What really makes us fat

[La Lioness Priyanka]

ut most simply, the fewer carbohydrates consumed, the more energy these weight-reduced people expended. On the very low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, there was virtually no metabolic adaptation to the weight loss. These subjects expended, on average, only 100 fewer calories a day than they did at their full weights. Eight of the 21 subjects expended more than they did at their full weights — the opposite of the predicted metabolic compensation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/what-really-makes-us-fat.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Very interesting article

[mizzuz pibb]

1. What a nightmare.

Fruits are mostly water. They have antioxidants, which protect against all sorts of dis-eases, including cancer (the #1 killer in America). They have fiber, which binds cholesterol and toxins to it and removes it from the body. Phytochemicals can do everything from reduce inflammation to dissolve mucus.

Now let's see...dead flesh has ZERO fiber, ZERO antioxidants, pathogens a-go-go, and lots of saturated fat and hard-to-break-down protein...

Sounds like a plan...

[K8-EEE]

7. I would never demonize fruit but I avoid fruit juice

Especially theprocessed kind. Much better to eat the orange than drink concentrated sugar from an orange.

[this is unreal.]

8. You didn't hear me advocate for fruit juice.

I am all for whole, fresh fruits.

[K8-EEE]

10. Oh you didn't I was just bringing it up because

It wasn't til a nutritionist told me that I stopped "drinking" fruit and started eating it, just passing it along is all!

[noamnety]

2. Thanks for posting this.

As someone doing a slow carb diet, I was pretty excited to read this. I have noticed in myself a huge difference in appetite-related issues. I switched jobs at one point for a job with much less pay, in part because all the travel I was doing with the related skipping of meals due to flight schedules would give me such bad headaches that it was crippling. I remember a bunch of times driving home from the airport with such bad pain I was worried about actually making it back home safely. And if I didn't have a bunch of snacks with me, even for an afternoon out, I would feel panicky. I didn't have a bad diet back then - I was never a fast food person or drank sodas (real or diet). But the standard "healthy" american diet wasn't working for me.

I switched my diet almost a year ago for weight reasons and it was a completed unexpected side effect that if I get caught now without being able to eat even til dinner, I might feel hungry but I am not at all sick. The higher fats do keep me from getting out of whack, whether it's from bacon or avocados. I'm 11 months in, I'm not sure at what point we declare things a success in terms of maintenance. I think I've read 3 years for a diet because that's the time it takes for our metabolisms to adjust to weight loss. If this way of eating means less adjusting of the metabolism - heck, that's another unexpected side effect I'd love to have.

[Still Blue in PDX]

3. Well, this explains it.

My very nonscientific, inadequately caffeinated brain interprets this article as an explanation of why over the last 25 years or so I have steadily gained weight on a heart-healthy diet while the hubs has remained downright skinny eating all manner of crap.

I just had to switch primary care docs when mine retired. Because I am almost in the morbidly obese category this little girl doctor was telling me how unhealthy I was and printed a bunch of information (all of which I know, of course--fat people probably read more about nutrition than most MDs) about how to lose weight so I don't drop over dead. Wish I had had bad manners to tell her I had a BMI of 22 when I was her age and to STFU and look at my lab values. :::sigh:::

[K8-EEE]

4. For me gluten seems to be an issue, carbs are not

If I eat a carb-rich lunch like brown rice, steamed veggies and black beans -- I'm golden, no snack attacks no nothing.

If I eat the same calories in white pasta or bread, I have NO energy the rest of the afternoon and find myself looking for coffee or sweets.

Eating a meat-heavy diet just makes me cranky and unsatisfied in general.

For anybody who is not happy going low carb, try low gluten! Take the wheat out for a week and see what happens. For me this has been working great. It's not only losing weight - it's how you feel while you are losing it. It only takes 3 days for me to feel my energy soar on no gluten, and although I miss bread and pasta, I've learned that small amounts of healthier carb foods such as baked potatoes and brown rice pasta and corn tortillas work much better for me.

[rox63]

5. Slow, non-processed carbs works well for me

No bread except the rare whole-grain pita or tortilla. No rice other than brown rice. Lots of veggies and fruit. Enough lean protein, some of which is meat or fish, some dairy or eggs, some beans and soy. No junk food, no fast food, no fried food and no sweets.

[spinbaby]

6. I do better on a low-carb diet

The trouble is that I can't seem to stay on a low-carb diet. Definite sugar addiction here.

[this is unreal.]

9. That is because glucose is what our bodies run on.

Eat whole fruits. Hell, there's an eating style called 80-10-10 where you eat 80% carbs in the form of fresh fruits, 10% protein in the form of raw greens and 10% raw fats (avocados, chia seeds, flax, nuts). Google it.

[rozidays]

11. What really makes us fat

I find it is the easiest way to eat for life. The problem is that there is so much junk food in our path that will derail us and send us back to the starting line!