If you are trying to lose weight, the standard advice is to eat less, move more, and lose extra weight on your body. It’s been advertised by weight loss doctors for decades, but why is obesity soaring in the United States?
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 40% of American adults are considered obese.
Now, a group of obese doctors and scientists claim that calorie restriction may be more harmful than good.
Dr. David Ludwig, a nutrition professor at Harvard School of Public Health, who leads the team, said the body would fight back when people eat less. He said limiting calories not only makes people more hungry, but also slows down their metabolism.
“People can lose weight in the short term, but few can ignore hunger and overcome their metabolic problems to maintain weight loss,” Ludwig said today. ..
Instead, Ludwig and his colleagues are proposing a new approach, the so-called carbohydrate-insulin model. If overeating does not contribute to obesity, stop counting calories and reduce carbohydrates to control insulin levels.
“Insulin-you can think of it as the ultimate fat cell fertilizer. If you have too much insulin, the fat cells are programmed to store calories. Therefore, there are too many calories in the bloodstream. No, and that’s why we’re hungry, “Ludwig said.
Low-carb diets have become more and more popular in recent years. Most involve cutting out refined carbohydrates such as bread, rice and sweets. Instead, it focuses on protein and healthy fats such as avocados and nuts.
The popular ketogenic diet is a more extreme form of limiting carbohydrates to 30-50 grams per day. This is a challenge for many Americans, given that one bagel has only 48 grams of carbs.
However, more research has shown that low-carb diets are not only effective, but also sustainable.
Jennifer Haynes, 42, said she felt uncomfortable, tired, and depressed when she was overweight. She tried her diet after her diet, including counting calories, but she couldn’t stick to any plans so she didn’t really do anything. did.
Three years ago, she participated in a study carried out by researcher Jeff Borek, a professor of human sciences at Ohio State University, who has been studying low-carb diets for 25 years.
After six weeks on a low-carb diet, Haynes lost 20 pounds and continued. She has now lost a total of £ 88 since she started her dietary plans in 2019.
“In the six weeks of research I did, I looked like a completely different person,” she said. “It was great.”
At first, the diet was not easy because Haynes had to cut out his favorite foods such as pasta, bread and potatoes. But seeing her results was the motivation she needed. She called keto a lifestyle change rather than a diet.
Images of her body’s fat storage before and after adopting the new low-carb diet plan showed a difference after only 6 weeks.
“People have a very healthy response to these diets,” Volek said. “The body reacts in a really elegant way. Limiting carbohydrates makes the body very good at burning body fat because it burns less sugar as fuel.”
Volek added that when people limit carbohydrates, eat moderate amounts of protein, and eat the right diet by accepting fat, they feel full and naturally limit calories without counting. ..
He and his colleagues often use low-carb diets to treat type 2 diabetes, so weight loss is a secondary benefit.
According to a Volek study, people on a low-carb diet can lose more than 10% of their body weight and lose weight. This was a game changer, according to Haynes.
“It feels good. It’s easy to get up. It’s easy to sleep. I feel more comfortable with myself,” she said.
This new approach also eliminates some of the stigma surrounding obesity, which is usually treated as a behavioral problem. Doctors often think that they are overweight because they eat too much or have low willpower. This approach removes responsibility from the patient, focuses on the regulation of the hormone insulin, and considers obesity as a biological problem.
The Ohio State University Volek and his team are also studying the benefits of a low-carb diet for other illnesses and symptoms, such as certain cancers and mental health.
Whether you’re on a ketogenic diet or a low-carb diet, you can still eat some carbs, depending on the version of your diet plan you make-it’s a matter of keeping track of them.
As always, talk to your doctor to make sure your diet plan is right for you, and remember: there is no one-size-fits-all diet. The best are the ones you can stick to in the long run.
