|
SunnyTawse -> RE: Helping a Dominant Lose Weight (without sounding rude) (6/26/2008 8:47:51 PM)
|
Losing weight can actually happen *very* easily if you understand the biochemisty. There have been so many fad diets and trends over the last 50 years that I know what I have to say here may very well meet with some resistence. But let me lay out the general argument.
Fat is not the result of a static process. We have tended to think of fat as being similar to a suitcase where we keep all our extra calories... and in some ways, that's actually what's happening. But that's not what's supposed to be happening.
Unless we have too much insulin circulating in our bodies, or unless we are putting a huge demand for energy on our bodies (like an athlete in training), almost everything we eat--everything, carbs, fats, and proteins--is converted to body fat, and at the same time, body fat is being converted into energy. So in balance, fat is going in, coming out, going in, coming out... continually.
But in the last 30, 40 years, more and more of our diet has consisted of refined carbohydrates... cookies, pies, cakes, candy, pastry, ice cream, bread, crackers, muffins, etc., etc., etc. These foods trigger the pancreas to pour out insulin into the blood stream.
Insulin in continually high levels like this, whether produced by your body or shot into your body via a needle, has an extremely detrimental effect over time. It's been implicated in cancer, heart disease, and stroke as well as in the obvious disease, diabetes.
Insulin also works in conjunction with another substance in our bodies to LOCK IN OUR BODY FAT, to stop it from coming out. So here we are, working, working to convert all those refined carbs into fat, which then STOP the normal process of in and out, so that all it does is go IN, IN, IN. No energy is coming out, out, out.
Is it any wonder that the more donuts we eat and soda we drink, the more donuts we want to eat and the more soda we want to drink, never minding our stomachs are stretched to the breaking point? Our bodies are screaming at us, "MORE!! MORE!! I'm not GETTING anything here!!"
We get fatter and fatter and have less and less energy.
Now don't get me wrong; complex carbos are fabulous... spinach, apples, wild rice, squash, tomatoes, kiwi, beans, carrots, red peppers, plums, cauliflower, peas, canteloup, olives, blueberries, corn on the cob, and so forth. All fabulous. Our bodies have evolved to handle them. Our bodies handle complex carbs, protein and dietary fat all perfectly well. In and out, in and out, in and out.
Dietary fat is NOT the problem. Refined CARBS are the problem. In, in, in.
What does this mean for someone who wants to lose weight? Well... let me tell you my experience. Once I grasped the biochemistry of nutrition, I cut out most refined carbs... not to lose weight. I actually like having some bulk. (I know, I know, that's not a politically correct thing to say.) But I wasn't feeling well... no energy.
So I boosted the ratio of protein and complex carbs I was eating, and also the dietary fat, simply by cutting out refined carbs. And yes, I do feel a lot better.
Unfortunately, I'm also losing weight... not that I don't have plenty to spare; I *am* overweight. But really, this wasn't about losing weight for me. No matter how much protein, complex carbs, and dietary I eat, I have been burning off about seven or eight pounds a month. I eat as much as I please of anything I want... except refined carbs: cookies, pies, candy, etc. (see above!). Lots of protein. Lots of fat. Lots of complex carbs. As much as I want. And I'm dropping weight. My triglycerides are falling. My blood pressure has returned to normal. I feel great.
Remember back in the day, when we used to think cookies, pies, cakes, etc. were fattening? They are.
And once you stop eating them, you don't want them anymore. At all.
So you want more detail on this process? Pick up a copy of Gary Taubes' book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. This is not a fad diet. It is not South Beach, It is not Atkins (although it does explain the logic behind Atkins and South Beach). Gary Taubes has gone over the research, painstakingly following every loose end, refuting every false claim, examining every study. He has no agenda, no axe to grind, nothing to sell (well, the book!). There are 240 pages of citations at the back of the book.
I'm not a nutitionist. I am a tech writer. I come from a medical family. I've worked in the medical field. This guy is spot on. Check it out.
Sunny Tawse
Sadien Domina
Archon of Rings
http://AthenorLodge.com
|
|
|
|
