Introduction
La metabolic diet is a nutritional system aimed at body recomposition.
Regardless of the impression of "scientificity" that it can give at first glance, on the medical level, the metabolic diet is not considered a food therapy. Moreover, even in terms of aesthetic and sporting modification, it presents not a few controversies.
This is mainly because it is based on the reduction of carbohydrates for the benefit of proteins and fats; later we will go into more detail, explaining what it consists of.
As with all other innovative food methods, some questions arise spontaneously with regard to the metabolic diet:
- Does the metabolic diet work?
- Is the metabolic diet bad for you?
- Who Should Avoid the Metabolic Diet?
- How to do the metabolic diet?
Let's find out, starting with a brief summary of its fundamental characteristics.
What
What is the metabolic diet?
The metabolic diet is a diet designed for both slimming o reduction of body fat, both forincrease area of muscle or hypertrophy.
Its greatest weakness (but not the only one) - which according to many would instead be a strength - is the poor amount of carbohydrates, to the logical advantage of proteins and fats.
The metabolic diet therefore meets the requirements of: diet low carb (hypoglycemic), diet iperproteica and, in part, diet ketogenic, as it provides a low level of glycides, a high protein content and a large amount of fat.
However, compared to other similar systems, the metabolic diet is less rigid on the fraction of total carbon hydrates to be consumed, leaving the person to identify the right% CHO.
This feature differentiates it from purely ketogenic strategies, which instead are based on a strict control food glucose levels, glucogenic amino acids (therefore proteins) and blood concentrations of ketone bodies.
Is the metabolic diet a ketogenic diet or not?
It depends on how you set it up. We will try to clarify the concept in a few lines.
What ketone bodies are, how they are formed and what effects they have
"Ketogenic" means "that generates chetonic bodies".
These, which in the case of a balanced diet remain at normally low levels, increase instead in case in the feeding in short supply i carbohydrates and amino acids gluconeogenici (derived from proteins), such as consequence prevalent use of fatty acids and amino acids chetogenici (also derived from proteins).
Different tissues are able to use ketone bodies for energy, but DON'T in replacement glucose. That's why, tending to accumulate in the blood, waves avoid a potential toxicity, the organism tends to expel them (especially with urine).
Therefore, the healthy subject DON'T should meet metabolic keto-acidosis properly called - a condition typical of serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.
That doesn't mean, however, that we don't have gods parallel effects. Some of these are positive, like the effect inhibiting on the sense of fame, Other negative, such as the trend to dehydration and the lesser prowess in prolonged efforts.
For the organism, therefore, ketone bodies are as much a resource - because they support it in the event of a carbohydrate deficiency - as a problem to be solved - because, in excess, they tend to accumulate.
How many ketone bodies does the metabolic diet produce?
The metabolic diet produces a large amount of ketone bodies proportional al calorie cut and carbohydrates.
We said that the fatty acids I am totally chetogenici, While the protein have an effect promiscuous - in the sense that some amino acids are ketogenic and others glucogenic. Both effects are obtained by metabolizing them.
La proportion between lipids and proteins can therefore make a lot of difference. Not surprisingly, controlled ketogenic diets have a limited and determined protein percentage.
Furthermore, with the same caloric cut, the level di motor activity. In the sense that, unless the intensity is very low or if the muscles have a super-high efficiency, moving mainly consumes glucose (from muscle glycogen). If this comes to mancare, increases the oxidation of fatty acids and, consequently, ketogenesis.
Whether by chance or not, the metabolic diet can have a different impact on the state of ketosis.
How to do it
How to do the metabolic diet?
Engage in the metabolic diet DON'T it is at all simple. Let's see, step by step, how we can approach the system.
- Before starting the diet it is advisable to perform haematological tests; they will evaluate:
- Cholesterolemia (total, HDL, LDL);
- TSH (thyroid function test);
- Fasting blood sugar;
- Blood potassium;
- Liver function marker;
- At the time of the start we can act in two ways:
- Gradually decrease carbohydrates to the level needed to support general functions efficiently;
- Increase them, from a condition of very low initial intake, to the level necessary to support general functions efficiently (the advantage is that you immediately "break" the habit of certain foods, improving sensitivity to the right levels of CHO);
- Establishment of low-carb (approx 30 g CHO tot) and evaluation: phase that lasts about 12 days and serves to understand how high the personal aptitude for this system is in the medium term. The recommended breakdown is 50-60% fat, 30-40% protein, about 30 g of total carbohydrates;
- Recharge: on the 13th day, and on a weekly basis, a recharge phase lasting 12-48 hours is applied (which will replenish the muscle and liver glycogen stores), in which the diet will be very rich in carbohydrates; the breakdown is as follows: 25-40% fat, 15-30% protein, 35-55% carbohydrate. It is advisable to proceed gradually also in the recharging phase, starting from 12 hours and gradually increasing.
Useful tips for trying your hand at the metabolic diet
In addition to the previous recommendations, it is good that those who choose to try their hand at the metabolic diet have the patience to "guess" the right percentage of carbohydrates and the duration of the recharge phase.
Recall that the greater greed due to glycogen depletion makes muscles and liver more receptive, and will result in even considerable weight gain during recharging.
This weight is mainly made up of muscle water and glycogen, but the fact remains that the high percentage of dietary CHO can also favor adipose accumulation - especially in the presence of high levels of fat.
The motor activity will have to be resized, or reduced to the bone initially - better if concentrated on the muscles - and can be managed later, after becoming familiar with the metabolic diet. It is therefore good not to overdo it.
Almost always, cutting the main sources of carbohydrates also results in a halving of the fiber intake. It is therefore advisable to use food supplements that prevent constipation.
Effectiveness
Does the metabolic diet work?
On the level ofeffectiveness, the success or failure of the metabolic diet depends on the basic parameters of:
- energy balance;
- starting nutritional and metabolic status;
- possible application of a parallel training protocol.
Does the metabolic diet help you lose weight?
If organized by establishing a negative calorie balance, the metabolic diet certainly does lose weight. Conversely, it does not give any benefit over other methods of breaking down energetic macronutrients.
Does the metabolic diet allow you to keep the muscle mass in weight loss?
It depends. In the sense that, in the case of a low-calorie diet, the prevention of muscle catabolism is certainly promoted by a good protein intake, but also by a sufficient level of carbohydrates, strength training and "caloric cutting moderation".
So, even in the case of a high-protein metabolic diet, if one or more of these factors were missing, muscle mass could still be compromised.
Does the metabolic diet increase muscle mass?
No. Since it is the union between specific training e nutritional availability to ensure, after endogenous mediation of the routes anaboliche, the answer of muscle building.
Person eunutrita but sedentary, starting the metabolic diet DON'T would find advantages in hypertrophic terms.
It could be different in the subjects sedentary malnourished level protein. In this case, it is possible that the application of the metabolic diet also offers advantages in terms of lean mass, provided that the balance caloric is neutral o positive.
It hurts?
Is the metabolic diet bad for you?
It is difficult to argue that the metabolic diet can be bad or good without contextualizing it in a very specific framework.
We could say that, if analyzed from a dietological point of view, this strategy DON'T responds to the trappings of "diet balanced".
However, it is also difficult to believe that any negative impact of this method, applied on a healthy person, can translate into real damage to health.
What most often manifests is a worsening dell 'physical efficiency e mental, clear sign of too negative caloric balance and / or insufficient carbohydrate fraction and / or worsening of innate para-physiological predispositions (which we will see better below).
Those who face these consequences, however, are generally able to "correct the shot", or to stop the metabolic diet in time. The risk greater of this system is perhaps the increase in the sense of exhaustion and fatigue, up to the tendency to black-out (greater if in the presence of dehydration, mineral depletion, etc.).
However, there are some cases in which the metabolic diet - but not only this one - goes unequivocally avoided; let's see which ones.
Controindicazioni
Who Should Avoid the Metabolic Diet?
They should avoid the metabolic diet:
- Pregnant women and nurses;
- Growing subjects;
- Subjects affected by severe liver and kidney diseases (functional insufficiency, etc.);
- Type I diabetics;
- People with chronic low blood pressure;
- Those who complain of frequent hypoglycemia;
- Subjects affected by heart diseases;
- Suffering from eating disorders (DCA) or otherwise borderline;
- Drug addicts, alcoholics and all those who have been diagnosed with non-DCA psychiatric diseases;
- Severe constipation, with related complications (fissures, hemorrhoids, etc.).
Who, on the other hand, can do the metabolic diet?
Anyone can try his hand at the metabolic diet, as long as DON'T fall within the aforementioned cases or in other circumstances that could undermine the general state of health during the protocol.
It is therefore always helpful to consult a nutrition professional, such as a dietician or dietician or nutritionist - strictly dedicated. In the case of an existing pathology, it is imperative to consult a doctor.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages and disadvantages of the metabolic diet
The metabolic diet has the advantage of "unaccustoming" those who have a tendency to excess carbohydrates to eat large quantities of pasta, bread, fruit, legumes.
This aspect turns into a disadvantage, because the system is not normally preserved during maintenance and this implies a restoration of previous habits - therefore the educational aspect is missing.
Another advantage is "elasticity", with the ability to self-adjust. However, this aspect can contribute to failure, due to the disorientation in the management itself.
The low percentage of CHO is "feasible" for those who move little or, at the limit, for those who only practice pure strength sports. Those engaged in resistance activities of considerable intensity will be unlikely to be able to sustain the regime.
The accumulation of ketone bodies, where it occurs, promotes dehydration and constipation - worsened by the lack of fiber - two negative aspects for both the athlete and the sedentary.
