On Wed, 27 Feb 2002, kelly baggett wrote:

> ***Insulin is also required for the deposition and transport of glucose and
> amino acids into muscle.  This is the premise behind bodybuilders use of
> "cyclical ketogenic diets".  Glycogen is depleted entirely and then when
> reintroduced in greater quantities insulin levels are higher then they would
> normally be and more glycogen and aminos are deposited into the muscles.

I wonder...  In a non-diabetic, there is always some insulin in
circulation, precisely to push glucose and aminos into cells.
This is happening more or less continuously throughout the day
and night.  Bodybuilders use cyclic ketogenic diets at least in
part because if they don't "carb up" they can't lift much, and
therefore they don't work the muscles as thoroughly.  They don't
need carbs just to raise insulin, because protein will do that,
if consumed in large amounts -- which bodybuilders also do.

> Also it is not uncommon for someone on a prolonged low carbohydrate diet to
> go into an insulin induced stupor upon the reintroduction of a large amount
> of carbohydrates.  This would seem to indicate that insulin levels are in
> fact higher when introducing carbohydrates after a period of carbohydrate
> restriction.

I *think* this would happen only when the amount of carbohydrate
eaten exceeds available room in glycogen stores.  The liver only
holds about 75-100g of glycogen, and it's never completely empty.
That means that at any given time there might be "clearance" for
up to 60g or so of glucose.  Muscle holds more glycogen, but
muscle glycogen is also more slowly depleted, because it tends to
be retained until the muscle actually needs it for intense
activity.  In short, a person who eats, say 150g of carbs at a
meal (an easy plate of pasta) is indeed going to be putting more
glucose into circulation than there is room for.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]