The secret to maintaining a healthy weight, and losing any extra weight, is supposed to be fairly simple. Just start eating properly (which usually means eating less), and get regular physical activity.
Most people actually try to follow this advice, but 66% of Americans are still either overweight or obese. If it were really as simple as we've been told, most diet companies would be out of business.
However, since most types of diets, including low-calorie diets and low-fat diets, have very poor success rates, diet companies have a continuing source of repeat customers. And much of the advice we hear about 'eating right,' including the recommendations to reduce the fat in our diet and avoid all saturated fats, has actually been shown to have exactly the opposite effect than the one we're looking for. Low-fat diets cause food cravings, which tends to make it even harder to eat right.
Almost all diet experts know that low-calorie diet plans help you lose weight quickly. However, they also know that all that weight comes back just as soon as the diet is over, plus a few extra pounds. Diet experts and the overweight people who use these plans all assume the following:
1. The initial weight loss is the result of the diet (this is true).
2. The eventual weight gain after the diet is over is the fault of the dieter, who didn't stick with the plan. This is not true. And scientists have known it isn't true for 91 years.
The Carnegie Low-Calorie Diet Study
The 1917 the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Nutrition Laboratory did a study that was designed to find out what happened to people on a low calorie diet.
During the study careful records were kept of the psychological and physical symptoms encountered by a group of young male volunteers who were put on reducing diets of 1400 to 2100 calories a day.
If you have ever been on a 'well balanced' reduced-calorie diet in order to lose weight, the results of this study will sound familiar to you.
The Short-Term Results: The men lost 10% of their weight during the diet. This was the expected weight loss.
However, there were disturbing symptoms. The 12 men in the study constantly complained of a gnawing hunger, and they said it was almost impossible to stay warm, no matter how much clothing they wore.
Their metabolism slowed down so much that they would begin to regain weight if the daily calorie level went up over 2100 calories, even though they previously ate far more than that before the study started. Their blood pressure and pulse rate went down, they became anemic, they had difficulty concentrating, and physical activity made them weak.
One symptom must have been extremely upsetting to these young healthy men - their interest in sex was reduced, and in some cases it vanished completely.
Many of these symptoms occurred only a few days after beginning the low-calorie diet, which proves that even the short-term low-calorie '3-day diet' and other diet fads can cause unexpected problems.
After the diet was over: Once the three month study was over, the volunteers were cautioned against over-eating, but they couldn't stop themselves from doing so. They felt strong cravings for anything sweet, and indulged in every snack they could lay their hands on.
Within two weeks, these young men were back at their original starting weight, and then gained an average of eight more pounds, making them heavier than they were before their diet.
Since then, other research has confirmed the results of the Carnegie study. Low-calorie diets do cause people to gain weight. The temporary weight loss is due to starvation, and the eventual weight gain is also due to starvation - the body reacts the way it does out of natural instinct to survive. The weight gain is the fault of the diet, not the dieter.
The healthiest alternative to most popular diet plans is to stop eating the specific foods that make us fat, and eat a lot of the foods that help us get thin again.
Unfortunately, a great deal of advertising - and even government nutrition experts, have been warning us against eating healthy foods, like butter, coconut oil, grass-fed beef, and whole milk, that can help us control our weight. These foods are satisfying, so they can reduce food obsessions and cravings, and they can help overcome sugar addiction. They help us control our appetites, and they can help us lose fat without losing muscle.
Still, most health experts continue to suggest that we follow the low-calorie and low-fat advice that has been proven to make us gain weight instead of losing it.
Finding a truly healthy diet among all the diet plans out there is not easy, but the results can be improved health as well as reduced weight. The best diet plans use natural, whole foods, with enough healthy fat to keep us from getting hungry or having food cravings that can lead to bing eating. Natural, whole foods may not fit in with the latest diet fad, but they are the secret to permanent weight loss.
If low-calorie diet plans [realfooddietrevolution.com/natural-weight-loss2.htm] don't work, and low-fat diets cause food obsessions and cravings, what will work for permanent weight loss? Find the surprising answer at [realfooddietrevolution.com/natural-weight-loss2.htm]
No comments:
Post a Comment