Why diets fail, insulin, why we get fat
Lichent
Posts: 157 Member
Diet and weight loss
Biologically, your body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells don’t know you are voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode—metabolism slows down and food cravings escalate. And with each diet, the body learns and adapts, resulting in rebound weight gain. Consequently, many people feel like they are a failure—but it is dieting that has failed them, and contributed to the weight gain process. Dieting disconnects you from your innate hunger and satiety cues, and it becomes easier to eat in the absence of hunger and develop a mistrust of your biological eating cues.
So my personal research suggests
The a method I have that counters the insulin spikes as well as the body's need to adjust its metabolism is a 5/2 day fast or intermittent fasting every other day. I have come across a study that demonstrated a Mediterranean diet is as effective as a high fat diet.
Whether a high fat diet or low fat diet the observation I have made is fruit and vegetables rank high in both.
More on the subject.
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_sugar.php
Our pancreas creates a hormone called insulin that transports blood sugar into our body's cells where it is used for energy. When we eat refined grains that have had most of their fiber stripped away, sugar, or other carbohydrate-rich foods that are quickly processed into blood sugar, the pancreas goes into overtime to produce the insulin necessary for all this blood sugar to be used for energy. This insulin surge tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it.
However, the greater concern with the insulin surge is not that it tells our body to start storing fat. Whatever we eat and don't burn up eventually gets turned into fat anyway.
The greater concern is that the insulin surge causes too much blood sugar to be transported out of our blood and this results in our blood sugar and insulin levels dropping below normal. This leaves us feeling tired and hungry and wanting to eat more. The unfortunate result of this scenario is that it makes us want to eat something else with a high sugar content. When we do, we start the cycle all over again.
http://thesmarterscienceofslim.com/up-close-and-personal-with-the-hormone-insulin/
Our metabolism does not decide to burn or store body fat based on calories. It makes these decisions based on the hormones those calories trigger. That is why the quality of calories matters so much. As we have already seen, higher-quality calories trigger body-fat-burning hormones while low-quality calories trigger body-fat-storing hormones.
“Fat is mobilized [burned] when insulin secretion diminishes.” – The American Medical Assocation"
http://gettingstronger.org/2011/02/does-insulin-make-you-fat/
Proponents of the Carbohydrate/Insulin Hypothesis, as articulated by Taubes, posit four main points:
Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not voluntary overeating or inactivity, caused by an imbalance in hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism.
Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated–either chronically or after a meal–we accumulate fat in adopose tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat and oxidize it for fuel.
Elevated blood insulin levels increase hunger and the drive to eat, while decreasing energy expenditure and activity
By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity
In short: Carbohydrates drives insulin, which drives fat.
Opponents of the Carbohydrate Hypothesis challenge each of the above points. I’ve paraphrased four main counterpoints here:
Fat accumulation and obesity result from positive caloric balance (more calories consumed than expended), without regard to the macronutrient class of calorie (carbohydrate, protein, or fat).
Your body can store fat even when insulin is low, via the action of the hormone ASP (acylation stimulating protein)
Insulin doesn’t make you hungry; rather, it suppresses appetite. (The critics proffer that low carb diets may work because protein is more satiating than carbohydrates, but they merely report this observation and don’t attempt to explain it).
Carbohydrate doesn’t uniquely stimulate insulin; many proteins are equally or more insulinogenic.
In short: Calories in minus calories out drives fat.
On the surface of it, these two models of fat metabolism appear to be diametrically opposed. But are they really? There is at least one large point on which both sides appear to agree:
Obesity, particularly of the abdominal type, is associated with insulin resistance.
the author then goes onto to suggest
which, when elevated, will tend to deplete the blood stream of glucose and fatty acids.
I will conclude with the following synthesis between the above opposing positions:
Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation resulting from insulin resistance (and leptin resistance), which stimulates appetite and naturally leads to caloric imbalance, including overconsumption of both carbohydrates and fats.
Insulin and ASP together regulate fat storage and release. While ASP acts directly to transport and fix fatty acids within fat cells, insulin acts to induce fat storage via ASP and LPL, and to inhibit fat release via HSL and epinephrine and norepinephrine. Reduced levels of both insulin and ASP favor lipolysis and fat loss. The synergy of insulin and ASP further explain why the combination of dietary carbohydrate and fat is particularly fattening.
In insulin resistant individuals, elevated blood insulin levels stimulate hunger and the drive to eat; this effect is largely absent for insulin senstive individuals due to superior blood glucose control
In insulin resistant individuals, the pancreas compensates for reduced receptor sensitivity by secreting more insulin, leading to hyperinsulinemia.
So the answer to the question is to shift the blame from the hormone insulin to the condition of the insulin receptors. Insulin spikes at meal time are no problem, so long as basal insulin remains low. Restriction of dietary carbohydrate is one very effective strategy, which should be chosen not for the short term benefits in weight loss, so much as the longer term benefits in improving insulin sensitivity and reducing basal insulin. With the focus on “regrowing” and “reconditioning” insulin receptors, we should look at the full arsenal of tools, including intermittent fasting, nutrients such as vitamin D, magnesium and fish oil, and high intensity interval training.
Let me emphasize here that my proposed explanation is meant as a tentative conceptual framework rather than a conclusive scientific analysis. I’m still learning about the details and I fully expect that our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of fat metabolism will continue to be revised and evolve. But I do think that there has been too much emphasis placed on hormones and neurotransmitters, which fluctuate every day, and not enough on receptor health, which is something we can can influence over the long term by commitment to scientifically informed practices.
Biologically, your body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells don’t know you are voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode—metabolism slows down and food cravings escalate. And with each diet, the body learns and adapts, resulting in rebound weight gain. Consequently, many people feel like they are a failure—but it is dieting that has failed them, and contributed to the weight gain process. Dieting disconnects you from your innate hunger and satiety cues, and it becomes easier to eat in the absence of hunger and develop a mistrust of your biological eating cues.
So my personal research suggests
The a method I have that counters the insulin spikes as well as the body's need to adjust its metabolism is a 5/2 day fast or intermittent fasting every other day. I have come across a study that demonstrated a Mediterranean diet is as effective as a high fat diet.
Whether a high fat diet or low fat diet the observation I have made is fruit and vegetables rank high in both.
More on the subject.
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_sugar.php
Our pancreas creates a hormone called insulin that transports blood sugar into our body's cells where it is used for energy. When we eat refined grains that have had most of their fiber stripped away, sugar, or other carbohydrate-rich foods that are quickly processed into blood sugar, the pancreas goes into overtime to produce the insulin necessary for all this blood sugar to be used for energy. This insulin surge tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it.
However, the greater concern with the insulin surge is not that it tells our body to start storing fat. Whatever we eat and don't burn up eventually gets turned into fat anyway.
The greater concern is that the insulin surge causes too much blood sugar to be transported out of our blood and this results in our blood sugar and insulin levels dropping below normal. This leaves us feeling tired and hungry and wanting to eat more. The unfortunate result of this scenario is that it makes us want to eat something else with a high sugar content. When we do, we start the cycle all over again.
http://thesmarterscienceofslim.com/up-close-and-personal-with-the-hormone-insulin/
Our metabolism does not decide to burn or store body fat based on calories. It makes these decisions based on the hormones those calories trigger. That is why the quality of calories matters so much. As we have already seen, higher-quality calories trigger body-fat-burning hormones while low-quality calories trigger body-fat-storing hormones.
“Fat is mobilized [burned] when insulin secretion diminishes.” – The American Medical Assocation"
http://gettingstronger.org/2011/02/does-insulin-make-you-fat/
Proponents of the Carbohydrate/Insulin Hypothesis, as articulated by Taubes, posit four main points:
Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not voluntary overeating or inactivity, caused by an imbalance in hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism.
Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated–either chronically or after a meal–we accumulate fat in adopose tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat and oxidize it for fuel.
Elevated blood insulin levels increase hunger and the drive to eat, while decreasing energy expenditure and activity
By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity
In short: Carbohydrates drives insulin, which drives fat.
Opponents of the Carbohydrate Hypothesis challenge each of the above points. I’ve paraphrased four main counterpoints here:
Fat accumulation and obesity result from positive caloric balance (more calories consumed than expended), without regard to the macronutrient class of calorie (carbohydrate, protein, or fat).
Your body can store fat even when insulin is low, via the action of the hormone ASP (acylation stimulating protein)
Insulin doesn’t make you hungry; rather, it suppresses appetite. (The critics proffer that low carb diets may work because protein is more satiating than carbohydrates, but they merely report this observation and don’t attempt to explain it).
Carbohydrate doesn’t uniquely stimulate insulin; many proteins are equally or more insulinogenic.
In short: Calories in minus calories out drives fat.
On the surface of it, these two models of fat metabolism appear to be diametrically opposed. But are they really? There is at least one large point on which both sides appear to agree:
Obesity, particularly of the abdominal type, is associated with insulin resistance.
the author then goes onto to suggest
which, when elevated, will tend to deplete the blood stream of glucose and fatty acids.
I will conclude with the following synthesis between the above opposing positions:
Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation resulting from insulin resistance (and leptin resistance), which stimulates appetite and naturally leads to caloric imbalance, including overconsumption of both carbohydrates and fats.
Insulin and ASP together regulate fat storage and release. While ASP acts directly to transport and fix fatty acids within fat cells, insulin acts to induce fat storage via ASP and LPL, and to inhibit fat release via HSL and epinephrine and norepinephrine. Reduced levels of both insulin and ASP favor lipolysis and fat loss. The synergy of insulin and ASP further explain why the combination of dietary carbohydrate and fat is particularly fattening.
In insulin resistant individuals, elevated blood insulin levels stimulate hunger and the drive to eat; this effect is largely absent for insulin senstive individuals due to superior blood glucose control
In insulin resistant individuals, the pancreas compensates for reduced receptor sensitivity by secreting more insulin, leading to hyperinsulinemia.
So the answer to the question is to shift the blame from the hormone insulin to the condition of the insulin receptors. Insulin spikes at meal time are no problem, so long as basal insulin remains low. Restriction of dietary carbohydrate is one very effective strategy, which should be chosen not for the short term benefits in weight loss, so much as the longer term benefits in improving insulin sensitivity and reducing basal insulin. With the focus on “regrowing” and “reconditioning” insulin receptors, we should look at the full arsenal of tools, including intermittent fasting, nutrients such as vitamin D, magnesium and fish oil, and high intensity interval training.
Let me emphasize here that my proposed explanation is meant as a tentative conceptual framework rather than a conclusive scientific analysis. I’m still learning about the details and I fully expect that our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of fat metabolism will continue to be revised and evolve. But I do think that there has been too much emphasis placed on hormones and neurotransmitters, which fluctuate every day, and not enough on receptor health, which is something we can can influence over the long term by commitment to scientifically informed practices.
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Replies
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My insulin spikes daily and even when I don't eat.....funny how the body works........and I'm losing weight, crazy I know.0
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Calories in calories out doesn't hold water , if you read this board you will hear the same old story of how they lost weigh then life happened then they ate it back on. What happened was not life it was how the body reacts to caloric reduced diets.
My buddy and I are getting it and looking now at more diet changes including eating more fat, good fats not vegetable fats and getting ready to do the 5 days of eatin and 2 days of fastin to keep our metabolic rate fined tuned and our insulin levels better managed.0 -
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.0 -
My insulin spikes daily and even when I don't eat.....funny how the body works........and I'm losing weight, crazy I know.
0 -
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.
He/She/They just want you to pay attention to them!!! They just want your love!0 -
brb.
gotta put my tinfoil hat on before i read this0 -
Oh, look...it's Minnie/Lichent. Yay.0
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In for the love of tin foil hats
0 -
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.
He/She/They just want you to pay attention to them!!! They just want your love!
Why? They have their "buddy"...0 -
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.
He/She/They just want you to pay attention to them!!! They just want your love!
Why? They have their "buddy"...
Buddy is to them what Mrs. Bates is to Norman.
If you catch my meaning.0 -
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.
He/She/They just want you to pay attention to them!!! They just want your love!
Why? They have their "buddy"...
Buddy is to them what Mrs. Bates is to Norman.
If you catch my meaning.
:drinker:0 -
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.
He/She/They just want you to pay attention to them!!! They just want your love!
Why? They have their "buddy"...
Buddy is to them what Mrs. Bates is to Norman.
If you catch my meaning.
I've been a-feared of that for quite some time.0 -
OMG......best.cat.pic.EVER!!! Brb, gotta make one for me.........In for the love of tin foil hats0
-
It's only been 4 days since you last posted this (well something similar anyway). Why didn't you just bump your old post? Or did you not like the responses you got in that one?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1108463-dr-jason-fung-on-why-diets-fail-in-the-long-run?hl=why+diets+fail&page=1#posts-17130698
anyway as for the post, I'll just say I don't agree with it and leave it at that.
He/She/They just want you to pay attention to them!!! They just want your love!
Why? They have their "buddy"...
Buddy is to them what Mrs. Bates is to Norman.
If you catch my meaning.
0 -
1,121 words for a forum post? Holy heck, that is about double the average online news story!0
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This content has been removed.
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0 -
1,121 words for a forum post? Holy heck, that is about double the average online news story!
Whoa. You counted that? You just made Minnies day.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say C&P'd into Word and let Word do the counting. 'Cause that poster's pretty sane.0 -
Bump0
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Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Nothing you said makes much sense as far as science is concerned but why let science get in the way of fine tuning metabolisms.Calories in calories out doesn't hold water , if you read this board you will hear the same old story of how they lost weigh then life happened then they ate it back on. What happened was not life it was how the body reacts to caloric reduced diets.
My buddy and I are getting it and looking now at more diet changes including eating more fat, good fats not vegetable fats and getting ready to do the 5 days of eatin and 2 days of fastin to keep our metabolic rate fined tuned and our insulin levels better managed.0 -
Unless you've been diagnosed with a specific medical condition, insulin issues are a result of obesity, not a cause of it.0
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Calories in calories out doesn't hold water
Yeah, those fundamental laws of physics are inconsistent little devils, aren't they?
Now, if you'd said that estimating the actual amount of energy you consume and expend is wildly more complex than simply reading nutritional info labels and plugging your height and weight into an online calculator, I'd agree with you. But you didn't.0 -
Damn. I guess calorie deficit didn't work for me. Guess I'll JSF. Oh wait, I haven't been fat for a couple years.0
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The situation described by the op doesn't sound like a problem to me.
Sounds like a cheaper way to put on muscle after losing body fat.
Great, your metabolism is slowed. Now you can gain while hitting the gym hard and not eating like a monster.0 -
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