Nutrition

The pulse feast

By Christian Thibaudeau | 01/13/11

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/pulse-feast

The author of this article has stumbled upon the holy grail of body transformation: a nutritional strategy that allows him to build muscle and maintain defined, visible abs - all without having to worry about food.

But this is not what you might think. Like the story with the blind man who found himself in a room with an elephant, we've discovered parts of this strategy before. But now someone has put those pieces together into a simple plan that works shockingly well.

Oh yes, you can feast in the evening. Bonus!

This nutrition strategy is the next big thing in muscle building nutrition science.

The Pulse Feast

The problem: if I have food there, I eat it!

As a former fat kid, dieting has fascinated me my whole life. I've always had a love-hate relationship with food and I'm always looking for ways to get lean and stay happy at the same time. And the latter is really important.

When I was training for bodybuilding purposes, I used a low-carb approach with six meals a day and got really super lean with it. But I had two problems with eating this way. Even though it made me lean, I felt bad all the time. I wanted to kill everyone and I had no social life. I was robbed of all the pleasures of life.

The second problem was that after a bodybuilding competition, I put on weight in leaps and bounds. Even though I knew better, I was a yo-yo dieter.

The problem I had with a traditional bodybuilding diet - six to eight small meals a day - is that my psychological profile gives me a tendency to binge. I can force myself not to eat for two or three days, no problem. As long as I don't start eating, I have no psychological desire to eat.

However, once food enters my mouth - whether this is based on a neurological response or a hormonal response (because I'm producing too much insulin) - I simply can't stop eating. If food is available, I will definitely eat it.

Eating six small meals a day was like being irritated by an attractive woman six times a day and not being able to touch her. I was constantly suffering. This made me angry at food and angry at life.

It got so bad that to avoid going off track, I had virtually no food at home. I actually went shopping six times a day to buy the ingredients for each meal separately! What else could I have done? If I had six meals at home at the same time, I would have eaten all that food at once.

As you can see, it was impossible for me to eat six small meals a day and stay sane. I was losing body fat, but I felt miserable. So I started looking for ways to stay lean while enjoying life.

Let's face it, it's one thing to get super lean for one week a year and it's another thing to stay reasonably lean all year round. Personally, I'd rather have an 8% body fat percentage all year round and be happy than feel bad about getting to a 4% body fat percentage for a month and then gaining up to 14% body fat for the rest of the year. I had to find a solution!

My experiments

Experiment 1 - Defined but losing muscle mass

The first strategy I found appealing was Ori Hofmekler's Warrior Diet. The basic idea of this diet strategy is to fast (eat no food) throughout the day and then eat a lot in the evening.

I found this strategy appealing as it seemed to be the ultimate solution: I could eat whatever I wanted and still stay slim. This diet suited my psychological profile. I didn't have to eat for 18 hours, which made this diet strategy quite easy for me.

I started this diet straight after a bodybuilding competition. I wanted to stay in competition shape and still eat everything I wanted. I stayed very lean, had a lot of energy, but I lost some muscle mass.

The plan suited my needs the whole time, but I knew that slowly progressing muscle loss was not what I wanted in the long term.

Experiment 2 - Lean while maintaining muscle mass

I tried several different strategies to improve on the basic "fast and then eat" idea. I took BCAAs throughout the day to prevent a catabolic state. I still wasn't building muscle mass, but adding the BCAAs seemed to prevent muscle loss and also kept my strength up.

This new strategy was better than the original plan. It worked, but it had its limitations. Maintaining muscle was great, but it still wasn't enough for me. I wanted to build muscle.

Experiment 3 - Defined with muscle gains!

Not long after, I read about protein hydrolysate with a high degree of hydrolysis and a high proportion of di- and tripeptides. All I had to do was use protein hydrolysate pulses throughout the day

Once I had obtained one of these protein hydrolysates, I started to use pulses of protein during the day and then feast on them in the evening. In addition to this, I combined the pulse protein boosts with a good dose of creatine each time.

This was the first time I was able to eat what I wanted, stay lean and actually build strength and muscle mass.

Over the last year I have used different protein pulse strategies throughout the day and only eat one big meal at the end of the day. Now I eat like this almost every day and the results are better than I ever expected - and I feel great doing it!

The perfect metabolic efficiency

The Pulse Binge strategy - two large pulse-like protein bursts during the day and one large meal in the evening - combined with a stimulation of anabolic physiology, makes you metabolically efficient. And with continued use, you'll be able to build muscle and strength, stay lean, stay mentally healthy and stop obsessing about food.

Most people don't want to step onto a bodybuilding stage. But almost everyone wants to look lean and not feel bad about getting and staying lean. They also want to have the energy and mental focus to exercise or participate in any athletic activity they want to participate in. And with this plan, you can have all of that - without your entire schedule having to revolve around your diet.

No more packing Tupperware containers to take with you everywhere and no more freaking out when you can't eat solid food every three hours.

Have a few pulse-like protein hydrolysate spurts during the day and eat practically anything you want at night. It's easy, it's stress-free and it's the most effective strategy I've ever used for building muscle and getting lean.

Let's analyze the strategy.

Phase 1 - pulse-like protein boosts in the morning and afternoon

From the time you get up in the morning until about 7:00 pm, you will consume two large pulse-like protein boosts, which equates to one boost in the morning and one boost four or five hours later.

Each protein boost consists of 30 grams of protein hydrolysate. You consume these two protein boosts in addition to your nutritional protocol around your training. So on training days you get a third boost of anabolic nutrients through your training nutrition.

I have paid a lot of attention to this dosing protocol. I've scoured all the available scientific literature, discussed the protocol with different scientists and experimented with all the variables.

In summary, the science matches my personal experience -that in addition to nutrition around training, two large pulse-like protein bursts separated by four or five hours work best. Here's the explanation for this:

The goal is to flood the bloodstream with massive amounts of dipeptides, tripeptides and amino acids, move these nutrients out of the blood and into muscle cells and other target tissues, and then return the bloodstream's amino acid concentration to baseline at least an hour before the next protein pulse.

To keep the body maximally responsive to the effects of the pulse-like protein surges, you must have periods during which the bloodstream "pauses" at its amino acid baseline. And with the two large pulsed protein bursts, the two-serving dosing protocol provides just enough time for all of this to work.

In other words, a two-pulse protein delivery requires more time for the bloodstream amino acid concentration to fall back to baseline and you have just enough time to use two pulse protein boosts and still use another large protein pulse during a training session.

In my experience, this dosing protocol produces maximum anabolic benefits while keeping the body highly susceptible to the effects.

Here's what I do:

I usually train at 5:00 pm, which is why I take a protein boost shortly after I get up in the morning and another protein boost in the early afternoon. At 5pm when I train, I use another boost of protein hydrolysate combined with some functional carbs for my nutrition protocol around training.

Phase 2 - Feasting!

After 19:00, the feasting begins. However, there are a few rules to follow depending on your goals:

Goal - Get or stay slim

If your main goal is a single-digit body fat percentage, then your evening feast will consist of one meal. Even though you can basically eat anything you want, your feasting needs to be a little more structured for ultimate slimness.

Start feasting with a focus on animal foods and vegetables. In other words, start with protein (meat, fish, eggs, etc.) and then add some vegetables. And if you still want to eat after this, then you can eat fruit.

Rule of thumb: the fatter you are, the more restrictive you need to be in your food choices. Feast, but watch the carbohydrates.

Goal - Maintain the current state

I don't like the term "maintenance". Even though I'm not specifically trying to get super lean or build large amounts of muscle mass quickly, I'm always striving to improve.

Let's call this "maintenance" for simplicity's sake. This is where you will find yourself during most of the year. I use this strategy myself for about 80% of the year.

During "maintenance" you basically eat what you want during a predetermined phase of the fast. I prefer 7:00pm to 11:00pm. Again, start with protein and vegetables and only then eat pasta, cereal or even dessert if you want to.

Goal - muscle mass

If your main goal is to build lean muscle mass, increase your carbohydrate intake and overall food intake during your evening hours of feasting. You still need to start your feast with protein, but after this you have more leeway than those whose goal is to get very lean.

The psychology of nutrient partitioning

I believe that the psychological state you are in when you eat affects nutrient partitioning. If you are stressed or have a negative opinion about your food, then you may be storing more nutrients as fat.

Pulse feasting is a stress-free way to eat. You don't have to feel guilty when you feast because feasting is part of the plan and is even necessary.

This could be related to the "stingy gene" hypothesis. The body is designed to function in cycles of high activity and low food intake, followed by low activity and high food intake. In other words, it is fasting and feasting.

If you are in a high activity mode, then you are not in a state to properly absorb nutrients and store them as usable energy - you are not as efficient. If you are stressed - psychologically or physically - then you will not be as efficient in your eating.

With this plan, you will enjoy your meal because you know your body is prepared to use the nutrients. You've fasted for 18 hours in combination with anabolic protein boosts, which is why you won't get fat. The lack of stress and worry will contribute to the positive effect of this strategy. You can enjoy your meal without stress and guilt and achieve better results in terms of developing your body composition.

The Pulse Feasting Introductory Phase

If you've been reading bodybuilding and fitness magazines for the last 20 years, you've been trained to eat every three hours. But this is a psychological need, not a physical one. What I have found for myself is that this is a bad habit and is not necessary for muscle growth or high performance training.

To help you break this habit, you could use a traditional pulse fast before you start pulse feasting. Pulse fasting consists of a short fast for 36 hours during which you consume mainly pulse-like spurts of protein hydrolysate plus some nutrition around your workout.

Pulse Fasting will prepare your body for the powerful metabolic rebound effect and muscle gains instead of fat storage. In addition, this introductory phase will show you that you don't have to eat all day long to grow. And you don't have to panic about getting into a catabolic state if you don't eat a mouthful of chicken and rice every minute of the day.

I would recommend you get a few non-consecutive days of pulse fasting under your belt before you start the pulse feasting strategy.

Pulse Feasting Summary

In summary, here is what pulse feasting does:

Pulse Feasting...

• Stimulates anabolic physiology for maximum gains in lean muscle mass while preventing fat gain.
• Drives nutrients into the muscles and stops fat storage.
• Improves the function of the digestive system, making it more efficient at breaking down food and utilizing the nutrients it contains.
• Removes stress and guilt from eating.
• Gives you more time in the morning and afternoon - no more packing food for everywhere you go and no panic if you can't eat every two or three hours.
• Makes eating enjoyable again and does so at the time of day when you have more freedom to relax, prepare good food and enjoy it with your family and friends.
• Trains your body to become more metabolically efficient when you eat "normally", like during a vacation, so you don't get fat.

Pulse Feast sample plan

Instructions for pulse protein intake

Each pulse-style protein boost consists of 30 grams of protein hydrolysate with a high degree of hydrolysis and a high proportion of di- and tripeptides. You can prepare both portions the evening before or in the morning so that you can drink them at the specified times. The finished mixture is best kept in the refrigerator.

It's simple and highly effective

Use a pulse-style protein intake with a high-quality protein hydrolyzate during the day and eat what you want in the evening.

Less stress, less body fat, more muscle?

What more could you want?

Related blog posts:

>> The 5/2 fat loss diet for strength athletes

>> An improved Paleo diet

>> Protein won't make you fat

Here's what you need to know...

1. To follow the 5/2 diet, eat normally 5 days a week, while limiting your food intake to two 400 kcal meals on the other two days.
2. Do not exercise on the low calorie days.
3. Even if fat loss is not your main goal, this diet can improve insulin sensitivity and help you build muscle.

A diet without disadvantages

Fat loss diets are usually quite annoying - especially if you are training with the primary or at least secondary goal of looking really muscular and defined.

The diets are generally too strict, limit muscle gain too much, promote muscle loss, drive you crazy and make you want to hit the rest of the world over the head with a waffle iron. And these diets will not make you muscular and defined.

But the diet described here is not torture and will get you where you want to go in terms of body development.

While the origins of the diet I'm recommending are based on hard science and legitimate research studies, it was popularized in the fat loss world by magazines like Cosmo, Glamour and People. I've picked up on this approach and adapted it to fit the needs of strength athletes, bodybuilders and athletes.

The fat loss plan I modified is known as either "The Fast Diet" or the 5/2 Diet and two entrepreneurial authors named Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer have written a book about it.

The diet is based on intermittent fasting, which is characterized by not eating for a period of time, but not continuously over an excruciatingly long period of time. Instead, you go without food for shorter, more tolerable (but still surprisingly effective) periods of time.

The short version

Eat what you normally eat 5 days a week. However, on 2 consecutive days, eat only 2 meals 12 hours apart, consuming only 800 kcal per day on those 2 days.

That is all. This type of diet will allow you to lose about a pound of fat per week while continuing to build muscle and strength. I believe this strategy will also set you up for unprecedented muscle gains as it will restore your insulin sensitivity.

Oh yeah, it will probably also dramatically improve your blood counts, protect your heart, ward off cancer and make you live longer, if you care about those things.

How can we make these claims?

Fasting in general is the oldest of all diet plans and probably dates back to the time when Antony told Cleopatra that she looked fat in her tunic. This makes sense, at least at first glance: when you drastically reduce calories, your body burns the fat to stay alive.

But fasting is problematic for a whole host of reasons. It's psychologically brutal and it can't be done in the long term. It can make you feel bad, it will give you bad breath, it will make your mere presence unpleasant for any sane person and - most significantly for strength athletes and athletes in general - it will preferentially break down muscle mass.

However, fasting also has its benefits. You will certainly lose some body fat. You may even feel clearer and more focused up to a point. And, most importantly, it improves insulin sensitivity.

If you eat all the time - or nearly all the time - then your insulin levels will always be elevated and as a result your body will always be in fat storage mode. Since your blood is a sugar-like substance, chemically more akin to Mountain Dew than healthy blood, your pancreas will be forced to secrete ever-increasing amounts of insulin.

As a result, fat storage will occur, but something worse will happen - the cells will stop responding to insulin and you will become a type 2 diabetic. Further fat storage will follow and you will have to keep your pants on.

I assume that many strength athletes are on the cusp of the type 2 diabetes cliff.

They eat continuously to ensure a steady and stable nutrient intake because they've been told by fat guys everywhere to eat this way (for muscle gains), which means their insulin levels will always be high and their insulin sensitivity will eventually plummet.

It's a bad practice that leads to poor body composition and poor overall health.

Fortunately, after just a few hours of fasting, insulin sensitivity begins to improve and your body switches from a fat-storing mode to a fat-burning mode, which is also the explanation for the effectiveness of intermittent fasting as a fat loss/health strategy.

Of mice and fat women

There are gigabytes of data on experimental animals and intermittent fasting. One such study, conducted at the Salk Institute, involved two groups of mice fed an isocaloric diet.

Both groups followed the same (high-fat) diet and were given the same amount of calories, but one group was allowed to eat whenever they wanted, while the other group had to eat all their food within 8 hours.

The latter group therefore fasted for 16 hours a day.

After 100 days, the intermittent fasting mice had put on 28% less fat and had lower cholesterol levels, lower blood sugar levels, less liver damage and lower levels of chronic inflammation. In the context of this experiment, intermittent fasting was therefore completely convincing.

Dr. Michelle Harvie and colleagues conducted another study with 107 female human volunteers.

In this study, the women were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first group consisted of women who reduced their calorie intake by 25% 7 days per week, while the second group consisted of women who also reduced their calories by 25%, but only two days per week.

After 6 months, both groups had lost a comparable amount of fat and had comparable reductions in leptin, C-reactive protein, total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. Surprisingly, the intermittent fasting group experienced a greater reduction in insulin resistance than the group that dieted 7 days a week.

Insulin strategy

The data suggests that intermittent fasting is a smart way to lose fat and has huge effects on body composition and blood values, but is it also a smart approach for strength athletes? I would say yes.

In the world of body composition, insulin sensitivity is everything. The more insulin sensitive your cells are, the better your results will be in building muscle and the easier it will be for you to be lean enough for everyone to see those muscles.

For this reason, intermittent fasting - and specifically the 5/2 version - should allow a strength athlete to get steadily leaner with each passing week without losing muscle mass.

This strategy could also, in theory, allow a bodybuilder to go through a mass-building phase while continuing to lose body fat, as the increased insulin sensitivity would allow them to build muscle more easily while losing fat.

I am also convinced that strength athletes can prepare their body for a subsequent mass-building phase by performing a relatively short 5/2 stint.

So if you as a strength athlete were to do 5/2 for two months before starting a bulking phase, you would build muscle mass faster thanks to the increased insulin sensitivity.

What does the plan look like again?

Eat normally 5 days a week. On two non-consecutive days, eat two meals of 400 kcal each 12 hours apart. These two days should be non-training days or cardio days so that you do not interfere with recovery and hypertrophy after training.

On your two fasting days, you should consume a portion of fast-digesting protein either as part of the 400 kcal meal or 30 minutes before each meal to ensure that there is no muscle breakdown during the fasting phase.

5/2 for strength athletes: Q & A

Have you followed this fat loss diet yourself?

Yes, and some of my friends have done it too. It works as described above.

Won't I be missing nutrients if I restrict myself to 800 kcal two days a week?

Stop looking at nutrition in 24 hour phases. It's almost impossible to get all your necessary vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and micronutrients on non-fasting days - let alone fasting days.

Think in terms of weeks, not days. Do you think you've eaten well enough over the past week to meet all your nutritional needs? That is the way to good health.

In addition, the body stores most nutrients in case you don't eat them every day. Consider vitamin B12, one of the favorite vitamins of hucksters everywhere. Even though this vitamin is considered essential for health, most people have large stores in the liver that last five years.

Add this to the telling fact that you only need about 40 mg of vitamin B12 over the course of your lifetime, which is the equivalent of half a baby aspirin's worth of powder.

So you won't be missing out on any vital nutrients.

Will I suffer from hunger pangs on the fasting days?

Maybe, but live with it.

Will I have problems sleeping on the fasting days?

As answer to question 3, take a non-addictive, natural sleep aid.

Is it difficult to follow this diet?

The 5/2 diet plan is easy for most people to follow. Unlike most diet plans, it won't interfere with your social life too much. You may even become the hungrier, clearer-thinking animal you become on fast days because complacent animals don't get much done.

Can I continue to build muscle by following this plan?

1. The 5/2 plan for strength athletes improves insulin sensitivity and in the world of growing muscle (and decreasing body fat), insulin is what matters.

Won't fasting days interfere with muscle growth and repair?

This is unlikely - especially if you are using a pulse-style protein intake during the diet. The most important times for muscle growth and repair are the first few hours after a training session. This is why nutrition around training is important.

However, this is also why you should not exercise on fasting days - only fast on non-training days or cardio days.

Why shouldn't I simply overcompensate and eat more than I consume on non-fasting days?

It's possible that you could eat more the day after a fasting day, but this doesn't seem to be an issue - neither with non-athletes who follow the original fasting diet, nor with the small group of strength athletes who have followed my version of this diet.

What types of meals should I eat on my fasting days?

You can eat normal muscle building meals, but they should be much smaller. For example, you could eat 125 grams of lean steak and a cup of broccoli, which would give you about 300 kcal.

Combine this with a protein pulse in the form of fast-digesting protein and you are in the region of 400 kcal, which is half of what you are allowed to eat on a fasting day. Certainly that's not a lot of food, but a generous consumption of coffee seems to help with hunger pangs.

How much fat can I expect to lose?

You should expect to lose one pound of fat per week, while perhaps gaining muscle mass a little faster due to increased insulin sensitivity.

Will this plan work for women?

Of course it will. However, women should also aim for a total calorie intake of 600 kcal per day instead of 800 kcal on their two non-consecutive fast days.

I should mention that the original diet as developed by Mosley and Spencer recommended that men eat 600 kcal on fast days instead of the 800 kcal recommended here, while women were recommended 500 kcal instead of 600 kcal.

I have manipulated the figures slightly as athletes and strength athletes have a higher calorie requirement than the average person.

How long should I follow the 5/2 fat loss diet for strength athletes?

You can follow this diet for as long as you want and you don't need to expect any diminishing results. Sure, you will eventually run out of flab to burn, but you should stay lean while benefiting from the muscle-building effects of greatly improved insulin sensitivity.

From TC Luoma | 09/24/13

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/5-2-fat-loss-diet-for-lifters

"If it doesn't swim, run or fly, or is green and grows on the ground, don't eat it."

Many readers will be familiar with this definition of the Paleo diet. You may also be familiar with Jack Lalanne's simple description, "If it's made by humans, don't eat it. These definitions summarize the practical application of the "traditional" caveman diet quite well.

My nutritional approach has been quite accurately described as a "Paleo meets sports nutrition" hybrid, but let's start with the Paleo side of this diet first. The practical application strategy above is simple, but it's a useful endeavor to dive a little deeper into this form of nutrition and learn some of the details about why the "eat what your ancestors ate" philosophy can be so effective.

Otherwise, after a day of exposure to internet health ads and endless amounts of misinformation, you might well come back and ask "but wait, aren't fruit juices, wheat bread, low-fat mayonnaise and fiber-enriched breakfast cereals good for us?"

No, they're not, unless you're Tony the Tiger and sponsored by Kellogs.

Paleo in a nutshell

Diets based on animal products are superior to plant-based diets

Animal protein is considered to be of higher quality than grain or vegetable protein because it contains all the essential amino acids, it contains them in greater quantities in combination with essential fatty acids, and it contains them in the correct proportions and ratios that Mother Nature intended for us. The last is the key point.

Essential fatty acids and essential amino acids are named for a reason. If we weren't designed to eat animal protein, then our bodies wouldn't need these essential nutrients for normal metabolic and endocrine function. Rather, they would be optional and we would have a need for essential cellulose and soy paste.

Take a look at what is contained in just 120 grams of sockeye salmon

• 24 g protein including all amino acids
• 2 g saturated fat
• 5 g monounsaturated fats
• 1500 mg omega-3 fatty acids
• 425 mg omega-6 fatty acids

Nature is and remains simply unbeatable.

A diet rich in vegetables is healthy, but that doesn't make a vegetarian diet the healthiest diet. While vegetarians try to get the essential nutrients they could get from animal foods through all the food combining, they can still end up with a diet that is a metabolic disaster: inadequate protein intake, incomplete amino acid profile, an imbalance of essential fatty acids, too much sugar and refined flour, too many carbohydrates combined with too much dietary fat, too many phytoestrogen compounds from soy products... and I could go on and on.

And if vegetarianism is so damn great, why is such a large percentage of vegetarians overweight and/or unhealthy looking?

Surely most readers won't be pining to follow a vegetarian diet, but now that you have a logical argument for those crazy relatives and friends who religiously swear that vegetarian-based diets are the healthiest dietary approach on the planet and that eating meat will kill you.

Eliminate sugar/concentrated fructose sources from your diet

If I had my choice, I would give fructose the world championship belt as the worst compound in the modern diet. If you did nothing but eliminate sugar and high fructose corn syrup from your diet, you'd probably end up with a decent body composition. But this junk is everywhere and in everything.

According to numerous studies, fructose is the main culprit in table sugar that is responsible for the development of insulin resistance - yes, fructose and not the poor glucose or starch compounds that are unfairly lumped into the same category by the "all carbs are evil" campaign.

An article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition took a closer look at fructose metabolism. The report indicated that fructose is preferentially metabolized to fat in the liver compared to glucose. In animal models, fructose produced the following reactions: Insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, high insulin levels, high triglyceride levels and hypertension.

Eliminate trans fats

If fructose is the "champion of the worst modern foods", then trans fats are the undisputed number one challenger. These compounds are essential vegetable oils that have had a hydrogen atom added to their structure through a process called hydrogenation. This makes these oils firmer in structure and extends their shelf life - both great things if you're a manufacturer of processed snacks.

However, this chemical change is also what makes trans fats so problematic if you're a health enthusiast. Because trans fats are basically unnatural, mutated fats, they raise total cholesterol levels and levels of bad LDL cholesterol, increase levels of C-reactive proteins, lower levels of good HDL cholesterol, and therefore are a primary risk factor for coronary artery disease.

And for the "I just want to get hard and defined" group? Well, trans fats have been shown to inhibit glucose breakdown, promote insulin resistance and induce abdominal obesity (1).

So if you see trans fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils, you should do what Iron Maiden sings, "Run to the hills, run for your lives."

Improve your omega-6: omega-3 ratio

The optimal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio for good health is between 1:1 and 4:1. This is the ratio that probably existed before modern food processing, when the majority of dietary fats came from wild animal meat and fish.

With the addition of highly processed vegetable oils as one of the cornerstones of the diet, the average American's dietary profile has reached a ratio of 10-15:1, with values as high as 40:1. This unnaturally high ratio can lead to body-wide inflammation, exacerbate autoimmune diseases and increase the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

At the same time that the amount of vegetable oils and processed foods has increased, the average omega-3 intake has decreased. Meat from wild animals and fish are naturally rich in omega-3 fatty acids, but these foods have been replaced in most people's diets by domesticated, corn- and grain-fed versions that are richer in omega-6 fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce triglyceride levels in the blood, dilate blood vessels and reduce overall risk factors for disease.

I realize this needs some credence, but it's not the natural saturated or monounsaturated fats in animal flesh that are killing us, it's the abnormally high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils (including the trans-fat varieties).

Think about it - natural fats that our species grew up with vs. modern fats that we process. I'm in Vegas, I'm putting money on the natural fats - despite the poor odds influenced by the dominant, yet archaic, so-called health authorities.

The problem is that medical advice and the modern diet curriculum is heavily influenced by the food industry. That's why you usually hear that saturated fats from animals are bad and polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils are good. It's a joke, but a joke at our expense. Eat animals and non-processed oils.

Eliminate gluten-containing foods, grains and legumes

Most of the problems associated with grains have nothing to do with the starch content of the grain. Glucose is one of our oldest evolutionary sources of energy. Unless you've made yourself insulin resistant by being fat, eating too much fructose, consuming too many omega-6 fatty acids, not eating enough omega-3 fatty acids, or not doing consistent strength training, your body can do just fine with glucose polymers from starch. In a properly functioning, active and athletic body, your body stores normal amounts of glucose as muscle glycogen.

The main problem with modern cereal products are the compounds that are included in addition to the starch itself. Gluten, for example, is not a carbohydrate but a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye and is a highly problematic food for many people.

We don't all suffer from a full-blown gluten allergy, also known as coeliac disease - a debilitating condition linked to the consumption of wheat/gluten in which the immune system attacks and destroys cells of the gut - but many of us may suffer from gluten sensitivity. A new study even questions whether eating wheat is safe for anyone (2).

Unfortunately, the term "gluten-free" has become a marketing tool with pharisaical, holistic crowds, but eliminating gluten from the diet can be a beneficial step for overall digestive health, physical performance (reduced symptoms of lethargy) and physical appearance (reduced abdominal bloating).

My recommendation is to give up gluten for a few weeks and see how you respond. Something like this could work wonders for you, or it could do nothing at all - but you won't know until you try it.

Other detrimental compounds in modern grains are what are collectively referred to as "anti-nutrients" in the Paleo diet.

Phytic acid is the storage form of phosphorus in plants and this is typically found in the bran and seeds. Humans cannot digest phytic acid as they lack the necessary digestive enzyme called phytase.

Strike one against phytic acid is that it can cause digestive abnormalities. Strike two is that it acts as a chelator of minerals, which interferes with proper absorption of these minerals such as zinc and iron. Strike three is that the foods that contain phytic acid generally taste like cardboard and also have a similar texture. Loren Cordain once said that cereal grains are better left to the birds.

Legumes and grains also contain a compound called lectin. Lectins are sugar-binding molecules that plants have evolved to repel insects - I would say this is a good indication that these compounds are not meant to be consumed in large quantities by humans.

What are the problems associated with lectins? How about irritation and damage to the intestines, excessive secretion of mucus into the gut, reduced absorption of nutrients, diarrhea, nausea and bloating (3)?

However, you may recall that rice - technically a grain - is a foundation of my dietary recommendations. This is because rice is naturally gluten-free and phytic acid and lectin are removed in the rice mill and during cooking. What's left is a mixture of amylopectin and amylose starches - compounds your body can cope with if you don't suffer from insulin resistance.

Reduce dairy products during a diet/restriction phase

Arnold once said, "Dairy is for babies."

To be honest, dairy is such a controversial topic (among nutritionists, trainers, athletes, bodybuilders, and body development enthusiasts) and there are so many different issues to discuss (acid-base balance, insulin index, isolated milk proteins vs. dairy, wasting during bulking phases vs. avoiding during dieting phases, etc.) that this topic deserves its own article. But I don't want to leave you hanging.

I'm a fat loss guy and so are 99% of my clients over the last 10 years. Mass gain may be a different story, but my short answer is that full-fat dairy products (milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, etc.) should be eliminated from your diet during a diet and definition phase.

Paleo in practice

• Take a grass-fed cow, cut off its head and eat it - and don't feel bad about it either. That's what we're supposed to do. Our mouths have incisors for evolutionary reasons and their job is to bite meat off the bone, not marshmallows off cereal in Lucky Charms Cornflakes. Nature is brutal - and we are wild creatures. The further we move away from this and eat processed foods to compensate, the sicker and fatter we will become.
• Eliminate almost all processed foods from your diet. Most processed foods are nothing more than a random combination of the following six ingredients, none of which are good for you:

1. Sugar (and/or high fructose corn syrup)
2. Trans fats/hyped oils
3. Omega-6 rich vegetable oil
4. Wheat or flour-based starch
5. Purified salt
   6. Artificial ingredients/sweeteners

• Make low-fat animal protein the basis of your diet. A range for strength athletes is from 2 to 4.5 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass, depending on the rest of your diet.
• Eliminate concentrated sources of fructose from your diet. Avoid high fructose corn syrup and processed foods with fructose as a sweetener, sugar (which consists of one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose), fruit juices/smoothies and dried fruit. Personally, I'm not a big fan of fruit, but 1 to 2 pieces of unprocessed fruit a day shouldn't be a problem. Just don't start inhaling bananas by the dozen. At a certain point, the fructose adds up.
• Eliminate trans fats and hydrogenated oils from your diet.
• Reduce your consumption of omega-6 fatty acids by eliminating vegetable oils from your diet.
• Increase omega-3 consumption by eating wild fish, grass-fed beef and fish oil capsules.
• Eliminate gluten-containing grains such as wheat, rye and barley from your diet.
• While we're at it - eliminate most other grains from your diet too, including those darn overrated whole grains (breads and cereals).
• Eliminate dairy products (milk, cream, cheese, yogurt) from your diet during a diet and definition phase. Isolated milk proteins are fine.

Don't call me the "Paleo guy"!

As you can see, I believe there are many great principles that a strength athlete, bodybuilder or figure athlete can take from a Paleo style diet, but I don't want to give you the false impression that I am a true "Paleo guy". I definitely recommend applying certain Paleo principles, but my overall recommendations are drastically different.

Starch sources like rice and potatoes are certainly not Paleo foods, but along with low-fat protein, they are the foundation of my plan for athletes as an anabolic energy source and for generating an anabolic state.

You'll never convince me that a 130-pound, obese, insulin-resistant, sedentary office worker who just wants to be able to see his penis in its original form again should eat the same diet as an 85-pound, defined, insulin-sensitive, athletic alpha male who is trying to reach his peak athletic performance or optimal body development and can't keep his penis in his pants for more than 5 minutes.

And yet you believe this if you believe in dogmatic adherence to a "one size fits all" system. That may be fine for programs aimed at the commercial masses, but seasoned strength athletes are better informed and smarter.

To me, the true value of a Paleo diet for an anaerobic athlete lies more in what it removes from the average person's plan and less in the overall structure or macronutrient ratios of the plan itself. Why? Because a 100 percent Paleo diet doesn't take into account differences in activity levels, individual metabolic factors, and differences between average and extreme goals for body development and performance.

Physician and nutrition researcher Kurt G. Harris refers to certain modern food compounds as Neolithic agents for disease, which I believe is a very accurate description. As previously mentioned, modern foods such as concentrated sugar/concentrated fructose, high omega-6 oils, trans fats and gluten have devastating effects on our body systems, body composition and risk factors for disease. Eliminating these compounds from the diet is a worthwhile step toward better health for everyone - whether they are overweight, lean, physically inactive, athletes, office workers, iron warriors, nuns, porn stars, or people somewhere in between.

But, to quote Kurt G. Harris again, glucose is a necessary internal energy source and metabolic product, as well as a food and a building block of foods that have the longest evolutionary history of any food consumed by mammals.

(Are you confused now? Stay with me. Remember you're in good hands - I'm half Japanese, which is why I'm all about efficiency).

Glucose is one of the oldest evolutionary sources of energy and a healthy body knows how to process and use glucose and an active athlete should be treated differently to a sick diabetic.

Due to a lack of nutritional and physiological knowledge and a tendency to always go to extremes, categorize and demonize cultural trends (think back to the low-fat era, during which healthy fish oils, essential fatty acids and natural monounsaturated fats were lumped into the same category as trans fats and hydrogenated oils) and simple ignorance, several valuable body development and performance enhancing foods - starchy carbohydrates that don't contain fructose or gluten - were washed away with the Paleo maelstrom.

I don't recommend a Paleo-only diet any more than I recommend a diet consisting purely of sports foods - I recommend a well-researched and well-informed mix.

I want you to understand why I think glucose polymers can be beneficial while concentrated sources of fructose can be disastrous, why saturated fats from natural animal sources can be better than polyunsaturated fats from processed plant sources, and why pure amylopectin starches can be less problematic than starches that contain gluten or lectins and why.

Typical transformations of fat guys

Let's examine a typical scenario and why all carbohydrates have been lumped into one category and demonized.

A fat guy follows a typical American diet - 50% sugar, tons of trans fats, omega-6 fatty acids and gluten. When he eats healthy, it's usually a white bread sandwich with low-fat mayonnaise and cheese. Our fat guy is tired of being fat and sick and feeling crappy all the time and is finally motivated enough to make some changes. Somehow he stumbles across paleo/caveman diet recommendations.

He puts the plan into action, loses a ton of weight, gets healthier, etc - all in all, he does a good job. Amazing. But now he has an almost religious affection for this "system". He can't see anything else outside of this system - not even scientifically studied and anecdotally proven principles. All carbohydrates, regardless of their source, are the enemy. Pure glucose polymers from rice and potatoes are no different from sugar or gluten-containing wheat. Finally, he lost a ton of weight on the low-carb/paleo diet.

What our fat guy doesn't realize is that commercialized diet plans and "systems" fail to address the subtleties of why dietary recommendations for fat, physically inactive people should be different from dietary recommendations for active athletes for the following reasons:

• Programs that are intended to be a commercial success must present a plan that is the same for everyone. These "works for everyone, everywhere" systems dramatically expand the potential market.
• The average reader will not or cannot understand the detailed science necessary to individualize plans.
• Many guinea pigs and authors don't know or don't care what goes on in the real training world.

But deep down, our fat guy still knows he's not exactly where he wants to be. He's a lot better off than he used to be, but he's still soft, he still lacks shape and definition, and he may still have that layer of belly fat. He knows he wants to make progress, but he's stuck in a system - a system that could very well be hindering his progress.

Regardless of this, he is now in a completely different place. He's no longer a fat guy, he's an active athletic guy and targeted sports nutrition principles could be relevant and beneficial to him now. Losing weight and consistent strength training has dramatically improved his insulin sensitivity. A few carbs could help him build muscle, get leaner, boost metabolism, increase thyroid hormone release/leptin levels, improve free testosterone to cortisol ratio, improve his body and even lose fat.

But he still has the psychology of a fat guy. He's afraid of fat - he suffers from this "I don't want to go back to being a fat guy by eating carbs" fear.

Hey I know this from personal experience. While researching this stuff, I followed these plans myself. I've followed the typical American diet, the strict Paleo diet, my current dietary recommendations and everything in between. I've also lived the practical side of this and the most important lesson is this: You can't get caught up in a formalized, "one system fits all" system if you expect to find what works best for you, your current athletic state, and your current goals.

References

1. Kavanagh et al, Trans fat diet induces abdominal obesity and changes in insulin sensitivity in monkeys. Obesity 2007 Jul;15(7):1675-84.
2. Bernardo D et al, Is gliadin really safe for non-coeliac individuals? Production of interleukin 15 in biopsy culture from non-coeliac individuals challenged with gliadin peptides. Gut 56 (6): 889-90.
3. Miyake K et al, Lectin-Based Food Poisoning: A New Mechanism of Protein Toxicity. PLoS ONE 2 (1): e687.

By Nate Miyaki | 03/25/11

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/paleo-nutrition-improved