The idea that excess weight is a calories-out calories-in balance problem is dogma in our country. That dogma has derailed the science of obesity and stands in the way of approaches that work. Even worse, it implies we have control over the problem and fat people are flawed in some way. They are gluttons and they eat too much. They are lazy and they don’t exercise enough. The craziest thing of all is the dogma has failed utterly to solve the problem. Americans continue to get heavier, and more are developing weight-related complications of excess weight. Check out the wonderful article in this link. It reviews the flaws in the dogma and explains what actually causes weight gain.
Here is a quote from the article, “By the mid-1960s, researchers studying fat storage and metabolism had established unambiguously that the hormone insulin dominated the regulation of fat storage…(insulin) does so partly by stimulating the uptake of fat into fat cells, inhibiting its release and inhibiting its use as energy in non-adipose tissue. No tissue in the body is as sensitive to insulin’s action as fat tissue — “exquisitely sensitive,” as these researchers often described it”
Translation- Insulin regulates fat storage. It pushes fat into fat cells and blocks fat release from them. Insulin makes it harder to use our own fat for energy.
The implications for excess weight are profound. Sugar and carbohydrate increase insulin levels. Regularly eating carbs and sugar persistently creates resistance to insulin effects and that increases insulin levels even more when consuming the same amount of sugar. It gets to be a vicious cycle. Many processes foods and juices are loaded with added sugar. Processed carbs become sugar within minutes. To make it worse, processed food often combines fat, sugar, salt, and processed carbs to make that item irresistible. We will eat it when we are not hungry and the more we eat, the more we want.
So, what to do? Eat real food—lean meat, eggs, low fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and nuts. Using olive oil in food in cooking replaces carb calories with food that satisfies longer. It is really not that hard. I have lost 60 pounds and kept it off for years. Four of my patients lost 100 pounds. The champ lost 150 and has kept it off for 13 years!
Yup! The “fat free diet” is a fat lie!!!
I actually prefer full fat dairy and meat with saturated fat for robust flavor!