Saturday, April 10, 2010

Duh!

Low-Cal Diets May Make You Gain Weight - MSN




..."For the first time in humans, we are finding out that cutting your calories increases cortisol," said lead researcher A. Janet Tomiyama, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco.

..."The term 'dieting' brings to mind deprivation, starvation, being miserable and uncomfortable and ultimately failing in weight-loss efforts," said Samantha Heller, a dietitian, nutritionist and exercise physiologist who is familiar with the study.

...Burning more calories than you consume is how your body loses weight, she said. "However, severe calorie restriction, diet fads, pills and potions, detox cleanses and other quacky approaches to weight loss only contribute to people's diet failures and, in fact, may increase the likelihood of regaining even more weight than what was lost—if any," Heller added.

..."By eating foods of higher overall nutritional quality, fullness can generally be achieved on fewer calories, eliminating the need for deprivation," Katz said. "In addition, physical activity can accelerate weight loss, promote health and alleviate stress in the bargain."

That's because your body isn't interested in calories - it's interested in nutrients! It's not interested in carbs, fats, or proteins so much as what's contained in them - magnesium, potassium and all the other essential vitamins and minerals that exist. Less calories=less nutrients. Anyone surprised that would be a recipe for failure? Part of the reason processed food is so harmful is because the nutrients are stripped away - the other part being the franken-gredients that replace said nutrients.

How do you know if you are eating processed, nutrient-naked food? Well, if it has a food label on it - chances are you've been had. Think about it. I don't see any labels in the produce section. Hmmm, don't see any in the meat dept. either. Or the farmers market - or farm in my case. Kinda makes all the confusion and emphasis on understanding and policing food labels kinda silly eh? There are a few exceptions of course - store bought eggs come to mind - so another clue could be if your ingredient list is longer than say, 2 items - or contains any ingredients that would get you a triple word score in Scrabble.

While processed and refined carbohydrates have been getting their just villification as of late, care must be taken to not ignore processed fats and proteins as well. The increased consumption of vegetable/canola oils and nitrate laced meats role in our ever declining health cannot be understated.

On the other end of the spectrum are those that are somehow under the impression that nutrients operate in a vacuum. You know, all those nutjob RD's out there telling you to gulp up all that FAT-FREE dairy to get your vitamin D & K. Problem is, those are fat soluble vitamins. No fat=no absorption. Oops.

Speaking of fat-free dairy... Full-fat Dairy for Cardiovascular Health. Double Oops.


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