Natural Bodybuilding Diets That Work

The Diets listed here are intended to provide you with information only. They represent the opinions of myself and other authors. This report does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation without the approval of a physician.

The Anabolic Diet

This diet because is quite different from the Atkins diet or any of the other low carbohydrate diets. It is called the Anabolic Diet and was published by Dr. Mauro DiPasquale.

ATP is the source of all metabolic activity in the human body. In order to get the energy the body needs for muscle contraction, breathing, brain cell function and virtually all other activities, ATP must be generated. It is a popular misconception that you must have glycogen and glucose, which come from carbohydrates, for the body to produce and replenish ATP and survive.

What some people don't understand is that protein and fat have their own mechanism for providing energy to the body and replenishing ATP. It's a misconception that you need carbs to function.

When carbs make up the bulk of your diet, you basically burn the glucose from the carbs as energy. Glucose enters the body, and insulin is secreted by the pancreas to utilize it for immediate energy, or store it as glycogen in the liver and muscles. The glucose not stored as glycogen is made into triglycerides (bodyfat). When needed for energy, the stored glycogen is converted back to glucose and used up directly by a cell or transported through the bloodstream to other cells for conversion and use as energy.

When fat makes up the bulk of your diet, you don't have those large amounts of glycogen or glucose available for energy anymore. Most of your energy will come from the breakdown of free fatty acids from your diet or from the fat stored on your body. Instead of burning the stored glycogen or glucose for energy, the body burns free fatty acids or triglycerides (the storage form of the free fatty acids).

Basically, a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates activates the lipolytic (fat burning) enzymes in your body and decreases the activity of the lipogenic (fat producing) enzymes. Dietary free fatty acids and triglycerides become the body's main energy source. The triglycerides are broken down to free fatty acids and then ketones, a source that can be used for energy by body cells. The free fatty acids take the place of glucose, and the triglycerides act like glycogen.

When carbs are the main form of energy to the body, the body produces insulin to process it and store it. This is all well and good but, as we discussed above, one of the problems with insulin is that it activates the lipogenic (fat storing) enzymes in the body and decreases the activity of the lipolytic (fat burning) enzymes. What this leads to is an increased storing of body fat and a decrease in the amount of stored fat that will be burned.

The exact opposite occurs on the high fat diet. After undergoing the "metabolic shift" from being a carb-burning machine to a fat burner, lipogenesis (the production and laying down of fat on the body) decreases, and lipolysis (the burning of both dietary and bodyfat for energy) increases. You're burning fat as your primary fuel, and instead of using glycogen or breaking down precious protein, you'll burn off the fat on your body for energy as needed.

This can have a big effect on overall bodyfat, and research has now begun to document this effect. In one study of ideal weight human subjects, it was found that high fat diets were accompanied by a very strong lipolytic (fat burning) effect. (ref 1)

Kather H, Wieland E, Scheurer A, et al. Influences of variation in total energy intake and dietary consumption on regulation of fat cell lipolysis in ideal weight subjects. J Clin Invest 1987; 80(2):556-72.

In another study focusing on obese subjects, it was found that, when offered a high carb/relatively low fat diet or low carb/relatively high fat diet, the subjects on the lower carb diet lost significantly more fat. (ref 2)

Rabast U, Kasper H, Schonborn J. Comparative studies in obese subjects fed carbohydrate-restricted and high carbohydrate diets. Nutr Metab 1978; 22(5): 269-77

It may sound crazy, but that's the way the body works. Once you've adapted to a high fat diet, fat does not beget fat. Despite what you have been told, a high fat diet does not put fat on. It takes it off.

Studies with other animals have produced additional eye-popping results. One study of hamsters found that a high fat diet added weight while decreasing lipogenesis (fat build up). The hamsters gained large amounts of weight, but this weight was more from an increase in lean body mass than fat.(ref 3)

Sandretto AM, Tsai AC. Effects of fat intake on body composition and hepatic lipogenic enzyme activities of hamsters shortly after exercise cessation. Amer J Clin Nutr 1988; 47(2): 1175-9.

In another study it was found that hamsters fed a high fat diet had lower lipogenic (fat producing) enzyme activity and less body fat content than low-fat-fed hamsters under both sedentary and exercise conditions.(ref 4)

Tsai AC, Gong TW. Modulation of the exercise and retirement effects by dietary fat intake in hamsters. J Nutr 1987; 117(6): 1149-53

One important by-product of the "metabolic shift" that takes place when you move from a high carb diet to the high fat diet is that fat becomes a protector of protein in the body. When you're utilizing carbs as your main source of energy, the body will take muscle protein break it down and form glucose (gluconeogenesis) to burn for energy, once immediate stores are exhausted. This is where catabolic activity (muscle breakdown) takes place. You'll be sitting there, happily working, and you're actually making your muscle shrink away as you do it. You're basically burning muscle to fuel your workout.

You won't get nearly this amount of muscle breakdown on the high fat diet. Some muscle will be burned, but available fat will serve as an alternative to muscle as an energy source to a large degree.

Any time you're exercising and the body needs energy, it will break down what it needs, including muscle, to supply that energy. One of the ways bodybuilders fight this is to sip glucose drinks during a workout. The body won't need to break down muscle as much for energy because it has an outside source of energy constantly coming in. Fat works in the same way when you're on the high fat diet. It protects the muscle by serving as an alternative, more available source of energy.

It must be remembered that, along with anabolism (the buildup of muscle tissue), the bodybuilder is also very concerned with catabolism (the breakdown of this tissue). Research shows that the anabolic diet could well also be called the anti-catabolic diet. Along with enabling the body's hormonal system to better burn fat and produce lean body mass, it also aids in decreasing the amount of muscle that could be lost during a workout or over the course of a diet phase.

Research has shown that the ketone bodies burned for energy in the anabolic diet, D-beta-hydroxybuterate and acetoacetate, actually decrease protein catabolism. (ref 1)

Giorski J. Muscle triglyceride metabolism during exercise. Cna J Phys Pharm 1992; 70(1):123-31.

A recent study with laboratory rats also showed that a combined treatment of insulin, testosterone and a high fat/high protein diet led to decreased loss of muscle protein and growth caused by the catabolic hormone corticosterone. (ref 2)

Ohtsuka A, Hayashi K, Noda T, et al. Reduction of corticosterone-induced muscle proteolysis and growth retardation by a combined treatment with insulin, testosterone and high protein-high fat diets in rats.

Another study showed higher protein gains and lower fat gains for rats on a high fat diet.(ref 3)

McCarger LJ, Baracos VE, and Clandinin MT. Influence of dietary carbohydrate-to-fat ratio on whole body nitrogen retention and body composition in adult rats. J Nutr 1989: 119(9): 1240-5.

The implications for similarly decreased catabolism in humans through adopting the high fat diet are obvious.

Many people suspect that they'll experience a loss of energy on the anabolic diet because the body isn't getting glucose from carbs anymore but, again this just isn't true. The free fatty acids, triglycerides and ketones your body burns provides more then enough energy to get through a workout. Red meat is also high in creatine, which is one of the compounds that increases high energy phosphates in the blood and the availability of ATP. There's no lack of energy while following the Anabolic Diet.

Though the anabolic diet contains a carb loading component, it isn't of the duration necessary to return the body to a glucose burning metabolism. Like insulin, carbohydrates are controlled and manipulated in the anabolic diet to maximize growth benefits and minimize their drawbacks.

The great thing about the diet is that you can eat whatever you want, as long as it is on the proper days. During the week (days 1-5) you can eat lots of fat and protein and limit your carbs to 30 grams per day, but on the weekend, or days 6 & 7, you can eat whatever you heart desires. The first weekend I went absolutely nuts. I had pizza, Burger King, McDonalds, and all kinds of wonderful foods like that. But because you switch back to the high fat diet in just 2 days, the fat that would have started laying down is now being used for energy.

Is this a long term diet? Yes. As with any "diet" you must make a corresponding lifestyle change, not a "diet" change. The additional studies have shown that if you decide to end your high fat diet it should constitute no problems. You can go right back to your original way of eating, if it is low fat, great, if not, expect the fat to start to return.

There are a lot more intricate details of the diet that you simply have to read for yourself. In fact without the Anabolic Diet manual you could be left in the dark about a lot of important info that will guarantee your success with this diet.

The manual has scientific references, sample starter diets, cutting diets for contests, and a mass phase where you can increase your ideal contest weight by 15% and still maintain around 8-10% bodyfat. Body Opus by Dan Duchaine BODYOPUS is a very different type of diet. It was created by Dan Duchaine. As Dan states, it will help you lose fat, and trick the metabolism into anabolic growth. It is a modified version of the old Ultimate Diet and the Rebound Training System. It is a bit similar to the anabolic diet but different because the anabolic diet lets you eat whatever you what, as long as it's on the proper days. Dan lays out which carbs to eat, how much, and when to stop. He also explains how to train and how to reach glycogen supercompensation (carb loading). This diet claims to help you lose all the fat you want without losing any muscle. Sounds too good to be true, but believe it or not it works! Actually the first step you should take in BODYOPUS is to believe that it works. BODYOPUS is a low calorie/very low carbohydrate diet for 5 days, coupled with 2 days of high carbohydrates and moderately high calories to achieve glycogen supercompensation. You must also train 3 times for a total of about 5 hours a week. How does BODYOPUS work? BODYOPUS is a ketogenic diet. Ketogenic diets work by drastically lowering carbohydrate intake. What this does is reduce the amount of insulin secreted and therefore tricking the metabolism. The leading cause of weight gain in the US is not from eating too much dietary fat but from eating too many carbohydrates. Insulin is a hormone released by your pancreas following carbohydrate ingestion and the associated rise in blood sugar (glucose). Insulin triggers a few things: it brings blood sugar into the muscles for energy, it converts blood sugar to glycogen, stores extra blood sugar as fat, and it prevents fat-burning of existing bodyfat. In order to achieve fat loss we must limit insulin levels by reducing the intake of carbohydrates. Ketogenic diets are not understood by most physicians, but when used under control, ketosis is a great fat-loss tool. In order to establish ketosis your blood glucose needs to fall below 50mg/dl. When you. re in ketosis your pancreas will now produce glycogen instead of insulin. Glycogen can be loosely called a catabolic hormone. It isn't normally secreted but when it is it's usually an indication of starvation or diabetes. In BODYOPUS glycogen is not your enemy, instead you will use it to your advantage. What it does is break down fatty acids and convert them into ketones. These ketones will be the primary fuel source for your body, including the brain. This state occurs when there are more ketones than glucose in the blood. However ketosis is not for everyone, if you are not active and don't require a lot of energy ketosis can be very hazardous. It tends cause ketoacidosis. This can make the blood acidic if they are not used up, so I can't stress it enough to exercise and train sufficiently. The BODYOPUS diet will cause ketosis for 4 days out of the week which is not a problem for bodybuilders and athletes. On the weekend BODYOPUS throws in a bonus, you can eat a limited amount of carbohydrates. The reason behind this is that it will cause an anabolic effect. This is absolutely necessary due to the loss of muscle during the week. Glycogen supercompensation will cause cellular kinetic expansion that is claimed to be just like steroids and growth hormone. BODYOPUS is a seven day cycle. Monday through Friday you are carb depleting and Saturday & Sunday carb loading. Monday thru Friday you eat a 70% fat / 30% protein diet. On the weekends you will follow a 60% carbs / 25% protein / 15% fat. As far as calorie levels go, you will consume 10% less than your maintenance level on weekdays and about 5-10% above you maintenance level on weekends. You. re probably wondering where all that fat is coming from. You will consume 30% from Omega-3 and Omega-6 (Flaxseed Oil) acids , another 30% from unsaturated fats (monounsaturated & polyunsaturated), and 10% from saturated fats. You can get these fats from a few sources: fish, beef, whole eggs, olive or safflower oil, bacon, sausage, pork, and cheese. Basically you want to consume enough fat but remember NO CARBS. That means no bread, cereal, fruit, pasta, milk, sugar, the list goes on and on. Carbs are everywhere so you must be careful. On the weekends you can eat some real food but be careful not to consume over 16g per lean body weight(kg) of carbs (the result is in calories so to convert it to grams: just divide your answer by 4). As far as training goes, three days a week will be adequate. On Monday you should train your bigger muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps, abs) because you are the strongest from the carb loading. On Tuesday you finish up the rest of your body (back, biceps, legs). Then on Friday comes the fun part. You will train EVERY body part to failure in order to totally deplete yourself of glycogen. Two hours before you train you should eat some fruit. You can eat whatever kind of fruit you like, but keep it under 200 calories. The reason is that you want to kick yourself out of ketosis so your blood sugar level would be about 60mg/dl. This will help you totally deplete your muscles of the last bit of glycogen, and will greatly improve glycogen supercompensation. One thing that I would recommend to everyone who wants give BODYOPUS a try is to buy the book "Underground BODYOPUS Militant Weight Loss & Recomposition" by Dan Duchaine. Due to amount of information Duchaine put in the book I can only summarize it here. Duchaine explains many more key issues that will help guarantee your success, so I can't stress it enough to go and read it for yourself. The Iso-Caloric Diet by Dan Duchaine While it is possible to lose more than one pound per week through further calorie reduction or by increasing aerobics, you will lose some muscle along with the fat. On paper, your body will look as if the diet is working. The mirror, however, will tell a different story. Even a 5 percent change in calories or aerobics will cause muscle loss. The first way to prevent muscle loss is to change the fat to carbohydrate ratio. In the Iso-Caloric Diet, these are changed to: 1/3 Protein 1/3 Fat and 1/3 Carbohydrate. Adjusting these ratios will cause faster fat loss. Although there is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon, it was first discovered through trial and error. At first, it seems logical to try reducing calories further, but this causes too much muscle loss too quickly. Does increasing protein help maintain muscle mass? Nope, it doesn't. Increasing aerobics looks like a popular choice -- after all, gyms have lots of steppers and rowers and bikes, all occupied with well-meaning individuals. Aerobics must be good, right? Wrong! As a matter of fact, increased aerobics causes just as much muscle loss as calorie restriction. Many athletes won't be happy with these nutrient ratios. They've been conditioned to not eat dietary fat. Besides, lowering carbohydrates increases hunger and anxiety for a while. However, eating lots of carbohydrates makes your metabolism unable to burn fat efficiently. If you have patience and not too much fat to lose, you will probably get close to your goal with the traditional diet. The traditional diet will allow you to be relatively happy, sociable, energetic and feed your carbohydrate addiction. When "close" isn't close enough, you need the Iso-Caloric Diet. Will you be hungrier? Only at first. Will your strength decrease? Again, only at first. Will you lose muscle? Less than you would with any of traditional diets. With the Iso-Caloric Diet, we are once again concerned with the quality of the body's energy sources, not the quantity. Some people will object to eating a diet that is 1/3 fat. Fat is bad, isn't it? Fat isn't perfect, but it's all we have to work with. We can't decrease total calories because we don't want to lose muscle. The high carbohydrates of the traditional diet will need to change to either protein or fat. Exchanging the carbohydrates for protein won't work because not all of the amino acids can be converted into energy. Much of the amino acid content is excreted as urea, a waste product. Calorie for calorie, protein will not provide the same energy as carbohydrates. This is why high protein diets cause faster fat loss than high carbohydrate diets. Because protein has less usable energy, the body will strip down muscle to scavenge the energy-producing amino acids. Glutamine will be used first, then the branched-chain amino acids, then alanine. If we can't eat protein, all that's left is fat. Eating more fat will also reduce insulin secretion and make the fat-burning energy pathways more efficient. In the presence of insulin, the body will not release stored fat for energy. Therefore, as dieters, we want to reduce insulin secretion. Almost all fat -- saturated or not, essential or not -- will work in the Iso-Caloric Diet. Energy-wise, it doesn't matter. You could use MCTs, for that matter, but they're are not as much fun as an additional serving of oily fish, walnuts or avocado. You would be shocked at how little fat you'll need to eat to increase fat calories by 23 percent. Salad and cooking oils don't take up much room. It doesn't take many avocados or walnuts to add a lot of calories. How about -- dare I say it -- peanut butter? Surely this isn't diet food. Some people have asked, . If the Iso-Caloric Diet is so superior to the traditional diet, why haven. t I heard of it?. Well, most people are used to something like the traditional low fat diet. It's easy to start, "believe" and follow. Each change in longstanding habits requires more discipline. Why increase protein? Fatty foods usually contain protein. Eggs, fish, meat, and that slice of cheese you can finally eat all contain protein in addition to fat. Even peanut butter contains protein. The Iso-Caloric Diet begins to solve a major problem in dieting (aside from hunger and anxiety)& impatience. While the problem of impatience has not been completely solved, we've appeased it for now.

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