Obesity Awareness: Identifying The Culprit - Keto Diet Coach & NUTRITION NETWORK NUTRITION ADVISOR| Glenda Van Blerk

The multi-billion dollar question is “What is making us fat?” Obesity awareness will help us to identiy the culprit so that we can begin by starting to eat low carbohydrate real foods.

There are two main theories (5):

The Calories-In-Calories-Out (CICO) model. This model states that we get fat because we eat more calories (energy) than we burn. This is based on the first law of thermodynamics which states that the energy in a closed system cannot be created or lost but rather only transferred from one form to another. Based on this, the energy from all types of food and nutrients (fat, protein, or carbohydrate) can be quantified and will be processed similarly within the body, irrespective of their source.

Expend more energy

And the only way to lose or burn this energy is by expending more energy for example by exercising more). Indeed, people do lose weight when starved of calories, or when exercising excessively while concurrently reducing food intake. But these situations aren’t sustainable.

The trouble with the CICO model

The trouble with the CICO model is that 1.) As humans are not closed systems because energy can be sequestered into embargoed compartments (e.g. adipose tissue [body fat]) or dissipated variably, and importantly, 2.) Because the body regulates the fate of the nutrients that come in, by choosing whether they should be stored as fat or make us hungry or full, or make us want to move or exercise (expend energy) more or less.

Nutrients are not created equal

Therefore the types of nutrients (or sources of calories) affect how they are processed (metabolised). As such, nutrients, and the calories they contain, are not created equal, and this model fails, as the body’s drives eventually beat the sheer willpower exerted to get us to simply eat less (limit calories). The result means that we just regain any weight lost.

2. The insulin or endocrine model

This model proposes that obesity is caused by a diet that promotes a fat-storing hormonal environment. In other words eat low carbohydrate real foods as science journalist and researcher, Gary Taubes explains:

“carbohydrates are singularly responsible for prompting insulin secretion; 2)because insulin is singularly responsible for inducing fat accumulation; 3) and dietary carbohydrates are required for excess fat accumulation; and 4) both type 2 diabetics and the higher-weight person have abnormally elevated concentrations of circulating insulin.”

Eat less carbohydrate

What this means is that eating less carbohydrate lowers the fat-storage-promoting hormone, insulin, thereby allowing the body to mobilise and burn stored fat for energy, thereby promoting weight loss/normalisation. It also means we eat less, because we’re less hungry; as previously embargoed fat stores are now accessible for burning and we don’t have to rely on diet for immediate energy (6). So, when we eat low carbohydrate real foods, we eat less and experience less hunger, which assists with body weight.

Eat low carbohydrate real foods

Over the past few decades, alongside getting fatter and eating more carbohydrate and less fat, we’re eating more processed food. Processed food is particularly good at promoting weight gain because it contains the most fattening forms of carbohydrates, often combined with the most fattening forms or fat:

Processed food contains more refined carbohydrate and sugar, with less fibre

This is a particularly obesogenic combination, boosting insulin and (addictive) reward signals in the brain to get both the body and mind to eat more. (7)

The carbohydrate is usually combined with fat

Such as ice cream, chocolates, and doughnuts. This combination is more rewarding (addictive) and prone to overeating (8). So that the fat-storing from the carbs (insulin) result in both the carbs and fat being directed into fat storage rather than being burned for energy (9).

The type of fat in processed food is particularly fattening (10)

Processed seed and vegetable oil, like sunflower, soybean, and canola oils, that are rich in the omega-6 fat called linoleic acid (LA), promote fat storage more than naturally occurring or cold-extracted oils and fats with lower LA content (e.g. tallow, lard, butter, coconut, olive, avocado, and macadamis nut oils.)

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Credits:

Text: – Tamzyn Murphy RD, MSc