush of clients desperate to shed the kilos before they have to get into their togs, but it’s not so great for you guys! So this newsletter is all about how to stay active in the colder months and AVOID the winter weight gain.

Find a buddy – your kids, your friends, you dog – anyone who can provide you with some social support to get out of the house and get active.

Get outside – We have great sunny winter days in Nelson, make the most of them. Walking on the beach or up the Maitai River are beautiful and garenteed to make you feel better. Sunshine is super healthy, you need it to help keep your vitamin D levels up. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for your immune system so get out there!

Find a class – Find an exercise class that you enjoy and make the commitment to keep going. Winter is a tough time to get out in the evenings to exercise. This is where your buddy can help – find a friend who will go with you so any decision not to go won’t just affect you. A bit of guilt can work wonders for your waistline! Zumba fitness is the perfect class for winter, you will get warm and always have a blast.

Get a trainer – This could potentially be the absolute best way to keep you on track this winter. Having a personal trainer will instantly give you the accountability that we can’t really give ourselves. Heck I’m a trainer and I need a trainer to keep me accountable! Even better is training with a friend or in a group, you get a double dose of accountability!
Have a great winter guys!

How to Choose a Trainer

This is a challenging task for people who are looking to get the best results from their health and fitness investments. Unfortunately the industry has created a situation where trainers are underpaid and thus under qualified and lacking experience, especially in gyms. When you consider that these are the people into whose hands you are placing your fitness and your body, you should expect that they have a high level of competency!

The truth of the matter is that most trainers working in gyms do not even have a minimum of a one-year full time qualification. Some trainers on the other hand are exceptionally skilled and qualified, but these people are more likely found working in higher-end facilities or working for themselves in studios and boutique gyms. This is because the gym industry in particular does not value well-trained, highly experienced staff because they cost too much to employ!

A good start is to ONLY use a trainer who is registered with REPs (Register of Exercise Professionals). If you are looking for a personal trainer, then they should be registered at a personal training level. By being registered, your trainer has to meet minimum standards and undertake ongoing education. While this can give you some peace-of-mind, the minimum standards are just that – VERY MINIMAL!

Ask your trainer what qualifications they have, and what experience they have. Qualifications are no substitute for experience. On the other hand often experience is no substitute for qualifications, but trainers without any formal qualifications but who have lots of experience can be very good and knowledgeable.I would suggest that you find someone who has both a good qualification and a good level of experience - at least two years of training people for general weight-loss and fitness.

Once you have established that your trainer knows what they are doing, you need to make sure of the following:

Ask your trainer to explain their major training philosophies and why they train that way. If you don’t understand it, and they can’t explain it to you so you can, don’t train with them. Having a personal trainer should be much more than just writing you a ‘train by numbers’ programme and making you do it. You should understand your training and how it is going to help you to reach your goals.

If you don’t ‘click’ with your trainer or they make you feel unsafe, unsure or uncomfortable – find a new trainer! It is better for both you and the trainer that you are happy with each other.

The sort of training they do is the sort of training you WANT to do.

Don’t go see a weight-training specialist if you want to learn how to run marathons! Be clear about your fitness goals so your trainer can refer you to someone more suited if they don’t feel they can train you for what you want to do.

This ties in with what has been said above, your trainer should inspire you to reach your goals without making you feel in anyway unsafe. You should always feel like you can trust your trainer to give you honest feedback and advice.

It is important that your sessions and your training plan is all about you – you’re paying for it!

• ·         Qualified
• ·         Experienced (in what YOU want to train for)
• ·         REPs Registered
• ·         Training makes sense
• ·         Training is what you want to do
• ·         You like them
• ·         You trust them

Congratulations, you have decided to take a positive step towards your health and fitness goals! Now that you have decided to go to a Zumba class, what should you expect?

You should expect to have fun, first and foremost. At your first class you might feel a bit lost, and you probably won’t get as much of a workout as you will in your second or third classes. This is because you will spend a fair bit of time concentrating on what is happening in the class.

You will be surprised at how fast you will pick up the moves though. Zumba fitness uses similar moves throughout all of the songs, so once you have learned them you will find it much easier to pick up the new songs that your instructor adds to keep things interesting!

The instructor may face the class or she might face away from the class towards a mirrored wall. Both options have advantages and disadvantages, find out which format you prefer and go to those classes.
Make sure you take a water bottle and an exercise towel if the weather is warm. You will sweat! If it is cold, make sure you have warm clothes for after class. Wear clothes that are comfortable, stretchy, and won’t catch around your feet.

Jazz/hip hop shoes, or shoes without much grip on the bottom are best. Trainers and gym shoes tend to have too much grip at the bottom, and they hold the foot too rigidly which prevents you from moving fluidly.

Most of all, have fun, give it all a go, and come back again! You won’t get a really good idea about Zumba classes until you have been a few times. This lets you learn the moves and start to feel more comfortable with everything so you can start to get a really good workout and enjoy it all the more!
Check out our timetable of classes here.

Low Carbohydrate Nutrition – the World is Not Flat

Introduction
Once upon a time everyone knew that the world was flat. After we discovered that this was incorrect, everyone still knew that the sun and other planets orbited the earth. Well, er, no, actually, we were wrong.

Science is fantastic, but we always gain new information. Perhaps it is now time to question whether our fast-held beliefs in ‘correct’ nutrition are actually correct. There is growing acceptance in the wider public that low-carbohydrate diets promote weight-loss. This phenomenon is dismissed by many in the academic area as being pop-cultural nonsense... “it’s all about energy in versus energy out”, they cry. But can low-carbohydrate diets be dismissed so lightly?

That ‘a calorie is a calorie’ was once thought of as a universal truth. Several researchers (Volek, et al., 2004; Manninen, 2006) challenge this assumption and now present compelling research to the contrary. It may now be time to accept that ‘a calorie is not just a calorie.’

This controversy is the subject of this essay. It will examine some of the growing literature researching low-carbohydrate diets and their effects on the human body. It will address the science behind low-carbohydrate diets and why they appear to actually work so well. It will examine the message being given to the public and question the validity of this.

Ultimately the objective of this essay is to present the scientific other side of the story about low carbohydrate nutrition choices.

Definitions

This essay will define diets that are between 50g-150g/day of carbohydrate as ‘low carbohydrate diets’ (LCD). Diets that include carbohydrate above 50g/day do not usually cause measureable ketone bodies to be present in urine (Westman, et al., 2007). This essay will define diets that are below 50g/day of carbohydrate as ‘low carbohydrate ketogenic diets’ (LCKD). These definitions are taken from the review article by Westman et al (2007).

Literature Review

In the current (September 2009) issue of North and South magazine, there is an article about fat people (Wayne, 2009). This article, while not from any scientific journal, interviews scientists undertaking cutting-edge research about gene expression and the role this plays on adiposity. This article is not specifically about low carbohydrate diets, but it does present to a very receptive public the view that optimal nutrition and nutritional choices are not as cut and dried as they have been led to believe.

There is a large body of research pertaining to low carbohydrate diets and nutrition.
Westman et al (2007) prepared a review article examining research on LCD and LCKD from 2002 through to 2006. They found that LCDs improve glycemic control and insulin resistance in both healthy people and people with type 2 diabetes. When no set calorie intake is specified, a reduction in carbohydrate results in a voluntary and spontaneous reduction in total calories consumed. In controlled trials for weight loss they found that LCD diets achieves weight loss, and improves the blood lipid profile of participants. They question if dietary carbohydrate is actually an essential nutrient, and if dietary fat actually causes heart disease. Similar finding are reported from Volek et al (2004), in the discussion portion of their research paper.

Mozaffarian et al (2004) researched the effect of dietary fat, carbohydrate and the progression of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women. They only investigated postmenopausal women (235 subjects) with established coronary heart disease, so their findings cannot be applied to other populations. However they found some surprising results. They found that dietary intake of saturated fat actually slowed the progression of atherosclerosis. They also found that when carbohydrate intake increased (with a corresponding decrease in saturated and monounsaturated fat) the rate of progression of atherosclerosis increased. This study found that when total fat, especially monounsaturated and saturated fats, were lowered in the diet (usually replaced with more carbohydrates), risk factors for CHD increased in these women.
Volek et al (2004) compared the effects of LCKD and low fat (LF) diets for weight loss. The LCKD had a percentage ratio of carbs:fat:protein of 9:63:28, and the LF diet 58:22:20. This makes it a very low carbohydrate diet compared with some other studies (Westman, et al., 2007). They found that reductions in body mass, fat mass and trunk fat mass in the LCKD group was significantly greater than in the LF diet for the male subjects, and slightly greater for female subjects.

Questions have been raised about the ability of LCKDs to preserve lean muscle mass during dieting. Manninen (2006) provides a commentary on this issue. In the studies he reviewed, he found that contrary to the idea that muscle mass is lost during LCKDs, muscle mass is in fact preserved. Greater weight is lost through fat, and in some cases lean muscle mass was gained.

Another interesting study by Jonsson et al (2009) compared the effects of a ‘paleolithic’ (paleo) diet and a diabetic diet. The paleo diet is based on meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, eggs and nuts. It excludes grains, legumes, salt, sugar, refined fats and dairy. The diabetic diet was designed in line with current dietary guidelines for diabetics. The average daily intake of carbohydrate from the paleo diet was 125g compared with 196g in the diabetic diet. The intake of food was not restricted in either diet; however those following the paleo diet consumed less calories. The findings of this study were that the paleo diet caused blood lipid profiles to improve, diastolic BP decreased and weight and waist circumference decreased compared to the diabetes diet. Glucose and insulin levels declined during the paleo diet. While this study is not strictly a comparison of low carbohydrate diets, it does illustrate that more favourable outcomes can be achieved when using ‘non-conventional’ nutrition ideas than when using conventional guidelines.
These studies demonstrate that there is strong evidence that low-carbohydrate diets can provide benefits to many people in our societies. Those who may specifically benefit from their use are diabetics, those with CHD risk-factors, those with insulin resistance and the obese and overweight (Westman, et al., 2007). While LCKD are not appropriate for long-term use, they appear to work extremely well for rapid weight-loss (especially fat loss) and improvement of blood lipid profiles (Westman, et al., 2007; Volek, et al., 2004; Manninen, 2006).

Further research is required around the issue of more life-style based LCDs, such as the paleo diet investigated by Jonsson et al (2009). This research is most interesting in that it compared a grain-free diet to a conventional diabetic diet. It would be interesting to see if the more sustainable intake of 125g/day of carbohydrate in combination with a grain-free diet works in the long-term to prevent lifestyle related disease.
It is clear that low-carbohydrate diets should not be dismissed out of hand by those working with people to improve their lifestyles through nutrition.

Why Low Carbohydrate Diets Work

This section will examine the likely mechanisms through which LCDs work in the body.
The exact science of how LCDs and LCKDs work is still somewhat controversial in the literature.

There appears to be an effect of spontaneous reduction of energy intake when people switch to LCDs. This effect is most notable in LCKD. It has been shown that an increase in ketone levels inhibits appetite (Volek, et al., 2004). Protein is also usually increased in LCKDs, and protein is known to reduce appetite when consumed in meals (Westman, et al., 2007). The presence of ketone bodies also appears to assist in preventing the breakdown of muscle tissue (Manninen, 2006).

The preservation of muscle mass seen in the studies (Westman, et al., 2007; Manninen, 2006) also suggests that LCDs are superior to low-fat diets in maintaining lean body tissue. The mechanisms for this are suggested to be the presence of ketone bodies (as mentioned above), increased growth hormone production and increased dietary protein intake. Growth hormone production increases when low blood sugar levels are present (Manninen, 2006) although studies have not confirmed that growth hormone levels always rise when LCDs are used (Manninen, 2006). The availability of increased amounts of dietary protein as almost always found in LCDs may increase the synthesis of protein by the increase of systemic amino acid availability.

Protein intakes on LCDs and especially in LCKDs tend to be higher than in conventional diets. It has been previously thought that only minimum dietary protein is needed in order to fulfil protein requirements, and any excess is simply wasteful (Layman, 2009). Protein has been considered an expensive and wasteful nutrient source. However this perception are based on animal feeding protocols, whereby all nutrients are calculated on a cost/benefits analysis, wanting maximum growth for minimum price, regardless of the long-term benefits of greater quantities of protein (Layman, 2009). Current dietary guidelines are based on minimums, not on optimal protein levels. New studies are being undertaken that look at dietary protein and the role it plays in amino acid metabolism, thermogensis and gylcemic control, rather than just looking at nitrogen balance (Layman, 2009).

LCDs tend to also be low GI, thus acting to prevent inconsistencies in blood glucose. This effect can prevent hypoglycaemia from occurring, assisting with appetite regulation (Volek, et al., 2004).

LCDs have a greater percentage of their calories coming from protein and fat (Westman, et al., 2007). The advantages of LCDs over low-fat diets may come from the greater thermogenic effect of protein, the ability to excrete some excess energy as ketones via sweat, urine and defecation, and the demand of protein turnover for gluconeogenesis.

Studies are required that look at LCDs and LCKDs from carefully controlled feeding and metabolic studies, with large numbers of subjects, encompassing comprehensive physiological measurements to identify the mechanisms behind the effects that LCDs have on the body (Volek, et al., 2004).

Awareness and Campaigns

There is much public awareness of lifestyle diseases, and some rather confused public awareness about LCDs. However the public awareness of LCDs mostly comes from magazines written by journalists who are not scientists. The public appears to be receptive to LCDs, most likely because they actually work, and work better than traditional low fat diets.

There are many official organisations that promote health to the public, such as the National Heart Foundation and Diabetes New Zealand. However these organisations do not generally promote LCDs as good options, and are firmly on the ‘fat is bad, saturated fat causes heart disease etc etc’ bandwagon (National Heart Foundation, 2009; Diabetes NZ, 2008). The assumptions around carbohydrates, fats and protein must be addressed, because nutritional science does not have a conclusive answer to the questions now being raised about the role of carbohydrates, fat and protein in the diet. These organisations lead the public to believe that nutritional science is set in stone and that they must eat according to the official recommendations or else face crippling lifestyle diseases.

While these organisations are surely operating on good faith, they are unfortunately operating on simplistic and outdated science, as demonstrated above in this essay.

Conclusion

It can be safely said that LCDs and LCKDs work very well in the capacity of improving blood lipid profiles, increasing insulin sensitivity and weight-loss whilst preserving lean muscle mass (Manninen, 2006; Jonsson, et al., 2009; Westman, et al., 2007; Volek, et al., 2004). LCKDs are not viable as lifestyle diets due to the very low carbohydrate requirement, which excludes almost all fruit and vegetables. As a short-term treatment for the above mentioned conditions they seem to have a place and could very well be recommended.

LCDs in the ranges of 100-150g/day of carbohydrate seem viable as long-term lifestyle options; however research on their long-term viability is lacking (Jonsson, et al., 2009).
There is much more to optimal nutrition than most people have been led to believe. Science is not conclusive on several important matters, especially on the role of carbohydrate and its contribution to current lifestyle disease (Westman, et al., 2007). It is time for the academic world to accept that science is a process that does not have an end. New information is constantly being discovered that challenges commonly-held belief systems.

Just as we now know that the world is not flat, we are now beginning to understand that we have only just begun to scrape the surface of nutritional science. Perhaps it is now time to examine our love-affair with carbohydrates in light of our rapidly declining health, and question if eating they way we are told is really good for us.


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© Samantha Gentry, 2009, all rights reserved, article cannot be distributed or used without written permission.