Questions About Set Point/Blood Testing

WilliamJosephHelms
WilliamJosephHelms Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey I do not typically post on the Forums much, but there have been three things that have been bothering me lately. 1. Why is there so little literature on muscle building, but so much on fat loss? 2. Why is "set point" always referred to as something that is based on fat and not on building muscle? I mean typically you have to increase your set point to build more muscle. Set point is always talked about like it is something negative, is it ever referred to in a positive sense, is there a vocabulary term for it? 3. Why doesn't every major dieting book focus more on hormones and recommend for people to get a blood test? I am hoping for direct answers here. Has anyone ever had the same thoughts as me? Thanks!

Replies

  • Big_Bad
    Big_Bad Posts: 57
    You may not get a lot of responses because that's kind of a giant jumble of thoughts, but I'll throw you a bone.

    1) Because obesity is a huge medical and social problem in the US. One that has built a trillion dollar industry. Muscle building is thought to be more of a sport or general pasttime for those who care about their health/are a bit more vain.

    2) Set point is thought to be a genetically determined weight or body composition. You can change your body of course, but there's a large part to which our body weight and composition is genetically determined. It's thought of as something to overcome and a barrier rather than positive or negative. See this link for more info: http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/ideal-weight-or-happy-weight

    3) Because every major dieting book is looking to profit. That's the point of selling a book. And blood tests are for more extreme cases and not quite applicable to the average person.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    1. There's plenty of literature on muscle building just not as much here and typically not marketed as a form of weight control. Weight control is largely marketed toward women and mostly in the form of dieting.
    2. Set point is part of the genetics vs lifestyle debate and sides with genetics. Set point, needless to say, has its limitations.
    3. The minute a diet is seen as being too much work or not effective, the author can expect to see their book sales plummet. Think a book's readership is going to wince when it tells them to eat meals the size of their toddler's? Just watch what happens when it tells them to get their blood drawn.

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