10 Weight-Loss Myths You Should Stop Believing

[LedMatrix]

These are popular myths people tend to believe. #4 is my pet peeve because of the amount of bad advice I see here. People need to realize that you can lose weight and/or be at a "good weight" but STILL be very unhealthy due to the terrible "diet" someone recommends. 500-1000 a day and detox diets spring to mind.

That being said, here are 10 Weight-Loss Myths You Should Stop Believing

[LedMatrix]

You resources seem to encourage fasting. I recommend consulting your doctor before fasting. And here's a good article on it as well:

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15649/1/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Fasting.html

[divedragon]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@divedragon wrote:

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Carbs do make you fat according to the latest research on insulin response.

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I disagree with the above statement. There is nothing inherently fattening in carbs. People don’t get fat from eating carbs, they get fat from overeating them. They also get fat from overeating any other macronutrient.

There’s only so much space in your liver and your glycogen stores for carbs. If you are very active, carbs in these stores will be used for fueling your activity (carbs are the best fuel there is). If you are mostly sedentary, it’s easy to fill up your glycogen stores: once they are full, the excess amount is converted to fat and goes into your fat cells. This is why low-carb diet are best suited for sedentary people. Active people can eat a decent amount of carbs and not get fat from it.

If carbs were fattening, most Japanese would be overweight or obese (rice being a staple food in their diet). Yet Japan has one of the lowest obesity rate in the world. Same with Italians (pasta, bread, pizza etc.): how come they have one of the lowest obesity rate in Europe?

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So I'm not expressing my opinion on this, but looking at  the clincal studies that tell us these facts.  Carbs invoke a very high insulin response in our bodies.  Insulin is the fat storage hormone.  For the full evidence I invite you to read the rather long but informative series on hormonal Obesity starting here:

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/historic-perspective-obesity-hormonal-obesity-1/

Through out this work he also discusses some regarding the Japanese and it revolves around the mitigating foods that help limit this insulin response including fiber, fat and vinegar.  The fat and fiber help as they also slow the digestive process down so we don't have a rapid influx of glycogen.  Vegies grown above ground have a high ratio of fiber to carbs, so they work for us.  Italians and Japanese have high levels of dietary fat in their diets and yes we often think of pasta and bread with the itialian diet, but from what time I spent over there, its a small portion of a meal with veggies and some meat.

Here's an abstract that talks about the insulin response to various food groups:  http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/66/5/1264.abstract

We all have been subject to a lifetime of information about diet and nutrition, but the odd thing is, most of it comes from correlation studies rather than hard scientific clinical studies.  The whole low fat diet fad is a good example of that and its association with corinary disease.  It's still out there as a matter of fact.  Since you mention the Japanese, here is a study that indicates in japanese men there is an inverse relationship between dietary fat and corinary disease:  http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2010/08/04/ajcn.2009.29146.short

It's hard to let go of what we've been conditioned to believe, I know.  There is not a single thing said on this board I haven't espoused myself at some point.  But because I'm such a nerd, I like to go find the evidence and what I found has turned everything I thought I knew on it's head.  But think about it!  How do we fatten cattle, lamb, pigs?  Feed them grain.  How do they fatten the liver of a goose for Fois Graus?  They used to overfeed it corn, but now they have a short cut, they over feed it High Fructose Corn Syrup - concentrated carbs.  Why is obesity so much higher among the lower economic segments of the population - diets higher in carbohydrates.

Again, I challenge you to read the Hormonal Obesity series above. Look for the scientific papers that discuss clinical results.  The truth is out there!

[Corney]

Sorry, but in Type 2 diabetes THERE IS NOT AN OVER PRODUCTION OF INSULIN.  Type 2 DM is characterized clinically by HYPERGLYCEMIA that may or may not at times require insulin to control symptoms of hyperglycemia. If you feel like pontificating at least get your facts correct or keep your thoughts to yourself.

[Corney]

I have yet to see clinical research in a respected journal stating that fasting is healthier than eating regularly.  First what are the people who eat regularly eating, a balanced diet recommended by the Government consisting of 50% complex carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% proteins.  Ancedotally, we as a nation are obese, but not from eating regularly or from eating carbs.  Do to increasing poverty, we eat what is the cheapest, which is highly processed and high in calories, we don't exercise enough, especially children and young adults glued to their TV's or computer games.  Where did you get the facts about our bodies becoming overly sensitive to insulin?  If that were the case, we would have numerous cases of people coming to the ER with Hypoglycemia due to the sensitivity issue .  NIDDM  is a disorder where hyperglycemia results from impaired insulin production and/or decreased insulin effectiveness( insulin resistance) not hypersensitivity.

[Corney]

Great article.  Our brain runs most effectively when burning glucose derived from carbohydrates.  Ever wonder why marathoner's say when you reach the 20 mile mark the race is only half over?  At the 20 mile mark the body has used up most or all of our carbohydrate stores. So it's like the brain is running on empty and our other muscles must depend on glucose derived from fats once they have been sent to the liver to be converted into glucose.

[divedragon]

This is a very long post, sorry.

LedMatrix wrote:

@LedMatrix

I appreciate your opinions. No propagating myths here. Pretty common knowledge by now (as many studies have shown) that skipping meals, particularly over the long term, is not good for you.

 So I want to first say that you are one of the few to offer up an actual study to support your position. None of what I post here is an attempt to discredit you, but rather to inject the evidence in a way that hopefully will educate and benefit others (and maybe even you!) in becoming healthier. I honestly believe you and I have the same agenda – to educate. I actually appreciate the effort you are going to as it presents a challenge to my thoughts and belief and I either have to be able to support them with evidence or abandon them – and that’s how we grow intellectually. You have my utmost respect.

The concept of intermittent fasting is not mine. I don’t own it, I didn’t create it. When I heard about it, I just started looking into it and doing my due diligence. With the exception of Dr. Fungs site and blog, I tend not to put much faith in blogs and even news articles, but I do make an exception with his as he provides the clinical data that support his claims. When I can find the actual study, not only can I see the results for myself, but also see how the study was designed and conducted. Not all studies are well designed and can lead to false or misleading conclusions.

For example, in 2007, the journal “Metabolism” published a study examining the effects of skipping meals on people who were healthy and of normal weight. Over the course of eight weeks, the subjects skipped two meals every day and ate all of the calories they would normally eat in one big daily meal. At the end of the study, participants had blood sugar levels and insulin responses that put them at a higher risk for diabetes than they had had before the study began.

So I was able to find the text of this study and see a couple of issues as how it was designed and conducted. They were given glucose first thing in the morning, so they didn’t go the full hours in fast mode putting them into any form of ketosis. In fact, the study designers even acknowledge this when discussing the decreased insulin sensitivity results. The following statement would indicate why this study contradicts other studies that show an increased sensitivity over time:

The OGTTs were performed in the morning. Therefore, when on the 1-meal-per-day diet, the subjects had consumed a much greater amount of food in proximity to the OGTT compared with subjects on 3 meals per day, which could have influenced morning insulin sensitivity.

This could have as well affected the elevated plasma glucose observed in the test subjects:

Fasting (morning) plasma glucose levels were significantly elevated in subjects when they were consuming 1 meal per day compared with 3 meals per day.

Additionally, when you fast, you tend to teach your body to burn ketones instead of glucose which the majority of your cells including brain cells can use and seem to use with greater efficiency. There are a few cells that do require glucose within the brain and red blood cells also require it, but contained within those oxidizing fat cells are triglycerides which are used by the liver to produce glucose for those cells that need it through a process known as glycogenesis

Reading on:

Each subject consumed the same amount of calories each day regardless of whether they ate 1 or 3 meals, and all subjects maintained their body weight within 2 kg of their initial weight throughout the 6-month period [29]. Most physiological variables measured, including heart rate, body temperature, and blood chemicals, were unaffected by meal frequency; however, when on 1 meal per day, subjects exhibited a significant reduction of fat mass and significant increases in levels of total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

So fasting resulted in greater lean to fat mass, but what it didn’t determine which was found in a study on Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) was that while LDL increased, so did it’s particle size which negates the effects of higher LDL. Also note HDL was higher as well. Quote from ADF study published in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013) 783 – 785:

Taken together, ADF can improve certain CHD risk factors, such as LDL particle size, regardless of dietary fat content. Whether these effects persist long-term warrants furthur investigation. From a clinical standpoint, these findings suggest that individuals will not need to change the types of foods they eat, only the pattern of food consumption, to experience the cardio-protective benefits of ADF.

It can take12 hours and longer depending on the food consumed to completely digest and the body stop producing insulin. Dr. Jason Fung has actually cured T2D using fasting techniques, so that’s pretty good evidence fasting does in the long run increase insulin sensitivity (reference cited in previous posts). He states that all fasting programs are good, but the longer the fast, the faster the results in improved health. He typically uses 3-5 days fasts per week in his practice.

Going for hours without eating deprives the brain of glucose, which is needed for normal functioning. Lack of glucose to the brain can lead to irritability, dizziness, fainting, as well as more serious conditions like hypoglycemia. Not eating regularly throughout the day, and for days, weeks and longer, puts you at a higher risk for long-term nutritional deficiencies including anemia, stunted growth, loss of bone or incomplete bone development, decreased immune function, amenorrhea (loss of menstrual periods), decreased thyroid function, increased susceptibility to colds and infections, low energy levels, poor concentration and cognitive development, and gum infections and poor dental health, just to name a few.

As stated earlier, the liver can produce glucose for the brain and red blood cells from the ketones that are made during fat oxidation, so you’re really not depriving the brain of anything. In fact, the world record for continuous fast is 384 days with no ill effects. I have copies of studies that date back as far as 1958 where fasting of up to 24 days was used to treat obesity and all participants reported a sense of well being. Most were given daily vitamin supplements so that is an alternative if the concern is significant. One study noted that if a patient is hypoglycemic to begin with, then fasting may be contraindicated and from that standpoint I completely agree. In terms of stunted growth, well fasting should not be risked on persons who are still in growth mode, although some of the positive studies have had participates of adolescent age category with no apparent ill effects.

From another study: Changes in Metabolism in Obese Persons During Starvation * HERTA SPENCER, M.D ., ISAAC LEWIN, M.D ., JOSEDH SAMACHSON, PH.D . Hines, Illinois and JOHN LASZLO, M.D . Durham, North Carolina in which obese patients were put first on an 1850 cal/day diet, then fasting for 24 days then a refeeding diet of 600 calories/day for 8-14 days.

The patients studied tolerated the relatively long periods of starvation and the subsequent phases of refeeding with a low calorie diet very well and remained physically active throughout the study. There were no ill effects of the marked and constant acetonuria and metabolic acidosis during starvation. One of our patients, not described herein, was observed during a starvation period for 142 days and there were no untoward clinical or chemical effects [8

Also, this study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779282) shows that no impairment to cognition, sleep or intestinal glucose concentration are demonstrated during 48 hour fasts.

From my own experience, I’ve been on a fasting regime since Oct 1, 2015. I exercise 4-5 days a week and have gone from walk/run 30-40 minutes to continuous jog for up to 50 minutes. I do HIIT twice per week and lift weights 3 days a week with a 30% increase in volume during this period. I ALWAYS exercise in the fasted stated and prefer to exercise just prior to breaking the fast.

[divedragon]

Part 2

Let's say breakfast is the meal one chooses to skip, which many do because they "don't feel hunger" or "don't have time." Let's say for the sake of argument that you ate as late as 10pm. The next morning you skip breakfast and don't have lunch until noon. You've gone at least 14 hours depriving your body/brain/nervous system of much needed fuel and nutrients. Not good.

Why is it not good? There is no evidence to support this. In fact evidence exist and has been offered here to the contrary. You don’t have to eat in order to have glucose in the blood and available to your brain and blood. As the study you referenced says, blood glucose levels are actually elevated (although that is contrary to other studies, but explained by the study designers as proximity to the last meal.) All other cells are quite content to use ketones for energy. Metabolism actually increases during fast as cited here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3661473

And here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2405717

Many people say skipping meals helps them lose weight. They may lose weight in SPITE of skipping meals, but the adverse effects aren't worth it.

 What adverse effects. I haven’t read a study yet that makes a strong case that there are ill effects associated with fasting. I actually have always practiced calorie restriction when I wanted to lose weight and, in fact, began this journey with that philosophy. I did lose weight from 240 down to 214, but then everything stopped. This is around the time I discovered IF and began to research it. What I discovered was on just calorie restriction, your body does slow down. When fasting; however, your body learns to convert the fat to energy and does so at the level to which it needs, so you don’t get that corresponding loss in metabolism. In fact it goes up as indicated by the study referenced in my last paragraph. So I began a 16:8 fasting regimen and started losing again down to my current 189 as I gradually migrated to a 20:4 feeding option. I have, admittedly, stalled again, but that was due to the fact I also restricted calories during my feeding window (still trying to overcome past conditioning myself). I am in the process of changing again to Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) in which on my feeding days, I will eat my full complement of calories.

I believe the difference is meal skipping vs IF could be a significant distinction here. Skipping meals may be less disciplined and less consistent so that it doesn’t take advantage of the fasting benefits. The longer (to a point) we can go without eating, the more efficient we get at burning the fat. In another study the follow on to that study was weight continued to be lost with the introduction of 1-10 day fasts added periodically quoted here with a study size of 50 patients:

Correction and Control of Intractable Obesity

Practicable Application of Intermittent

Periods of Total Fasting

Garfield G. Duncan, M.D., William K. Jenson, M.D., Robert I. Fraser, M.D., and Fred C. Cristofori, M.D., Philadelphia

The initial study and treatment were carried out, without exception, in the hospital. The periods of total fasting varied from 4 to 14 days. Subsequent shorter periods of fasting were utilized successfully, on an outpatient basis, to prevent a gain in weight and to carry the reduction further. When total fast periods of 1 to 10 days (Fig. 1) were added at suitable intervals, a progressive decrease in weight was accomplished.

This very same study (50 participants) in its introduction made this statement that also include collaborative findings:

To attack this composite challenge by short periods of total fasting may seem barbaric. In reality, this method of reduction is remarkably well tolerated by obese patients. Bloom,' employing total fast periods as an introduction to the treatment of 9 obese subjects, found that this regimen was well received, and that the patients enjoyed a sense of well-being during the fast periods while achieving an average loss in weight of 2.6 lb. per day. The absence of excessive hunger during total fast periods was observed by Keys and his associates,4 by Cannon,5 and by Benedict.6

Cited references:

1. Marks, H. H.: Influence of Obesity on Morbidity and

Mortality, Bull NY Acad Med 36:296-312, 1960.

1. New Weight Standards for Men and Women: Overweight,

Its Prevention and Significance, Statistical Bulletin,

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company 40:1-4 (Nov.-Dec.)

1959.

1. Bloom, W. L.: Fasting as Introduction to Treatment

of Obesity, Metabolism 8:214-220, 1959.

1. Keys, A., et al.:Human Starvation, Minneapolis: University

of Minnesota Press, 1950, vol. 2, p. 820.

1. Cannon, W. B.: Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear,

and Rage, Boston: Charles T. Bradford Company, 1953,

1. 273-274.
2. Benedict, F. G.: Study of Prolonged Fasting, Carnegie

Inst. Publ no. 203, pp. 27, 43, 182-183, 1915.

1. Bloom, W. L., and Mitchell, Wm., Jr.: Salt Excretion

of Fasting Patients, Arch Intern Med 106:321-326 (Sept.)

1960.

But to your point, my reference to the bad advice mentioned on these boards are to the numerous suggestions to go on 500 calorie a day diets, crazy fad diets etc. 

I don’t disagree there is bad advice. But not all the dogma of current ‘best practices’ in terms of nutrition and weight control is necessary true. I have a family member who is a clinical pharmacist in Coronary Care who states the most controversial area of medicine right now is nutrition. The majority of what comprises the body of work regarding nutrition is done through what is known as correlation studies rather than clinical (or sponsored by food manufactures). Correlations studies for those who may not be aware, are studies in which a set of facts (related or unrelated) are studied and a conclusion made. The famous example of that gave us the low fat diet in which the health of many countries was correlated with the diet and concluded that fat caused coronary disease (basically, an inference was made with putting anything to scientific testing). That has been debunked ad nasum now giving rise to the good high fat diets for both coronary disease and obesity control. The only folks who are still clinging to that seems to be the vegetarian community, but I think there may be an alternate agenda there.

_________________________________________________________________

Being on a diet of fewer than 800 calories a day for a long time may lead to serious heart problems.

TIP: Research suggests that safe weight loss involves combining a reduced-calorie diet with physical activity to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week (after the first few weeks of weight loss). Make healthy food choices. Eat small portions. Build exercise into your daily life. Combined, these habits may be a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off. These habits may also lower your chances of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

 I’m looking, but I haven’t as yet found a single study to back this up. I’ll continue to look, but once again, the evidence I can find is all from correlation (inference) studies. So maybe the issue is not an 800 calorie/day diet, but a zero! That’s what the clinical evidence says.

Myth: If I skip meals, I can lose weight.

Fact: Skipping meals may make you feel hungrier and lead you to eat more than you normally would at your next meal. In particular, studies show a link between skipping breakfast and obesity. People who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast.

TIP: Choose meals and snacks that include a variety of healthy foods. Try these examples:

• For a quick breakfast, make oatmeal with low-fat milk, topped with fresh berries. Or eat a slice of whole-wheat toast with fruit spread.
• Pack a healthy lunch each night, so you won't be tempted to rush out of the house in the morning without one.
• For healthy nibbles, pack a small low-fat yogurt, a couple of whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter, or veggies with hummus.

SOURCE
___________________________________________________________

 So as far as I can tell, these are at best recommendations made from correlation studies or just the current dogma espoused by the nutritional community.  Diet myths are not only propagated by laymen on the internet, but by the nutritionalist themselves. This is the same community that gave us our food pyramid and fueled the obesity epidemic. Some of the data probably is gathered through surveys which we all know how honest everyone is in answering them.

Regardless of what anyone says though, always consult your healthcare provider before starting some program. 

Not bad advice. You should for sure make sure you’re not hypoglycemic before embarking on a fasting program.

 I have quoted a lot of studies here and I’d be happy to provide the full texts to anyone who asks. They are clinical studies with all the technical jargon and charts and tables that go along with them and may be quite boring unless you have a strong interest in this sort of thing.

[LedMatrix]

Bottom line folks, consult your physician before trying some new trendy or fadish diet, and always do your homework. It's your health, your life. Even among journals and "clinical studies we're seeing confusing and sometimes seemingly contradicting reports. We can argue until the cows come home but I think there are times when common sense kicks in.

Peace out.

[LedMatrix]

Exactly. A married couple who are friends of my wife and I are both runners and say the same thing (They are also both nurses). I thought that was a common sense thing, but appreantly not. Voltaire once said that "common sense ain't that common." Sadly he's right.

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@Corney wrote:

Great article.  Our brain runs most effectively when burning glucose derived from carbohydrates.  Ever wonder why marathoner's say when you reach the 20 mile mark the race is only half over?  At the 20 mile mark the body has used up most or all of our carbohydrate stores. So it's like the brain is running on empty and our other muscles must depend on glucose derived from fats once they have been sent to the liver to be converted into glucose.

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[divedragon]

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@Corney wrote:

Sorry, but in Type 2 diabetes THERE IS NOT AN OVER PRODUCTION OF INSULIN.  Type 2 DM is characterized clinically by HYPERGLYCEMIA that may or may not at times require insulin to control symptoms of hyperglycemia. If you feel like pontificating at least get your facts correct or keep your thoughts to yourself.

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Admittedly, that was a very simplistic definition, but not really incorrect.  It's actually insulin resistance, but more often than not is caused because we overeat the simple carbs which spike insulin and cells become resistant to it so the insulin is no long effective at reducing blood sugar by storing it as fat.  The body responds with more insulin which causes more resistance, etc.  At some point the body cannot produce  enough insulin to control blood sugar.  That is type 2 diabeties.

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/insulin-resistance-good-t2d-7/

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000313.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/home/ovc-20169860

[divedragon]

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@Corney wrote:

I have yet to see clinical research in a respected journal stating that fasting is healthier than eating regularly.  First what are the people who eat regularly eating, a balanced diet recommended by the Government consisting of 50% complex carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% proteins.  Ancedotally, we as a nation are obese, but not from eating regularly or from eating carbs.  Do to increasing poverty, we eat what is the cheapest, which is highly processed and high in calories, we don't exercise enough, especially children and young adults glued to their TV's or computer games.  Where did you get the facts about our bodies becoming overly sensitive to insulin?  If that were the case, we would have numerous cases of people coming to the ER with Hypoglycemia due to the sensitivity issue .  NIDDM  is a disorder where hyperglycemia results from impaired insulin production and/or decreased insulin effectiveness( insulin resistance) not hypersensitivity.

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 So it seems I may have hit some type of nerve with you.  I assure you it wasn't my intention to do so.  You are entitled to believe in whatever you wish and I don't begrudge you that.  My apologies if I offended you.

You are correct, and I might have better stated that due to overeating we continually produce insulin which causes out bodies to become resistant to it until we can no longer produce enough to control blood sugar creating the, as you say, hyperglycemia or too much blood sugar.

I never said we become overly sensitive....just the opposite.  I said we over produce insulin causing out bodies to become more and more resistant to it until we can no longer produce enough to control. 

[OCDOC]

I agree almost completely with @divedragon.

Fat storage evolved as an insurance policy against UNPLANNED fasts. It's also true that carbs stimulate Insulin, which hormonally drives the body to store fat. My guess is that cavemen didn't eat 3 + square meals a day according to the (lobby-driven) 'government guidelines'.

Obesity is a DISEASE caused by over-stuffing our fat cells (driven by carbs and insulin). Once the cells are stuffed, excess carb energy has nowhere to go, raising the blood sugars and causing all sorts of grief. T2DM is therefore characterized by Insulin resistance...some diabetics need 300+ units of subcutaneous insulin a day to reduce their suger to normal by forcing sugar into cells (and they will never lose the fat).

Anyway, there are 2 options to reduce excess fat stores. One is a diet which minimizes Insulin activity and enhances fat-burning. ie low carb.

The other method is fasting (which is why nature created fat storage anyway). Fasting is a NATURAL and historically NORMAL thing!!! (Although aside from religious things, many times it was 'involuntary').

Skinny/healthy people don't need to fast. However, truly overweight people benefit greatly with medically supervised intermittent fasting. Once their fat drops, so does the insulin resistance, and all things head back in the proper direction. Some get 'cured' of T2DM.

A balanced 3-square 'government-approved' diet will never help these people..they simply will never recruit the lipolysis required to shed the fat sufficiently.

I think much of the disagreements above are because some are talking about a disease (obesity..where fasting is definitely a valuable part of therapy), and general fitness (where healthy people needn't fast).

Rob K

[Dominique]

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@OCDOC wrote:

Anyway, there are 2 options to reduce excess fat stores. One is a diet which minimizes Insulin activity and enhances fat-burning. ie low carb.

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I’ll make things even simpler: there’s only 1 option to reduce fat: be in a caloric deficit for some period of time. There are many ways to achieve this. It’s up to anyone to pick up the way that works best for them, be it intermittent fasting, low-carb/high-fat, high-carb/low-fat, tweaking your hormones (for those who believe they can outsmart their bodies) etc.

Otherwise I won’t challenge the idea obesity is a disease: it definitely is. But it’s not caused by evil carbs, it’s primarily caused by sustained overeating. I’ve never been obese, but if I relocated to Japan, registered at a sumo school and started to consistently eat 5000 calories a day, I would end up obese after some period of time. 

[OCDOC]

@Dominique

Hi Dominique

Yes you would gain, but you would lose it back again. (eg like those jokers on thin to fat to thin).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1414963

Main problem with eat-less-exercise more...people are doing arithmetic, but the body does hormonal calculus 🙂  PS Congrats on never being obese. 

[Corney]

What is hormonal calculus.  What ever happened to calories in verus calories burnt.  I don't buy the idea that all people who are over weight have a hormonal problem.  In order for people to change 3 things must happen. 1 they have to identify the problem.  2 they have to take ownership of the problem, blaming on hormonal calculus, isn't taking ownership of the problem. 3  have the courage to change the habits or behaviors that are the cause of the problem.

[Corney]

You seem to be saying that everyone who follows the Government guidelines on diet, 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein will eventually get type 2 DM. Eventually everything we eat gets turned into glucose, because thats the only thing our cells can utilize.  So if someone eats no carbs, but stuffs themselves on fats and proteins, the calories that are not burned up are eventually stored in fat cells. Carbs are not the cause of obesity, that just too simplistic.  Granted some obesity is caused hormonal problems, but the majority of obesity is caused by a poor diet, eating too much and doing too little.

[divedragon]

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@Corney wrote:

 Carbs are not the cause of obesity, that just too simplistic.  Granted some obesity is caused hormonal problems, but the majority of obesity is caused by a poor diet, eating too much and doing too little.

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You're right, they are not the only cause.  Keep in mind that hormonal obesity is the result of a poor diet.  It's not that there is anything wrong with the hormones - at least initially.  The poor diet influences the hormones and in that regard, the hormones cause the obesity.  Root cause is still the diet - absolutely!  The reason I, and others, are so hot on carbs is that they influence the hormones the most unless mitigated by high fiber, fat, vinegar or time to digest. 

You have mentioned refined foods and in that you are also correct.  Refining removes those mitigating factors and leaves behind just the carbs.  The carbs trigger high insulin and other hormones.  The whole concept then is about controlling the hormones and that is controlled through diet.

One problem this all creates is that if we go long enough with a bad diet, those hormones start working against us.  Measure have to be taken to reverse the damage, be it a little or a lot and if a lot, hopefully is not so much that it can't be fixed.

[Corney]

Well this is a short post, I will from now on refrain from commenting on fasting, and IF until I read a Scientific Research Paper published in a respected medical journal by an Endocrinologist, that fasting or Intermittent fasting is more healthy for all people rather than eating 3 healthy meals a day.  I understand the rationale of fasting and IF if you are obese.  I don't agree that carbs per se are bad, the brain functions best with glucose derived from carbohydrates, and what about those poor vegetarians, maybe someone should inform them that their life is headed for ruin.  For all those whoe advocate fasting for 2-5 days, and those who advocate IF due to our genome, I wish all a long and healthy life!

[LedMatrix]

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@Corney wrote:

Well this is a short post, I will from now on refrain from commenting on fasting, and IF until I read a Scientific Research Paper published in a respected medical journal by an Endocrinologist, that fasting or Intermittent fasting is more healthy for all people rather than eating 3 healthy meals a day.  I understand the rationale of fasting and IF if you are obese.  I don't agree that carbs per se are bad, the brain functions best with glucose derived from carbohydrates, and what about those poor vegetarians, maybe someone should inform them that their life is headed for ruin.  For all those whoe advocate fasting for 2-5 days, and those who advocate IF due to our genome, I wish all a long and healthy life!

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I give up on the fasting thing too. You won't convince someone until they suffer the adverse affects first hand. Even for the morbidly obese, doctors will seldom prescribe fasting/skipping meals. They put you on a reduced calorie diet, prescribe exercise (in most cases) and monitor you.

On a fasting "diet" most that are overweight will get hungry and give up. Not only is it unpleasant, it's unecessary. Only in unique circumstances would a doctor prescribe fasting, and I definitely wouldn't go on a fasting diet without the direction of a specialist.

You can eat three squares, be satisfied and STILL lose weight.  To each their own though. Reminds me of the silly detox diet craze. Oh well.

[divedragon]

Like I mentioned before, I'd be happy to send you all the scientific research papers I've accumulated.  Provide me an email via message and I'll zip them up and email them.