Posted: Mar 07, 2011 4:53 pm
Matt_B wrote:I don't think that anyone's ever claimed calories_in=calories_out to be strictly true. The point is rather that it's approximately true and whilst the real equation might be calories_in=calories_out+some_wastage, you're really not going to get much headway by attempting to change the last of these when there are far more obvious gains to be had with the other two. The bottom line is that there's no substitute for a calorie-controlled diet and a reasonable amount of exercise; well at least nothing short of some rather unpleasant drugs or major surgery at any rate.
Yes there is.
Everyone made fun of the Atkins diet when it came out, but guess what? It actually works. The weird part is we've known this since the 70s. Calorie-restricted diets work because they inadvertently cut carbohydrates. But they also starve you and your body compensates by making you hungry. You'll stay hungry for years until your body gets what it wants- the calories to replace what it lost. This makes perfect sense if you consider the following.
Just like everything else in your body fat growth is regulated by growth hormones, not calories. The growth hormone that regulates fat is called insulin (maybe you've heard of it
), and it's production is triggered by eating carbohydrates, not fat. You can eat as much fat as you like and so long as your insulin levels are low you won't gain weight because your body has no signal to. That's why a lion can eat half an antelope and not get fat but a house cat on kibble seems to gain weight no matter what you do. Kibble has carbs. An antelope doesn't. To think otherwise would be like asking why you don't get taller when you eat more. The answer to that is obvious and the answer to horizontal weight gain is exactly the same. Weirdly, no one likes to put 2-and-2 together on that one. I guess it's just easier tot think that you get fat by being lazy and eating too much, not due to some complicated hormonal dance. To make matters worse being lazy and eating too much really does make you gain weight, but it's just not for the reason people think it does.