Thursday, February 14, 2008

Do You Know Why Your Body Gets Fat? Does Your Doctor?

First off - Thanks to everyone who's e-mailed me here at my blog! Quickly, here are answers to some of the more commonly asked questions I get:

-I lost 55 pounds simply by cutting my carbohydrate intake
-It took 8 months
-I hit my weight loss goal back in August and I've been between 155 and 160 pounds since!
-No...I didn't excercise
-I went from a size 42/44 waist to a size 32/34 waist
-I went from a size XXL shirt to a size M shirt
-No...I don't miss bread, sugar, or starches...I'm too busy enjoying eating fat & protein!

The longer I continue to live a low-carb lifestyle, the more I learn about what is and isn't true regarding nutrition. It's remarkable how misguided the dietary advice most of us have received all our lives really is. The most amazing thing to me - and this comes directly from reading Gary Taubes' book Good Calories/Bad Calories - is that most of what we've been told about how to eat is contradictory to what most of the SCIENCE tells us.

For example, if we're having a discussion about why we get fat, don't you think it would make sense to talk about the hormone in our bodies that regulates the storage of fat? For some reason most of us have never been told that INSULIN regulates the storage of fat in the body. Knowing that, wouldn't you want to make sure you're avoiding foods that make your insulin levels go up? Well guess what makes insulin levels go through the roof - CARBOHYDRATES! Simply put...Carbohydrates regulate insulin levels...Insulin levels regulate the storage of body fat. Cut the carbs and you'll cut your body fat! Dietary fat doesn't make us fat. Carbohydrates and sugar make us fat!

Here's a recent interview with Gary Taubes from ABC's NightLine

Ask your doctor if he/she can tell you what triggers calories to be stored as fat in the body. If they can't tell you...why would you take dietary advice from them? Find a new doctor! If they DO know that Carbs trigger insulin which triggers the storage of body fat, then ask them why so many docs prescribe a high carb diet for people trying to lose weight! If nothing else, it'll be fun to watch your doctor squirm a little. :-)