Blood type diet

This post is about my real-world experience of
carbohydrates after following a low carbohydrate diet.
I started lowering my carbohydrates and opted for a
higher fat, adequate protein diet more in line with
the “Protein Power” plan from the Eades’ shortly after I
embraced meat-eating again. As an O, I gained weight,
filled-out, almost resuming my physiology since my
intense weight-training days (notice I said weight
training, not body-building, the two are not the same).
I have found all the benefits discussed in the various
Low Carb books to be quite true, which pleased me. I
feel like I’ve found a whole new world, dietarily
speaking. Of course, I had to see the other side of it,
eating myself into the dangerous world of excess carbs
which is so easy in this junk-food laden America.

Hyperinsulemia, a well-known precursor to diabetes is
VERY effectively treated with a sensible low-
carbohydrate diet. Also, abnormal blood profiles, be it
in “triglycerides”, cholesterol, blood-pressure, and the
whole hypoglycemic-hyperglycemic up-down nature of the
sugar trip (carbohydrates are all really just various
forms of sugar since they’re all ultimately broken down
into blood glucose, the human utilizable sugar other
than fructose) are also directly benefited by a
nutritious low carb diet. Carbohydrate addiction is
really a lot like a drug addiction. I have more sympathy
now for those people who have progressed into obesity.
Anyway, after going low on carbs, some of the initial
weight loss is in water weight, as the muscles expend
their stored sugar (called glycogen), they actually get
smaller. Now, being an experienced weight trainer I was
familiar with creatine monohydrate, a supplement which
increases muscular strength, endurance, and recovery
capabilities. One of the ways creatine works is to
supersaturate the muscle tissue with ATP,
adenotriphosphate, which is an important step in energy
utilization, production, and recycling. One of its
effects is to increase the amount of water stored in the
muscle tissue. The more hydrated a body is, the better,
stronger it is, so creatine obviously works (for most
anyway). The prime method of getting creatine into the
muscle tissue is to shuttle it in with a surge in
insulin, which requires carbohydrates. So, there’s the
connection. What was new to me was how, now that I’ve
cycled off the creatine, my body’s musculature is now
very obviously effected by the amount of carbohydrates I
am eating. I literally swell up, becoming visibly more
muscular with carbohydrates. It’s funky! Looking in the
mirror, I can guage the degree of bloating and/or lectin
activity in my intestines, and now I can check out the
amount of stored glycogen in my muscles! It reminds me
of Dragonball Z, where the characters can become hugely
buff when they draw upon their mystical martial arts
powers. What an interesting world we live in. As you can
see, food (diet), exercise physiology, and general
health are my main interests in life. It just gets more
extraordinary the more I learn.
What gets me is how my blood sugar levels seem to be
destabilized after just one or two meals with 20-30
grams of carbs from starch or sugar, with the exception
of fructose. It takes about 10-24 hours to “even out” on
the paleolithic foods. Just last night I ate two meals
of rice w/ seaweed, cooked in free-range high quality
chicken stock. Now I’m loaded, muscle-sugar packed into
my freshly used body. But the leptin situation, my sense
of appetite is now one of constant hunger, sometimes
referred to as “carb cravings”. It’s a dangerous
flirtation.
I hope all you people out there don’t mind these diary-
esque postings… I’m just trying to figure it out.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 21st, 2004 at 5:22 pm and is filed under lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.