I was recently reading the comment section of an article, when I came across a particular gem that just. . . It actually gave me a headache. I won’t attribute this to the author, nor will I link the article, but I wanted to take a moment to dissect this comment (The rant about the government was deleted because it’s not necessary):
“Your understanding is flawed. Obese Americans are not obese due to their caloric intake, it is the vast amounts of processed carbs and simple sugars. They spike our blood sugar and cause our natural metabolic mechanisms to adjust and begin storing the sugars as fat. You could eat the exact same “amount” (calories) of low carb diet and be much healthier.
[…]
Well, if you really want the people to have freedom of choice, you need to be honest about the choices available. You can not support one above all others; ignoring science and logic; and force feed those ideals to children at a young age through the public school system.”
“Your understanding is flawed. Obese Americans are not obese due to their caloric intake, it is the vast amounts of processed carbs and simple sugars.”
So, to start, the author states that the person they’re responding to doesn’t understand metabolism. By the end of this, you’ll understand why the author should have started their comment with: “My understanding is flawed!”
Simply put, Americans that are obese to the degree it shows are, in fact, obese because of excess calories. In apparently healthy individuals, you have to eat an excess of calories to gain weight. (There is an exception for metabolic depression and hypothyroidism, which aren’t the epidemic most people make them out to be; especially since metabolic depression mostly affects physique competitors.)
Here is an exception: Obese Americans that don’t show it (Excessively “skinny-fat” individuals that, based on their body fat percentage, can be classified as obese) could become obese because of excessive carbohydrate intake while eating less than their TEE (Total Energy Expenditure), and not eating enough protein to maintain nitrogen balance.
However, I’m willing to bet that these aren’t the people that the author was referring to.
“They spike our blood sugar and cause our natural metabolic mechanisms to adjust and begin storing the sugars as fat. You could eat the exact same “amount” (calories) of low carb diet and be much healthier.”
This is true that carbohydrates can spike your blood sugar– This is a natural response to the carbs being broken down into glucose which then enters our bloodstream. That rise in blood glucose releases insulin which attaches to cells and opens up the door for nutrients to be shuttled in. Insulin binds to muscle cells so that circulating glucose will get stored in the muscle as glycogen; insulin also binds to fat cells so that circulating fat (broken down into triglycerides from dietary fat that was consumed with the meal) is stored in fat cells. Any glucose left over is then converted into fat, which may be stored in fat cells. (Important note: Glucose can NOT be stored in a fat cell. It must be converted to fat first.)
Something a lot of people love to point out about insulin is that it shuts off lipolysis (“Fat Burning”) and turns on lipogenesis (“Fat Storage”). Well, they’re partially right– In this state, your body no longer has to burn fat for energy, because it has the most efficient energy source circulating already: Glucose. And they’re partially right that insulin starts lipogenesis, but they fail to point out that the glucose has to be converted to fat before it can be stored as fat– Until that happens, it’s used for glycogen repletion in the muscles, and as an energy source.
I would also like to take a moment to point out that basically all metabolic systems are running at all times– Our metabolism is viewed as a light switch, when really it should be viewed as a series of faucets that are always flowing, some more than others.
And one last thing: A lot of people say, “Insulin is the enemy, so if we don’t eat carbs, we don’t have to deal with the fat storage that goes along with insulin!” Well, are you also not eating protein, because protein causes an insulin response as well.
To his final point about being healthier by switching the type of calories, I may be inclined to agree– If you’re eating whole foods instead of processed sugars, then yes, you may be “healthier.” At the same time, someone switching to low carb with the same amount of calories could also make themselves less healthy by making poor food choices, thus becoming deficient in certain micronutrients.
Note that the author doesn’t state that someone would lose weight by switching the types of calories, just that they would be “healthier.”
“Well, if you really want the people to have freedom of choice, you need to be honest about the choices available. You can not support one above all others; ignoring science and logic; and force feed those ideals to children at a young age through the public school system.”
I appreciate this statement, but in all of their comments on the article, they were proselytizing the paleo diet above all else. I don’t mean to take a jab at their character, but it’s worth noting. I digress.
Here, I just want to point out that his assumptions about metabolism are all based on flawed science, and in most cases, “broscience.” Trying to say that we should not ignore “science and logic” while simultaneously ignoring science and logic is kind of absurd.
Real science can tell you what am optimal diet is; I can assure you there is no book to sell it, and it will likely never be marketed properly.
It’s worth noting that I don’t advocate eating unhealthy, nor do I advocate eating severely low carbohydrate, nor do I advocate eating too many processed sugars– I advocate, and follow, a nonrestrictive, science based nutrition approach that is based on an individual and their goals. For me, that means I derive 25 – 30% of my calories from protein, 20 – 25% of my calories from fat, and 40 – 55% of my calories from carbohydrates.
Sources / Further Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin
Dr. Layne Norton’s Vlog about metabolic depression in relation to dieting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5C3uqA1yRI
Dr. Layne Norton’s Vlog about metabolic depression: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk
Dr. Layne Norton’s Vlog about dietary choices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8
Dr. Layne Norton’s Vlog about metabolic damage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY1DsZMNfNw
Insulin Secretion in Response to Protein Ingestion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC292827/
The Biochemistry of Metabolism: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/bcbp/molbiochem/MBWeb/mb1/MB1index.html
Major Metabolic Pathways: http://www2.ufp.pt/~pedros/bq/integration.htm