So how did we get to be so big? Why did we put on all this weight? When we can answer this question we are on the way to finding ways to lose weight. We need to make sure we don't become another statistic in the ever increasing body count due to obesity from heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
It helps if we understand food. Food is a combination of the big three- proteins, fats and carbohydrates- and minerals and vitamins. Each of these contributes its properties to building our health and maintaining our bodies. Each is essential to good health and longevity and has a role to play in helping us lose weight. So-called nutritionists have convinced us that fats are the big killer in our modern diet so we are eating less fat than ever before and our waistlines are growing worse than ever before. Does it sound like their advice is working?
Starting with proteins, we find the building blocks of muscle, skin, nails and hair. Proteins are built up from different combinations of 20 amino acids. The body uses proteins and breaks them down into their component amino acids which are used to repair the body. One gram of protein contains 4 calories of energy and this energy is used for rebuilding damaged tissue or building new tissues. Some proteins are complete, which means that every amino acid the body needs for good health is present. All animal proteins from meat are complete and quinoa seed and soy bean proteins are complete proteins. Vegetable proteins are incomplete because they only contain some of the 20 amino acids and by themselves they can't sustain healthy life but only in combination with other incomplete proteins. For example beans are incomplete but eaten with corn or maize they are complete. Proteins can never make you fat because the body digests them and uses them to build muscle, skin and other tissues, not fat.
Fats range from oils found in nuts, grains and fruits like avocadoes and olives to the fats found in meats. One gram of fat contains 10 calories of energy. Fats are used to transport certain vitamins and minerals into the body and our bodies would cease to function without them. Our brains are predominately made of fat. Fats provide much of the flavor of foods and very low fat diets are low flavor diets. Excess fats are passed out through the bowel through the action of the liver and the gall bladder. Despite their high caloric value, fats have been wrongly accused of causing weight gain. However the evidence just doesn't support this theory.
Finally we come to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The body uses carbohydrates to supply energy and they are energy-packed items. They contain their own oxygen molecule which assists the mitochondria in the cells to release the energy contained in the carbohydrates. One gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories. Carbohydrates are all sugars, both processed cane sugars, palm sugars, natural fruit sugars like fructose and corn syrup. All sugars are carbohydrates and regardless of their source are treated by the body the same, so choosing to use a "natural" sugar like fructose over cane sugar makes no difference to the body. A calorie is a calorie regardless of the type of carbohydrate. Grains, fruit, alcohol, beer and wine all contain carbohydrates.
As I stated, the body uses carbohydrates for energy and it uses the insulin response to capture the carbohydrate during digestion. As the food passes through the stomach and intestines the acids and enzymes in the stomach and gut release the carbohydrates bound up in the food. In simple terms this is converted into sugars that are released into the bloodstream. The body detects a rise in blood sugar levels and the pancreas kicks in and releases insulin. The insulin converts the sugars into glycogen which is stored in the live for future energy needs. When this is depleted athletes "hit the wall" as we see so graphically in marathons. When the liver has a full store of glycogen the excess sugar is converted into an alternative energy source and stored in adipose tissue on the body, to be used at a later time. We call this stuff FAT! We eat too many carbohydrates and we get fat. Simple as that.
The insulin response is a finely balanced act. Our blood sugar must stay constant because too much sugar in the bloodstream is very unhealthy. So is too little. When we eat highly processed carbohydrates such as sugary breakfast cereals, the rise in blood sugar is very rapid and the insulin response is too great. Our blood sugar levels drop rapidly and we are suddenly hungry again. If we eat the same type of snack food again, the cycle is repeated. The excess sugar is deposited as fat and our hunger bounces up and down like a yo yo. This is the key reason why we put on weight and the key to how to lose weight.
The reason carbohydrates are such an issue is partly evolutionary. As hunter gatherers, human beings rarely had access to highly refined sugars such as honey and sugar. Our bodies developed the insulin response to keep energy levels steady and to use the available blood sugar efficiently. With our modern diet being packed with sugar, the insulin response is overloaded and obesity is the result. It is also the reason for the explosion in diabetes as we exhaust the pancreas' ability to synthesize insulin in ever-increasing amounts.
So how do we lose weight? The first step on how to lose weight is to get some help and find a good diet program to follow. Look for the following characteristics.
1. A good diet program will provides advice on balancing your intake of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It will recommend more complex carbohydrates which the body will digest more slowly and so avoid the excessive insulin response.
2. It will show you how to lose weight by incorporating a sensible and achievable exercise regime into your daily life and finally it should include a meal planner. A meal planner takes away the stress or working what to eat day to day. It provides you sound dietary guidelines and provides the shopping list for your weekly groceries. If you are obsessing about what to eat and prepare every day, your focus will be on food and not getting a healthy lifestyle started.
3. It will include an exercise program that will meet you where you are, regardless of your physical fitness and help you achieve a higher level of fitness. Without an exercise program you are doomed to stay overweight forever.
Finally one of the most powerful tools you have which will help you lose weight is your self belief. Unless you have self-belief you simply won't succeed. You have to believe in yourself. If you struggle with low self esteem, and most of us who have been overweight can relate to that, you must find way to lift your own perception of your worth. There are some excellent programs available, because we are more than just flesh and blood. We are whole people with beliefs and hope and dreams and we need to feed these as well. I have no doubt that with the right advice and the right attitude you will find your way to lose weight.
No comments:
Post a Comment