You may know that I have written the Danish book “Sky Høj Forbrænding”.
In the book there is a section about the "Low carb" myth and I have been asked questions about fat loss and LCHF (low carb/high fat) many times...

THE LOW CARB MYTH:

Carbs have become in the 00-10s what fat was in the 90s. Starch and sugar are blamed for everything from obesity, diabetes and bloating to political crises.

Based on the belief that insulin leads to fat storage, the popular explanation is: "As long as you don't eat carbs, you can eat as much as you want and lose fat".

The middle ground in the explanation is often something like "fat is our primary source of metabolism, by nature, and you can't burn fat as long as you have carbohydrates in your system".
Ergo, you have to "teach your body to burn fat - instead of burning carbs".

Of course, human physiology is more complex than giving the body an ultimatum between fat and carbohydrates.

Because we need both. We burn fat primarily at rest, and we burn carbohydrates during intense activity. Optimally, we are able to switch between both energy sources fairly quickly and effortlessly.

This is called flexible metabolism.

The truth is also that the body has countless mechanisms to store fat - even without the spikes in insulin caused by carbohydrate intake.

If you are in a calorie surplus, you will store fat whether you eat carbs or not.

"BUT I LOST WEIGHT SO QUICKLY WHEN I FIRST WENT LOW CARB!!!"

The reason why you quickly see a lower number on the scale when you cut out carbs (sugar and starch) is that without carbs, your muscles' glucose stores are reduced.

Glucose stores are carbohydrate stores (which also contain fluid, 3 grams per 1 gram of carbohydrate) that are easier for the body to utilise during intense activity (such as sprinting for the bus) than sugar from the bloodstream.

No carbs coming in = small glucose stores.

Kilos lost on the scale. And that triggers a roar of joy and motivates further carbohydrate restriction.

AND THEN I FELL IN AND GAINED 3KG OVERNIGHT - I REALLY CAN'T TOLERATE CARBS!

Problem #1 is that when you fall in (because you will at some point - unless you have willpower stronger than your body's primitive cry for survival, the healthiness of which is debatable), you see a huge increase in weight the next day. And panic.

Which often leads to a feeling of loss of control, further restriction, more falling in - and so the cycle continues.

But the increase in weight in the first place is entirely due to replenished carbohydrate stores in the muscles! So no, you haven't just put on 3kg of fat overnight and your metabolism is just fine. In fact, replenishing those carbohydrate stores is energy-intensive, so it gives a boost to your overall metabolism.

"AND I WORK OUT AND WORK OUT AND NOTHING HAPPENS!"

Problem #2 is that before you hit the ground running and while you're hanging in there, your training output and/or desire to train decreases.

You feel like you're training hard. But in absolute terms, you're training with lower and lower intensity and power development every time. Training with depleted carbohydrate stores is like driving without petrol in the tank. Not very efficient.

Your workout feels gruelling, yes. But you're not training hard.
Numerous studies have repeatedly shown a huge drop in exercise performance on low carb diets.

And since it is the training effort and intensity that determines how high your metabolism is over a 24-hour period, the metabolism decreases as the training intensity decreases.

"WELL, I LOST A LOT OF FAT TO BEGIN WITH. MAYBE MY METABOLISM HAS STALLED?"

The main reason why low carb has proven to be effective at losing fat fast is that you often eat more of the foods that are more filling - such as fibre-rich vegetables and satiating protein - and fewer of the empty calories that have a low satiety factor.

This in itself allows you to create an energy deficit so you lose weight without feeling hungry all the time.

But the body is smart! So when your brain recognises that you're in a calorie and carbohydrate deficit over a longer period of time (anywhere from 4 days if you're already slim; to 6 weeks if you have more fat stores to work off), it turns up the hunger signals.

And then you start eating more without even realising it!

Combined with lower exercise output from before, you end up with more calories eaten and fewer calories burned.

And much to your frustration, you stop losing weight. Yes, even if it's the "healthy" oils you're eating.

No, this doesn't mean you should jump straight into the sugar bowl. It just means that maybe your body's needs have shifted and your carbohydrate tolerance has improved after a longer period without or after starting an exercise programme, and maybe you need to try reintroducing carbs. Or maybe you need to cut back on the stone-age bread.

If what you're doing right now (such as low carb / LCHF) is working for you right now - then keep doing it! Just keep this post in mind if you suddenly hit a point where it no longer works for you. Then it's time to do something else.

YES, YOU CAN GAIN WEIGHT WITH CLEAN EATING AND LOW CARB.

In fact, it has been shown, especially for women, that excessive fat intake can over time lead to leptin resistance, a condition where the brain becomes deaf to the signals that fat cells throughout the body send via the hormone leptin: "Hey, we have plenty of fat, stop eating now". In other words, the appetite regulation in the brain is disrupted and you end up eating more than you burn. And gain weight.

The same thing also happens with excessive intake of all kinds of calories, and this happens easily if you eat 11-14 times a day. By the way, this is a real example from a diet diary of one of my clients - not all the meals were big, but food was coming into the system pretty much all day long!

Note - still not a word about low metabolism. But disordered appetite regulation!

INSULIN AND CARBS ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY.

So insulin is not dangerous. Healthy people have large fluctuations in insulin on a daily basis, which is affected not only by carbohydrates, but also by:

• Protein (yes, it sometimes causes bigger fluctuations in insulin than carbs!)
• Meal frequency (how often you eat)
• The size of your meal
• The level of stress in your everyday life
• Sleep quality

The acute effect of insulin has even been shown in several studies to regulate appetite!

YES! If you eat a meal that causes your insulin to spike - it turns out that you tend to eat less at a later meal, even if it's sweets and cake we're talking about.

Assuming you don't have metabolic syndrome (diabetes 2) or, for example, eat junk food and sweets all day long (that'll mess up even the healthiest body in the long run).

But note that recent research has shown that it's insulin resistance and diabetes that cause problematic blood sugar management - not the other way round. What do you think about that?

One girl wrote to me:

"I just haven't found the pattern yet with my insulin use (I have type 1 diabetes) - even though I eat the same things, it changes how much insulin I need. Yes, I haven't monitored my sleep and stress levels. Could that have an impact?"

And yes, the resounding answer is YES.

CARBOHYDRATES AND INSULIN ARE ONE (TINY) PIECE OF THE PUZZLE.

So instead of looking at individual factors like insulin in relation to our ability to burn fat, it makes more sense to create an environment that ensures;

• all our hormones are in balance (it's healthy to have high cortisol and insulin at times! It's not just about having them down, down, down)
• our appetite and blood sugar regulation works as it should
• our circadian rhythm is well-calibrated
• that everyday life is sustainably structured, where we don't run around putting out fires all the time and cramming more things into our diary than we can humanly manage (This is probably where you start. The food is secondary in my eyes. Because your response to the food you eat is determined by how much or how little in balance you are).