HOW I STAY LEAN - part II

This is part II of my "HOW I STAY LEAN" series where I will explain more about Intermittent Fasting (IF) and the Paleolithic (Paleo) eating method + attempt to compare, describe and differentiate LeanGains and MDA's Primal Blueprint. If you haven't read the first part yet, do so, and you'll be less likely to write me off as a under nurtured, calorie fobic, trend follower.


The picture above is my Kettlebell ad from my previous college experience...it ended up scaring people away more than attracting so hopefully it works better in this format...



INTERMITTENT FASTING & THE PALEO METHOD

Unlike the South Beach Diet, Weight watchers or the Atkins diet, there are many different versions of Intermittent Fasting (IF) and Paleolithic eating methods. They are both collective names of philosophies of how and what to eat, therefore guidelines and rules might vary.
I get most of my inspiration and information from Martin Berkhan's “LeanGains” (IF) and Mark Sisson's website “Mark's daily apple” and his book the “Primal Blueprint” (Paleo). Both protocols have been extremely useful for me to find my own way of eating to stay lean and healthy.

THEORIES & STUDIES BEHIND IF:



What does Gandhi, Confucius, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and Hippocrates have in common? Well, except being some of the brightest, most talented and influential personalities in the history of man kind, they all fasted...longevity, spiritual enlightenment, enhanced mental and physical awareness, purification, tranquility, serenity and peace of mind were all reasons to occasionally stop eat, digest and assimilate nutrients.

Still not convinced thinking the characters above were clueless fools? Well, if you believe that natural, ecologic, raw, unprocessed foods are good for the human body and what our genetic makeup prefers, there's no reason why you shouldn't believe that fasting every now and then also has it's place and benefits. Take a second and think about this. Would it make evolutionary sense if skipping one or two meals automatically made our lean body mass (muscles) deteriorate, fat mass increase and energy levels completely drain? Back in the days, depending on how the hunt went, our ancestor might only got one proper, big meal every other day. Despite all this, the conventional wisdom tells us that fasting cannibalize hard earned muscle tissue, halts metabolism, depletes energy levels and instantly results in bad mood, headache and unwanted personality changes. I'm not saying these symptoms are all made up fantasies and not real signs of hunger or low levels of energy, but at the same time, IF (going without food for +12 hours) has shown to have various positive effects and health benefits, such as improving cholesterol ratios, increase alertness and energy levels, raise mobilization of adipose fat storages (body fat) as a source of energy, increase insulin sensitivity and human growth hormones, promoting protection for certain diseases (diabetes, cancer, etc) and potentially even increase longevity and retard signs of aging.


Martin Berkhan (LeanGains) has done a nice job questioning/debunking some of the most common myths about fasting – READ IT HERE – and you might get a different perspective on frequent meals, muscle loss, skipped breakfasts, etc.




The picture above is not from some kind of shady, underground, anti-wrinkle cream experimental lab – it's from a study on rheus monkeys where one group was fed ab libitum (food available at all times) and the other group was put on a calorie restricting diet. Not drawing any conclusions from one photo or a few animal studies, but in the same way as vaccine functions as a minor stress to make the body stronger and more resistant to disease and inflammation, it's not a shot in the dark to assume that IF might cause a similar, positive stress on the body that forces our bodies to preserve, heal and re-use body cells instead of constantly reproduce and divide, ramping up the body cell waste cycle and therefore also the aging process.



THEORIES & STUDIES BEHIND THE PALEO METHOD



Many people would place the Paleo method in the low-carb-diet (LC-diet) folder (in comparison to diet norms, I guess). So what defines a low-carb diet? I'd say it's subjective, for some, a LC-diet is ketogenic, less than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day. For others, a LC diet has a higher carb load, but the line has to be drawn somewhere and I'd say anything more than 300 grams/day has to be considered a “normal”, or HC-diet (unless you're 250 lbs of lean muscle). Click here to read a very easy comprehendable (and humorous) article by Mark Sisson on carbohydrates, insulin and diabetes...I strongly recommend it...

The paleo diet is designed to control insulin levels, not to be mistaken by a low-carb/low fat-starvation diet with purpose to shred Hollywood celebs to the bone. Since carbohydrates is the only nutrient that effects insulin levels one has to manage the type, amount and quality of consumed carbohydrates to control insulin levels released into the blood stream. Indirectly, maintaining insulin levels in check (avoid feasting on processed carbs) is crucial for successful weight loss, hunger control, insulin sensitivity, anti-inflammation, etc. To make life easier (harder?) the modern society has learned to preserve, modify and even synthetically produce food products so that it's more convenient (and profitable) to consume.
In my opinion, media has given low-carb diets and eating methods (such as Paleo) a bad rep and there are many anti LC-diet spokesmen out there to preach about “the importance of a balance diet”, following FDA guidelines of 60% of energy intake from carbs, etc, etc. For the average man or woman in todays society, I would say that a 60% energy distribution from carbs is highly questionable, even though it's a recommendation given by government institutions all over the world. I think it's time to start accepting what seems to be truth; due to agricultural “advancements” and techniques, methods to preserve, modify and synthetically produce food products to make it more convenient (and profitable) to gorge on, carbohydrates have been over consumed for generations and should in most cases be strictly limited or at least carefully selected for a sound body composition, performance and optimal health and wellbeing. Even if some of us could and still can balance out HC-diets with a high daily physical activity level, sedentary is steadily catching up and backfiring on most of the people in the world's obesity epidemic.

There's countless of research, blogs and sites supporting LC-diets in general and the Paleo method in particular. There's no need for me to re-write something that's already out there...Remember, eating fat doesn't make you fat - carbohydrates drives insulin drives fat (Cahill 1967 Taubes 2007) .








MDA's PRIMAL BLUEPRINT vs LEANGAINS

Taking a closer look at the two protocols – Mark Sisson's PB and Martin Berkhan's LeanGains – LeanGains founds its protocol on IF and is pretty darn strict on the eating window, macronutrient distribution and calorie timing for maximal muscle gains with minimal fat gains. On the other hand, LeanGains cares less (compared to the PB) on what you eat during the eating window, taking a far more carb-friendly approach due to the precise calorie timing and the claimed increased insulin sensitivity from the fast. The PB protocol puts a lot more emphasis on what you eat rather then when you eat, looking at the total weekly calorie intake (rather than LeanGains recommendations to balance calorie according to workout/non-workout days and post workout meals) as the determinant factor of calorie balance and therefore weight loss (stating that the body always seeks to achieve homeostasis over time = the total calorie intake/week is what counts).

The two eating methods also has fitness and workout guidelines to complement the eating protocols. LeanGains thrives on a hypertrophy/muscle gain-approach versus PB's more laid back, general fitness advice with recommendations such as “spend less time in the gym, avoid chronic cardio” and “play and have fun”-oriented workouts.

I view PB as more of a lifestyle method for the average Joe, usually middle-age or older, while I can see that LeanGains stereotypically attract males in their twenties or thirties, looking to build lean muscle tissue with minimal accompanying fat gains (hence the name “LeanGains”).
Again, both eating methods/lifestyle philosophies has been great inspirations for me to develop my own eating philosophy and how I eat to stay lean with minimal hassle, care freeness, maximal productivity, pleasure and enjoyment.

Both PB and LeanGains challenges government guidelines and recommendations from classically trained dietitians, mainstream literature on nutrition and what can be seen as “general conventional wisdom”. Some people find their opinions and advice provocative and even flat out dangerous (“self starving”, “leaving your brain dry of energy”, “saturated fats automatically increase the risk of CVD”, etc). But studyin, thinking, feeling and questioning has made me listen, learn and analyze what pioneers like Martin and Mark has to say and I encourage everyone to do the same – be open minded and critical to everything you read. Make sure you understand what's being said, never pull things out of context and mixing messages and methods can end up with a nasty end product (just like mixing different kinds of alcohol – not a good idea unless you know what you're doing). Take your time to read, examine, apply and question – there's a lot of information online and for the most part, it's free. All you need is some genuine interest, brains and time (but unfortunately, neither of that I can give to you...)


That's the end of "HOW I STAY LEAN - part II"...In next post I will wrap it up with a description of my own version and example of meals from an average day in Bangkok...Stay tuned!