Low carb dieting and exercising can be an effective way to lose weight. While exercising and eating lower carbs, don't avoid carbs altogether in order to avoid certain health issues. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, depriving your body of too many carbohydrates can lead to sustained hypoglycemia, muscle atrophy and a variety of other health related conditions. Before beginning a low carb diet and exercise program, always consult your physician.
Weight Loss
Low carb dieting is a misnomer because the true intent is to limit the excess carbohydrates you currently eat not cut out carbs in large quantities. If you already eat more carbohydrates than you should, limiting carbohydrates while exercising will most certainly lead to a drop in weight. According to the National Federation of Professional Trainers, the goal of low carb dieting is to lower your carb intake from unnecessarily high amounts in order to help burn off stored fat at a faster pace. Lowering carbohydrates below what is needed for your body to function normally is not the healthiest way to lose weight and in fact, should be avoided.
Energy
Since carbohydrates are the main fuel your body uses to get through a workout, lowering your intake can have the opposite desired effect. When you exercise, your body uses glucose--a carbohydrate--as a source of energy. According to the American Council on Exercise, when you limit your carbohydrate intake, you essentially limit the amount of glucose that is available for muscles. This causes you to feel fatigued during your workouts more often. Eventually if your body is starving for carbohydrates, it will turn to muscle for its preferred energy source causing you to lose lean mass.
Muscle Repair
After a workout your body requires protein to rebuild the tears in the muscle that exercise causes. In someone with a normal diet, protein will be available and glycogen--glucose stored in your muscles--will be replenished as a source of instant energy. If you exercise and your carbohydrate intake is too low, your body has no energy source to help repair muscles with so it turns to protein. According to the American Council on Exercise, when you exercise on a low carb diet, you make a trade-off between building lean mass and using protein as a new source of energy. This leads to muscle atrophy and eventually primes your body for weight gain when your diet returns to normal.
Immune System
According the American College of Sports Medicine, after a workout, your immune system lowers temporarily in order to compensate for the tears in muscle and the loss in energy--mainly in the form of glucose. Free radicals are released into your system through chemical reactions and this leaves your body susceptible to infection. If you are on a low carb diet, your immune system may take longer to recover from this post-workout state because it has less nutrients and sugar to use to restore itself. Changing the type of carbs may be more effective than lowering intake in this scenario. For example, instead of candy, potato chips or fast food, try fruits and vegetables that contain less calories and more antioxidants.
References
- "Sports Nutrition Manual"; National Federation of Professional Trainers, Mark P. Kelly et al.; 2006
- "ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2010
- "American Council on Exercise Personal Trainers Manual"; Cedric X. Bryant; 2003
Member Comments