So confused. How does your body actually lose fat?

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Replies

  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    If insulin was just plain "bad" and stimulating insulin production through ingestion of carbohydrates is what causes obesity then how would you explain obese type 1 diabetics given that they literally are incapable of producing insulin at all?

    I guess since it is so "bad" it's healthier for them to go without their insulin injection/pump.
  • orangegato
    orangegato Posts: 6,572 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Your body is a chemical engine, it breaks down chemical bonds in hydrocarbon molecules and captures some of that energy to do work while the rest is expended in waste heat.

    When you literally burn (as in with fire) a pile of sugar what is happening is that the sugar molecule (C6H12O6) is interacting with oxygen (O2) and in the increased temperature this reaction created CO2 (which is a gas) and H20 (water, which in a fire evaporates and escapes as steam) and a lot of released heat. If you burn fat (which is just a hydrated carbon chain) the overall reaction and biproducts are essentially the same. You use oxygen to oxidize the bonds and release water and carbon dioxide and energy.

    Your body carries out the exact same oxidative reaction but rather than using extreme temperature it uses enzymes to catalyze the reaction and couple it in such a way that less energy is wasted as heat and some is captured in a "currency" molecule which can be coupled to other reactions to carry out the metabolic and biochemical functions of life. The waste products of this breakdown remain the same however, you take in oxygen and you release water and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide you breath out and the water is either used to help keep you hydrated or is excreted. There is a bit of waste heat as well which your body uses to maintain your body temp. In fact even in the case of zero activity your body is constantly utilizing some of its stored hydrocarbon fuel in order to generate heat to maintain your body temperature.

    I gave a much more in depth version of this here:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10616800/biochemistry-answers-for-common-weight-loss-questions-what-are-macros-fats#latest

    Why on Earth did this get wooed? It's the least woo-y answer I've ever seen on these forums.

    b/c people still don't understand "woo."
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    psychod787 wrote: »

    Dude..
    You are becoming my hero!

    Geez. You're late on that train


    :)

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2018
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the misinformation that people have and continue to propagate. basically, carbs are 100% the cause of obesity and diabetes. Eat carbs, blood sugar goes up, release insulin (or inject for some diabetics), INSULIN signals the body to store glucose in the blood AS FAT. as long as insulin is up, even if you are eating at a moderate calorie deficit, you will not burn body fat for fuel, instead, you will feel very hungry and your metabolism will slow down to match the reduced calorie intake.

    So, to lose fat on high carb, low calorie diet, you have to be low enough calories in that your body needs food and has already burned through ALL that you have consumed and used all easy glycogen stores, so after at least 8-12 hours of not eating anything, finally blood sugar and insulin levels drop, and then (probably about 5 or 6 am by this time...) your body will convert a small amount of stored fat to energy. then you wake up, have breakfast and go back to high insulin and burning calories consumed and body still trying to store fat instead of burn it. This is a hard slow road, but it will eventually reduce weight.

    To lose weight on a low carb diet, your body is never given enough carbs to fuel base metabolic needs, so it learns to burn fat for fuel. once you're in ketosis and always burning fat, your body can so easily burn excess body fat for fuel, you won't feel as hungry. without so much insulin all the time, your body won't store fat, even if you eat higher calorie.

    I also would suggest you look into intermittent fasting and time restricted eating. You don't have to go crazy with the fasting for days on end, which is hard, but consider trying at least *12 hours each day no food, water only* and if you are on a strict low calorie, that probably means you have to give up evening snacks to stay under your limit, so this is pretty easy. If you can push that to about 16 hours each day no food, even better.

    whatever diet you choose, be prepared to maintain it long term to maintain your goal weight.

    Not sure where you are getting your misinformation .... plenty of people lose fat on high carbs, plenty of people get lean on high carbs. What about cultures where carbs make up the majority of intake? What about vegans and vegetarians? It all comes down to being in a deficit.

    I personally eat a high amount of carbs in a deficit, I feel great, I don't get hungry, fats for me aren't filling (volume eater here), I don't fast, I lose weight just fine.

    So how did I burn fat eating so many carbs? How did I get really lean and lower my bodyfat so efficiently? Magic? No.. I ate in a deficit, and ate enough protein and lifted to preserve muscle.

    By the way, why is insulin always pegged as evil, it is my best friend right now since it is allowing me to build muscle (in a surplus).

    If low carb/keto works for you, that is fantastic. But it is not the only way to lose weight or be successful. And for many people low carb or keto is not sustainable or optimal for their goals.

    I could guess where she gets her info. Quacks. She won't come back and respond or read any of the intelligent scientific posts though because y'all sxience is just plain wrong.

    Seriously, that's what's so frustrating. I've responded in depth to a couple of her posts, and crickets.

    If she's so sure she's right and we are wrong (and just carb addicts, LOL), then why not engage instead of doing the drive by thing.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    There is a bit of waste heat as well which your body uses to maintain your body temp. In fact even in the case of zero activity your body is constantly utilizing some of its stored hydrocarbon fuel in order to generate heat to maintain your body temperature at 37 degrees C. Why 37 degrees? Because that is the optimal operational temperature for enzymes that catalyze those biochemical metabolic reactions.

    This made me curious. So I googled animal body temps.

    They are all pretty close to 37C. Chickens look to be the only one on the list I found much off that number.

    Chicken 40.6–43.0 C 105.0–109.4 F
    Rabbit 38.6–40.1 C 101.5–104.2 F
    Sheep 38.3–39.9 C 100.9–103.8 F
    Pig 38.7–39.8 C 101.6–103.6 F
    Goat 38.5–39.7 C 101.3–103.5 F
    Dog 37.9–39.9 C 100.2–103.8 F
    Dairy cow 38.0–39.3 C 100.4–102.8 F
    Cat 38.1–39.2 C 100.5–102.5 F
    Beef cow 36.7–39.1 C 98.0–102.4 F
    Horse 37.3–38.2 C 99.1–100.8 F

  • r3488
    r3488 Posts: 77 Member
    watts6151 wrote: »
    Layne norton dies a good job of
    Explaining fat loss over these 4 videos

    Loved that series. Don't know if you intentionally left out episode 5:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMNjM-F52Tk

  • Idontcareyoupick
    Idontcareyoupick Posts: 2,854 Member
    edited March 2018
    Why on Earth did this get wooed? It's the least woo-y answer I've ever seen on these forums.

    b/c people still don't understand "woo."

    When I first started on here, I took woo as exciting or really agreed with the post like woo hoo. Now with the face and terminology on forums I know better. Maybe that's it
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
    edited March 2018
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Please link to Lyle's write up discussing this phenomenon. Lyle is highly knowledgeable about ketogenic diets (has authored several books on the topic) and I don't recall him ever discussing such a thing as "starvation diabetes" or claiming that your body "forgets how to process carbs".

    It's in his book 'The ketogenic diet'. This from his piece talking about reintroduction of carbohydrates.

    'Early ketogenic diet literature mentions a condition called ‘alloxan’ or ‘starvation diabetes’, referring to an initial
    insulin resistance when carbohydrates are reintroduced to the diet following carbohydrate
    restriction (2).'

    'Long periods of time without carbohydrate consumption leads to a down regulation in the
    enzymes responsible for carbohydrate burning. Additionally, high levels of free fatty acids in the
    bloodstream may impair glucose transport (6).'

    He talks about how your body adapts to lower carb levels with various tissues taking time to adjust to burning free fatty acids directly.
    Note I am not making any claims about a ketogenic diet as the last two posters seem to suggest. All I am claiming is that there is an adaptation process going on in both directions it seems. During the adaption other mechanisms or fuel sources are used and performance may be degraded. It doesn't change the fundamental calories in/out equation.
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
    edited March 2018
    sijomial wrote: »
    The storage and oxidation of fat is a totally normal part of everyday life and doesn't require ketosis.
    Lyle McDonald is a great resource and you have clearly failed to understand what you have read!

    I said nothing about the storage of fat. I said it takes time for some tissues to start being able to use free fatty acids directly.
    sijomial wrote: »
    You have a germ of truth in that in ketosis people become carb impaired due to the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase becoming down-regulated which isn't the same as "can't store glycogen". It's a factor for high performance athletes not people in everyday life.

    Lyle suggests it's more of a problem for people with impaired glucose processing to begin with. That doesn't sound like high performance athletes. My 'can't store glycogen' was a bit over the top in that I really should have said that it's impaired a bit. Here is what he says:

    'During carbohydrate refeeding, the body upregulates levels of these enzymes but there is a delay during which the body
    may have difficulty storing and utilizing dietary carbohydrates. This delay is approximately 5
    hours to upregulate liver enzyme levels and anywhere from 24-48 hours in muscle tissue (8,9).
    While there is a decrease in carbohydrate oxidation in the muscle, this is accompanied by an
    increase in glycogen storage (7).'


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