Nothing has dominated the American diet during the past two generations like the fear and avoidance of
fat--all fat!
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Fat has become our archenemy. "Fat intake must be reduced at all cost!" came the battle cry of the American Heart Association, Health and Human Services, the American Diabetes Association and almost every other medical organization in the US. For over 40 years, excess consumption of fat has been held as the culprit to the number one killer in the US and modern world today which is
heart disease.
Since
fat
is calorie dense (it contains 9 Kcal—calories--per gram when compared to both carbohydrates and proteins, which only have 4 Kcal per gram), the over-consumption of fat has also been labeled the prime suspect in the growing obesity epidemic. This issue of the
Healthy for Life Newsletter
is going to take a look back at how this has affected our health and our nation.
The Low-Fat Phenomenon has led to the High-Carb Diet
Researchers and the medical community have harped about the over-consumption of fat since the early 1970’s when it was believed that heart disease was the cause of too much cholesterolfloating around in our arteries. This made sense, since the plaques that were building up in our arteries were loaded with cholesterol. Epidemiological studies like the Framingham Studies showed us beyond any doubt that the higher our cholesterol, the greater the risk of developing "hardening of the arteries." All of this attention and education from the medical community about the evils of fat had a strong affect on the eating habits of most Americans.
Unfortunately, studies have shown us over and over again that as our fat intake went down, our consumption of carbohydrates went up (the amount of protein consumed remained about the same). As Americans began eating less fat they started filling their plates with more carbs.
The food industry wasn’t going to miss this golden opportunity. Before long they had jumped on the bandwagon and developed all kinds of food products and meals containing high amounts of carbohydrates while boasting very low volumes of fat.
With the loud voice of the medical community and the helping hand of the food industry, we have been convinced that the healthiest diet in the world is a low-fat, high-carb diet.
Weight Loss Programs Join In
This concept has also dominated the weight loss industry for the last two generations. Americans are spending over $30 billion each year on diets and the majority are choosing low-fat, high-carb, low-calorie regimens with well-respected institutionssuch as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Diet Center, LA Weight Loss, and even our American Diabetic Diet. Upon considering that 65% of the adults in our society are overweight or obese (which is double the number of adults considered to be overweight/obese in 1970), these diets have failed us, wouldn’t you say? Why has this happened?
Calories In Equals Calories Out
No other concept has been more universally accepted in the weight loss industry than the concept of "the amount of calories you consume must be less than the number of calories you burn if you are going to have any hope of losing weight." It can be disguised in a myriad of creative ways, but it always ends up the same; when you approach weight loss with these popular programs, you must consume fewer and fewer calories in order to lose weight. You may have to weigh your food or eat prepackagedmeals but in the end you are going to starve yourself thin. This is why the low-fat phenomenon has dominated the weight loss industry. By reducing your fat intake you are significantly reducing the amount of calories consumed. Most of us have tried.We’ve also learned we must exercise to burn more calories. It follows the same theory that "calories in" must be less than "calories out" (calories burned). Granted, exercise is extremely critical to our health, but many weight loss programs haveboiled it down as merely a means to burn more calories throughout the day.
Have you ever spent much time looking at the amount of exercise it takes with various exercise programs to lose a pound of weight? How discouraging!
There’s got to be a better way.
Insulin Resistance
What many in the medical community are not aware of is the fact that by recommending this low-fat, high-carb, and low-caloric dietwe are setting people up for failure.
Not only are they not able to lose weight but far from being a healthy diet it really increases the individual’s risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, cholesterol problems, and yes even diabetes.
It is my personal opinion that these diet recommendations of a high-carb, lowfat diet are the root cause of the obesity and
diabetic epidemic
our society now faces.
Dietitians and many practitioners within the health care community hold to a standard wherein a carbohydrate is merely a carbohydrate. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you are eating cauliflower or corn chips; you only have to be concerned with the total grams of carbohydrates. Of course, they advise you to avoid sugar because it is bad for your body. However, recent medical studies reveal each carbohydrate is absorbed into the body at a particular rate, otherwise known as its glycemic index.
Researchers have found that breads, cereals, rice, and potatoes are actually absorbed faster into the bloodstream than if you were spooning table sugar on to your tongue. Not only is your blood sugar spiked after eating these foods, your body will alsoover-stimulate the release of insulin, driving the blood sugar down into the hypoglycemic range (low blood sugar range). The body needs to get that blood sugar back up; therefore, the lowblood sugar stimulates the release of cortisol (your stresshormone), adrenaline (your fight or flight hormone), glucagon,and growth hormone. These hormones drive the blood sugar back up to normal; however, you are left with an uncontrollable hunger. You have to eat again and usually you will eat another high glycemic meal or snack. I refer to this cyclical drive to eat as a "carbohydrate addiction". Studies reveal that individuals who eat a high-glycemic diet actually eat 80% more calories than those who eat a diet, which does not spike one’s blood sugar (low glycemic diet).
Doomed for Failure
Herein lies the dilemma with the so-called high-carb, low-fat
diet.
Most Americans have accepted that carbs are just fine as long as they are low-fat. However, since 85 to 90% of all the carbohydrates we eat in the US are highly processed or high glycemic, we are continually spiking our blood sugar. This leaves most dieters on a roller coaster with the only option of muscling up enough sheer will power to overcome their "uncontrollable" hunger. At the same time they are trying to reduce the amount of calories while their bodies are actuallycraving more. What most people consider "emotional eating" or "cravings" while on these diets, is simply what is known in the medical literature as hyperphagia (uncontrollable hungerproduced by the release of these counter-regulatory hormones).
When the blood sugar is continually spiked over and over, the body becomes less and less sensitive to one’s insulin. The body responds to this situation by releasing higher levels of insulin in order to pound that sugar into the cell to be utilized for energy, but most of the sugar is primarily stored as fat. As these blood insulin levels begin to rise, one’s blood pressure goes up, triglycerides go up, the VLDL or "very" bad cholesterol goes up, the HDL or good cholesterol goes down, and you greatly increase your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
The very diet that you were encouraged to eat by the health care community to protect your health is actually destroying it.
If that is not bad enough, consider this: when you develop insulin resistance you simply cannot lose weight. So that diet you thought was going to be the answer has actually made it more difficult for you to lose weight!
Before you run to join the low-carb mania, you must realize that this approach is in fact, even a worse diet than the high-carb, low-fat diet. This will be the topic of next month’s newsletter—The Low-Carb Craze! In the meantime, I strongly recommend that you read my new book, Releasing Fat, to get athorough understanding of how to live so that you can truly be free. Learn how you can develop a healthy lifestyle with a side effect of permanent fat loss.
Reprinted with permission by Dr. Strand. Please do not reprint without permission from Dr. Strand.
More articles on this site by Dr. Strand
Ray Strand, M.D.
Quickly becoming one of the world's leading authorities in nutritional medicine, Dr. Ray Strand has been involved in a private family practice for over 30 years. During the past 12 years, he has focused his practice on preventive and nutritional medicine. He has lectured on this subject across the United States, Canada, and Australia. He is the author of Releasing Fat, What Your Doctor Doesn't Know about Nutritional Medicine, and Death by Prescription.
Dr. Ray Strand's Website
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