The Mind Performance Health Podcast
MPH is a personal training studio located at Rouse Hill, Sydney NSW Australia that has been helping clients achieve transformations with their physique, health and fitness goals.
Our team has created this podcast to share insights on various topics that can influence your body, health and fitness transformations. These topics include:
Nutrition
Mindset
Workouts
Lifestyle
To learn more you can visit www.mindperformancehealth.com.au
The Mind Performance Health Podcast
Debunking Diet Myths: The Truth About Carbs, Fats, and Body Composition
Ever been told that carbs are the enemy? Prepare to have your mind blown as we, Michael, Sam, and Jordan, dismantle this and other health myths, setting the record straight once and for all. Our latest episode is a deep dive into the misunderstood world of macronutrients, where we elucidate the true effects of carbohydrates on body composition and unravel the intricacies of fat loss versus weight loss. We spare no detail on the impact of carbs as your powerhouse of energy and the subtle ways they can influence your gym results. Plus, we tackle the tricky subject of insulin resistance, explaining how it can affect your body's carb usage and why the timing and quality of your carb intake could be the catalyst you need, especially around workout times.
Brushing aside the oversimplified narratives around dietary fats, we illuminate their vital role in hormone health and why moderation, rather than elimination, is key. From the nitty-gritty of digestive responses to different carb types to the importance of steering clear of trans fats, our episode is a treasure trove of actionable insights. We also offer a word of advice on the importance of energy balance and how consuming fats doesn't always equate to an increase in body fat—context is everything. By the time our conversation wraps up, you'll be equipped with the knowledge to pursue your health milestones with confidence. And if your curiosity is piqued, our doors at Mind Performance Health are always open for a chat to help you on your personal health journey.
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Hi guys, michael, here from Mind Performance Health, I'm once again joined with Sam and Jordan. We're doing part two of fitness and health myths, where we talk about some questions we get asked and we just debunk through our experience if they have some truth behind them and our thoughts breaking them down. All right, so we're gonna kick off today a shorter episode, just so we can finalize this topic. But let's get into it. First one, sam what do we have?
Speaker 2:First one is on carbs. So a lot of people negatively view carbs as the direct cause of their fat gain. That's why we see things pop up like keto diets different diets, where we're minimizing carbs as a scene is quite a bad thing, but we do know that carbs are the main source of energy for the body, so they don't directly cause fat gain. Overtaking on carbs can cause weight gain. However, it's not a bad thing. You can't view carbs as something negative. They are used to fuel performance and can be quite a good thing. So we wanna get rid of that negative connotation around carbs and dive into this.
Speaker 2:Carbs, when they come into your body, get broken down by your body and they turn into a thing called glycogen. So this glycogen simply is stored and then used for energy as you move and you use your muscles, and for every one molecule we have of glycogen, that requires three molecules of water. So people come in and they might think that eating a lot of carbs will increase their weight and cause weight gain. However, we know that when glycogen in the body is fluctuating, that also water levels within the body is fluctuating, which can create a change in body weight on the scales. So cutting out carbs is not necessarily required to lose weight. You don't need to completely cut them out.
Speaker 2:There are different sources of carbs, of whole foods like breads, pastas, rice, which can provide us with quite rich and important nutrients as well as energy that we need to perform. So if we have clients come in and people and we see that they want to significantly decrease the intake of carbs, we would likely see a drop in body weight due to that glycogen and water loss. However, if they're still eating the same amount of food and calories total without with changing their carbs that they were eating with so they're still eating the same amount of calories without their carbs as they were with their carbs Then we won't necessarily see that body fat percentage and that body fat change. So the weight changes are due to more of that fluid and glycogen loss, not necessarily the body fat dropping.
Speaker 1:Cool, yeah, fantastic, and that's a good yeah. So just summarize that, sam Crip, if I'm wrong, weed carbs yep, they go to glucose in the blood, store it as glycogen. We've got to respect the fact that, yes, it does aid glycogen and then if we have higher glycogen on a higher carbohydrate diet and then we go to a lower carbohydrate diet, we're gonna remove some of that glycogen and water, because we've got three parts of that going to be water as well, and then that may also reflect on that weight change, even though calories are the same. Yeah, exactly yeah, Jordan.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you guys pretty much covered that whole thing, but pretty much. To put it simply, yeah, if you're eating excess carbs or eating a lot more carbs than what you need, then you are gonna put on fat. But it's just about again like anything, managing that balance of what you need to be having versus an excess, versus also not enough, because at the end of the day, you wanna achieve fat loss, not weight loss. There is a difference there and also a difference in carbs between your healthier carbs say your rice's and your vegetables versus your Big Macs from McDonald's. That's gonna have a different impact as well. So carbs aren't the enemy unless you make them the enemy. Really.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So let's go a bit deeper with that. And when we have carb we could have a bowl here filled with pasta. We could have a bowl here filled with sugar when we eat it, it's gonna go in our blood, go towards glucose. The difference, though, is gonna be the speed it gets into our blood. Right, because it's a bit more fiber in the pasta. It's simple sugars. When we have the carbohydrates, we release insulin. Pancreas releases insulin, which is gonna regulate the carbohydrates.
Speaker 1:Now the thing is, with this day in age, if there's one macro society of users, we talk about protein, fats and carbs mostly carbs, right and we run into things like insulin resistance, which means that we don't use the carbohydrates as well. And, very simply, I like to think as insulin we eat our carbs, it goes into our blood. Insulin's going to grab it. It's going to move it over to a cell, muscle, liver fat. We want it mainly to go towards muscle, but if we're insulin resistant and not sensitive, it'll go to liver, but it can only take so much, but then it's going to pile in the body fat. So what we want to do is make sure, if we want to eat and everyone's got a different threshold of carbs. Some people work really good on low-carb, some people work really well on high-carb, but we want to make sure we're insulin sensitive, we use those carbohydrates in the right way. We also want to make sure, if your goal is to drop body fat, we're eating in an energy deficit. So we once again improve insulin sensitivity in the way we use those carbs.
Speaker 1:So carbohydrates are not the enemy. Usually, most of the time, it's going to be your habits your own habits that are your own enemy. You're your own enemy with them, and definitely the type of carbs too. Now, there's no issue with sugars, but if we excessively use them in the wrong way, there is. If we're having them around training, they can be actually beneficial. We sometimes recommend to have carbohydrate powder honey, maple syrup, things like that around the training window Juicers.
Speaker 1:So carbohydrates are not necessarily the enemy. Usually people overdo them and overconsume them and they have poor insulin health and that's why they got excess body fat with that. So we want to improve that system. So we have like wow, I've had clients on 12,000 calories eating pancakes every day, gummy bears, chocolate, milk, right Like carbs, 12,000 calories. His output was so high he was still dropping fat. So if carbohydrates were that bad, he wouldn't be able to eat that much. But we needed to get that in because, like you touched on Sam, they're not essential, we don't need them, we can survive without them, but they are fantastic for performance in energy.
Speaker 3:They're a great tool.
Speaker 1:Great tool to use.
Speaker 3:If used correctly.
Speaker 2:So, as you mentioned, mick, there's different kinds of carbs Within our meal plans. We plan through low GI and high GI carbs. Do you mind expanding a bit on the types?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so look back before and what I say back before, the simple thought of high GI and low GI. We're going to get a difference in fiber, like I said before, with the bowls, the sugar bowl and the pasta bowl. The difference is how quickly it gets in our blood strength. High GI usually we absorb a bit quicker, right, versus low GI. Now, when we talk about food choices, with that is low GI, think of it like your brown rice's sweet potatoes. When we talk about white rice, think of white potato, white rice. I mean high GI sources, right. So the difference is you know how quickly it kind of gets into our blood system. Now I'm going to go a step beyond that, because the whole thing before was like low GI is more healthier because it doesn't spike our blood sugar as much, etc.
Speaker 1:Look, if you have digestive issues, low GI may not be the best because you might find sweet potato causes issues in your digestion. So that mutes that, you know so. And if we're eating an energy deficit, that's fine as well, you know so. They're the different types of choices of carbs. We break it in even simple sugars and we can even break it down in like fruit dose from fruit and things like that as well. But it's important to get some nutrition literacy on what you're eating, see how you react with it. Do you have any digestive issues with what you're eating?
Speaker 1:But also, like I touched on before, be specific with your goal. If your goal is to lose body fat, have a nutrition plan you're having, have sources of food that you're eating. Did you lose body fat for that week and did you feel better? Fantastic, you know. And is your blood work all fine? So yeah, different types of carbs can make a difference. It's not necessarily they're bad or they're the enemy. They just need to be used correctly for you, and as simple as eating in an energy deficit will improve your insulin sensitivity, so you can use them better as well. Now, like I said, if you have digestive issues, pathogen bacteria issues in your digestive system, some carbs may not fit the best. But the problem then isn't the carbs. The problem is the bacterial pathogen in your stomach. So any thoughts? I love carbs. Personally, I operate on a low carb diet. I have them mainly around the training window pre training, intra training and post training.
Speaker 1:Perfect any questions for that or any font of thoughts. With that one, cool, let's go on to the next one. We're at 150.
Speaker 2:Now next one is eating fats. Causes putting on fat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's your?
Speaker 2:thoughts. So thoughts on that is there's different. Again, there's different kinds of fats, so they're saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. But fats are essential as well. So fats we need a certain level of fat within our diet and directly eating fats won't cause fats. But fats are quite dense and high in calories. So in comparison to a carbohydrate or a protein, which are other macronutrients, there are only four calories per gram, whereas fats are around nine calories per gram. So even little things like dense oils, which are adding to your foods, and things that are quite high in sources of fat, can raise the level of calories within your foods, leading to surplus above your maintenance in what you're eating, which then potentially, yes, can cause fat. But directly eating fats won't necessarily cause.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a very good point. I think we definitely need fats. We need fats for our hormone health. But I think misconception is people think all right, I'm eating fat, go straight to the fat. No, as Sam said, fats are more dense than the carbohydrates and the proteins we're eating, so it would be easier to overeat on those fats for the same kind of quantity as you would carbs and proteins. So it's just about obviously tracking how much you are eating and not eating in an excess, not eating more than you need to be eating. Fats are very, very important and they are an essential macronutrient that we need, unlike those carbohydrates, which are a bit less important for our day-to-day life, become more important in athletes, but I think that's another conversation. But no, definitely it's not a case of you eat fat, you're going to get fat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree, and my thoughts with that is. It comes down to once again, where we're at. Are we in an energy surplus? Work we're just eating too much calories, which is putting on body fat. Are we around maintenance? Are we in a deficit? And, like I touched on with carbohydrates before, that will dictate if we are getting fat gain right. So if we're eating in an energy deficit and we have, you know, moderate protein, moderate carbs or low carbs, high fats, but you're in a deficit, you're going to lose the body fat. Right, it's not necessarily eating the fat that's going to cause an issue.
Speaker 2:What are the fats that I want to avoid? What are the fats that we should avoid?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we got like trans fats, greasy burgers. They're a big one that I'd recommend staying away from. We don't want excess, too much. Saturated fats A little bit can be fantastic for things like testosterone levels, for sure, which can be great, and even for pre-training. You know MCTs, your coconut oils, you know they're saturated. They can be fantastic too.
Speaker 1:But, like anything else, we want to stay a bit different with carbs. Like I said, if simple sugars with carbs can cause issues in excess trans fats, we really want to stay away from. Right, Like I said, with the simple sugars we can get it in at certain times and it can be very useful. Trans fats we don't want, you know so fats and we got mono unsaturated, polyunsaturated fats. They all can help with what Jordan touched on hormone health digestion. We can also use them for energy. They have great benefits and they're essential. We need fats in our diet right to operate and live. But, yeah, we want to stay away from the ones that are pretty nasty. We don't want our cholesterol to come up too high, especially when we talk about the types like LDL to fly up, because then we can run into things like heart health issues and things like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so quality versus quantity? Yeah, right as well. Ultimately, if you're keeping with the fats that are naturally occurring, you shouldn't have an issue of emissating in excess.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, once again, if fats we're talking about fat, puts on fat look at the end of the day you can. If you are eating over excess calories, it's not necessarily you eat an avocado and then you'll fat the next day. It's more so that if you're overeating for that day your calories from every macro, not just fats you have more likely chance obviously to put on body fat right. Well, you will. If we're under eating and we've got fats in our diet like if you look at a lot of clients that start with us, we may actually start lower carbohydrate, higher protein, higher fats and they get lean. Fantastic. So we've got fats in their diet.
Speaker 1:Highly recommend fats that you check out are going to be your. You know, your avocados, your olive oils, extra virgin olive oils, some nuts, as long as you can digest them, there's some great choices of fats that you butter. I have butter with my steak. You know another, better way to do it. I'm a big fan of healthy fats and especially if your goal is vitality and longevity, I think respecting and looking into that for yourself can actually pay off dividends for the long run, with health as well. Yeah, cool.
Speaker 1:Any other thoughts? With that one Fat to put on fats, we put that one to bed. Yeah, so to summarize those, and that'll be for this episode, I feel for part two. But at the end of the day we've touched on a common thing excess calories surplus will put on body fat with both, whether it's carbs or the fats you're eating. So, understanding that calories matter with weight gain, weight loss or even maintaining weight, your macros will dictate your body composition as well. But when I say macros, you're putting fats, carbs, etc. If you eat too many of those fats, carbs and go beyond that point of calories, you will put on body fat, but it's not the macro itself.
Speaker 3:It's like filling up a cup. If you have a cup there, you pour water at some point. If you don't stop, it's going to spill over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly so. Yeah, I think it's very simple to point the fingers at these things, but once again, more so. This is why we always have a consult. We review our client's lifestyle, their behaviors, and really where we paint the picture of is hey, maybe we're not losing because you've got too much calories coming in. We're not, and we're not maybe not even tracking it properly. And your training is okay, you've got output. But this is the area to focus on. So it's important.
Speaker 3:It's human nature to blame something. Yeah, so we can blame carbs, we can blame fats, but at the end of the day, we need to have a look at ourselves. Okay, am I eating what I need to be eating? Am I eating over? And that's where you find the answer of I'm putting on fat.
Speaker 1:And knowledge is important. Like we go through this, we study, we learn, we apply. Not everyone gets that opportunity. So they're only stuck with the knowledge and literacy for nutrition they know and that's why it's our job to help them. So if you're not in the game and you don't know and you haven't focused on, this may be the belief you're stuck on. You know because you haven't learned that next level. Hence why we're doing podcasts like this. Cool, yeah, great topic, fantastic.
Speaker 1:This is part two of the health and fitness myths. Anything else, guys? To summarize it you're pretty happy, sam. You're happy, yeah, perfect. So, guys, thank you for tuning in. I hope you got some value out of this one. Like I said, part two, you can check out part one, if you haven't seen it yet before, in our podcast library. If you ever need help, like I said, if the problem with your progress maybe your current knowledge and skill set, maybe that's what's stopping you, if you need help to take that to the next level so you can get consistent, break breakthrough plateaus and actually see progress, reach out to our team. You can go to wwwmineperformancecomau book in a quick call. We always have a quick chat just to see what goal you're looking for. See if it's a great fit, then we can book in a console and start to map out a game plan so you can achieve results. So thank you for tuning in and we will see you in the next one.