The Fat-Loss Revolution

By: Chris Lydon, MD

The last 10 years have spawned enough groundbreaking research to turn the field of human metabolism on its ear and render our 20th century views of "good nutrition" as quaintly medieval. Curiously, however, most so-called health experts failed to notice the revolution. When it comes to fat-loss lifestyle commands from the ivory towers, the emperor have no clothes.

Even in the face of an ever-expanding stockpile of research to the contrary, the vast majority of weight loss theorists still advocate portion control, eating a low-fat diet, and devoting hour after hour to the human equivalent of slaving away on a hamster wheel in order to lose body fat. but just look at what it's wrought. As accepted "healthy" lifestyle practices became increasingly entrenched in the global consciousness, a worldwide obesity pandemic has erupted in their wake.

It's time to take a long, hard, sobering look at the last 30 years, wipe the sands of complacence from our weary eyes and look boldly upon the naked emperor. As you'll see, he's put on a few pounds.

Back to Basics (Prehistorically Speaking)

The first true humans were hunter-gatherers who roamed in groups over large areas and ate a highly varied diet rich in lean animal protein, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Archaeological data indicate that these prehistoric humans were about as tall as we are today, with strong bones, healthy teeth, well-muscled limbs and very little body fat.

Then, about 10,000 years ago, increasing population densities in many parts of Europe, Africa and Asia forced an abrupt shift from the nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle to more geographically stable populations that depended on agriculture for survival. The advent of civilization saw the domestication of livestock and the introduction of dairy foods, as well as the cultivation of legumes and cereal grains like rice, oats and wheat. But when cereal grains became a dietary staple, humans lost nearly a foot in height, a significant chunk of our life expectancy, and 10% of our brain volume – the latter of which we’ve never recovered.

Why did this happen? Because dairy and grains made us sick! Until 10,000 years ago, a mere blink of an eye compared to our genetic life span, the environment that dictated our genetic make-up did not include cereal grains or dairy products. We never had the luxury of millions of years of natural selection to produce the physiological adaptations that would enable us to digest, absorb and assimilate these foods in a way that promotes good health. When you eat something that you cannot properly metabolize, your body reacts by mounting an inflammatory response. Today, scientists are discovering that inflammatory processes lie at the root of virtually every chronic disease process known to modern man – from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and cancer. Inflammation reached epidemic proportions over the latter half of the 20th century because the very micro nutrients that support our immune system, enabling our bodies to combat chronic inflammation, have been systematically eliminated from the typical North American diet and replaced by the same modern foods most likely to promote an inflammatory response in the first place!

With our increased understanding of inflammation and its far-reaching impact on health and body composition, a new picture of obesity is emerging. It turns out that increased adiposity has much less to do with “lost willpower” than it does with chronic inflammation.

In a nutshell, the hormonal sequelae of chronic inflammation not only make you gain fat, they also make it far more difficult for you to lose fat. In contrast, a diet designed to combat chronic inflammation will, by definition, promote optimal health, increase fat burning and enhance lean body composition regardless of how many total calories you ingest! Luckily, it is relatively simple to adopt an eating regimen that fits the bill.

Five Steps to Inflammation Reduction

1. Assess and recognize food sensitivities, then eliminate them from your diet. Unfortunately, the symptoms of food sensitivities are so varied and individualized, most people never identify the foods that are slowly damaging their health.

The best way to assess your personal food sensitivities is to eliminate those foods that were not part of our prehistoric heritage for a full two or three weeks, and then gradually reintroduce them one category at a time. As each food is reintroduced, pay heed to adverse reactions that can manifest as moodiness, headaches, GI upset, energy fluctuations, acne, sore joints, fatigue – even increased hair loss. Once you identify specific foods to which you are sensitive, take the necessary steps to limit their consumption in the future.

The elimination/reintroduction schedule I recommend can be summarized as follows:

• For the first two weeks, eliminate all legumes, soy based foods, dairy, grains and other high-glycemic-load carbs (refined sugar, potatoes, fruit juice and alcohol).
• At the beginning of Week Three, reintroduce legumes into your diet.
• At the beginning of Week Four, reintroduce dairy and soy-based foods in limited quantities (up to 100 calories per each of three meals).
• At the beginning of Week Five, reintroduce grain - based foods and other high-glycemic-load carbs in limited quantities (up to 100 calories per each of three meals).
• At the beginning of Week Seven, you may resume drinking up to two alcoholic beverages per day if you are a man, one if you are a woman.

Don’t be alarmed if cutting these food items leaves you feeling fatigued and cranky for the first few days. You may even experience mild headaches. Rest assured, these are perfectly normal “withdrawal” symptoms for the sugar-addicted individual. By the end of the first week, your blood sugar will have stabilized and all discomfort will be gone.

The beauty of this elimination strategy is that, by avoiding all high-glycemic carbohydrates for four weeks, you will automatically break your sugar addiction and take enormous strides toward reversing insulin resistance, another consequence of chronic inflammation.

2. Ingest between 0.75 and 1g of lean protein per pound of ideal body weight each day to maximize muscle retention. Studies clearly demonstrate that active people don’t eat enough protein to optimize muscle development and muscle recovery.

Why is this so important for fat loss? Well, it just so happens that, after brain tissue, muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in your body. Every ounce of muscle you possess will incrementally raise your metabolic rate around the clock. Current estimates indicate that every pound of muscle an individual possesses devours between 35-75 calories per day simply to exist, and that doesn’t include the calories your muscles burn during physical activity.

3. Include fruits, vegetables and/or legumes with each of your three meals and two or three daily snacks. People who eat at least six servings of fiber and antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables and legumes each day enjoy an enormously decreased risk for obesity, diabetes, blood clots, stroke, heart disease and most forms of cancer. The more fresh fruits and leafy vegetables you eat, the better your overall health, and – you guessed it – the leaner your physique. An upshot of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a skeleton rich in calcium, which is a formidable defense against the bone mineral losses that accompany aging in both sexes.

4. Stop counting fat grams and start eating healthy fats. If you follow these eating guidelines, you will never have to count fat grams or worry about the fat content of your meals again:

• Go through your cupboards and discard any and all pro-inflammatory vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, safflower, soy, peanut and canola). In their place, stock up on anti-inflammatory extra virgin olive oil for salad dressings, marinades, and low- to medium – temperature cooking, and coconut oil for high-temperature cooking a baking.
• Replace all processed snack foods with raw nuts, seeds, organic nut butters and dried fruit. Despite their being calorically dense, nuts do not appear to cause fat gain. In fact, frequent nut consumption has been linked to improvements in body composition and a decreased risk for weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.
• Follow the 4-to-1 (protein grams to fat grams) rule for animal protein sources. This will automatically limit your saturated-fat intake to approximate the healthy levels that our species evolved eating.

5. Make physical activity and integral part of your lifestyle. There is no doubt about it, regular exercise fights inflammation. However, not all types of exercise are created equal. What’s important is that you stay at it and make sure you’re using resistance training in your overall program.