The Atkins or Low Carb Diet is enormously popular right now.
The arguments for the Atkins or Low Carb Diet are largely based on the "hunter-gatherer", or Paleolithic concept.
The idea is that man, since he walked out of the jungles, hunted and - you guessed it - gathered.
In fact, Low Carb proponents argue that this is how man flourished.
The research that has poured out of the laboratories and universities has revealed one danger after another with this dietary system.
First of all, let's start with testosterone.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina found that a low carb (30%) diet lowered free testosterone by about a third and increased cortisol by about a seventh (15%) when compared to a high carb (60%) diet in intensely trained athletes.
This is every guy's worst endocrinological nightmare.
It may seem counterintuitive, but carbs protect your testosterone and keep stress hormones at bay.
One landmark study showed conclusively that a High Protein Diet, similar to the Atkins or Low Carb Diet, greatly decreased blood flow.
Furthermore, the authors pointed out that "fibrinogen, Lp (a), and C-RP increased by an average of 14%, 106%, and 61% respectively".
These are systemic inflammatory markers that have been shown to lead to cardiovascular, erectile and auto-immune diseases.
Furthermore, study after study - and I discuss this below - is coming out showing that the Atkins or Low Carb Diet is very damaging long term as well.
For example, one 2009 study on mice showed greatly decreased vascular health.
The mice had greatly increased arteriosclerosis and the researchers believed that it was because a Low Carb Diet limited the mice's ability to self-repair their vessels.
Another study in the journal Circulation showed "reduced endothelial vasoreactivity".
That means they found the same old curse of saturated fat: it temporarily "hardens" your arteries.
Yes, that means less blood flow and, yes, that will likely cause some issues with male erectile strength.
Furthermore, animal studies have revealed that a High Fat Diet, similar to the Atkins Diet, turns off genes used for proper mitochondrial function.
This has been verified in many animal studies and this is bad - very, very bad.
The researchers in the above study stated that "combined, these results suggest a mechanism whereby HFD [a High Fat Diet] downregulates genes necessary for OXPHOS and mitochondrial biogenesis.
These changes mimic those observed in diabetes and insulin resistance and, if sustained, may result in mitochondrial dysfunction in the prediabetic/insulin-resistant state".
In other words, over the long term a High Fat Atkins Diet could lead to dangerous Metabolic Syndrome issues due to mitochondrial dysfunction.
And remember that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with low testosterone as well.
Just as bad, researchers have found that a Atkins (Low Carb) Diet increases cortisol levels by allowing cortisol to stay in one's system longer.
In other words, cortisol levels slowly built up beyond normal because the body did not break it down as quickly.
And elevated cortisol is associated with weight gain, neuron death and a host of other ills.
If all of that wasn't bad enough, another danger centers around meat consumption, which has been found to be bad for the brain.
Meat, of course, figures prominently in almost all Atkins or Low Carb Diets and one recent large study with 15,000 participants found increased dementia associated with increased meat consumption.
Similarly, another recent large study of Latin American and Asian populations showed that the more meat consumption, the more the dementia.
In addition, a 2009 study on rats showed that a high fat diet (55%) impaired both cognition and exercise capacity.
The animals essentially became "lazy and stupid".
And many people eating fast food and/or an Atkins or Low Carb Diet approach fat levels of 55%.
A Low Carb diet has also been shown to be much more worse for your mood and outlook as well.
Australian scientists placed participants on a Low Fat Diet or Low Carb Diet and, not surprisingly, found that both groups lost an equal amount of weight.
However, the low carb group "felt more angry, depressed and confused" than the Low Fat cohort.
Finally, another danger has recently been found with this diet: rats fed a high fat diet developed cholecystokinin (CCK) resistance.
Cholecystokinin, or CCK, controls blood sugar production in the liver.
A high fat diet limits CCK, leading to overly high CCK levels.
Being CCK resistant will very likely prove to be just as bad as insulin resistant and a high fat diet appears to lead to this condition.
Many people are interested in enhancing their exercise performance, endurance, power and so on.
The above 2009 study on rats found that animals on a high fat diet could run only about half as far as those on a low fat diet.
This is simple chemistry: fat is an inefficient energy source for your muscles.
Stick with the pro-testosterone Mediterranean Diet or Low Fat Diet.
Both of these have solid research behind them showing improvements in cardiovascular and cancer outcomes.
The arguments for the Atkins or Low Carb Diet are largely based on the "hunter-gatherer", or Paleolithic concept.
The idea is that man, since he walked out of the jungles, hunted and - you guessed it - gathered.
In fact, Low Carb proponents argue that this is how man flourished.
The research that has poured out of the laboratories and universities has revealed one danger after another with this dietary system.
First of all, let's start with testosterone.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina found that a low carb (30%) diet lowered free testosterone by about a third and increased cortisol by about a seventh (15%) when compared to a high carb (60%) diet in intensely trained athletes.
This is every guy's worst endocrinological nightmare.
It may seem counterintuitive, but carbs protect your testosterone and keep stress hormones at bay.
One landmark study showed conclusively that a High Protein Diet, similar to the Atkins or Low Carb Diet, greatly decreased blood flow.
Furthermore, the authors pointed out that "fibrinogen, Lp (a), and C-RP increased by an average of 14%, 106%, and 61% respectively".
These are systemic inflammatory markers that have been shown to lead to cardiovascular, erectile and auto-immune diseases.
Furthermore, study after study - and I discuss this below - is coming out showing that the Atkins or Low Carb Diet is very damaging long term as well.
For example, one 2009 study on mice showed greatly decreased vascular health.
The mice had greatly increased arteriosclerosis and the researchers believed that it was because a Low Carb Diet limited the mice's ability to self-repair their vessels.
Another study in the journal Circulation showed "reduced endothelial vasoreactivity".
That means they found the same old curse of saturated fat: it temporarily "hardens" your arteries.
Yes, that means less blood flow and, yes, that will likely cause some issues with male erectile strength.
Furthermore, animal studies have revealed that a High Fat Diet, similar to the Atkins Diet, turns off genes used for proper mitochondrial function.
This has been verified in many animal studies and this is bad - very, very bad.
The researchers in the above study stated that "combined, these results suggest a mechanism whereby HFD [a High Fat Diet] downregulates genes necessary for OXPHOS and mitochondrial biogenesis.
These changes mimic those observed in diabetes and insulin resistance and, if sustained, may result in mitochondrial dysfunction in the prediabetic/insulin-resistant state".
In other words, over the long term a High Fat Atkins Diet could lead to dangerous Metabolic Syndrome issues due to mitochondrial dysfunction.
And remember that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with low testosterone as well.
Just as bad, researchers have found that a Atkins (Low Carb) Diet increases cortisol levels by allowing cortisol to stay in one's system longer.
In other words, cortisol levels slowly built up beyond normal because the body did not break it down as quickly.
And elevated cortisol is associated with weight gain, neuron death and a host of other ills.
If all of that wasn't bad enough, another danger centers around meat consumption, which has been found to be bad for the brain.
Meat, of course, figures prominently in almost all Atkins or Low Carb Diets and one recent large study with 15,000 participants found increased dementia associated with increased meat consumption.
Similarly, another recent large study of Latin American and Asian populations showed that the more meat consumption, the more the dementia.
In addition, a 2009 study on rats showed that a high fat diet (55%) impaired both cognition and exercise capacity.
The animals essentially became "lazy and stupid".
And many people eating fast food and/or an Atkins or Low Carb Diet approach fat levels of 55%.
A Low Carb diet has also been shown to be much more worse for your mood and outlook as well.
Australian scientists placed participants on a Low Fat Diet or Low Carb Diet and, not surprisingly, found that both groups lost an equal amount of weight.
However, the low carb group "felt more angry, depressed and confused" than the Low Fat cohort.
Finally, another danger has recently been found with this diet: rats fed a high fat diet developed cholecystokinin (CCK) resistance.
Cholecystokinin, or CCK, controls blood sugar production in the liver.
A high fat diet limits CCK, leading to overly high CCK levels.
Being CCK resistant will very likely prove to be just as bad as insulin resistant and a high fat diet appears to lead to this condition.
Many people are interested in enhancing their exercise performance, endurance, power and so on.
The above 2009 study on rats found that animals on a high fat diet could run only about half as far as those on a low fat diet.
This is simple chemistry: fat is an inefficient energy source for your muscles.
Stick with the pro-testosterone Mediterranean Diet or Low Fat Diet.
Both of these have solid research behind them showing improvements in cardiovascular and cancer outcomes.
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