Monthly Archives: March 2006

Sugar is a Big, Fat Slob

Many diet and metabolic experts proclaim that the law of thermodynamics (well there’s two) reign supreme. That is to say, if you eat something and it doesn’t get used as fuel, it will get stored as fat.

"Not so fast rabbit!"

Like anything else in our wonderful lives, it’s not quite that simple.

There are several studies that show subjects who ate 1800 calories on an Atkins-type diet plan lost the same amount of weight as subjects who ate 1500 calories on a food pyramid diet plan.

How is this possible if it’s just math and if the law of thermodynamics reign supreme? 

Enter ‘Futile cycling.’

The process is quite complicated – and a little boring so I’ll cut to the chase.

In short, fat and protein have many jobs to do. They are the bicycle messengers if you will of the macro-nutrients. They’ve got lots to do, and many places to go. They’re serious and single minded.

Sugar is a big, fat slob. It does one thing and one thing only – get used as fuel or sit around in your fat cell watching re-runs of M.A.S.H.

When you eat fat and protein, you fuel yourself with nutrients that repair cells, build muscle or resist the loss of it, clean house, etc. Busy little bees they are.

When you primarily eat sugar, the sugar sits around (not for long) waiting for you to summit Everest.

In fact, you have GOT to nearly starve yourself in order to lose body fat eating lots of carbs (sugar) since sugar is either waiting to be used up as energy or will be stored as fat.

In the presence of a lot of sugar in the diet (food pyramid) you had better eat low fat because this is the easiest way to store unused fat and protein as fuel.

You eat sugar (complex or simple your body doesn’t give a hoot) which raises insulin levels, which opens the fat cell doors, which shoves in the excess calories from fat and SLAM! The prison cell gets locked tight.

(Quick quiz: What’s the key to open those fat cells back up? How do we plan a rescue mission and release our good friend Fat? )

Given the food, or rather, the Sugar Pyramid, a low fat diet is prudent if you want to keep trim. But in the process of staying svelte, you starve your body of cell rebuilding, muscle enhancing fat and protein.

This process does not happen as easily or as readily when insulin levels are kept very low by adopting a diet rich in fats and proteins and minimal in veggies and fruits.

Fat cells are far less permeable when sugar in the diet is at a minimum. Fat cells resist storage and more readily release fat as energy when eating little to no sugar.

When eating fat meat to your hearts content (mind the punniness), excess fat and protein cycle around looking for things to do and when all is done, the excess does not necessarily get stored as fat.

Wither doth it go?

It goeth into the winds – burned up running around the muscle and cell components looking for more things to do (remember, when insulin levels are low, the fat cell says "Not Welcome!" and the excess is converted into heat energy and dissipated.

Bye bye, F&P. thanks for being so diligent!

Futile cycling baby. It’s a beautiful thing.

All this running around however, costs. And where does the funding come from for such worthy endeavors? Who or what is the primary underwriter for such an expensive business plan?

Do I really have to tell you? Oh, OK:

Fat

Pretty please – with sugar on top?

As you all know, I care about people.  Too much sometimes.

I am constantly scaring off potential clients because I do not tell people what it is they want to hear.  I’ve gotta work on my spiel.

Anyhoo, one client or, rather, client who might have been but now never will be called me up and spoke to me about exercise, diet and heart health. 

I told him the truth.

He hung up the phone.

I felt bad.

Another body ‘bites the statins. ‘ Damn.

For all of you interested in the heart health lipid idea

A link for those of you who think saturated fats are bad fats but at the same time, don’t actually know what a saturated fat is

From the above link you can scroll down and read even more good stuff by Dr. Kendrick. 

This is the sort of stuff all of us should be reading over and over again before we even THINK of taking a statin and before we even dream of reducing the fats in our diet to a minimal level to become healthier.

I shudder at the thought.

I advise, beg, implore everyone to check out the above links.

Do it for me. Do it for you. Do it for her/him/them. Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top? (Wait – not sugar – fat on top!)

Additional comments on my blog ‘Philisophical Investments’

Additional comment 3/22/06:

My last blog got some folks huffy and irate. I apologize for my strong words and seemingly flippant take on a VERY important issue. Believe you me I take this issue seriously. This, as well as every blog I write, comes from the bottom of my heart.

NO – I don’t believe that the ADA WANTS people to become diabetics.

YES – Clearly we all want to help people to rid themselves of or keep from contracting this horrid disease.

BUT – The disease is mainly self inflicted (type II) and if we are to help people we need to tell the TRUTH, the whole truth and nothing BUT the truth – not kinda sorta the truth mixed with deep seated philosophical bias’s we call the food pyramid.   

The current food pyramid is WRONG.

Food_pyramid_big 

Remove the sugary food at the top, flip it upside down and then follow it (save for the water that’s stays on top – they got that right!)

In order of importance (more or less):

  1. Water
  2. Meats, good fats
  3. Fruits, veggies
  4. Grains,
  5. Sweets.

You and your doctor will thank me for this heresy upon your next physical exam.

Guaranteed.

Weird question: If your goal was to BECOME an obese diabetic (say for a movie role), how would you best accomplish this?

Answer:  Eat as much sugar as you possibly can with minimal fat and protein (enough to stay alive to be successful in your endeavor).  Refined sugar, no doubt, would be the fastest way to reach your goal but not the only way. Lots of brown rice, whole wheat pasta, multi grain breads, fruits, etc. will do the trick as well.

Another question (but not so weird): Can you contract type II diabetes by adopting a diet of fat meat as your main source of calories along with a smattering of certain veggies and fruits, no grains of any kind, and lots of clean water?

Answer: Not likely. In fact, I’d venture to guess it would be nearly impossible.

We look at grains and veggies and fruits as some sort of ‘manna.’

We look at meat and fat and consider it foul and heart clogging.

THIS IS NOT TRUE. NEVER HAS BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE.

(Sorry for yelling.)

The ingestion of fat, protein and water are essential for human life – the ingestion of carbohydrates – is not. (Are not? )

This should tell you something.


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