A. The Anabolic Diet was the predecessor for the Metabolic Diet and was originally written for competitive bodybuilders so they could get down to very low levels of body fat while at the same time maintaining as much of their muscle mass as possible. As such it was set up to be a very low carb diet for 5 days of the week and a higher carb diet (much more socially acceptable) on the weekends. Basically it's almost the same as the Strict Phase of the Metabolic Diet. However, the Metabolic Diet, by outlining the various ways to modify carb intake and find your carbohydrate set point, as well as having the Metabolic Index as a guide to fat loss and body composition, is a more advanced diet.

I wrote The Metabolic Diet for anyone who exercises and wants to look good and perform better. As such it can be used by everyone from competitive bodybuilders to those who just want to lose some weight and or body fat and just look good, because you can adjust your carb intake to the level that works best for you, is not as rigid or restrictive as the Anabolic Diet. In fact the idea behind the Metabolic Diet is to individualize the diet by finding the lowest optimum level of dietary carbohydrates.

Although The Metabolic Diet is not necessarily a low carb diet, it can be for those who are genetically efficient fat oxidizers and as such do very well on low levels of dietary carbs. Because of the low carb overtones, there may be some resistance from people who believe that having high levels of complex carbs in the diet is the only way to go. I ran into this problem big time when I introduced the Anabolic Diet but given that The Metabolic Diet is a variable carb diet, and even in those that do well on low carbs, there are high carb intervals built into the diet, I don't expect the same response today. That's because you're encouraged to find the carb level that works best for unique metabolism.

Also things have changed since I first wrote my Anabolic Diet back in 1994. Since that time low carb dieting has become more popular although hardly mainstream. As well the general population is being exposed to information about the fallacy of low fat diets and the value of fats in our diets. Bottom line is that The Metabolic Diet brings everything the Anabolic Diet has to offer and a lot more, to anyone who is interested in a healthy, trim and fit body.

A. That's a good question. By "catabolic" we mean forces that break down muscle and use it for energy. When existing muscle is broken down, your body will lose its tone and may become flabby. the Metabolic Diet, accompanied by proper exercise actually results in the body producing higher levels of testosterone and IGF-1, anabolic hormones, and lower levels of cortisol, a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands that leads to catabolism. By increasing anabolism and lessening catabolism we insure that the body retains important muscle mass and tone while you lose weight.

It has been shown that the carb-loading phase of the diet results in decreased cortisol levels. In one experiment the hormonal effects of muscle carbohydrate loading manipulations followed by a carb poor diet were studied. Carb loading provided decreased levels of cortisol not only during the carb loading phase but also in the following carb-poor time period. Also the higher fat levels and red meat that are allowed in the diet both lead to increased levels of testosterone, the most anabolic hormone in our bodies.

A. If you're overweight, there are probably parts of your body that cause you particular distress. For many people the stomach, thighs and backside cause particular troubles. Often, on the carb-based diets, you'll begin to lose weight but not in the areas where you're at your worst. For instance, your face may become slim while your thighs stubbornly refuse your weight loss efforts. It can be very frustrating.

One of the great things about the Metabolic Diet is that you lose weight in those most troublesome spots from the very beginning. On a higher fat/low carb diet, one of the first places a man will begin to lose weight is in his stomach. While other diets may find it nearly impossible to deflate that spare tire, it's one of the first places the higher fat/low carb diet attacks.

On women, the thighs are also affected quickly. You'll be losing bodyfat in other areas around the body, but you'll find that stubborn cellulite melting away quickly. What happens on the higher fat/low carb diet is that fat stored on your body is treated like dietary fat and is burned to provide energy for the body as needed.

This doesn't happen on a carbohydrate-based diet where your body will do almost anything to save those fat depots. Glycogen and then muscle are used up to provide energy once immediate stores in the bloodstream run out. When the body begins to starve, its metabolic rate slows (and thyroid hormone levels fall) so as to use as little energy as possible. Depot fat will eventually be used but only at a very slow rate.

You don't see as much of a lowering of basal metabolic rates on the higher fat/low carb diet. The body continues to hum along using both dietary fat and the fat on your body for energy. Those pesky, stubborn depot sites in the stomach, thighs and buttocks melt away equally with other bodyfat as your body slims and firms. This is especially true of the stomach in both sexes. In fact, one of the most noticeable initial effects of The Metabolic Diet is the immediate impact it has around the middle.

A. One of the problems with a high carb diet is that, when you lose weight, an awful lot of body tone and muscle can go with it. You can end up looking like a starved chicken. This doesn't happen on our diet. Far from what you've been led to believe, eating fat doesn't lead to getting fat. In fact, high dietary fat is instrumental in increasing lipolysis or the breakdown of fat on the body. On the high carb diet, if you exercise correctly and do everything else right, you'll find that about 60 percent of your weight loss is fat and 40 percent muscle. On the higher fat/lower carb diet, especially when combined with exercise, I've found that those percentages can go way down to over 90 percent fat and less than 10 percent muscle and that's a real boon for someone who wants to maintain body tone as he or she slims down. With the higher fat/lower carb diet, you get down to the weight you want and lose more bodyfat but you also find yourself maintaining a lot more of the lean body mass that makes you look fit and firm.

To visualize this, let's take two women who weigh 150 pounds and are virtually identical. One is put on a popular high carb diet. The other one the Metabolic Diet. If they both lose 10 pounds, you'll find the one on the higher fat/low carb diet losing more bodyfat while retaining more lean mass and muscle tone. You'll not only have lost weight, but retained a firmer body as well.

Often, on the high carb diet, you'll find people dropping the weight but retaining too much bodyfat. They still look flabby. At the same time, they'll lose muscle tone and their body ends up looking shapeless. What's the use?

The Metabolic Diet will help you lose weight while getting you a body with less fat and more shape. Given the choice, which diet would you rather be on?

A. Plateaus, lengthy periods where you will experience no progress, can be a real problem on any diet. They can drive you crazy. You'll be doing everything you're supposed to be doing and, all of a sudden, hit a brick wall. Weight loss stalls short of your goal. This can destroy your momentum and ruin your motivational outlook.
Fortunately, these plateaus occur far less frequently on The Metabolic Diet. The metabolic shift you make to becoming a "fat burning" machine ensures consistent fat loss while the overall energy increase and loss of the couch potato mentality resulting from those dulling high-carb meals keep motivation at a high level. You simply feel better and more energetic on The Metabolic Diet and this pays large dividends in staying active and doing the things necessary to maximize weight loss and body toning.

A. Though the diet in itself will give you weight loss, exercise will be necessary to making the diet as successful as it can be. Along that line, we've provided an exercise program to use with the diet later in this book. With the success you achieve from a combination of the diet and an exercise program, you may find yourself becoming a real "gym rat" if you don't watch out. Exercise, in and of itself, can be very addicting and it will become even more so when you see what it can do in combination with The Metabolic Diet.
Some of you, however, may be concerned about overall endurance on a higher fat/low carb diet. The popular belief is that physical endurance is related to the amount of carbohydrates stored in muscle. Many feel that a diet where less carbs are consumed, like The Metabolic Diet, leads to a state where you get tired faster.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Here's the way the body really works to burn energy. In the popular high carb/low fat diet, when you begin exercising, all the glucose in the blood is used almost immediately for energy. At that point, the glycogen or carbohydrate stores in the muscle are used for energy. After 15 minutes or so, they're gone too. At that point your body has to revert to burning fat or existing muscle for fuel. Unfortunately, when you're on the high carb diet, your body isn't very efficient at burning fat. Sure, you'll burn some fat for energy. But almost half of what will be burned for energy will be protein (the source and substance of all muscle). If you want a body that looks firm and fit, burning protein and muscle isn't a good idea.
Once you've shifted over on the higher fat/low carb diet, though, your body is primed to use fat for energy and to rely less on the glycogen stored in your liver and muscles. As exercise continues the body primarily taps into your fat stores for the energy it needs, sparing the glycogen as much as possible for use when it's really necessary. Fat becomes almost like sugar to the body, and it will favor utilizing fat stores over muscle and liver glycogen stores for energy. The result is that endurance can be enhanced over high carb diets. Also the body tends to lay down less fat and use more body fat for providing needed energy.
Thus with The Metabolic Diet, as against the high carb diets, the end result is a leaner more muscular body since the body is much less likely to make fat and more likely to burn it off. Better body tone results. If you're interested in shaping your body or even going further and doing some beginning bodybuilding, The Metabolic Diet is the diet you want to be on.

A. At this point, a little biochemistry lesson may be in order so you can get a better idea of why The Metabolic Diet is superior to the competition. Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is the source of all metabolic activity in the human body. In order to get the energy the body needs for muscle contraction, breathing, brain cell function and virtually all other activities, ATP must be generated. People have gotten the idea that you must have the glycogen and the glucose that comes from carbohydrates for the body to produce and replenish ATP and survive.
What people don't understand is that the body can produce glucose without taking in carbs (gluconeogenesis) and that protein and fat can be used to provide energy and replenish ATP. It's a misconception that you must have large amounts of dietary carbs to function.
When carbohydrates make up the bulk of your diet, you basically burn the glucose from the carbs as energy. Glucose enters the bloodstream and it's either used for immediate energy or stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. The glucose not stored as glycogen is made into triglycerides (bodyfat). When needed for energy, the stored glycogen is converted back to glucose and used up directly by a cell or transported through the bloodstream to other body cells for conversion and use as energy.
When fat and protein make up more of your diet, you don't have those large amounts of glycogen or glucose available for energy anymore. Most of your energy will come from the breakdown of free fatty acids in your diet or from the fat stored on your body. As we discussed, some of the energy will come from glucose that is produced from mainly from glycerol (part of our body fat) and amino acids (at least on low carb diets). Instead of burning the stored glycogen or glucose for energy, the body burns free fatty acids or triglycerides (the storage form of the free fatty acids) and the glucose that it makes.
Basically, a diet high in fat activates the lipolytic (fat burning) enzymes in your body and decreases the activity of the lipogenic (fat producing) enzymes. Dietary free fatty acids and triglycerides become the body's main energy source. The triglycerides are broken down to free fatty acids and then ketones, a source that can be used for energy by body cells. In short, the free fatty acids and ketones take the place of glucose and the triglycerides act like glycogen.
When carbs are the main form of energy to the body, the body produces insulin to process it and store it. This is all well and good but one of the problems with insulin is that it activates the lipogenic (fat producing) enzymes on the body and decreases the activity of the lipolytic (fat burning) enzymes. What this leads to is an increased storing of body fat and a decrease in the amount of stored fat that will be burned.
The exact opposite occurs on the higher fat/lower carb diet. After undergoing the "metabolic shift" from being a carb-burning machine to a fat-burner, lipogenesis (the production and laying down of fat on the body) decreases, and lipolysis (the burning of both dietary and bodyfat for energy) increases. You're burning fat as your primary fuel, and instead of using glycogen or breaking down precious protein, you'll burn off the fat on your body for energy as needed.
This can have a big effect on overall bodyfat, and research has now begun to document the fact that while on a higher fat low carb diet, weight loss is due to the almost exclusive loss of bodyfat. In one study of ideal-weight human subjects, it was found that higher fat diets were accompanied by a very strong lipolytic (fat-burning) effect. In another study focusing on obese subjects, it was found that, when offered high carb/relatively low fat diets or low carb/relatively higher fat diets, the subjects on the lower carb diets lost significantly more fat. Though prevailing wisdom would predict that the higher fat diet would simply make people fatter, they actually lost more weight on the higher fat diet.
It may sound crazy, but that's the way the body works. Contrary to what most people believe fat oxidation is regulated primarily by carbohydrate intake rather than by fat intake. Once you've adapted to a higher fat/low carb diet, fat doesn't beget fat. Despite what you've been told, a properly designed higher fat/lower carb diet doesn't put fat on. It takes fat off.
Similar results have occurred in animal studies. Meanwhile, I've seen and heard of the positive effects of a high-fat diet time and time again both in my own practice, and from countless others who have tried it. The fat melts away. At the same time, as a bonus, body tone can be improved markedly thanks to the "protein protecting" nature of the diet.

A. In fact, we don't want you making a lot of changes in your diet in the early weeks. Any diet, even The Metabolic Diet, is going to be hard enough to adapt to. So don't change the amount of calories you're eating. Don't get into some serious body-shaping regimen or otherwise make it hard on yourself. In these first weeks, simply concentrate on replacing the carbohydrates you eat with fat and protein.
If you're going to go through the strict part of The Metabolic Diet and ensure that you go through the "metabolic shift" as quickly and efficiently as possible, do not load up on carbs over the first weekend. Continue the high fat/low carb phase during that time!
Let me repeat this because it's important. I want you to begin the higher fat/lower carb phase of the diet on a Monday. Then continue that phase all the way through the first weekend and second week. On the second Saturday following the beginning of the diet, you'll do your first carb loading. By beginning the diet with 12 days of high fat/low carb consumption, the metabolic shift will occur quickly and with certainty.
Hypothetically, some dieters may decide to begin the diet on Wednesday and then immediately begin carb loading two days later. This isn't close to enough time to make the metabolic shift. Don't do it.
If you go the first 12 days on the higher fat/low carb cycle before performing a carbohydrate load you'll be fine. It may be a little difficult, but it will get the job done.
On the other hand we've included several two week diet plans on these pages that are based on a more moderate dietary carb intake. It might be a good idea to go on this more moderate lower carb diet to see how your body responds to cutting back on dietary carbs. If you don't run into any problems and you feel good then it might be worthwhile to start at the first or induction level of The Metabolic Diet and see whether even lower carb levels are best for you.

A. A complete physical from your doctor is a necessity. If you already have a cholesterol problem, you need to know about it. Cholesterol levels are largely determined by individual metabolism and body chemistry, and genetics play a strong role. If you've had cholesterol problems in your family there's a good chance you may have them, too. And if you have a chronic problem with cholesterol you need to talk to your doctor about how The Metabolic Diet may affect this, and what you can do to limit any adverse affects. Frequent monitoring of your lipid status will let you know where you stand and if changes need to be made.
There are adjustments you can make to The Metabolic Diet to control your cholesterol intake if needed. Marine oils, flaxseed oil, olive oil and other nutritional supplements and alternatives will help. Meat restriction may also be necessary. But, again, this is something you need to work with your physician on. If The Metabolic Diet seems like the answer to you, you'll have to put your heads together to devise a plan where you can benefit from the weight loss and toning advantages the diet provides while keeping cholesterol in check.
A blood workup will be necessary with your physical. It should include a complete blood count, cholesterol levels (total, LDL, and HDL), TSH (a test for thyroid function), fasting blood sugar, serum uric acid, serum potassium, liver function array and BUN. Your doctor may want to go beyond this but, bare minimum, you NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST THE ABOVE BLOODWORK DONE before starting the diet. Along with checking for possible pre-existing problems, these tests can also clear up any future questions you may have about the effect of the diet in these areas.
We also urge you to weight yourself and get a bodyfat analysis before you begin the diet. Weight loss is important but so are inches. You should understand that there are times when, for a variety of reasons, you might not be losing much weight but you're subtracting that ugly bodyfat. It will help keep your enthusiasm high in these moments if you know that progress is being made in other areas and your body is toning up.
It will also be a wise idea to keep track of your body measurements. Especially important are your waist, hips, upper thigh, chest and upper arm. These measurements will serve two purposes. First, they'll give you an idea of how your body is responding to the diet and where you're losing weight the fastest. It will also give you an idea of where your problem areas may be and where you may have to concentrate exercise to get the body you want.
Secondly, measurements will be helpful for motivation when you're retaining fluid or not losing weight for some other reason. If you see those waist and hip measurements going down, despite the lack of weight loss, you'll know you're making progress.
Finally, you should review the use of any medications you may be on. If you're on diuretics, you may want to use them only as needed due to the higher fat/low carb diet's ability to help you shed water.

A. My advice is to try and get 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight. As well, try and take the protein over the course of the day, say every 3 hours or so. In that way you'll get less protein catabolism and an overall increase in protein synthesis. If you follow the Metabolic Diet and make sure you eat some protein every 3 hours or so, you should do just fine. If it's hard to eat that often then you can use an MRP, sports bar and/or some protein powder to fill in the gaps between your meals. The supplements offered on the Metabolic Diet site are all geared for the Metabolic Diet and are all low in carbs.

A. The answer is quite variable depending on your metabolism. The usual generic answer is that you should take in 1 gram per lb of body weight and enough calories to make sure you make steady weight gains without too much of an increase in body fat. The amount of carbs you need can be figured out if you go on the Metabolic Diet. By following the steps as outlined on our site you can determine just how much carbs fits your metabolism best.
If you want to gain muscle mass you should eat five to six times a day so that you get a constant intake of protein. By doing that you'll get less protein catabolism and an overall increase in protein synthesis. Although it's hard to eat properly six times a day you can use an MRP and/or some protein powder to fill in the gaps between your meals.

A. The best way to take glutamine is in peptide form. It's absorbed quicker, less of it gets "eaten up" by the gut and liver and gets to the muscles, and it has more biological effects in peptide form than as free glutamine. I formulated all of the products in the APT Nutrition line with glutamine peptides including our MRP LoCarb, LoCarb Sports bars, Myosin Protein, Power Drink, Creatine Advantage, and Amino.
Glutamine is not really ingested any quicker if taken alone or taken with soda. I'm not sure where that came from unless it was being confused with creatine where taking in simple carbs increases its utilization because of the insulin increase. Even in the case of creatine, however, that's not strictly true. Anything that increases insulin, including using certain amino acids, glutamine peptides, alpha lipoic acid and several other compounds, will work just as well if not better than simple sugars as far as enhancing the absorption and utilization of creatine by skeletal muscle.

A. Hepatic glycogen depletion is one of the factors that lead to increased hepatic gluconeogenesis. The process, however, is complex and involves many hormones including glucagon, insulin, GH, and the catecholamines. It would be easy to write a book on all the interactions that are involved in ketogenesis and ketonemia.
While starvation and dieting, especially low carb diets, lead to ketogenesis in varying degrees, there are enough individual differences, based on a genotypic to phenotypic flow, to make it difficult to determine at what point one is in minimal ketosis or deep ketosis, the latter leading to Atkins' breath. Keep in mind that the depth of ketosis is NOT indicative of the degree of fat oxidation or lipolysis. Also, in my view, it's not necessarily even necessary to go into any severe degree of ketosis, at least as far as having significant ketonuria and as such measurable in the urine with a ketostix, in order to get the changes in body fat and body composition that accrue from using a low carb diet.
The bottom line is that you should experiment to see what your optimum carb level is so that you don't develop ketone breath. Perhaps the best way to do this is to find out the carb level that gives you the ketone breath and then slowly increase the carbs until it improves.

A. I remember sending you a letter with some questions about the tremor. From your reply it sounds like you have essential tremor, a very common problem that manifests itself as we get older. Unfortunately there's no medication or treatment that helps without causing substantial side effects. That might be OK if the tremor is really bad but not for mild tremor. You'd just be exchanging one set of problems for another.
Nutritionally we have just the thing that should help. Our GHboost is made for the job as well as increasing growth hormone (GH) levels it also stabilizes brain neurotransmitters. There are no hormones or anything that can cause side effects in GHboost so there's no harm in trying it out.
Use it for a month or so and you should notice a difference. Let me know how it works and how you feel after you've been on GHboost for a few weeks. I'd be surprised if it didn't help.

A. How you work out depends on how you feel on the various days. For example you might be more energetic on Monday and Tuesday and start petering out after Wednesday. At this point you can modify your carb intake as per the Metabolic Diet's troubleshooting guide so you can maintain your energy for training, or you can modify your training so that you do your major workouts involving the most energy and workload at the beginning of the week and things like smaller body parts and aerobics on Thursday and Friday. There are all sorts of ways you can modify the training and diet. That's the beauty of my diets. You get a chance every week to make the modifications you need to do that work best for your genotypic to phenotypic translation.
Udo's oil is OK even though it has small amounts of MCTs. What you don't want is the body to bypass the enzymatic changes that must be made for efficient use of long chain triglycerides and as such body fat. Using too much MCTs short circuits this process and acts much like carbs.

A. That's why I put out my Amino. I'm the same way after a hard workout. I can't eat for a while so I used to use amino acid capsules right after and then eat a small meal/MRP/bar when I could. I would suggest that your client use the Amino right after training and within an hour or so eat one of the LoCarb Sports bars. It's easy to eat and gives him everything he needs post workout - with 40 grams of protein (30 grams mixed whole and hydrolyzed protein, 6 grams of glutamine peptides, 2 grams of taurine and 2 grams miscellaneous protein from the cocoa etc.), CLA, DHA and EPA, essential vitamins and minerals, etc.
The Amino gives the body a sharp rise in serum amino acid levels which increases serum insulin and protein synthesis dramatically. Just what you need so that you can maximize the muscle building effects of training.
The first thins I'd do for the other chap is have him go back to regular creatine. Effervescent creatine has no advantages over good quality micronized creatine (used in my Creatine Advantage), and some disadvantages because of the extra chemicals needed. It's possible that he's sensitive to some of these. I didn't go the effervescent creatine for just those reasons - it's mainly a gimmick. Also if he's taking the creatine either just before or while training I'd have him stop that as well.
Ditto with the liquid creatines on the market. They're unstable and as such you're not getting much creatine from them but you are getting plenty of creatinine, a waste product that may be counter productive.

A. In Power Drink I'm banking on a synergistic effect of stacking the various components that I've put in it. As such, you don't need the higher doses of some of the individual amino acids. Also, if you use the Power Drink you'll find out that if you try to take much more while training hard, you'll likely get nauseous. Power Drink is about as concentrated a formula as you can comfortably use while training. In some instances I have athletes use it at half strength since they find it hard to use full strength.
First of all, because of what I said above, I don't believe you need to use that much glutamine. As far as the second part of your question, using too much glutamine might kick you out of ketosis but just marginally. But ketosis isn't all important. The use of free fatty acids directly by tissues, especially muscle, is. Overall, because the gluconeogenic process converts only the glutamine it needs into glucose, it's not going to significantly affect the utilization of fats as a primary energy source.

A. When I was a competitive powerlifter (1970-1989) I tried all kinds of different training and eating regimens. Some of these regimens were similar to your hunting, pigging out cycle. In fact I found I made the greatest progress in my muscle mass and strength when I trained very heavy for 4 hours or so only once every seven days. I also found that along with this training I also did best on a 5 day leaning out phase (low carbs) and a two day pig out phase (high carbs) as this allowed my to maximize my muscle mass and minimize body fat. The training sessions usually were scheduled just before or on the first day of the high carb days. This then formed the basis of my Anabolic Diet that I wrote about from 1990 to 1995, and my new and much improved Metabolic Diet that I wrote last year.
The basis of my diet and training, while having some differences from yours, also has some similarities. I found that if the carb or phase was too long there was a tendency for prolonged insulin elevations and subsequent lipogenesis. This is one of the main problems that I found with the ABCD diet by Torbjorn Akerfeldt. The two week overeating phase was just too long and too much fat was deposited. In turn the two week restricted calorie phase was also too long and too much muscle mass was lost. The end result was a decrease in lean body mass and increase in body fat over my Metabolic Diet.

A. I'd put him on the moderate carb phase where he'll be taking in about 25% of his calories from carbs. I'd also start him off at about 2500 calories (look at the sample two week diets on page 419). As far as dietary supplements I'd recommend he use the Myosin Protein to keep his protein levels up, also the meal replacement MRP and bars. The MVM, to ensure his vitamin and mineral intake, and Resolve Competition (no ephedrine) prior to training. Using GHboost would probably be a good idea as well. If you have any problems putting it all together, let me know and I'll set it all up for you.

A. The best days to train heavy when you're on the Metabolic Diet is in and after the carb loading. So Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are usually best with Sunday to Tuesday being ideal. I'd go heavy on these days. If you're going to train on Thursday or Friday I wouldn't make it a max kind of day, but rather do a lower intensity kind of workout.

A. The short answer to your question is that Colgan's either wrong or you misunderstood him. First of all having a marginally elevated urea when you're actively exercising and on a higher protein diet is quite normal. It doesn't represent kidney disease nor does it lead to arthritis or gout. There's no need to cut back on protein unless you have significant kidney disease. And even in these cases, once patients are started on dialysis, they're urged to increase their protein intake as this enhances survival.
If you want more information on the deamination process, ammonia and urea dynamics, and a good reference I suggest you get a copy of my book Amino Acids and Proteins for the Athlete - the Anabolic Edge.

A. Fiber shouldn't be counted as carbs because they're not absorbed. So don't include it as part of the 30 grams. You're right about the bars. They only have 8 grams of useable carbs. As far as the ultra low carb bars they should be out after the New Year. I'm working on maximizing the taste and consistency so that they'll be as good as the other ones. Check on my web site on a regular basis for new supplement and other announcements.

A. Low carbohydrate diets are based on the theory that many people can not consume large amounts of carbohydrate foods without having their bodies create, and store large amounts of body fat. It is a virtual opposite of the "food pyramid" prescribed by most nutrition authorities. Prohibited (or severely limited) foods are all starches and sugars, including all grains, cereals, potatoes, and foods made with them. Allowed foods are all meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, fats/oils, some dairy products (heavy cream, butter, and some cheeses), most green vegetables, and a few other relatively low carbohydrate fruits and vegetables (note: unlike other meats and fish, liver and mollusks contain carbohydrates, and therefore must be limited, see "Carbohydrate counts" in the main section of the FAQ). Unlike other diets, most low carbohydrate diets do not stress calorie restriction. You eat allowed foods until you're satisfied, and should never be hungry. The only other important requirement is to drink a large amount of water, but this is now the recommended by all health professionals for everyone, whether on any kind of "diet" or not.
How low is "low?" Low Carbohydrate is roughly defined as any diet which involves under 100g of carbohydrate for the average person. While this will be way too high for many (perhaps most) of us who have already suffered severe metabolic disruption and have considerable weight to lose, it is still low enough for some to experience the metabolic changes and benefits that are characteristic of a low-carb diet.
There are very significant differences between "low fat" and "low carb" diets. When you starve your body of calories, protein, and fat (as on the standard "low-fat/low calorie weight loss diet), it burns large amounts of both fat AND muscle to provide fuel. You lose weight, but the loss of muscle tissue not only shows physically, but it also reduces your basic metabolic rate, so you need to cut calories EVEN MORE! On a proper lowcarb diet, your body burns mostly FAT (maybe ONLY fat), and preserves your lean muscle tissue. If you do any exercise, you will even ADD lean muscle while still losing fat, thereby INCREASING your basic metabolic rate, and ENHANCING the loss of fat. Since muscle is more dense than fat, you may very well find yourself fitting much smaller size clothing than you think you should at your new weight. This is also the reason that you must check your measurements as well as your weight, since you may at times be getting leaner, while not getting any lighter (but that's a GOOD thing!).
Another difference is the lack of hunger and the absence of "cravings." According to several theories, for some people carbohydrates act very much like an addictive drug. The more they eat, the more they crave those foods. On a low carbohydrate diet, once past the initial few days, those cravings significantly diminish, or disappear completely. Also, most of these plans allow you to eat as much of the allowed foods as you need to be satisfied.
Of course there are significant differences between the Metabolic Diet and low carb diets. The Metabolic Diet is the next step from all existing diet plans in that it allows you to find the optimal carbohydrate level for your unique metabolism. No other diet allows you to do that.

A. There are several reasons why people get constipated on the Metabolic Diet, and it has to do with the lower carbohydrates. First of all high carb diets increase body water and always involve relatively high fiber intake. The most obvious solutions, therefore, is to make sure you drink plenty of water, maybe even doubling up on your normal water intake, and take in lots of fiber. Water by itself can help relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it syphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is the primary source. The result? Constipation. When a person drinks enough water, normal bowel function returns.
Increasing the water intake part is fairly easy. You just make sure you have water on hand at all times and when you have a glass, have two instead. Or simply have a glass or bottle of water at your side so that you remember to drink more.
But there's more to the story when you're on the Metabolic Diet. Because of the low carb intake and the high intake of high protein/fat foods, fiber intake is lowered while you're on the low carb part of the Metabolic Diet. When you take in less fiber than you're used to, and the bowels are affected resulting in constipation. While the water part is easy, the fiber part needs more of an explanation.
There are two basic fiber types that we should be taking - soluble and insoluble fiber. Having a mix of both works best for regulating the bowels. Many of the high fiber vegetables, such as brocolli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower, and to some degree almost all other low carb vegetables, have a mixture of both soluble and insoluble fiber.
SOLUBLE FIBER: Not only does it help regulate the bowels but it's been shown to have beneficial effects against heart disease and diabetes. Unlike its insoluble sibling, soluble fiber absorbs water. It's also metabolized somewhat, broken down into various byproducts. By binding to certain fats and bile acids in the gut, soluble fiber helps reduce cholesterol levels. In cases where carbs are taken with the fiber, it slows the absorption of the carbs and decreases the insulin response. Some research also suggests that soluble fiber may contribute to the prevention of gallstones.
Some of the byproducts of soluble fiber's metabolism nourish the digestive tract's friendly flora, preventing the overgrowth of bad bacteria and, some lab research suggests, inhibiting tumor growth, which may partly explain the beneficial link to the possible prevention of colon cancer.
The downside of soluble fiber is twofold: Some of its metabolic byproducts are gases that may cause a significant degree of flatulence. Additionally, the absorption of water is a double-edged sword: Although theoretically making the stool bigger, softer, and easier to pass, it could have the opposite effect. If you don't drink extra liquids, you could get a case of constipation.
The best sources for those following a low-carb diet are psyllium seed husks, flax meal, oat bran, guar gum, and apple pectin. Other good sources are oranges, rice bran, legumes, locust bean gum and barley. (FYI, peanuts and soybeans are legumes. About half of the carbs from each are from fiber).
INSOLUBLE FIBER: Passing through the digestive tract relatively unchanged, insoluble fiber absorbs some potentially harmful toxins. This trait, along with a speedier transit time, apparently may decrease the risks of colon and breast cancer. A high intake also reduces problems associated with hemorroids and diverticular diseases.
While insoluble fiber produces little (if any) flatulence and won't threaten to dehydrate your intestines, it does not share the soluble form's ability to help stabilize blood sugar, and its cholesterol-lowering effect is only minimal.
The best source for those following a low-carb diet is wheat bran. Other sources include corn bran, brown rice, nuts, strawberries, pure cellulose, asparagus, celery, root vegetables, and lignin.
While getting more fiber from food is important, and along with taking in more water may solve the constipation problem, it's often a good idea to take some fiber supplementation to supplement the fiber from food sources.
One of the best combinations is psyllium husks and freshly ground flax meal.
Start off by taking just a teaspoon of fiber once per day and work yourself up to 3 tablespoons per day over 3 weeks. And don't forget, since fiber (especially the soluble fiber) absorbs water, make sure you follow up with lots of water.
And it's important to remember that in general, because the fiber passes through undigested and there is minimal absorption, carbs in fiber don't count when tallying up your daily carb intake. However, beware of commercial fiber preparations that contain carbs so that they'll taste better. Check the package and avoid those with anything but pure fiber and artificial sweetener.
The use of a proper blend of fiber, and a fiber supplement is so important that I formulated Regulate especially for those on the Metabolic Diet. If you're interested in seeing what's in Regulate have a look at the ingredients on www.MetabolicDiet.com.
There is one more topic I'd like to cover in regards to the Metabolic Diet and constipation, and that's the use of L-carnitine.
L-carnitine is a protein that is essential to fat metabolism and is a recommended supplement for those on the Metabolic Diet. I believe that carnitine should be an integral part of anyone on the Metabolic Diet even though there are as yet no substantive scientific studies to demonstrate the validity of this. However; L-carnitine is not known to have any serious adverse side effects, and anything which potentially improves the effectiveness of the Metabolic Diet is worthwhile.
The interesting thing, however, as far as our discussion about constipation, is that L-carnitine can operate as a laxative, definitely a useful side effect of L-carnitine.
The bottom line is that if you're having constipation problems while on the Metabolic Diet you should drink more water, eat more high fiber vegetables and take a fiber supplement that has a blend of soluble and insoluble fibers.

A. I'm glad that you're making such great progress on my Metabolic Diet. I used this diet back in the 1970's and 1980's when I was a competitive powerlifter and I know that it works. Since then thousands have also found out how much my diet can improve both their body composition and strength.
I usually don't recommend vanadyl for several reasons. First of all because of the possible toxicity. Secondly, and more importantly as far as it's insulin action, is that it mimics insulin rather than increasing insulin sensitivity or increasing insulin levels. In fact it would likely lower insulin levels. As such, and since it's the elevated insulin that increases the absorption and utilization of creatine, vanadyl may be counter productive. There is nothing in the literature that shows that vanadyl can increase creatine transport and utilization.
Instead in my formulations I use compounds such as the various amino acids, chromium, alpha lipoic acid and others that either increase insulin levels or increase insulin sensitivity. Have a look at www.MetabolicDiet.com and look under the products. Under products look at the my new nutritional supplement line to see how I've used these various compounds instead of carbs to increase the effects of insulin and as such increase the function of creatine.
Keep in mind that you don't have to have an increase in insulin to make use of creatine supplements. It's just that it's more effective if you have the insulin working for you. In the long run it likely doesn't make a lot of difference. Where insulin may make a difference is in the immediate post workout phase. That's why right after training I recommend an amino acid mixture to both increase the amino acid level in the blood and muscle, but also to increase both insulin and growth hormone and thus make maximum use of that post training time period when the body supercompensates and tries to maximize protein synthesis. If you look in our store under APT Amino, you'll see what I consider to be the best amino acid mix to be used immediately after training. Also, in the first few hours after training I also recommend that you take in a combination of whole protein, fats (to maximize the all important intramuscular triglycerides) and a small amount of carbs. Of course on the weekend, if you train I recommend that you take in a significant carb load along with your whole protein and fat within that two hour window.
As far as your third question, you're obviously an efficient fat oxidizer and as such have an easy time of using fat as your primary fuel. Others are not and couldn't go for as long as you can without taking in carbs. Use whatever works for you. That's the underlying principle of my new Metabolic Diet. It's meant to be individualized according to a person's metabolism.

A. The Metabolic Diet is a much more advanced diet than the Anabolic Diet.
The ratios of the various macronutrients are not fixed in stone as it all depends on your ability to oxidize fat efficiently. All this is explained in the Metabolic Diet. As a bodybuilder I would start off in the strict phase of the Metabolic Diet which is very similar to the Anabolic Diet except for minor variations.
The original Anabolic Diet was first written about over a decade ago and basically was a 100+ page book giving more information on how to follow the diet and less on training and how and why it works.
As far as low carbs causing erectile dysfunction, it's just not so. I'd look into other causes including the ECA use. Your testosterone levels are pretty normal although if you want to make sure I'd get both a free serum testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels done.
While it might be difficult with the old Anabolic Diet, the Metabolic Diet can be followed as life long plans. I've personally followed it for many years and know of thousands of others who have as well.

A. I wouldn't worry about increasing your protein intake a bit more and as such take in more calories from whole foods. Making up the extra calories by using olive oil, and perhaps flax seed oil, is OK once you've done this. I used to put a few ounces of olive oil in my low carb protein shakes to increase calories when I was going up a weight class and then cut it back when I was settling in that weight class prior to competitions. As far as the 30 gram carb limit, it's not written in stone. As you increase your caloric intake, especially at the high end, you can increase the carb intake without causing any problems as far as adapting to the diet. Again, the diet plans at the end of my book are only examples and each person has to find the best carb levels that suits their metabolism. For some, the 30 carb limit, even when taking in 4500 calories, may work best. For others, depending on their abilities to oxidize fat as their main fuel, 100 grams of carbs or even more, may work best. The troubleshooting guide that I included in the Metabolic Diet is geared to helping you find that level of carbs that works best for your metabolism, at least as far as maximizing muscle mass and minimizing body fat. Keep in mind that I usually recommend that you increase your calories in the high carb phase more than the low carb phase of the Metabolic Diet. This information was more evident in my Anabolic Diet (a 100 page how to book for bodybuilders), which I'm presently revising.
For example, one bodybuilder who has been on the diet for over 5 years does it this way. In his bulk up phase he usually takes in about 3500 calories during the weekdays and then may take as much as 12,000 calories a day on the weekends (no kidding). He gains the weight he wants and then starts cutting back drastically on the weekend calories (if he got up to 12,000 calories a day on the weekends then he begins his definition phase with a cut of 2,000 calories per week for the first three week, 1000 calories per week for the next two weeks and then about 200 calories per week) and about 100 calories a day per week on the weekday calories. Keep in mind that his cutting phase lasts about 16 weeks. Depending on how his fat/weight is doing he may make minor modifications on this plan. To give you an idea of how this worked for him he weighed 217 lbs at 6% bodyfat the last major contest he was in prior to starting my diet (he had been competing for almost ten years). After two years of following my diet he weighed 254 lbs at 5% bodyfat and won his division of the Mr. Universe. Mind you his diet wasn't very good prior to going on my diet so I can't take all the credit. It's quite possible that he would have made some progress just by improving his diet along conventional means. On the other hand you don't see those changes in a seasoned pro unless something drastic happens. Also keep in mind that there were no other changes except for the diet and a few nutritional supplements (I made his some custom supplements much the same as my current nutritional line sold in my online store

A. Unfortunately I haven't conducted any real research to test out my ideas - just some informal stuff and of course the unreliable anecdotal reports. However, as I now have more time to devote to pursuing my interests in the nutrition field, I am getting more involved in some research, either directly or indirectly on various aspects of nutrition and nutritional supplement use. I'll be working with three research groups all over the world looking into various aspects of the substrate cycling as presented in my Metabolic and Anabolic Diet books. I know that you've done some work along these lines and would I'd be interested in knowing if you have any studies in progress or planned on substrate utilization in exercise.
As far as performance, my thinking has always been that if you can switch the metabolism over to a fat burning one, keeping glycogen in reserve for use only at times when absolutely needed (and this is not all that long even in many power events and bodybuilding), then you may be able to increase endurance performance and favourably alter body composition. In fat adjusted individuals the oxidation of fatty acids would be used almost exclusively for the aerobic components of exercise, and the glycogen used for only those moments when the oxidation of fatty acids doesn't do the trick.
In order to accomplish this I have found that it's imperative to have an athlete on a periodized diet for several weeks to make sure that they're solidly fat adapted (even though, as shown by your study, there is a significant amount of fat adaptation after 5 days) and then to maximize muscle glycogen by allowing a few hundred grams of carbs, along with protein and some insulin stimulators/sensitizers (such as some of the individual amino acids, alpha lipoic acid, chromium, vanadyl sulphate, some herbal preparations, etc.), as part of their post training nutrition. I've found that this kind of regimen, coupled with a shortened carb load on the weekends, leads to elevated muscle and hepatic glycogen levels without impairing the "learned" increased fatty acid oxidation. I've also thought that the weekend carb ups should result in higher levels of muscle glycogen if a glycogen depleting training session is done say on the Friday and the next day insulin stimulators/sensitizers are used along with the carb up.
There are also some areas that we know very little about. For example, people have varying abilities to adjust successfully to a high fat, low carb diet (Smith SR, de Jonge L, Zachwieja JJ, et al. Fat and carbohydrate balances during the adaptation to a high-fat diet. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 71:450-7.) and as such, in their abilities to increase the cellular machinery necessary to oxidize fat. In practice this is quite evident and I've made allowances for this in the Metabolic Diet by allowing people to adjust their dietary carb intake depending on their feelings of fatigue.
I'm also very interested in the changes in the TCA cycle flux and the various anaplerotic and cataplerotic mechanisms involving the TCAI (TCA cycle intermediates), secondary to changes in dietary substrates and the relation to exercise. For example it might be expected that in the reaction catalyzed by alanine aminotransferase (believed to be responsible for the initial rapid expansion of the TCAI skeletal muscle pool with exercise), which requires pyruvate as a substrate for the formation of the TCAI 2-oxoglutarate, there would be less 2-oxoglutarate formed and therefore less of an anaplerotic effect at least from that pathway. On the other hand increasing dietary protein and amino acid intake might make up for some of this potential deficiency by increasing glutamate/glutamine and thus increasing 2-oxoglutarate formation via glutamate dehydrogenase. Also some feel that carbs administered before and during an endurance event delays the onset of fatigue at least partially by attenuating the decrease in TCAI.
It's obvious from my writings and from the Metabolic Diet that I consider substrate periodization (5 to 5 1/2 days low carb, higher fat, high protein and 12-36 hours of moderate to high carb, moderate fat and protein) to be a tool for those athletes and individuals wishing to maximize lean body mass while at the same time minimizing body fat. This information is in the Metabolic Diet although I've enlarged on the theory since I wrote the book last year.

A. I'm not all that keen about vanadyl sulphate. That's because first of all it can be toxic and secondly I'm not sure that it's a good idea to use compounds which decrease endogenous insulin because they mimic the actions of insulin on glucose. It's possible that although we get insulin effects on glucose we may not get the important effects of insulin on amino acid transport and protein synthesis. As such I prefer to use compounds that increase the actual sensitivity to insulin rather than ones that mimic insulin's actions. As far as Glucophage, it does increase insulin sensitivity and as such is a useful compound. It does, however, increase insulin sensitivity in fat tissue as well. The effects that metformin (Glucophage) has on fat, especially visceral adipose tissue, is a function increasing insulin sensitivity, decreased basal insulin and glucose stimulated insulin levels, and corresponding changes in leptin (which are complex and dependant on the present physiological and pathological metabolic mileau), thyroid, the sex hormones and their binding proteins, and growth factors. The picture is far from complete so if someone tells you something catagorically, chances are it's wrong

A. Chances are that if you've never used or intend to use anabolic steroids, the surgery will get rid of your problem and it won't come back. As far as the Anabolic Diet, it won't cause any problems with gynecomastia. In fact I've had more than one lifter/bodybuilder whose gyno improved on the Metabolic Diet. That's likely because of the favorable changes in the testosterone/estrogen levels.

A. I suggest an athlete get at least one gram of protein per pound of body mass. In most cases that will give an athlete between 1.1 and 1.6 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass.
You should be trying to find the ideal level of carbs so you can function maximally. I suggest that you order a copy of my Metabolic Diet from the Metabolic Diet site since it covers all this, and many of your other questions in detail. Also I formulated all of the supplements on the Metabolic Diet site (www.MetabolicDiet.com) to go with The Metabolic Diet. The meal replacements and bars can be substituted for breakfast, and other meals, and used for snacks. The Resolve Competition is an ideal preworkout fat burner and hormone primer for those on the Metabolic Diet and actually for any athlete. The Resolve Competition doesn't contain ephedrine and is recommended for athletes who are drug tested.

A. I'm a medical doctor and have treated patients with PCOS for over three decades. It's a much more complex condition than most people believe.
The short answer to your questions is that first of all your wife's problems with difficulty in losing body fat, especially in the abdominal area, and in lowering her cholesterol, are due to various aspects of the disease. One of the contributing factors is the insulin resistance and subsequent chronic hyperinsulinemia that those suffering from PCOS invariably have.
Decreasing insulin resistance by increasing insulin sensitivity results in an increased insulin efficiency and substrate metabolism, decreased hyperinsulinemia, increased lipolysis and decreased lipogenesis, and as such leads to significant decreases in body fat. In my patients I often tried a nutritional supplement approach first and then used medications next. Most of the women did well on the supplements. The supplements included ingredients such as glutamine, chromium, vitamin A, alpha lipoic acid, fish oil, and a host of others. When I formulated my Cellusol (look in our store under "Supplements"), I included all these supplements in a three phase formulation. Each formulation is taken for 2 weeks and at the end of six weeks you go back to the first formulation. This approach, along with following the Metabolic Diet, would be ideal for your wife and would complement her dieting/weight loss efforts. As well, the exercise would work in with the rest and help her achieve her goals.

A. Over the past three decades I've dealt with dozens of athletes with low endogenous testosterone levels secondary to the use of anabolic steroids. It's one of the real side effects of steroid use.
The Clomid and pro-hormone stack should help although it may take a few months before your endogenous production of testosterone gets back up there. Get your LH and free testosterone tested once a month to see where you're at. By three months, give or take a month, you should be within the mid normal range. The depression is something I commonly see in athletes with low testosterone levels. It should disappear as your levels normalize.
You're obviously an efficient fat oxidizer and can easily make up whatever glucose you need through the various gluconeogenic precursors. If you feel better during the week you might try cutting back your carb day to just one day a week or even less, say only 12 hours.