I had success with Atkins about 3 years ago, I loss alot of weight and when I finally had the courage to come out of the induction phase (3 months induction) I found my cravings for carbs to be so overpowering it drove me to a bingefest. I gained all the weight back and about 20 more pounds. I am now in the gym and working out 5 days a week and taking the weekend off.

My question is what is the science behind CAD/CALP? In atkins we know that your glycogen is depleted which causes you to go into Ketosis (Fat Burning). I tested something out like 3 days ago.... I was in Ketosis for 2 days (Tested by Ketostix) and I gave the one meal a try and did not go past the 1 hour. I waited about 9 hours to retest with Ketostix and was surprised that I was out of Ketosis.

How can you burn fat if you are not in Ketosis? Please assist with a creditable reply.

Thanks

Hi-Good question-as I biologist, A CADder and an avid re-reader of the Hellers books I think I can answer your question. The basis of the diet is insulin. The Hellers claim that some people are hyperinsulinemic (blood level of insulin is too high). These higher levels of insulin cause 2 major problems-they produce carbo craving and they make cells "insulin resistant". It is this insulin resistance that causes the most trouble. Because the cells are not taking in insulin to burn carbs, even more insulin remains in the bloodstream. Another effect of high blood insulin is the interaction it has with another hormone called glucogen. Glucogen signals fat cells to release stored energy. Studies have been done to show that the presence of insulin decreases the effectiveness of glucogen so that it is less effective at removing stored energy from fat cells.

And so......The CAD diet in designed to prevent high blood insulin levels. 2 Meals a day are very much like atkins. No snacking is allowed. A major difference is the Reward meal. It consists of 1-2 cups of salad to start and then a meal balanced into 1/3 protien, 1/3 vegies (certain types) and 1/3 carbs. You may choose whatever you like as long as it is balanced and eaten within 1 hour. Obviously this meal will evoke a release of insulin,but eating it within an hour avoids a second release of insulin, thus creating a level of insulin that will in turn produce carb cravings. It is my understanding (although not perfectly clear) that this original insulin surge is balanced by the carbs in the reward meal.

I have lost 10.5 pounds in 2 weeks, I feel great and love what I eat.

Donna,
Thank you for such a detail reply. I am starting a CAD diet this monday and will begin to decrease my carb intake. I workout very heavy and hope the reward meal will act as a buffer for energy (Glycogen). Now, I have a 2nd question....like I said, I was in Ketosis for 2 days and the minute I attempted to eat a 1 hour reward meal, I was out of Ketosis. The next morning I verified this by Ketostix. My question is while doing CAD/CALP type diets, are you still in Ketosis??

Please reply

James

James
Usually not though some CADers do get into ketosis better than they ever did on Atkins. It's an individual thing. That is the answer to a lot of questions with CAD. It's an individual thing. CAD is a program needs to be tailored to the individuals own body chemistry and food sensitivities. It's about listening to your body and it's reaction to particular foods and stresses.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the reply.
I am still interested in the science behind the CAD/CALP diet. I understand the diet has different effects on certain people, but I am interested in the science of the diet. How is fat metabolized and how can you burn fat if Ketones are not present in the body? I am not being a skeptic, I know a low carb diet will produce major weight loss, I am just interested in why and how CAD/CALP metabolize fat when you are still ingesting Carbs. To be successful at something, you have to have a full understanding of what you are attempting to do.

I have spoken with alot of people who are on a low carb diet and they simply dont understand how they are metabolizing fat, the number one answer I recieve is " I dont know, your body just coverts fat into energy". Well if you dont know how the body operates, how the body converts fats, and the way the body rebuilds tissue and release stored energy; your weight loss will be limited to a small amount.

I am seeking an informative answer to this question. I'm an amatuer bodybuilder and noticed my body storing fat at an incredible rate. A high carb low fat diet is suicide for me and I have to begin metabolizing fat more efficently. In order for me to be successful, I have to know how this diet metabolize fat. A low carb diet will help burn fat, and the weight training will deplete glycogen out of the system to help shift your body into Ketosis. I see a big advantage to the CAD diet because your are able to eat carbs which will give you energy for your workouts.

The #1 problem with trying to train hard with weights in Ketosis is that you are drained of energy and you cant gain muscle rapidly while in Ketosis. With this diet, you can burn fat and still have the fuel for your workouts. So, again my question is are you in Ketosis with CAD/CALP and if not, how are you metabolizing fat??

Thanks
James

I think that fat gets burned because we are carb free 23 of 24 hours ,also my daily carb count is generally between 40-80 so its high compared to induction but quite low compared to the way most people eat.

Donna

Sorry
I thought you were asking two separate questions. I'll see if I can link the answers for you.

Any diet can burn fat. The problem is that most diets don't deal with the underlying insulin problem and therefore burn more muscle than fat. The Atkins diet burns fat and more fat by using the ketogenic advantage which forces your body to burn fat at a higher rate because it's not giving the body carbs thereby raising your insulin levels and preventing you from burning fat. The ketones are present because when fat is burned not all of the fat is burned completely and leaves behind ketones which get eliminated in your urine. Since Atkins burns more fat there are more ketones concentrated in your urine and thus the levels are high enough to register on keto stiks.

CAD also burns fat albeit at a slower rate than Atkins. Therefore ketones are also present in a CADers body. It's just that the concentration of ketones is not at the same level as Atkins and thus might not register on ketostik. As I said, conversely, some CADers do register ketones better than while they were on Atkins. Personally, I think this is because some foods on Atkins raise the insulin levels of carbohydrate addicts even though they are lc foods and prevent a CA from getting into a ketogenic state. This problem might be eliminated for a lot on CAD.

Also the level of water you drink can also inhibit a reaction on ketostik.

Now back to insulin. Atkins suppresses insulin in the body and so does CAD. Even though you're eating carbs on CAD, the timing of those carbs and the other lc foods you eat controls your insulin levels. Insulin tells the body to store fat. Glucogen tells the body to burn fat. Ketones are the byproduct of burned fat. You lose fat on CAD because insulin is supressed and glucogen is not. Glucogen burns fat. CADer's generally lose 1-2 pounds a week. At that level the ketones, though present are not enough to register on ketostik. Some people on CAD lose faster and some have enough ketones to register on ketostik especially if they're are not drinking large amounts of water.

Did this help?

This appears to be the answers I was seeking. I appreciate your reply, and I think I will attempt to build a plan around my workouts. So let me ask this question.

If I ate 3 LC meals and after I workout I have my Creatine (Cell Tech) which has 10g of Creatine, 75 Sugars, and 75 Carbs and some Nitro Tech Shake made with 2% Milk 55g of protein, 18 carbs, and 4 fat (I would count this as my reward meal), will I stay within the guidelines of a CAD type diet?

I have no problem with eating low carb for 3 meals but after I workout, I have a 15 minutes (Anabolic Window) to get Creatine and Protein in me to build muscle. After my workout I would go to sleep. I workout at night which helps me sleep better. Please reply.

Thanks
James

One of the three meals should be half the size of the others, a snack. Being a man and body building you can get away with larger portions so three reasonable sized lc meals might work fine.

I don't see a problem with counting the creatine as your reward meal. I do see a problem with having that many carbs and going right to sleep. I think the body needs time for digestion and to burn some of the carbs off before going to sleep. Trainer Dan on the general or Atkins board can answer the timing question better than I. Why don't you post that question over there, just put Trainer Dan question in the post title.

Caveat--There are foods that are allowed on Atkins that are not allowed on CAD so you have to follow the foods allowed on CAD. There is a cheat sheet I developed on the CAD forum here

Good Luck.

Hi, James.....do not wish to belabour the points already made, but am chiming in on this very interesting discussion of the biological underpinnings of CAD/CALP. It's great to see someone so knowledgeble and interested in how it works!

As I understand it, ketone bodies are a by-product of the metabolism of either body fat or dietary fat. Ketones do not burn fat, they are the leftovers of an inefficient metabolic process the body would prefer to not do at all.

The body prefers to burn glucose. It would prefer that you provide it w/ a steady stream of blood glucose, just enough to keep it running well, but not too much. When there is insufficient glucose available in the bloodstream, the body goes to stored energy areas and starts burning that energy by converting it from fat to glucose. Ketone bodies are produced as this conversion occurs. They are not useful to the body, but are thrown off as waste products by the lungs, skin and kidneys.

Testing for urinary ketones does not prove that you are burning stored body fat. It can also show that you are burning fat you've just eaten, have broken down into glucose and ketone bodies, and are in the process of using the glucose and throwing off the ketones.

The role of insulin in the body is to keep the circulating levels of glucose within strict guidelines. It "escorts" glucose out of the blood into either organ or fat cells. It pulls stored energy out of fat cells and helps turn it into usable glucose. The body cannot burn fat as it burns glucose....it converts fat into glucose and then escorts it into organ cells to be used. Ketones are the "ashes" of this conversion or "combustion" process.

Organ cells use glucose up as energy. Fat cells store it as fat for future use. Excess glucose is not normally permitted to float around the bloodstream. This is why insulin-dependent diabetics take insulin.....to get the blood glucose down to acceptable levels by tucking it away in organ cells to be used, or fat cells to be stored.

Those who are "insulin resistant" have their organ cells refuse to accept the insulin-glucose combination because excessive insulin is harmful to organ cells and they protect themselves by "resisting". When that happens, the last place the body can store the excess energy is in the fat cells. These folks secrete their own insulin, but may also take insulin injections to force the organ cells to accept more of the circulating blood glucose. Blood glucose levels are kept within levels acceptable by the body.

Those who are called "Carbohydrate Addicts" are actually very insulin-resistent and secrete ever increasing levels of their own insulin to try to force the organ cells to accept more insulin-glucose molecules. They usually store fat very easily and give it up reluctantly. CAD/CALP seeks to limit the release of insulin by dietary restrictions to avoid storing more body fat, and to enhance burning already stored body fat. Hence "weight-loss".

The way you "burn body fat" is to create a deficit of energy in the body, forcing it to pull stored energy out and use it up. As your body does this, it metabolizes stored body fat and leaves behind ketones as a waste product. You create this deficit by taking in less energy than you require and/or increasing the energy requirement. i.e., eat less, exercise more and create more muscle tissue, which uses energy.

Carbohydrate Addicts still have the problem of secreting lots of insulin. Once trained to do so, the pancreas doesn't give this up. CAD/CALP helps you eat less by helping to control your appetite, induced by insulin. It truly is the "fat-making hormone". But CAD/CALP also restricts the release of insulin by restricting the intake of high-carb foods to once a day. The pancreas releases insulin based on how much it had to release over the preceding twenty-four hour period to handle carb intake. Fewer carbs eaten during the preceding day means less insulin secreted when carbs are eaten. Hence, the CM/RM concept. We keep our carb intake low all the time except for one period every day.

Our pancreas also secretes a second wave of insulin if it perceives that we need it. If we keep eating and use up the circulating blood insulin, the pancreas secretes more. By limiting our RM to not more than 60 continuous minutes, we avoid this secondary release and do not store additional fat.

HTH......good luck on this plan. It's a wonderful way to live!

Wow what an articulate and easy to understand explanation-Thanks for taking the time to write it out for us!!!

Aw, shucks....t'warn't nuthin'......I just like to blather on. Anyway, it's just my understanding of how it works, ya know?

Amy (adukart), I thought you'd find these posts interesting..seening that we both are following this WOE and are trying to build muscle and lose body fat.

Oh yeah and I wanted to add that I've done the ketostix test and seem to be in ketosis...shows up trace or small.

I still have to go through and read this whole thread, looks very interesting so I printed it. Anyways, your plan sounds ideal for your lifestyle & your goals but it isn't really a CAD or CALP way of eating. Your shake is loaded with nutrients you need as a bodybuilder but it is my belief that on CAD or CALP you are learning to eat real foods with balance and moderation so you can face day-to-day situations without caving in and overeating the wrong foods. Your shake is not a "real meal" and although it may fit the criteria, I don't believe shakes or even bars are supposed to be meals on a regular basis. I'm interested to see what others say. Still ,even if it's not essentially CAD or CALP, it still sounds like an appropriate plan for you. Good luck!