The #1 Cause of Obesity: Insulin

tigersword, thanks for breaking down these studies so I can understand them and get a jist of what the summaries are saying. I can appreciate that you (and a lot of others) don't see anything in the research that shows a LCHF or Paleo type diets have anything to recommend them beyond personal preference because of the studies you listed.

But when the very studies that were linked to to disprove that these diets have any advantage have statements saying the diets are shown to be more effective and further research needs to be done to understand why. Then you add to that the seventeen studies I listed earlier AND my own personal experience these last few weeks on a lower carb diet I just can't reconcile what you're saying the science proves with the growing success people seem to be having with these diets.

I absolutely believe calories in/calories out on any diet works but I really can't understand the unwillingness to entertain the idea that there's something more driving the obesity epidemic other than laziy people eating too much. Hopefully time and more well conducted studies will tell.

Some people still claim that weight loss studies do not show any advantage for low carb diets. Unbelievably enough, that is what many so called experts still believe.

It’s either ignorance or science denial.

There are at least seventeen modern scientific studies of the highest quality (RCT) that show significantly better weight loss with low carb diets:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/science

Why focus on weight loss instead of fat loss? Low carb diets initially have greater weight loss due to water/glycogen losses, but fat loss is not significantly different between the two. There's only like 2 or 3 tightly controlled studies that I know of off hand that show a metabolic advantage to low carb diets, the vast majority do not. Then if you were to look at all the ad lib studies and you still only have about 50% that show greater fat loss with low carb

Listen to ACG. He's looking better than ever.

And he knows from whence he speaks!

Arguing about this is as pointless as arguing about religion. Neither side's mind is going to be changed.

I just wanna say one thing.

Tiger, earlier you said that insulin doesn't decrease lipolysis. Guess what? Wrong.

Does insulin prevent lipolysis? No. Does it reduce lipolysis? Of course it does, you've just eaten.

Did I hear someone say Lustig?

I'll start with this. http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/

Ok, now that that's out of the way. Insulin has pretty much nothing to do with obesity.

Does insulin prevent lipolysis? No. Does it reduce lipolysis? Of course it does, you've just eaten. When you eat food, your body uses the food for energy first, and only goes back to relying on lipolysis after the food has been fully digested and utilized. Leptin (the hormone that signals satiety) has also been shown to limit lipolysis. As has every other hormone that has to do with satiety.

Does insulin shuttle glucose directly to fat storage? NO. Absolutely not. Glucose is almost NEVER stored as fat. Insulin's primary job is to transport glucose to muscle cells and vital organs for normal body function. 87% of the fat in an adipose cell comes from lipids, not triglycerides.

Insulin is a key hormone in muscle building and maintenance. It has well over 100 functions in the human body, fat storage is nowhere near the top of the list.

And how do you care to explain protein eliciting high insulin responses? Protein and carbohydrates both spike insulin to similar levels when you eat. If insulin is what makes us fat, then protein must be just as bad as carbs.

The entire argument is based on fear, and a hope that the person they are trying to convince has a lack of understanding of human biology. The insulin hypothesis just doesn't stand up to actual facts.

As for low carb vs higher carb. They both cause weight loss due to a calorie deficit. Protein should always be constant, regardless of carb level. And then "weight loss" is a misleading term. Low carb diets lead to much higher losses of water weight, due to the reduction of stored glycogen in the muscles. Fat loss is identical, regardless of carb level.

This is correct. The number one cause of obesity is eating more calories than you burn. The only way to reverse obesity is to eat fewer calories than you burn. There may be things that influence the number of calories you burn at rest,(i.e. thyroid issues) but the bottom line is that caloric excess is the major contributing factor. Eating a healthy, balanced diet of mostly unprocessed foods at a moderate deficit will do more for fat loss and insulin regulation than any deprivation or loading of certain macros.

Did I hear someone say Lustig?

I'll start with this. http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/

Ok, now that that's out of the way. Insulin has pretty much nothing to do with obesity.

Does insulin prevent lipolysis? No. Does it reduce lipolysis? Of course it does, you've just eaten. When you eat food, your body uses the food for energy first, and only goes back to relying on lipolysis after the food has been fully digested and utilized. Leptin (the hormone that signals satiety) has also been shown to limit lipolysis. As has every other hormone that has to do with satiety.

Does insulin shuttle glucose directly to fat storage? NO. Absolutely not. Glucose is almost NEVER stored as fat. Insulin's primary job is to transport glucose to muscle cells and vital organs for normal body function. 87% of the fat in an adipose cell comes from lipids, not triglycerides.

Insulin is a key hormone in muscle building and maintenance. It has well over 100 functions in the human body, fat storage is nowhere near the top of the list.

And how do you care to explain protein eliciting high insulin responses? Protein and carbohydrates both spike insulin to similar levels when you eat. If insulin is what makes us fat, then protein must be just as bad as carbs.

The entire argument is based on fear, and a hope that the person they are trying to convince has a lack of understanding of human biology. The insulin hypothesis just doesn't stand up to actual facts.

As for low carb vs higher carb. They both cause weight loss due to a calorie deficit. Protein should always be constant, regardless of carb level. And then "weight loss" is a misleading term. Low carb diets lead to much higher losses of water weight, due to the reduction of stored glycogen in the muscles. Fat loss is identical, regardless of carb level.