If building or maintaining muscle mass is your goal, avoid low carb diets like the plague!

All carbohydrates get broken down into glucose, our bodies’ primary and preferred fuel source. It’s used by the brain and nervous system, as well as by our muscles for energy.

What does that even mean? (So glad you asked. I’m about to get REAL NERDY here for a sec.)

— Glucose is the quickest, easiest way for your body to create usable energy.
— It can also convert fat into usable energy — but the process is slower.

Your body will NOT burn fat as fuel when the body needs really high amounts of energy delivered very quickly (ie: like during high intensity training).

But… what happens if those carbs aren’t available?

Your body goes to Plan B: It breaks down your fats (dietary and/or stored fat on your body) and converts them into usable energy for you — thereby burning off that stored fat and helping with weight loss.

Plan B sounds pretty dreamy, right?

That’s exactly the objective behind the keto or other very low carb diets.

The keto diet was discovered as a potential way to treat various neurological conditions. But in the process they found that it actually had some metabolic benefits as well — with weight loss being a big one.

The world has jumped on the low carb bandwagon in hopes of quick & easy weight loss. But! Not so fast… (yes, I’m a party pooper 🤣)

Remember that fat can only be SLOWLY converted into usable energy? This makes it useful for ‘life’ movement or lower intensity exercise like walking or a lower intensity steady state cardio session.

But what happens when you increase the intensity?

That’s where protein comes in… big no-no.

Unlike carbs and fats that can be converted into energy, protein is a building material and is meant to remain intact in your cells.

If you need lots of energy delivered quickly, but there are no carbs to produce this… then there is the risk of the body breaking down its own stored protein (aka your muscles) so that your liver will actually convert it into glucose! I know, mind blowing right?! 💥

Obviously, we NEVER want this to happen. Hold onto that hard-earned muscle! 💪🏼

Keep your eyes here on the blog and on our social profiles for lots more info on this, , but for now, know this:

If building or maintaining muscle mass is your goal, avoid low carb diets like the plague!