Hey guys…got a question…In reading all the wonderful praises on leucine I noticed alot of folks mentioned that is has a carb like affect on insulin…meaning when you take it it causes a spike in your insulin (CT said this specifically)
Anyways here’s my concern…If in fat loss lipolysis (fat loss) has an inverse relationship with Insulin levels(when insulin is up lipolysis is down and vice versa)…wouldn’t taking Leucine…although sparing or adding muscle be detrimental to your fat loss from taking 4 doses daily and in turn 4 large insulin spikes associated with them?
Absolutely not. Leucine doesn’t have anything close to the insulin-spiking effect of a fast acting carb source. You should check out Layne Norton’s theories on this for further info. PM me if you want the link.
[quote]Pugsley wrote:
Sure id like to check his stuff out…pm me the link…[/quote]
I’ve pasted an extract below from a Q&A with Layne, which interstingly quotes CT…
On Using Leucine as a replacement of carbs in PWO nutrition during low carb dieting:
When you are following a very low carb or ketogenic diet, what are your thoughts on replacing post workout carbohydrates with leucine, glycine and glutamine? It was mentioned by Christian Thibaudeau, who I have huge respect for, in one of his most recent articles.
â??Leucine can spike insulin almost as well as carbs but it doesnâ??t take you out of ketosis or prevent you from being in a fat-adapted state. Glutamine and glycine are two amino acids that have been shown to restore muscle glycogen almost as well as carbs. The 35-55g of combined G&G will almost have the same effect on glycogen replenishment as a similar dose of carbsâ??.
Layne Norton: “That is a big stretch to say that leucine increases insulin same as carbs. Absolutely not. The insulin spike is significant but not near as much as an equal carb dose. Additionally, carbohydrate induced insulin response is biphasic, with the stored insulin in the pancreas being released immediately and sometime after that, insulin is produced by the pancreas and keeps being produced until the glucose clears. This secondary release of insulin is actually the comparatively larger release. Amino acids like Leucine only cause the initial release of stored insulin, but there is no biphasic response, no sustained release. So in all actuality, insulin release in response to leucine is very different from carbohydrate. As far as glutamine & glycine restoring glycogen; they can through gluconeogenesisâ?¦ but not as well as carbohydrate. Carbohydrates from diet can get into the bloodstream at a rate of about 50g/hour I believe whereas the maxed out rate of gluconeogenesis is about 5g/hour. So noâ?¦ they donâ??t restore glycogen as fast.”