High Protein Diet Plan Review – The Ideal Protein Diet Fad

Everyone seems to always be looking for the latest and greatest high protein diet plan. One of my best friends just started the Ideal Protein Diet so I did some research and checked it out. Pretty much this is another one of those high protein diet plans that take your money and keeps you coming back because you don’t keep off the pounds. This is usually the case with any high protein low carb diet plan- also known as a STARVATION DIETS. The philosophy behind their madness is if you restrict calories, especially those that come from fats and carbohydrates, your body will resort to its’ fat stores for energy, and you will lose weight FAST. This part is true, but there are two drawbacks that we’ll discuss later. A high protein diet plan advertises that you’ll only burn fat because it supplies the body with its essential amino acids, sparing the muscle and actually stimulating its growth. And they claim “a dieter will feel energized, look vibrant and feel strong” but they don’t claim that the dieter will be energized and will be strong.

First, you have to understand that the body ultimately uses three things for energy- glucose, fatty acids, and ketone bodies. Everyone talks about carbs, fat, and protein, but the body only uses glucose, fatty acids, and ketone bodies that are made from carbs, fat, and protein to run its functions. So, let’s take carbs out of the picture. This means no more glycogen (a bunch of glucose linked together) for the body to use. What does the body do then? It starts to do two things- breakdown fat to fatty acids and break down protein to make glucose out of amino acids. This will provide the body with energy. These two processes are simultaneous. When the body breaks down protein to make glucose it doesn’t just take it from muscle, it takes it from all lean body tissue- all muscle AND organs like the liver, kidney, and heart. So, on a low carb high protein diet plan you pretty much stimulate your body and destroy the organs that keep it running. By the way, after 50% loss of lean body tissue, you die.

Second, your central nervous system is the most taxing on energy of all the other body systems. Usually your brain only uses glucose as an energy source. But in times of carbohydrate starvation it will resort to compounds called ketone bodies for energy. To make these compounds your body combines fat fragments. When ketone bodies build up in the blood it decreases the pH (makes it acidic) and this can create an imbalance in an otherwise normally stable system. Overly acidic blood can cause hyperventilation, lethargy, depression, and headaches. So much for looking vibrant and feeling energized.

In essence, while all these fad high protein diet menu plan options claim to help you become stronger, healthier, and have more energy, the sad truth is that most high protein diets that cut out the carbs do the exact opposite, and can be very harmful in the long run. Because of this, you need to make sure that if you do want to start a protein diet that you do not start one that eliminates carbohydrates from the menu.

UPDATE: For more information, including some good sources backing up this information, check out my other post: Ideal Protein Diet Review, part II.