De-Bunked!

I couldn’t resist picking up the October 2011 issue of the Reader’s Digest that was on my dad’s bedside table. With a photo of a juicy, might I add, healthy looking burger with a portion of chips on the side on the cover and in large-ish font “Is This the Way to Lose Weight?* The New Science of Dieting – Fat Can Help You Lose Weight!” – I just had to pick it up and quickly turned to page 38.

My first impressions as I read the article with absolute interest was that, this was the missing link between me and my food plan which I had embarked on 2 years ago. I never knew the “scientific” reason as to why they had asked me to do what I had to do and even though I had neglected to ask, I would have appreciated an explanation. Nevertheless, I now have some answers!

Thank you for all the research by Gary Taubes, author of Why We Get Fat – and What to Do About It. A well written article by Lisa Davis who interviewed Gary Taubes.

What you need to know:

The message for the past 40 years has been, if you don’t want to be fat, cut out fat from your diet. In those years, obesity rates have continued to go up.

Fat is not the enemy – Digested Carbohydrates are i.e. what has been promoted as the staples of our eating regimen e.g. white rice, fat-free yogurt, plain baked potatoes and plain pasta.

Food that we have been told to shun e.g. burgers, steak, cheese, sour cream etc can help us lose weight and keep our hearts healthy.

Sounds controversial? Keep reading…

The hypothesis that we need to work with is NOT “If I get fatter, it’s obvious that I must have overeaten.” It doesn’t address why we have overeaten. The alternative hypothesis is then, “You don’t get fat because you’re overeating. You overeat because you developed a disorder in the way your fat tissue is regulated.”

“Over the past 40 years, studies have shown that you can’ get a clinical significant effect from cutting calories. At the same time experts are saying that gluttony and sloth are responsible for weight gain, they’ll tell you no diet works and that’s why we have to come up with some anti-obesity drug that’ll make billions.”

Restricting calories is ineffective because if you restrict energy intake, your cells actually burn less energy. This will not help with weight loss.

It is impossible to count calories. No matter how good you are at counting calories and practice energy balance i.e. energy in = energy out, then why aren’t we all fat?

I love this part – “What we tell people to do to lose weight – eat less and exercise more – is exactly what you’d do if you wanted to make yourself hungry.”

There is no compelling evidence that exercise has any effect on weight. [However all these years, it somehow seems to have worked for me… *scratch head* - the article says that it’s a reasonable assumption to make but still the data does not full support this.]

There is a way to lose weight!

It has been known since the 1960s by scientists that insulin is the primary hormone that regulates your fat tissue; therefore you need to eat food that keep insulin low.

The key is in a low-carb diet! You eat what you want until you’re satiated – you just don’t eat the things that will make you fat. In most of the studies conducted, a low-carb diet actually does better than a low-fat, low-calorie diet.

What to eat? Read the entry after this posting…

A low-fat diet that people have been eating to protect their hearts is actually bad for their heart, because it’s high in carbohydrates.

A low-carb diet improves your cholesterol profile, your insulin resistance goes away and your blood pressure goes down.

It’s not your fault if you have a weight problem! *YAY*

An obese person gets judged because doctors assume that they don’t care to do what they do i.e. Eat in moderation, and exercise but it’s a hormonal disorder. “Not everyone gets fat from eating carbohydrates – it has to do with how sensitive your cells are to insulin and specifically how sensitive your fat cells are versus your muscle cells. But some huge percentage of the people who do get fat got that way because of the carbs in their diet. If you’ve been fat for a long time, getting rid of carbohydrates might not make you lean. But the leanest you can be is on the diet with the fewest carbohydrates.”

Some cautions to take note of:

Some people feel low energy while their bodies adjust to this way of eating, thought adding a little salt to your diet can take care of it.

You might need to adjust your medication as a low-carb diet can reduce your blood pressure. Talk to your doctor first.

In Summary…“Eat what humans are evolved to eat. Highly refined grains and sugars were not part of our diet for 99.999 percent of human history. Back when we were hunter gatherers, we ate meat as often as we could get it, and when we ate plants, they were much tougher and higher in fibre that they are today – much lower in digestible carbs. In other words, this isn’t a diet. The fundamental idea is, don’t eat the foods that make you fat. Beyond that, you can eat as much as you want.” 

My Thoughts: Knowing is one thing and doing is another! 

And let’s strive to always do our best, because our best is what we deserve!