Does Low Carb and Low Insulin Cause Low Muscle Mass?

Today, we’re going to talk about a common question many people have about low-carb diets like the ketogenic diet. Does low-carb and low insulin equal low muscle mass?

Dietary Protein and Amino Acid Supplementation:

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It’s true that insulin is anabolic. 

What is anabolic?
Anabolic is a condition where your body is building up muscle proteins. 

The reason bodybuilders do carbo-loading is not to build muscle. It’s to build glycogen. The problem is that when you start spiking insulin, you’re going to create insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your insulin is not working like it should. One of the purposes of insulin is to absorb amino acids because it’s anabolic. But, if you have insulin resistance, you’re not going to absorb the amino acids that well. 

When you do low-carb or keto you and intermittent fasting:
• Improve insulin resistance
• Improve insulin sensitivity
• Start to absorb amino acids and proteins 

Also, when you do keto and intermittent fasting, you trigger something called protein sparing. In other words, your muscles are now protected against the loss of protein. 

I highly recommend that you decrease your carbs and do intermittent fasting if you want to improve your muscle mass. 

A few more things you can do to help build muscle mass:

• Add exercise (weights and higher-volume to the point where your muscles are sore)
• Keep your carbs at 50-60 grams per day (don’t do high-carb)
• Higher dietary protein (8-9 oz. of protein per meal—whole eggs, meat, and fish)
• A good complete amino acid supplement 

Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, 56 years of age is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of The New Body Type Guide and other books published by KB Publishing. He has taught students nutrition as an adjunct professor at Howard University. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.

Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

[pmandregalvao]

I'm stronger, focused, and have way more energy in keto. Intermittent fasting is the best thing to do in your life, good energy, no cravings at all, less sleepiness, burning fat as hell, and building muscles. Carbohydrates makes me feel like trash, my health goes to the hole, and sugar is just poison. My life changed when I met this channel.

[jrgaston]

I’m 50 and I’ve been on Keto/IF for about a year now. For the first time in almost a decade I’m putting on muscle.

[theresag]

Dr. Berg, I have tumors in both kidneys and my thyroid gland. Since i've been on keto my tumors and shrinking. Thank you for your service to the world.

[Lance]

You don't have to convince me. IF and low sugar have given me the body shape and energy levels I've always thought should be normal. I've exercised throughout my life, but even there I've adopted your exercise method(or whatever you'd call it), and I've loved that. Now I look around me at all the sugar being consumed, and instead of craving it, I sort of feel sorry for them.

[NotSoCrazyNinja]

Between you and another doctor on YouTube, I went ahead with keto starting about a couple of months ago and have lost about 35 pounds so far. I've had my ups and down, but I'm so happy to have something actually work. I've wasted so much time trying everything to lose weight. Sheer willpower wasn't enough, but keto was.

[richmiller]

This information is so accurate. I attempted keto off & on for about 2 years but, had too many cheat days that just kept setting me back. Finally, for the past 3 month's I have been doing strict keto & my health is changing for the better. I have always worked out with weights on & off since my teenage years and, never really saw results due to insulin resistance, which I learned from you, created my sleep apnea & loud snoring for over 4 decades due to my bad diet that started at a young age after my parents divorced. Now, at 55 I'm seeing more results from my efforts at the Gym than I ever did when I was younger. I will never go back to the standard American diet again! I really look forward to the 2nd half of life as my sleep & overall health continue to improve. Many thanks to you & Karen for all you do to help improve so many lives!

[Sylphadora]

Eggs are my favourite food in the whole world 🍳🥚 I eat six every day 😋 Not only are they nutritious but they're also very versatile in the kitchen. You can cook them in so many different ways. Also, they're relatively cheap in comparison with meat or fish

[naturetrails]

Great video, Dr. Berg, I hope you make more videos on bodybuilding/weight lifting keto IF lifestyle

[LHCalistenia]

I've been on keto for more than 30 days and my performance in Street Workout improved significantly!

[lillypod]

When I started Healthy Keto and IF I ended up having muscle soreness without exercise. All I did was walk my dog or tend to the garden. Heck I was sore not doing anything at all besides lifting the coffee mug to my face and I was sore.  Now I know why. The Cell doors finally opened up and let Amino Acids in to rebuild my atrophied muscles. I was fat, old and tired all the time before doing Keto/IF. Now I have more energy than when I was 16. I may still be old but I'm no longer fat or tired. :-)

[mr.merleb]

This man is an absolute blessing to society! Thank you as always Dr!

[Total_Body_Fitness_USA]

As an exercise physiologist and functional medicine practitioner in the industry for nearly 3 decades I can say that there is a downside to just about everything you put in your mouth these days BECAUSE people tend to overindulge on the wrong foods. Eating the right carbs is your friend when it comes to building muscle, BUT you must also make sure your intake of protein and fats are good as well. Good fats, good protein, good carbs is the key. Low stress, more rest/sleep on off days, and high volume training as Dr Berg stated. Use heart rate variability as a guide so you don't over train. Intermittent fasting for at least 16 hours is good and eating only in an 8 hour window. My fasting insulin is 1. Yes, 1. My testosterone levels average 750-800 and for being nearly 55 that is about double compared to people my age. There is a lot to this because hormones play such a huge role when it comes to losing body fat and gaining muscle.

Regarding diet, cut out ALL processed foods and sugars. Basically ANYTHING that is white in color. Regarding meat/KETO? That is your call. Do what works for you, but know that cooking meat oxidizes the fats and cholesterol and when you ingest that mess it will alter the function of LDL and HDL making both atherogenic regardless of the carriers size. Not only that, but there are tons of research that show cooked meat of any kind is highly carcinogenic. So, what do you do if you refuse to cut back on meat? Eat as Dr. Berg says by including tons of vegetables and berries to make sure you are taking in enough antioxidants to counteract any negative effects that cooked meat may have on your body.

Regardless of diet, as long as you are taking in enough of the proper nutrients and fasting for at least 16 hours daily and NOT overindulging on ANYTHING, you should do fine. All people are different so you might need to seek out a specialist to run a series of blood tests to check for arterial inflammation, among other things, but don't just follow a diet because it works for someone else. Do what works for you and as long as your interleukin inflammatory markers, TNF-Alpha, SMC-Endothelin, Lp-PLAC2, remain on the low side in the reference range then keep doing what you're doing!

Also, cut back or eliminate ANYTHING that mimics estrogen (xenoestrogens) because if your body sees an increase in estrogen it will shut down testosterone production. There is so much more to this, but I always appreciate Dr Berg sharing his knowledge on health!

[optimizewithscience]

Great video! When I first adopted a low-carb lifestyle + intermittent fasting, I was really worried to lose my "hard-earned" muscles.

As a scientist, I naturally started to dig into the literature and stopped worrying immediately. There are really good studies out there showing that Fasting and/or Keto actually protect from muscle loss!

[ClickToPreview]

You also improve insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity doing the exact opposite and eating a high starchy carb, low (or no) animal protein, low fat diet. It is when you chronically combine (even lean) animal protein WITH higher glycemic carbs in your meals that you get SKYROCKETING insulin which creates a feedback loop of insulin resistance. I've lost weight on keto, and I've lost weight on whole food, plant-based -- THEY BOTH WORK. Now you just have to decide which style of eating brings a better quality of life, longer longevity, and reduces long term health consequences the best. Maybe it's a rotation? During the warmer months, HCLF. During the colder months, LCHF. If you live in the tropics or in the arctic, maybe you stay on one way of eating. Where we get into trouble is when we combine animal protein with higher glycemic carbs (even healthy ones, like potatoes). Of course the other problem is eating lots of refined carbs WITH lots of fat (ice cream, candy bars, french fries, etc). But NEITHER LCHF or HCLF ways of eating do either of these things, so they both work. Now you just have to decide which way works BEST for your particular set of circumstances.

[MikeUIibarri]

Building lean muscle mass and keeping body fat low and the relative nutrition AND the science behind it all.
Things I'm always looking for in your videos. More, please!?

[xiolared]

I’ve been on a health journey for 14 months and my diet and training has evolved the entire time. Started with IF and lost weight but had no definition. Then added weights and went keto. Progress is slow. Added carbs, with low GI, before and after training and composition is changing faster. Remember, health isn’t a one size fits all. You have to figure out what works for you.❤

[c.randall]

Great video!! I like how you didn't even push Keto in this one. I'm sure it will help many w/ type 2 (that don't want to hear about a specific diet) realize that lowering carbs is the way to go. From there, they can transition to Keto on their own. 👍

[Alex-lupn]

I did Keto for 6 months, felt a vast improvement in my health, well-being and even mind, I didn't actually care much about fat loss, always been skinny.
Then I came to know I needed to actually gain a lot of weight, I started strength training and tried to eat a lot as hard as I could on Keto, but didn't gain any weight at all, lost even more.
Then I caved and started eating high carb, hated it, sometimes I cheated and went back to Keto, but eating carbs consistently made me gain a LOT of mass, which included some fat of course.
This is actually a testimonial that you can even *try* to gain weight on keto but won't.
I believe severely underweight men who wish to get big are the only case for high-carb diet.
But ironically that demographic is actually the one most keen on low-carb/keto.
Also, I feel that I gained muscle really fast because when I started strength training and high-carb, right out of keto, my body was extremely sensitive to insulin, which is anabolic.
It's an extremely powerful (even dangerous) combination, jumping from long keto right into high-carb.
This should be talked about more.

[oneanamoly]

This information is spot on. The other part is that everybody doesn't want to be a bodybuilder nor does everybody want to eat and train like a bodybuilder so some people who want to build muscle don't care about being massive

[JRobertoBatista]

I don't like fasting, but a high protein and very low carb diet is amazing to me!
As a type 1 diabetic on a demanding exercise program, it can be pretty hard to spend long hours on an empty stomach.
Thanks a million Doc!