I had been eating a lo-carb, lo-protein, hi-fat diet
(ie approx 7%, 7%, 85%).
Generally grams matter a lot more than percent,,,
The percentages translate to approximately 35-40g carbs, 35-40g
protein and 175-200g fat.
When I lower the carbs even further, I get a thermogenic
effect. How/why does it occur? Is it related to glucagon?
I take it you mean you feel more heat coming out of your body and/or
when you take your body temperature it is at least a degree warmer than
normal? *I get that as an intolerance reaction to wheat, clearly not the
same effect as what you're seeing. *;^) *I also got that effect for
something like days 2, 3, 4 of my first Induction. *I took it as a sign
that my metabolism had increased. *Increased metabolism equals more fuel
burned and that's generally a good thing when dieting.
I notice the following three effects:
1) Feel noticeable warmer, to be point of slight perspiration and
difficulty falling asleep without lower A/C setting.
2) A noticeable loss of appetite.
3) A slight loss in weight and visceral fat.
Last night, I added 1/3rd cup of blueberries and the thermogenic
effect disappeared. Tonight, I dropped the berries and the thermogenic
effect returned.
Insulin pushes fat into storage. *In that simple sense higher insulin
tends to mean lower metabolic rate. *Actually it's one small effect
among many and the net effect on metabolic rate isn't large. *But below
some point less carb no longer means less insulin no longer means less
pressure on fat to move into storage. *Once fat is flowing out of
storage further lowering carbs stops helping loss.
Glucagon pulls fat out of storage. *In that simple sense higher glucagon
tends to mean higher metabolic rate. *That would be the thermogenic
effect you see. *Glucagon is released as an indirect effect from dietary
fat so it does not track as simply as the linkage between dietary carbs
and insulin. *The simple view is more dietary fat triggers more glucagon
triggers more fat pulled out of storage - This is why the obvious
approach of lowering fat while low carbing does not work. *But it's
fairly easy to overwhelm this pattern of eating more dietary fat to lose
more stored fat.
I am wondering if glucagon is released to stabilize blood glucose
since insulin would cause it to drop. Maybe glucagon releases fatty
acids from adipose so that the liver can convert the glycerol part of
fat to glucose. Maybe brown fat is enabled to burn off the excess
fatty acids.
What are the requisites to create the themogenic effect?
High fat relative to both carb and protein intake. *It's why the fat
fast is so effective. *But that effect is temporary. *It's why the fat
fast is limited to two weeks and why the basic core Atkins plan
Induction is two weeks long. *As far as I can tell the thermogenic
effect is a metabolic reaction to "switching" to a fat burning
metabolism but not to "being" in a fat buring metabolism. *That's my
hypothesis. *Experiment all you like to confirm or falsify the
hypothesis.
So here's what I think is happening - Change matters. *Fat to carb plus
protein matters. *The thermogenic effect happens when you change to a
higher fat to lower carb plus protein diet. *The thermogenic effect goes
away when the body adjusts to its current intake. *I think that's why I
got the effect for a few days early in Induction. *I think that's why
you got the effect when you changed your ratios.
Where in the body is it
occurring primarily (ie liver, muscles, adipose)?
It being a matter of hormone levels I don't think it can be isolated to
specific organs.
Is this due to uncoupling in the mitos?
I don't know what that means.
Some studies (see below) show that glucagon causes brown (due to extra
iron) adipose to use fatty acids to generate heat by allowing
electrons to leak across mitochondria's membrane.
If I lower the protein and up the fat, will this affect go away?
Do you want to deliberately pursue the effect because it means you are
burning more stored fat faster? *Or do you want to avoid the effect
because it's wierd and a bit uncomfortable?
I think I will keep the carbs at the lower level for a while to see if
the effects persists or subsides
-------
Glucagon in physiological concentrations stimulates brown fat
thermogenesis in vivo.
..... An important role for glucagon in thermogenic regulation is
suggested.
PMID: 1877708
The metabolic actions of glucagon revisited.
.... The ability of glucagon to stimulate energy expenditure, along
with its hypolipidemic and satiating effects, in particular, make this
hormone an attractive pharmaceutical agent for the treatment of
dyslipidemia and obesity...
PMID: 20957001
Loose-coupled mitochondria in chronic glucagon-treated hyperthermic
ducklings.
In chronic glucagon-treated ducklings, the powerful thermogenesis
observed in vivo after a glucagon test injection may be due to the
uncoupling effect of released free fatty acids (FFA) in loose-coupled
mitochondria because their respiration increased as a function of FFA
concentration...
PMID: 2544112
http://www.solvingdiabetes.org/2009/08/31/brown-fat/
shows location of brown fat in adults.
Article say "brown fat is positioned to warm up the central nervous
system!"