the warrior diet

[dakotajudo]

I don't believe in the warrior diet, I believe in frequent meals (like 6 per day)

That's probably the best plan, especially for athletes in training.

however there is evidence supporting the warrior diet:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459242

Yeah, kinda, maybe - but don't think he really grasps the significance the the research. This quote says a lot "This is more of an opinion or a concept rather than completely scientific research, but it's based on opinions and a lot of science, which I hope to verify in the future."

How good is his research?

First off, he's quoting from the abstract, of the review paper, cited here: http://www.warriordiet.com/principles.html

You never quote from the abstract, at least, not if you want to be taken seriously as a scholar.

Reading the paper, tells of a different emphasis. The theory of thrifty genes pertains to how humans have adapted to conserve glycogen during physical activity. At low levels of effort, or at rest, the primary energy source for muscles is lipids - fats.

The thrifty gene hypothesis is important not because human diet has changed, but because human activity has decreased.

Hofmekler makes this statement on that page:

"We are all pre-programmed to follow life cycles that involve periodic lack of food as well as physical activity that force the body to compensate by accelerating energy utilization and fat burning as well as facilitating tissue repair and growth."

Periodic lack of food increases energy utilzation? Not likely. More likely to decrease energy utilization.

Fat burning? True in part - the thrifty gene hypothesis states that relatively more fat is burned, but not necessarily absolutely more fat.

Facilitating tissue repair and growth? The best way to do this is probably the diet you're on - several small meals throughout the day - this ensures a steady supply of amino acids needed for repair.

To better understand the thrifty gene hypothesis, you should probably read the reivew Hofmekler cites :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=14660491

but you should also read another title by the same authors, "Waging war on physical inactivity: using modern molecular ammunition against an ancient enemy.", see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=12070181

this interview gets confirmed by this:

http://www.nydailynews.com/05-26-200...8p-78493c.html

I'm not so sure this confirms the warrior diet. Mattson's work seems to focus mostly on the role of caloric restriction in activating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and the protective role of this factor. I could find only one article, a review, from his group readily available online : http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/article...medid=15717011 . There's more, but I need library access to download them.

One important quote from the Daily News article is this: "Study leader Mark P. Mattson, Ph.D., chief of the neurosciences laboratory at the institute, says that fasting for a short period mildly stresses body cells".

In the review I cited, Mattson relates the metabolic stress of fasting with the metabolic stress of exercise. This relationship is also emphasized in the Chakravarthy and Booth review.

My understanding, having browsed the literature (some of which was covered in a recent exercise phys. course), is that a diet with periodic fasting may be beneficial to people who are not physically active. But if you're in training, I wouldn't recommend it.

Sorry if this seems a little rushed, I'm on my way to practice. I wanted to comment on this, but I'm sure I'll be too tired after.

[Poop Loops]

to go from poop loop to poop stick.

Opposite. I'm a stick right now. Well, I've already gained 15lbs, but I could gain some more.

But really, I doubt I need a special diet for that. I just need to lift and eat and it will happen. I'm doing both, so now I just have to sit back and watch my ass grow. (in a good way)

[odd_lifter]

Gaining muscle mass? :D

If you want to maximize muscle gain and minimize fat gain a cyclical ketogenic diet is the way to go, I suggest "The Anabolic Solution" by Mauro Di Pasquale.

[Poop Loops]

How 'bout I just eat and lift for now and worry about losing weight after I get fat? If a diet requires a book for me to follow, then it's too complicated. I know the jist.

Junk food = bad.

[odd_lifter]

the see-food diet is in fact very effective in adding muscle mass, but as you already mentioned you will also add a considerable amount of fat, which requires you to diet after for a long time, which will cause you inevitably to lose a considerable amount of muscle mass in the process, which makes the getting fat and cut down strategy ineffective.

you don't need to follow a cyclical low carb diet, just make sure you have a good balance of healthy fats, protein and low glycemic carbs, eat 6 times per day or so. measuring food intake is best. the goal should be to keep blood sugar levels stable while having a caloric surplus of good food. (this is the power of the low carb diets, they keep blood sugar levels stable and the weekend carb ups allow for the anabolic effects of insulin)

buy a pair of accu measure body fat calipers and measure regularly, you don't want your body fat percentage to go over 15%, otherwise you will become very frustrated when the fat has to come off.

anyways best of luck if you want I can email you "the anabolic solution" by Mauro Di Pasquale or " Gourmet Nutrition" by John Berardi, the latter being a delicious recipe book.

[Equipoise]

For gaining mass, 1.6 g -2.0 g of protein per kg of body weight depending on the intensity and volume of the physical training. 8.0-12.0g of Carbohydrates per kg of body weight dependant upon the same variables. 45 g of fat per 2k calories.

For losing weight, one shouldn't do this type of crash dieting, a simple decrease in calories that increases in value periodically is more than sufficient for slimming down.

[polishillusion]

This looks like an interesting diet to me. I have noticed that the opposite diet works for me as well, that I can eat only breakfast and will lose weight like a beast, but this one tells you to eat only at night. I remember, I did that my first month at college, eat only pizza at nite, and i lost massive amounts of weight, which was weird.

[darthbator]

I actually unknowlingly followed the warriors diet almost all through high school. I was pocketing any lunch money I was lucky enough to come by and eating handout food from other peoples lunches when I was to hungry to get by without it during the school day. When I got home after football practice I would do a quick free weight workout and then pig out. During this point I had easily the best body fat % I have ever had. It should also be taken into consideration I was in a competitive sport every season so that most likely had something to do with it as well.

Since I apparently like eating this way (and seem to follow a similar routine a lot now) I think I might start this diet again. I actually stopped eating like this because I was told it was unhealthy. All through my life people have been telling me that eating 5 smaller meals is much better then 3 and that what I was doing (1 BIG meal with natural foods during the day) was the worst idea of all.

[panthersix]

https://www-benning.army.mil/rtb/ranger/photo/11-80.jpg

I went from 175lbs to 135lbs in two months on the Ranger School Diet. Walk 10-20km per day while on patrols and eat only one C-Rat per day while on patrols. Eat everything and anything in between patrols.

Problems with halucinations and concentration are really bad on the last patrol, the 12 day one in Florida.

I think my body is still messed up from this diet!

[panthersix]

On a more serious note: the Warrior Diet seems similar to the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, which rendered to it's essence is eating no carbs, simple or complex, during the day, then for a 1 hour period, you eat whatever you want (includes desserts, bread, whatever carb addiction you may have). My regime, that worked for me, was to drink coffee for breakfast, drink 2 liters of water at work (1 in AM, 1 afternoon) then have a chicken salad (just spinach leaves and grilled chicken breast) with oil and vinegar for lunch, and then whatever for dinner. At the time I was on a huge chocolate covered almond kick. Then pass out for an hour or so after dinner.

Results, I lost on average 2.5 lbs per week or 10 lbs per month for 3 months. I was also lifting three days per week (BFL workouts), and running 3 miles three days per week (HIIT). I leaned down to 165 lbs, my Army PT scores were above 100 in each of the 17-21 y/o categories (e.g., my two mile run time was 12 minutes). All this at age 42.

I felt so hard and lean that I was training to go to the SFAS course at 42. On a five mile ruck with 50lbs ruck, I blew out the arch in my left foot. Got me some serious plantar fascitis and been messed up ever since! I fell off the diet because it gave me rrhoids, too much chicken, not enough fiber. I've since found that Psyllium Husks for fiber (must have if you give this type of diet or any reduced intake diet a shot) are awesome for nice soft, huge turds. Got to keep the pooper flowing!

I'm now 47, weigh 210 and I'm recovering from shoulder surgery last fall. Needless to day, I have no "diet" of any kind at this time. But this looks interesting and has confirmed that for me, I'm 1/2 native american, that this is the type of diet that I need to be on, not the eat every freak 3 hours diet which just makes me fat and keeps me hungry!