Muscle Diet

QUESTION: I’ve just heard about a study done by Harvard Scientists that says low carb diets that are high in meat are very unhealthy. This is exactly the kind of diet I follow when I’m trying to get lean. Am I messing with my health here?

ANSWER. The available scientific research clearly shows that, on the whole, low-carb diets perform better at burning fat and preserving muscle than higher-carb diets - especially if they're high in protein. They also perform as well, and in many cases better, when it comes to improving risk factors for heart and vascular disease. Doubtless they would perform even better than that if they included more veg, some fruit and healthy fats, etc! The study from Harvard has concluded that "low-carb diets" higher in meat are less healthy than low-carb diets with less meat and more vegetables. So what's going on here? Have I got it wrong all these years? Am I going to be advocating eating soy burgers, Quorn (don't ask) and lentil stew? Am I going to convert my barbecue into a planter and grow petunias? Well, not quite yet, because as you may have noticed, there is a tiny note of sarcasm in my preceding comments. You see, I smelt a rat from the moment I read the title of this study and this rat is even stinkier than usual! Let's look at the facts:   Firstly, there's the fact that the biggest scientific review ever done on the subject (also from Harvard and done on "2 million" subjects) has already proven that meat isn't unhealthy, see: http://musclediet.net/blog/2010/05/im-presenting-at-the-bodypower-show-m...

This might piss you off (it made me furious to think how many people will be totally mislead by this), the "low-carb" group in this study were eating over 35% carbs!? THAT IS NOT A LOW-CARB DIET!!! Everyone knows high-fat diets don't work unless they're low in carbs - DUH!

Almost as outrageous is the fact that when the researchers played around with the results a bit, they noted that the meat group seemed to smoke more and exercise less and several scientists and others have questioned the way this study dealt with these types of risk factors that were unrelated to diet.

Most importantly, if you have any idea what you're doing and you value your health, you'll eat a moderate carb diet, with lots of healthy fats, low-GI carbs, vegetables and fruit (like my MuscleDiet Cutting Phase Diet) and if you do that, then this study doesn't apply to you anyhow. So all this study actually shows is that if you eat a slightly (and I mean "slightly") lower carb diet than the average slob, that's high in meat (and probably processed meat) and low in vegetables and fruit, it's probably less healthy than getting more of your calories from veg and fruit - wow, what a revelation! Therefore, those who trumpet the results of this study are either 1. Ignorant of the facts or 2. Unethical, it's really that simple.

To read more of Mark Gilbert’s work, please visit his website at:

www.MuscleDiet.net

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