Clean Bulk vs. Dirty Bulk

[JesseM]

Hi long time reader first time poster here.
Was curious as to what the difference between clean calories and "dirty" calories are. What I mean is I often hear that drinking beer and eating say hot pockets pizza will make one fat, but if one can fit these type of things in their diet how will this produce more bodyfat? In the end calories are calories, right?
Thanks for anyones insight.
Jesse

[ryuage]

to a certain point, but there are better ways to provide nutrients to your body, and if health isnt an issues then by all means.

[David]

Once when I was bulking I got FAT just by eating clean - brown rice, eggs, oatmeal, and chicken....

[shootermcgavin7]

Obviously a "clean bulk", as a general rule, is better for you and adds more quality mass. (Someone correct me if they're the exception, but I have met no one who can convert alcohol into muscle).

That said, everyone has a different metabolism. I have always had a very fast metabolism (and once I started lifting it increased even more); so I find that I can often substitute a crap meal into my plan, and occasionally it is even necessary for me to get the calories that I need.

And, yes, in the end, "calories are just calories", but protein is a more quality calorie. I'm not the scientist on here, and maybe those of you who are can help me out, but in 3rd world countries where the diets are extremely protein deficient, people are extremely skinny and still have protruding stomachs.

Food for thought.

[geoffgarcia]

Was curious as to what the difference between clean calories and "dirty" calories are. In the end calories are calories, right?
Thanks for anyones insight.
Jesse

Yes, a calorie is a calorie they are all units of energy, heat.
Kinda like saying a person is a person.
This is true.
But once you start to break it down you'll realize there are huge differences in say, a gram of carbs and a gram of protein, similar to a male and a female.
Then you can break those down further: a gram of dietary fiber and a gram of sugars, which might be the same as an NBA player and a taxi driver.
(meaning they do different things)
My analogies suck, but I hope you get the point)

You have amino acids, digestion time, EFA's, things that raise/lower your body's hormones, etc...the list goes on and on and on...

[reloaded]

Was curious as to what the difference between clean calories and "dirty" calories are. What I mean is I often hear that drinking beer and eating say hot pockets pizza will make one fat, but if one can fit these type of things in their diet how will this produce more bodyfat? In the end calories are calories, right?

Exactly! Many people do not get this at all!

Ok, now, a clean bulk merely optimizes your potential and maximizes good health. If you eat alot of crap, you'll still get big just like a clean diet, only you might have say, higher cholesterol because of it or something like that. Calories are calories, but depending on what you eat, they could affect certain health characteristics.

[Silverback]

Clean every time, a dirty bulk is going to make your digestive system less than optimal. Therefore the potential for your body utilising what its given is going to decline considerably.

Besides i know that if im eating clean with the occassional bit of junk i feel much better all round (mood included) i think this adds to motivation and increased performance, which is what we want? right?

"You can't turn goat's piss into gasoline!!!"

B-R

[JesseM]

Hey thanks for the responses guys. I think what I need to do is just stop stressin and EAT. I'll just continue eating some unhealthy foods (meaning chicken taquitos, cheesburgers, pizza etc.) but also plenty of the healthy stuff.
Shooter: I have often wondered about the 3rd world potbellies my self. At first I thought it could be like a fat reserse type of thing, but I dont think it would be to that extreme. I'll have to do a search on that.

[geoffgarcia]

I'm not the scientist on here, and maybe those of you who are can help me out, but in 3rd world countries where the diets are extremely protein deficient.

The protruding stomachs typically result from one of three factors.

The first is edema in the abdominal area [Moderator's note: edema represents a "puffiness" due to accumulation of fluid that has seeped from the bloodstream into surrounding tissues]. This edema is a result of a lack of proteins in the bloodstream. The proteins in the bloodstream cause water to remain in the bloodstream. As the concentration of proteins in the bloodstream decreases, the water moves out of the bloodstream and into the extracellular spaces. This causes edema. The edema is particularly evident in the abdomen--especially in children.

The second cuase of a protruding stomach is an enlarged liver which is a result of inflammation as well as an accumulation of fat. Fat accumulates in the liver because` there are not enough proteins to allow it to be transported in the bloodstream.

The third cause of the protruding stomach can be due to parasitic infections, which are very common in malnourished people and, of course, make their malnutrition worse.

The reference for this answer was "Understanding Nutrition, eighth edition" by EN Whitney and SR Rolfes.

[shootermcgavin7]

Thanks, Geoff. The phenomenon of protruding stomachs in protein-deficient societies was mentioned in passing in a book that I had read, but the author never gave the physiological reason (As the author was an evolutionary biologist, I'm guessing he assumed most of the readers were scientists.)

[HemiVision]

Maybe this is a myth, but the explanation I always heard for the protruding stomach was that they were so undernourished their abdominal muscles broke down to the point that their organs were allowed to sag - they didn't have enough muscle to keep everything in place.

[Aspect]

One other interpretation of a "clean" bulk that I've heard is that a clean bulk is an attempt to add lean mass while minimising fat gains, as opposed to simply trying to add lean mass no matter what (and therefore adding significant fat along with the lean mass). So a clean bulk would have calories fairly well controlled at, say, a few hundred above maintenance, whereas a "dirty" bulk would have calories unrestricted, and you could eat all you like.

I know that's not what is being discussed here, but some people talk about bulks in this way (with no regard to the actual food being eaten, just the quantities).