One of the most common things people say to explain being overweight is that it’s “hormonal.” Well, they’re right! But most often they do not know why they’re right.
Hormone levels do influence weight gain and loss. In fact, there is one hormone in particular that primarily controls weight and how much fat you put into or take out of fat cells. That hormone is INSULIN. Insulin is released when you eat, particularly when you eat carbohydrates. Here’s a simple breakdown of what happens when you eat a carbohydrate:
1. Eat a carbohydrate
2. Glucose (sugar) is released into the blood
3. Insulin is released from the pancreas
4. Insulin transports sugar into cells
At this point, three things can happen:
1. The sugar is burned for energy, or
2. The sugar is stored as glycogen, or,
3. The sugar is stored as FAT.
Once sugar is stored as fat, it must be burned as fat. It will not be converted back to sugar. And it’s the stored fat we want to lose!
Simply put: When insulin levels are high, (because of excessive carb intake) you will NOT burn fat. If your insulin levels are low, stored fat is released into the bloodstream and burned for energy, causing you to LOSE WEIGHT. In a nutshell:
Low carb = low insulin = fat burning weight loss
Objections to Low Carb/Atkins weight loss programs
The most common objection I hear from people regarding the low carb/Atkins approach to weight loss is that eating fat is bad for your health. Well, this is not entirely true. While trans fats (those fats that result from processing otherwise healthy fats and oils, i.e. margarine) are horrible for you, mono-unsaturated, polyunsaturated, and even saturated fats are not unhealthy as a general rule. The crux of this objection or fear is the belief that fat elevates your cholesterol levels thereby making you more susceptible to heart disease and stroke. If you believe this, then let’s take a little quiz:
1. What macronutrient (these are the energy sources in food: fat, carbohydrate, and protein) raises your blood levels of saturated fat and triglycerides?
2. Which of these three lowers your HDL (‘good’ cholesterol) levels?
The answer is CARBOHYDRATES!
Other objections focus on the belief that eating carbohydrates is part of a balanced, healthy eating plan and Atkins doesn’t allow that.
First, Atkins does allow you to eat carbohydrates, however, the focus is on those sources of carbohydrate that are more slowly digested and have minimal impact on blood sugar (and therefore insulin) levels in the blood.
The program recommends foundation vegetables as the primary source of carbohydrate during the initial stages. These vegetables provide vital nutrients and fiber while having minimal impact on your blood sugar. As you progress through the phases, you can add more carbohydrate to your tolerance. Atkins suggests selecting nutrient dense sources, such as nuts, seeds, and low sugar fruits.
If you are overweight and want to lose fat pounds, a diet focused on “low fat” will not work over the long term, because low fat foods are high in carbohydrate and often substitute empty calories from sugar or processed white flour. These foodstuffs will cause you to have high circulating levels of insulin and you will store all those carbs as fat.
Another retort I hear about low carb approaches is that they are not heart healthy. Well, we already talked about carbs and how they negatively affect saturated fat and cholesterol, so we won’t repeat that again. Rather, think of this point: Excess weight/obesity is typically synonymous with poor health, and particularly poor cardiovascular health, so how can a diet (low carb) that makes you lose weight be unhealthy?
Our next installment will cover counting carbs and the best way to start a low carb diet!
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