That’s Zero Carbs For Half-Marathon Runner Charles Washington (Episode 162)
28 07 2008If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Hello and welcome back for another in-depth look at the world of low-carb dieting at “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show With Jimmy Moore!” THANKS so much for listening! 
In Episode 162, Jimmy shares his recent conversation with Charles Washington. Charles is not only a marathon runner and moderator at Jimmy’s Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Discussion forum, but he is also an ardent advocate for a ZERO-carb diet approach! Yowsers! And if you listen in closely to the enthusiasm in Charles’ voice as he talks about eating NO carbs while running half-marathons, he makes quite a compelling argument for eating basically meat and water only.
Listen in to hear Charles defend his choice to eschew all carbs as he dusts off some of the old research studies that Gary Taubes unearthed in his monster bestselling 2007 book release Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (coming to paperback on September 23, 2008). Also hear a few choice words from Charles about low-carb author and blogger Dr. Mike Eades and his recent statements on calories, metabolic advantage and the concept of eating “too much fat.”.
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 162
- The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Discussion Forums
- Charles Washington’s profile
- Charles’ Zero-Carb forum thread
- Chapter One of Charles’ Cliff Notes to Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories
- Paperback version of Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
- Barry Groves’ Second Opinions web site
- Gordon Pirie’s running web site
- Dr. Mike Eades’ blog post about calories counting on a low-carb diet
- RELATED BLOG POST: “No-Carb Runner Takes Exception To Georgia Nutritionist Pushing Carbs For Athletes”
- RELATED BLOG POST: “Low-Carb Marathon Runners Burn Fat For Fuel”
And as always…
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Popularity: 23% [?]
From over 400 pounds to 230, Jimmy Moore is 
wow,wow,wow. I loved the interview!!! I will be sharing it with everyone!!!
Thanks so much!!!
Charles is incredible, isn’t he Teresa?!
oh yes he is!!!!!
I’m not sure how carbohydrate addiction escapes these conversations but it always seems too. — Most people can’t get off from carbohydrates! So in turn, they rationalize them!
Charles isn’t rationalizing any carbs, Tom.
Right, I’m talking about the masses.
Charles is an interesting speaker who has done a fair bit of reading around this topic. However there is more to read!
Charles asks what the mechanism is for getting fat by eating too much fat. It is an enzyme called ASP. Insulin is important, but it is not the only thing.
The standard low carb dogma is that carbs (and to a lesser extent protein) stimulate insulin secretion which activates LPL (lipoprotein lipase) and LPL stores fat. That is true as far as it goes, but there is more to it that this.
LPL is not the only - or the most important - enzyme associated with fat storage. Acylation Stimulating Protein (ASP) appears to be even more critical for fat storage than LPL. It is worth doing a pubmed search on ASP (e.g. here)
Gotcha! THANKS for sharing more about ASP, Chris. Perhaps I could interview you to talk more about this.
I am no expert Jimmy - I was just mentioning things I’ve come across in my reading. I used to think in the paradigm until I read about this other hormone in this book.
Peter at Hyperlipid - who is very high fat, low carb - has thoughtful post on this topic.
Great Pod Cast Jimmy and Charles!!
Chris
What kind of fat did they feed these mice? I did not see or missed it in the Pub Med study.
Thanks
Low Carb Scott
JUST FABULOUS!!!!!! I turned it on while my husband was home (on purpose–to get him more motivated) and he listened with me quietly to THE WHOLE THING!!! Thanks so much Jimmy and Charles for a wonderful podcast! The two of you are both an inspiration!
THANKS Scott and Caroline (wow, got him to listen to all 30 minutes….COOL!).
I admire Charles for his strict diet, and I do consider an all-meat and water diet quite strict, but do you think it’s possible to maintain a diet like that forever? Am I the only one who would get bored on that kind of diet? I have no problem with low carb, but non-carb would be tough for me—and I’m also a half-marathon runner. I get a lot of my energy from nuts, though. Do you think Charles will eat like this for many years to come?
Try forever! Hybrid carbohydrates are drugs, so not eating them is simply natures way of traditional eating and is perfect for our health. — There are very few carbohydrates in unaltered nature and those there are are miniscule and loaded with nutrients and fiber.
Our carbohydrate addictions make us think meat is boring. — If we cook it beautifully it tastes great every time.
Taiwan gal, I know what Charles would say. Food is about fuel for your body and not enjoyment, so you will never get “bored” because eating becomes a part of what you do, not something you savor and have as an event as most people do with meals. He’ll eat zero-carb forever I’m sure of that.
Jimmy,
Excellent podcast. I enjoyed Charles except for his or anyone’s belief that you can ignore calories while doing low carb. While many and maybe even most people may be able to ignore calories, for some people the feeling of satiety brought on by fats in the absence of Insulin can get overridden by other hormonal imbalances in the body.
Granted, the most important variable in hormonal response is insulin which is directly affected by carbs. However, stress and other factors can trigger hormonal responses that can cause people to over eat on any plan even plans that control Insulin release.
It is important to understand that the body will store any macro nutrient if given too much of it. And while the argument that you simply will get full before you overate might work for a disciplined marathoner, this may not work for the average severely obese person. I work with people that can bing and take in upwards of 5 – 7k calories in a day. If you assume that the lack of an exaggerated insulin response can cut this in half then your still looking at taking in more calories than a 5’2” female needs per day. (Yes that is a legitimate real world example).
Commenter Charles gives a very good summary of how the body stores fats and other macro nutrients as detailed by the work of Lyle McDonald. I have personally communicated with Lyle McDonald and he breaks apart research studies like you would not believe. His specialty is nutrition and achieving ultra-leanness.
In conclusion, there is always more to learn. If going la vida lo carb allows you to return your body back to a state of hormonal balance and your not controlled by food or hunger anymore and you drop to a normal weight then that is wonderful. If however, you find that your weight loss hits a plateau or you cannot lose weight via lo-carb then you had better dig deeper.
Good discussion starter Jimmy!
Pete Thomas
http://Winningman.com
GREAT POINTS, Pete! Always great to hear from you.