Carbs and Lipolysis

you are correct I was thinking of two different examples. I did not mean "there" in that sentance to refer to the malnurished kids.

kwashiorkor is the name of that disease

Posted by: @lylemcd

Could the success of one type of diet vs. another at all be influenced by what the dieter likes/believes will work better (beyond just being able to "stick to" one diet over another)?  Could it be that, with less stress/greater feeling of well being/etc, one might garner varying results (even if those results are small) on different macronutrient ratios?

Based on what mechanism?

I mean yeah, belief in a given approach is good from an adherence standpoint. Face facts, almost any diet works as long as you stick with it. Most diet books spend 50+ pages selling the diet (which cna typically be summed up in 1-2 pages) because belief tends to make people stick to it; as long as it's not fundamentally retarded, it should work.

I don't see how belief is going to affect things outside of that.

Lyle

I'm not sure. I was thinking stress might play a role or maybe some other mental components. It just seems like the mind can be so powerful in other aspects of the body (though I guess like you mention it would more be from an adherence stand point). Also, I know that everything else may suggest that all diets are equall provided they stay within the basic guidelines set above, however some people do seem to do better on a given type of diet over another. It might seem to be just based on what one can stick to but with how anal many bb'ers are it just doesn't seem as though that is really the issue. But to answer the "by what mechanism" question; basically I have NO idea , that's why I was throwing it out there for you to shoot down - haha.

Posted by: @Logo

It would make sense from an evolutionary standpoint if you could make a connection between the two phenotypes and their genetic history.  It would make sense that a people from a more seasonal climate (extremes of plenty and scarcity) would tend to store more energy and those from a more tropical climate (very little change in food supply) would merely expend more energy.

Yeah, that's my hunch. If you look at animals that evolved under tropical (no seasonal food availability) conditions, you don't tend to see the major thrifty gene types of adaptation; I suspect it's the same for humans. There was simply never any real need to evolve mechanisms to ensure easy bodyfat storage and hard loss for survival.

Lyle

Posted by: @=w=

I'm not sure.  I was thinking stress might play a role or maybe some other mental components.  It just seems like the mind can be so powerful in other aspects of the body (though I guess like you mention it would more be from an adherence stand point).  Also, I know that everything else may suggest that all diets are equall provided they stay within the basic guidelines set above, however some people do seem to do better on a given type of diet over another.  It might seem to be just based on what one can stick to but with how anal many bb'ers are it just doesn't seem as though that is really the issue.  But to answer the "by what mechanism" question; basically I have NO idea , that's why I was throwing it out there for you to shoot down - haha.

Well, I certainly don't disagree with you about stress (which is why I remain convinced that the folks who are obessing about the minutiae of their diet, none of which can have more than a miniscular effect, are doing more harm than good) but I'm not convinced that choice of diet (or beleif) is going to significantly going to affect that.

I guess if someone is going to do a diet that they didn't believe in, I'd question it on more fundamantal grounds: like why are they being retards? Doing something you don't believe in on some level would suggest a real lack of brainpower; I doubt many would do it if they didn't believe in it on some level.

I suspect the reason folks do better or worse on a given diet has more to do with issues I mentioned previously: food preferences (which affects adherence), genetic issues (insulin sensitivity, maybe ability to alter nutrient or calore burning), training volumes/intensity, food choices, etc.

Lyle

Lyle,

It seems fairly obvious from what you've said that the choice of diet ultimately matters very little and that all of the varied and sundry minutae amount to a hill of beans in the great scheme of things. What things can we manipulate, then, that actually will have a real and quantifiable impact? I'm not speaking of AAS, prohormones, or anything else remotely pharmacological. I mean basic dietary manipulations (repartitioning strategies, etc.) that will actually amount to something regardless of the choice of diet or even one's relative level of leaness. What are your thoughts?