I have been reading around the net and apparantly your body can burn muscle mass as well as fat on this WOE.

Please tell me how to stop this :(. It is not shown in my diet book (Sandra Cabots X factor diet)

Thanks, I am really worried...

"teen" -

if you have a specific question or a specific article that concerns you, perhaps we can help you understand it and find the information you need to make an informed decision for yourself.

there are huge number of misconceptions and simple lies floating out there about low carb eating. a generic "I have been reading around the net" isn't enough to go on. as you may realize, people can self-publish on the net and not all "information" is created equally.

folks who exercise virgourously while starving themselves will most likely lose muscle tissue, yes. if you are eating healthy carbs in the form of veggies and getting plenty of protien, this should not be an issue for you.

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There is no danger of burning muscle on the established low carb programs, since there is sufficient protein to nourish it.

I have never heard of Sandra Cabot's X factor diet. What is it?

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WHAT??!!!

That is ABSURD. I have been eating this way for years & I have NEVER heard THAT as a criticism for this woe (way of eating)! In fact, that's the ONE THING they can't say about this woe... it's just not logical by any stretch of the imagination.
I'm sorry if I sound defensive (and please know that my tirade is NOT directed at you), but that fallacious criticism is downright stupid, if you think about it.
Now, if we were talking about a low-fat diet or an extreme calorie-restricted diet... it would make sense. Heck, even VEGETARIANISM -- when not done properly -- is at high risk for this, but not low-carb.

Muscle loss occurs when the body cannibalizes its own muscle because of LACK OF PROTEIN in the diet.
Hmmm... there's a lot of things you can say about this woe, but accusing it of including too little protein is not one of them.
I'm sorry to sound so hyper-vigilant, but I get really tired of people just coming up with totally random criticisms for this way of eating -- without substantiating them with one shred of scientific evidence.
Teen, do yourself a favor and REALLY educate yourself to the hows & whys of this woe, because this will not be the last ridiculous attack you will hear...
And when you are confident in your knowledgeable decision to eat this way, you'll be able to just let nonsense like this roll off your back!

Summer
-- who, despite 4+ years of muscle depletion can now bench press more than I ever have in my life!!!

I found this about the diet teen is speaking of. Don't have time to look in-depth just now at work.

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April

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I looked up Sandra Cabot - she's pushing her "liver cleansing" diet, and says that Syndrome X is because people need to cleanse their liver, that they will get over their metabolic resistance and get over their insulin resistance if they detoxify the liver. I couldn't find anything specific on her website about what foods are allowed. But the best way to get over metabolic resistance is to follow a low carb lifestyle. Ask anyone on these boards who has to watch every mouthful in order to keep their blood sugar levels from spiking. These are people who have metabolic resistance, and yet they seem to be holding on to their muscles, many being stronger now than they have ever been.

This woe is the best for keeping your muscles and muscle tone. We get adequate protein, so our bodies aren't using our muscle for fuel. We are burning fat, and because most of us are doing at least a little exercise, we are building muscle, and everyone knows that if you build muscle, you burn more fat.

You might try reading some of the low-carb books. There are plenty out there. I personally follow Dr. Atkins, but there are others that are good, and quite a few here are following other plans with great success.

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Nita

Teen,
I don't know if you are male or female or weight train for mass or not. I used to do very heavy weight training and have done some research on the bodybuilding sites. (I wish I could find the links right now but nope).
I would like to share with you what I have experienced and what I've read:
In my 3+ years of LC, I have lost some muscle strength. Now that said... What I've noticed in my experience and research is that your body by changing to Fat Burning lowers the amount of readily available energy for strength. I have found my strength dropped maybe to 80% of where it was when I was using Carbs for energy. However, I can sustain those levels of output for nearly twice as long. For athletes it is suggested that the sprinter should use carbs for the quick energy burst availability and the marathoner to be LC to sustain the long endurance. I off-road race motorcycles and for the short duration stuff like Motocross, I'm worthless. But for the long all day races, I can go all day at a steady pace.
As far as losing muscle mass... If you are extremely overweight, it will be difficult to gauge muscle loss (except by strength) since your muscles are under a layer of useless fat. Mine were.
These are my opinions and from a male perspective. They may not hold true for the female biology.
Good luck with your choices.
Tom.

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Tom
Restart LC 7/05/08

Wow thank you all for your advice!

The X factor diet by Sandra Cabot is much like the Atkins diet I think, except more slightly more liberal in carb intake. She concentrates alot more on cleansing the liver and eating plenty of green leafy veges etc.

I am a male and I apologise for getting freaked out at the sight of those articles. Later on I found another article relating LCE with type II diabetes...I knew that was utter BS dont you all worry!

But yes I do Cardio 5 days a week and bench press, curls, dumbel flies and lats 3 days a week. I feel slightly more weak during exercise sessions after starting this WOE and thts part of the reason why I wanted to ask four all of your opinions.

On this WOE I think it has been about a month now, ive gone from 110 kgs to 100 kgs as of this morning and clothes fit better- lets hope its all fat loss =)

There IS a connection between low carbing and diabetes. It is (a TON of research is now showing) THE only way a diabetic should eat. Works for me. No meds, perfect A1c's . Going on eight years now.

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^ Lol I was reading about the conncection being the other way

Fats in LCE ---> Type II diabetes

I always thought diabetes was becuase body cells were no longer responding to insulin. Nothing to do with fat haha

Well, actually, fat (body fat, not ingested fat) is a component of the metabolic syndrome and usually type2 diabetes. There are chemicals released by fat (adipokines), particularly abdominal fat, that are part of the whole insulin receptor system.

Without getting overly clinical here, eating fat, in and of itself, does not make one fat OR cause cause diabetes . On the other hand, lots of fat, plus lots of carbs, (typical american diet) is a recipe for cardiovasular disease.

... that's what the current research shows.

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