Obesity is a condition of abnormal or excessive fat accumulation in the fat tissues (adipose tissue) of the body, especially around the waist. Modern medicine, classify the obesity based on BMI (body mass index) but, BMI formula doesn’t include the waist size (amount of fat) of the body. (later, will write separate post on this BMI subject)
Obesity is a key risk factor for many chronic diseases such as, diabetes type 2, hypertension, heart and respiratory diseases, PCOD, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity can also affect the quality of life and lead to psychological problems, such as depression and low self-esteem. Apart from the above, it also pose a huge and growing financial burden for the nation.
The modern medical science has failed to control the obesity epidemic and continue to misguide the people, by proving high carb diet guidelines /charts. You might have been advised by GP or weight loss management health professional (dietitian /nutrition) to balance your calories, cut down or count calories, eat grains, vegetables, fruits and to avoid the saturated fat. All these techniques are not practical and won’t work for long term. It may yield some “kind” of result in the beginning, but not perpetually.
Let’s see why these techniques are flawed. Very common advice is Caloric balance. It means the number of calories you take in compared to the number of calories you burn. Example, to maintain the weight, Calories eaten = Calories burned ; to gain weight, Calories eaten > Calories burned ; to lose weight, Calories eaten < Calories burned.
Energy (calorie) in – energy (calorie) out is the Law of thermodynamics (physics) and it doesn’t work in biology! Our metabolism is not as simple as this thermodynamic equation. It’s much more complex chemical, self-regulated process. Which means, if you create a calorie deficit situation, the body “defends” its body weight by lowering resting metabolic rate. (starts burning less calories or switch into starvation mode) That’s why counting or calculating the calories outside the body doesn’t work at all.
Eating less calories (starving) may show some result in the beginning but, is a frustrating process and you start feeling hungry and fatigue all day leading to the condition called sugar craving. At the end, you end up with consuming more calories!! Eating less calories (starving) not only lead to a malnutrition, also put you in condition called “rebound effect” meaning, the body adapts to a lower baseline caloric load and when you feed yourself to normal or optimal level of calories, it bounces back to the pre-starving / diet levels plus some more. {Rebounding = (regain of) lost weight + (some) Additional}
Also, calories from carb and fat are not same in terms of quality and its biological stimulation process. Example, eating oatmeal or breakfast cereal, (no matter the quantity) may ensure the energy needs for only the next 2 - 3 hours, later you feel hungry. Whereas, eating 2 - 3 whole egg as breakfast will meet the energy needs for your body for next 4 - 5 hours. Note: by calorie count both may be almost equal but, calorie from egg (fat) made you to sustain longer then the calorie from oat meal or breakfast cereals. Though the calories being consumed may be the same. But, they have a very different hormonal impact in our body. Here is the key !
It is pretty clear, the modern science is misleading and they miserably failed to control obesity epidemic. So, how do I lose weight or overcome obesity? The one and only way to address this issue is by controlling the hormones like Insulin (growth hormone), Leptin (satiety hormone) and Ghrelin (hunger hormone) {we will see these hormone functions later in detail, in another post}
Now let’s see briefly the insulin role, how it influences obesity. Insulin is a growth hormone, produced by the beta cells of the pancreas in order to bring down the blood sugar level in the blood. (higher blood sugar is toxic) After every carb rich meal, the carbs are broken down into glucose (sugar) by the carbohydrate metabolism and raises the blood sugar level.
Insulin is the “key” to open the cells to “push” the glucose into the cell to produce energy. (cell metabolism) additional glucose, converted into glycogen by the liver and stored. Insulin also signals the fat cells to store fat in the form of triglyceride.
Insulin also play the role on the Leptin and Ghrelin. (ghrelin is an appetite-stimulating peptide, leptin is an appetite-suppressing one) Hence, controlling the insulin level is the right approach to address the obesity issue not by counting, restricting, balancing the calories. In other words, you should switch your fuel from carb to fat.
The only way to control the insulin is by restricting the carb’s. That’s the reason, I keep insisting around 50g of carb per day but, the present dietary guidelines are around 300g of carbs per day ! High consumption of carb is the reason for all the modern day diseases like diabetes type 2, hypertension, heart and respiratory diseases, PCOD, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.
Now, the question arises, In 2000 calorie diet the 50g carb can yield only about 200 calories. Rest 1800 comes from where? Majority from Fat, rest from protein.
“Oh…..no eating saturated fat causes the plaque in my artery and I will die of heart attack”! Don’t worry it’s a myth not true (paradox). In fact, its other way around. High blood sugar is the cause of inflammation in the artery and inflammation is the root cause of plaque formation. Not the fat (cholesterol). We have been blind folded by the bad science, supported by medical associations. {once again, it’s a vast subject, will break it down in upcoming posts}
The key to weight loss is focusing on foods that doesn’t spike your blood sugar, thus by keeping the lower insulin levels. Lower insulin level triggers the another hormone called Glucagon, which releases the triglycerides stored in the fat cell and body starts using aft as fuel. You lose weight without starving and it’s more physiological in nature.
So, here is the list……..what to eat and what not to eat!
Say YES to : Eggs (whole), Meat from Animals and Birds with skin (no lean cut), Organs of Animals, Sea Food (all), full fat Milk, full fat Cheese, Butter, Clarified Butter (Ghee), Fresh Vegetables, Coconut, Walnuts, Almond, Brazil nuts, Melon seeds, Pumpkin seeds, Flaxes seeds, Avocado, Cocoanut oil (for cooking), Olive (for dressing), All Kinds of Berries, Lemon
Say NO to : All kinds of Cereals and Grains (Rice, Wheat, Oats, Corn etc), All kind of Sugar (any form), All kind of Fruits, All kind of Vegetable oil (in any form), Any kind Vegetable fat, low fat / skimmed milk, low fat Cheese, All kind of Legumes (Beans and Pulses), peanut, Potato (all kind)
Enjoy the fat to lose weight, also live healthy :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment