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The Evolutionary Diet

evolutionary diet food pyramid

The Lie

In the last 30 years, the popularity of the high protein/high carb/low-fat diet has grown to epidemic proportions among bodybuilders and strength athletes. The average Joe bodybuilder is steaming fish, separating egg yolks from egg whites and cutting out the visible fat from juicy stakes, but why? The anecdotal evidence behind high protein/high carb diets shows how brutal they are; guys are losing muscle mass, getting depressed and losing all motivation. Constant insulin spikes are one of the main reasons, followed by the monotony of high protein/high-moderate carb diets. Of course, it's a lie to say you can't make progress with high-protein/high-carb diets, but you'll lose a ton of muscle in the process and be stuck with a dead-end diet that you can't maintain. After all, how much egg whites and bland oatmeal can you eat before you want to shoot yourself? Don't torture yourself with useless diets, when there is a great alternative, The Evolutionary Diet.

Broscience” aka BS

While this is a concept rarely discussed, it has been one of the biggest issues in diet mismanagement today. The history of 'broscience', better known as BS, started at the gym levels (before the internet) where good bros would share their 'broscience' with newbies at the gym so they can sell them some steroids. The evolution of this has been the myriad of BS we see on the internet, mainly from bodybuilding/steroid forums and blogs. The unlimited amount of 'gurus' who type out BS is unimaginable and every one of them has some whacked out theory based on magic. The truth is these 'bros' are no better for your diet, training or cycling than a pair of dice; some are right, but the majority are just dead wrong. You roll the dice with your gains, life and health every time you listen to them.

Let's use an example everyone can relate to (or at least the juice heads reading this). For a period of time, the steroid forums were filled with new age information about why using aromatase inhibitors and SERMs is bad: “oh man, it kills your gains” “bro, you don't need arimidex” “don't run that AI, Ais are a waste,” you get the picture. The claim was that “high-estrogen” levels increase your gains, well guess what happened next? As a result, in the last few years, there has been an explosion of forum posts, blog posts, private messages and emails about guys getting gynecomastia (bitch tits) and not knowing what to do about it. Why is that? Simple, high estrogen levels come with very bad side effects, ranging from gynecomastia (bitch tits), to high blood pressure, to psychological damage. The guys who didn't take an AI and walked around with high estrogen levels are regretting it every day of their life. Yes, it's not a topic that's discussed enough, but high-estrogen levels rewire the male brain. Why do you think transvestites inject themselves with estrogen? Think about that one.

Broscience is what created the high-carbohydrate diet epidemic, and it's the culprit behind countless of hours of dietary torture. The insane amounts of suffering by bodybuilders and regular gym guys is unimaginable. Guys who are torturing themselves with the same egg whites, whey protein shakes, white rice and chicken breasts, over and over and over. Based on what evidence? Based on some BS they heard from a 'buff' guy at the gym, or a keyboard warrior on internet forums.

Who hates The Evolutionary Diet?

Mainstream society of course, who else? Go into any supermarket and what you'll see are shelves filled with carbohydrates and sugars just packed differently. These carbohydrates are a godsend for the food industry, they produce high profits with little overhead; after all, all you need is some Genetically modified corn (GMO) along with a ton of chemicals, and there you have yourself some toxic fruit sugars. Once you eat this food, your insulin will spike, your growth hormone levels will drop and you'll pack on the fat, but most importantly you'll be hungry very quickly, which equals to more profits for the food industry. Compare this to steak, where all you need is a cow and a butchers, and now you see why there is significantly less profits in selling meat.

High-carbohydrate vs. Evolutionary Diet

On average, on the high-carbohydrate diet you'll lose about 40-50% muscle mass and 40-50% fat, making it a very poor diet for bodybuilders. At the same time, the average guy on the Evolutionary Diet will lose 90% fat and no more than 10% muscle – that's conservative; in general, guys are losing 100% fat and gaining muscle mass at the same time. Most bodybuilders will be able to lose around 2lbs. of bodyfat per week, while gaining about 0.25lbs. of muscle, and that's assuming you're not using any steroids or testosterone boosters like HCGenerate. If you throw in HCGenerate into the mix, you'll shed more fat and gain more lean mass naturally.

Hormones and the Evolutionary Diet

The Evolutionary Diet creates a homeostatic environment where you naturally maximize your levels of testosterone, growth hormone and insulin, which will help you gain lean muscle mass while losing bodyfat. The diet shifts your metabolism and conditions it to create an endogenous anabolic environment. This processes is insanely complicated, but in laymen terms – most hormones are reactive to each other. If one is going up, the other one is going down, and vise-versa. For example, when insulin levels increase (as it happens all the time on a high-protein/high-carbohydrates diet), growth hormone levels decrease. If you are able to increase the serum levels of both hormones, you'll be able to create a highly anabolic environment suitable for high-quality muscle gains and fast-paced fat loss. That's where the Evolutionary Diet comes in.

In addition, The Evolutionary Diet decreases cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glad to break down muscle tissue and use it as fuel (energy) – this concept is known as catabolism or catabolic state. With this diet, you'll be packing on more muscle mass while losing less and less from catabolism.

The Metabolic Shift

The holy grail of all energy produced in your body is Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). In order to blink your eyes, breathe, pump iron or even go to the bathroom, you need Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The 'broscience' based notion that ATP can only come carbohydrates (glycogen and glucose) is entirely false. Both protein and fat can be used for energy and can easily replenish ATP levels in the body.

The average high-carbohydrate/high-protein diet works by using glucose for energy. The glucose enters your bloodstreams, the pancreas secretes insulin and the glucose is used as an immediate energy source – the rest is stored as glycogen in the muscle and liver tissues. However, some of the glucose is made into bodyfat (triglycerides), aka you are getting fatter as you eat more and more carbs. A diet high in carbohydrates constantly bombards your body with spiking insulin levels; insulin is known to increase lipogenic enzymes (fat producing) and decrease lipolytic enzymes (fat burning). This leads to more bodyfat being stored and more muscle mass being burned for energy.

On The Evolutionary Diet fat is the primary source of fuel for the body. This limits the body, since it has no glucose to use, it now has to make a metabolic shift to use free fatty acids from stored bodyfat and dietary sources for energy. As an alternative to using glucose and glycogen, the body now starts using triglycerides (your bodyfat) and free fatty acids. In simple terms, The Evolutionary Diet creates a highly anabolic environment, where lipogenic enzymes (fat producing) are decreased while lipolytic enzymes (fat burning) are increased. Once the metabolic shift happens, triglycerides are broken down into free fatty acids, which are in turn broken down into Ketones to be used as an alternative energy source.

Protein and Catabolism

The Evolutionary Diet forces the body to make a metabolic shift, where fat is the new source of energy. The diet protects protein levels and is anti-catabolic, meaning it makes you lose bodyfat while keeping your body from using muscle protein for energy. After the metabolic shift, your body will utilize fat for energy whenever possible, it literally will start seeking out fat to burn for fuel – think about the fat around your abs melting away, while you sit on the computer, on this diet!

When you compare this to a regular high-carbohydrate diet, you'll find a huge difference. As your body is used to using glucose for energy, it's not used to using anything else, so when you run out of glucose or the glucose provided is not high GI enough, your body breaks down protein (becomes catabolic) for energy. It means that high-carbohydrate diets literally force your body to use your MUSCLES for energy! The body is so efficient, it's amazing - it utilizes protein with 58% efficiency. Roughly, your body can extract 58 grams of glucose from 100 grams of protein.

How does it work?

The diet consists of 2 phases, the metabolic shift phase, which lasts the first 2-3 weeks and the maintenance phase – which is the rest of the time you're doing The Evolutionary Diet.

The Evolutionary Diet Results

evolutionary diet before after

Metabolic Shift

The first 2 weeks of the diet, you're aren't going to feel well, the main reason is your body is used to chemicals, toxins and high levels of glucose. Once the body reaches a level of homeostasis, it will shift your metabolic rate to burn fat for energy instead of glucose.

Ratios for the Shift

Monday-Saturday

Fat – 65-70%

Protein – 25%-30%

Carbs – 5% max

Sunday Reload

Fat – 30-40%

Protein – 10-15 %

Carbs – 45-60%

Basically, in the “Shift Phase” from Monday through Saturday, you will be eating a very high fat diet, medium protein and virtually no carbs. On the weekend, Sunday, you'll be eating a lot of carbohydrates to shock your body and force it to become anabolic. In essence, from Monday-Saturday you'll be in ketosis, shedding bodyfat, while Sunday you'll be in an anabolic phase – packing on muscle.

After the first 2 weeks, you have likely made a metabolic shift, and your body is ready to become a fat burning machine. You can now switch up a few things. First, we'll need to increase your reload phase and decrease fats during your cutting phase. You will now run your main diet Monday-Friday and your reload Saturday-Sunday.

Ratios for Maintenance

Monday-Friday

Fat – 55-60%

Protein – 30%-35%

Carbs – 5%-8%

Saturday-Sunday Reload

Fat – 30-40%

Protein – 10-15 %

Carbs – 45-60%

What can you eat?

The Diet

The menu is going to be entirely up to you, but here are some examples of the foods you can eat.

Steak, chicken (not breast!), hamburgers, pork, lamb – virtually all fatty red meat is fair game; whole eggs, cheese (carb free NOT cheese spread), turkey, fish (the fatter the better), lobster, tuna and every other fish out there. The fatter the food the better. Don't forget different kinds of nuts, like walnuts and seeds – just make sure you count the carbs, as both cheese and nuts contain a small amount of carbs. You need the fat to make that metabolic shift, so don't worry about it too much. Just make sure to watch your carbs, many foods contain hidden carbohydrates.

The Reload

During the reload phase, concentrate on both high and low GI foods. Think cereal with skim milk, pasta, pancakes, breads, organic pizza, rice and pretty much everything you were craving during the week. Of course, make sure to keep to the macros provided for the diet.

Caloric Intake

Your caloric intake will depend on what you want to do with the diet:

If you're looking to get lean (cut), you'll need to take your BMR = weight (lbs.) x 12 and subtract about 10%. For example, if you're 200 lbs., your cutting BMR (CBMR) is 2400 calories (200x12) – 240 calories (10%) => your CBMR = 2160 calories. You need to eat around 2160 calories during the week to shed bodyfat.

If you want to gain mass (bulk up), you'll need to take your BMR x 18-20. For example, if you're 200lbs., your bulking BMR (BBMR) is weight (lbs.) x 20 = 4000 calories.

Thus, for a 200lbs. Male, the CBMR = 2160 calories and BBMR = 4000 calories.

Do you want to read more about the Evolutionary Diet? Check out the threads on our forums:

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Written by
Albert Wolfgang is a professional medical writer with over 20 years of experience. He hold multiple personal training certifications, including the coveted NASM and AFAA certificates. He graduated with honors with a B.S. and M.S. in biochemistry with a minor in physical studies. Albert and his team have trained over 100 IFBB professional bodybuilders, including Hollywood stars and many up and coming fitness stars.

8 Comments

  1. Avatar photo

    In the first phase, where fat as 60%+ for the day, what does one eat? Seems like you would need to drink some oil.

    Can you give a sample day or two of what that would look like?

    Also, you mention that the first phase feels shitty. How about some examples there too? What would one expect?

  2. Avatar photo

    Question: In the first phase, where fat as 60%+ for the day, what does one eat?
    Answer: Yes, liquid fats sometimes are required, think Flaxseed oil, olive oil etc.

    Can you give a sample day or two of what that would look like?
    Answer: read this thread on the forums:
    http://www.evolutionary.org/forums/showthread.php?184-Evolutionary-Diet

    Also, you mention that the first phase feels shitty. How about some examples there too? What would one expect?
    Answer: You might feel drowsy, a bit tired and a bit sluggish, but nothing that’s very bad.

  3. Avatar photo

    Very nice article and a great aproach Albert, allthough it is really hard to calculate our calories for this diet cause we have to put on our routine foods that we didnt bother.

    For example what a breakfast could be?-Yogurt with almonds or peanuts?

    what about the lanch?-Steak without salad but with a lot of oil?

    No fruits?No vegies?

    Thx for your time

  4. Avatar photo

    For Example

    30% protein/10% carbs/60% fat

    30% protein

    (1965 x 0.30)/4 = 147 grams protein/day(egg exmple 147gr egg whites?meat example 147gr of steak?)?

    *1 gram of protein = 4 calories

    10% carbohydrates

    (1965 x 0.10)/4 = 49 grams carbohydrates/day?

    *1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories

    60% fat

    (1965 x 0.60)/9 = 131 grams fat/day?

    *1 gram of fat = 9 calories

    We have to do something like this??

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