@DarkScribe
Look I’ve been through the low carb high protein diets myself and I definitely know a thing or two about glycemic indexes and the basis of muscle building. The fact of the matter is that calories are calories. As per the New England Journal of Medicine in a study of varying degrees of food types:
Conclusions: Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize.
Whether you consume calories in the form of carbohydrates, protein or fat they are all broken down in the body to glucose.
Now carbohydrates are utilized first by the body and are readily available as energy because the sugars in vegetable matter which is what carbohydrates are comprised of is more easily broken down into a similar sugar for the body’s needs. These are the greatest energy sources. And also as noted by our closest relatives the great apes the source of most of their diet. The next thing that the body consumes is protein but it is much harder for the body to break down protein and it sets up a state called ketosis.
If the diet is changed from a highly glycemic diet to a diet that does not provide sufficient carbohydrate to replenish glycogen stores, the body goes through a set of stages to enter ketosis. During the initial stages of this process the adult brain does not burn ketones; however, the brain makes immediate use of this important substrate for lipid synthesis in the brain. After about 48 hours of this process, the brain starts burning ketones in order to more directly utilize the energy from the fat stores that are being depended upon, and to reserve the glucose only for its absolute needs, thus avoiding the depletion of the body’s protein store in the muscles.
Wikipedia
Now this can burn a tremendous amount of energy and calories and it cause the body to expend calories and throw off water in an attempt to use the protein for its energy needs. Yet this is a great strain on the body for a limited payoff, can wreak havoc on the nervous system, the heart (just ask Arnold) and the kidneys. And in order to appropriate the necessary amounts of energy from meat sources one has to eat an incredible amount of protein sources. Ask any lion or tiger. Also note that these animals can sleep about 18–20 hours a day. If you are of a minor body type and you want to add mass you need to add calories and if your body type is already devoid of significant muscle mass then the muscle mass will be incredibly taxed by limiting the available energy in the form of readily available calories and using any available fat reserves to break down protein . And if there is no significant fat reserves then what will be the first to get burned up will be the muscle mass itself defeating the aim!
So he needs to consume calories that will be readily available to feed straining muscles which includes a balanced diet as recommended by the FDA.
Furthermore, bodybuilders, professional wrestlers and the like put tremendous strains on their body and often for only temporary gains. And if one looks at the mortality rate among these it is often far greater and sooner than the norm.
More than one body builder has died for their sport
Many also from overdoses of steroids as one can imagine, but also diuretics. High protein diets are natural diuretics. They drive water out of the cells which is essential to the function of every organ in the body. So in the pursuit of the ripped, shredded look that many people want, tremendous damage can be done. And the last thing our guy here needs to worry about is getting too lean! That’s not an issue for him.
So when considering the nutritional needs of the body, the entire medical field must be taken into account, not just those who have a very specific look, diet book or a supplement to sell us.
And to anyone who answers this please consider that the one asking is a young man and his body has very different nutritional needs than an adult.