CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE September/October 2020 | Page 37

they do have a very necessary place. That’s because
carbohydrates promote the stimulus of the hormone
insulin and insulin is the most anabolic hormone that
we can have in our bodybuilding regimen. Trouble is, eat
the wrong kind of carbohydrate, too much of it and that
insulin production is a flood as opposed to a pulsatile
release and we promote body fat because although
insulin is our most anabolic hormone it is a catalyst to
fat storage.
Coming back to fat, we need a certain amount of
essential fat. We can eat less protein and use it more
effectively if we have a basis of essential fat as that’s
what allows protein to synthesize effectively into the
muscle cell. Essential fat is what constructs our lipid
layer cell membrane. Moreover we can also greatly
benefit from a small amount of saturated fat because
of what this does for hormones as well. Remember I
said above that each gram of fat has 9 calories of fat.
That is much more calorie dense than carbohydrates
but I tell you what, if you eat more carbohydrates from
refined and simple sources even good complex sources
because of the insulin mechanism you’re going to put
on a substantial amount of fat. Carbohydrates can be
manipulated, cycled if you will, as effective positive
nutrient partitioning agents. However, if you eat the
wrong kind and you overdo it you’re turning those carbs
into fat.
So if you eat the right kinds of fat and complete
proteins, both positive nutrient partitioning agents,
without the insulin components involved, you’re not
going to gain fat, You actually lose body fat because
you’re in an insulin depressed state which increases
what we call insulin sensitivity whereby releasing body
fat as a usable source of fuel.
Negative nutrient partitioning agents like saturated fats
and chemically altered fats like trans fats, eaten in high
amounts means you are putting macro nutrients in the
wrong place. Your stored body fat levels will increase
in genetically predisposed areas. You are gaining
unnecessary amounts of fat in your blood and it is
important we keep this in check to better manage our
cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
So now to calories, we all have what’s called a resting
metabolic rate we need to eat more calories than what
we burn at rest plus the amount of calories we burn and
exercise to be able to put on muscle. The common place
rule is if you reduce the amount of calories lower than
your exercise level plus you’re resting metabolic rate
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