The study was conducted in University of Colorado and published in the Hormone and Metabolic Research Journal.  But, if you want the quick and dirty version of the study…keep reading.

It’s common knowledge that exercising is good for you.  Of course some are better than others…I particularly favor short and intense exercises because it’s been proven to be the most effective form of exercise when it comes to burning fat and getting lean & fit.  Also, in the last few years, many studies have been done on the benefits of calorie restriction.  Probably the most common method being fasting.  Surprisingly there is a common benefit that occurs in both exercising and fasting (calorie restriction) and that’s the production of a certain enzyme called AMPK.

AMPK is basically an enyzme that senses the level of energy in your body.  When the level of energy drops below a certain threshold, the enzyme becomes active and promotes a cascade of metabolic events, which include the following::

• Increases fat burning process

• Increases mitochondria production, so we can generate more energy (ATP) by using fat as as fuel source

• Inhibits sugar production so we can use fat as energy instead

• Inhibits insulin which promotes more fat to be mobilized and burned off

As you can see AMPK is pretty potent stuff…all good.  So far we know that exercise and calorie restriction both activate AMPK, essentially because both methods produce a deficit in energy levels.  However, the researchers wanted to find out whether you can stimulate AMPK without a drop in energy level…and that’s where low carb diet comes in!

They found that low carb dieting produces the same result as both exercising and calorie restriction, without changing the energy level.  In fact, they found that it activated AMPK, even when there was calorie surplus!

Sweet…now you can eat more and still burn fat and lose weight as long as you’re getting most of your calories from protein and fat!

OK…before I get too carried away, let’s pull back the reins a little.  Like most studies, you need to take the results with a grain of salt.  The length of study wasn’t long enough and the study sample was too small. However, it’s still an exciting find and just another incentive to follow a diet low in refined carbohydrates.

Keep in mind that eating low carbs doesn’t mean you can’t eat carbs at all.  In fact, you should increase your carb intake once a week, with starchy foods like sweet potatoes to make sure your leptin keeps functioning optimally so your metabolism runs on high all the time.  Also since low carb diet depletes your glycogen, your body won’t be able to sustain long periods of high intensity exercise.  Fortunately, when you’re doing short intense workouts, you don’t need much time at all!  You can get all the fat burning benefits in just 15 - 20 minutes.  Doing short bursts of full body exercise will effectively mobilize your fat without draining you of energy.

Although though there are many ways to burn fat, following a diet low in carbohydrates and performing short high intensity workouts has proven once again to be an effective method of burning body fat.