A few days ago there were a few articles on “Today” paper and Channel news asia (here is the online article) about the “evils” of low carbohydrate diets. They are simply incorrect.
Here are my thoughts…and what I wrote about in my reply to them.
“It’s a shame that there are so many myths about what kind of diet is best for health, many consumers get so confused.”
Ok for some people, but not for others
“My role as a fitness expert is to help as many people as possible to achieve their health and fitness goals by helping them prevent disease, live long and be productive each and every day”
In this article (“Noodles? Yes, please!” TODAY Newspaper, Singapore Jul 14 2009) it is mentioned that low carb diets cause side effects such as fatigue, poor concentration, and dizziness, as well as bad breath. And that low carb diets only result in water loss rather than actual weight loss.
In reality, the side effects are temporary and minor. And the benefits of stable blood sugar and reduced insulin response are major for those with weight problems.
Fatigue, concentration, dizziness and bad breath only happen is a small percentage of people and only when they are transitioning their body from using carbs, to using fat for fuel. This usually lasts only a few days and if done under the care of a fitness professional, are totally safe and not serious. Bad breath can be helped by some simple sugar free mints.
Coach Wong explains how it is not about low carb diets being good or bad.
“I am not a low carbohydrate supporter”. I am a “correct” carbohydrate supporter. We help over 300 clients per year with personal nutrition and training plans at the Genesis Performance Center.
Some of our clients like eat less than 40g of carbohydrates per day and get great results. Others are on food plans where they take in more than 400g of carbohydrates per day and this is optimal for them.
The timing and type of carbohydrate also matter alot. A banana eaten after a hard training session is totally different from a plate of noodles eaten at lunch time.
This is because there is a large genetic difference in our ability to use carbohydrates efficiently and our nutrition plans need to account for those differences.
That is also why there are so many different kinds of diets and diet books. The zone, protein power, atkins etc. They all work for different people but none of them work for everybody. We are all different.
In our center we use a special method of measuring body fat that can help us determine what kind of nutrition plan is best for this client at this point in their life and at their current level of body fat.
“It is not ideal for everybody to go on a low carbohydrate diet, but on the other hand it is not responsible for health professionals to recommend high carbohydrate low fat diets for general health because alot of people will get less healthy doing that. Diet needs to be customized for current fitness levels, genetics and ethnicity.”
Join our personal training program to get your exercise and diet customized for you.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is why I chose to train here =) A REAL customized eating plan and not some blanket ‘proprietary’ diet. And not to mention the immerse wealth of knowledge connected to health you possess. BTW, I haven’t spot anyone with bad breath at Genesis.
we appreciate the kind words Brenda, you are doing well and I am proud to have u as a client:) and yes please feel free to check the breaths of the other gym members haha.