Year and a half ago I decided 60 lbs overweight was too much. Sick and tired of being tired all the time. Went on a low-glycemic index diet - essentially a diabetic diet though I was not diabetic.
Pretty much laid off anything "white" - white flour, white sugar, white rice... If you consider insulin as being the hormone that converts carbs (and sugar is pure carb) to fat, then cut the carbs and you cut the weight. BUT - not so simple. Complex carbs aren't as bad as "white" or refined carbs - take longer to break down, so insulin doesn't spike.
Still not that simple, though. Media would have you believe "just stop x and you lose weight".
It's the mechanism of how carbs and fats get into your bloodstream. There is a barrier in your gut to stop toxins created by bacteria in your gut from getting into the blood. Gram negative bacteria release endotoxins when they die. Endotoxins are incredibly poisonous (without the barrier, mamals would never have evolved). However, they can sometimes hitch a ride on fat molecules. When they enter the blood, they cause a general low-level inflamation. How YOUR body reacts to the inflamation varies, but it is generally presented as arthritis, obesity (due to imbalance in hunger-realted hormones), hypertension, artherioscelrosis, and several other "modern" diseases. "Maybe" even some cancers. Maybe!
The low-fat craze leveraged off this hitchhiking mechanism - lower the fats, lower the toxins in your blood, and the inflamations subside... However when you remove fats, food tastes terrible. So manufacturers subsituted all sorts of chemicals, trans fats, and SUGARS, to make the food taste good again. Back to square one, or worse.
Seems the answer is more in killing off the gram-negative bacteria. Bitter foods tend to alter the pH in your system making for a less hospitable environment for the gram negative bacgteria but leaving good bacteria unharmed. Chinese use bitter melon. Other bitter foods will have similar impacts. The results of removing gram negative bacteria results in fewer toxins entering your blood. Hunger hormone imbalances go away (as do many cravings), the overal infalmation dies down, and your particular reaction to the toxins diminishes.
I lost 40 lbs in 6 months, and have kept it off. I eat a balanced diet, having added far more greens and leafy vegetables. I'm off blood pressure meds, and cholesterol was cut in half and the HDL (good cholesterol) is way up. I still minimize taters, rice, pinto beans, BBQ beans, peas, and anything with white flour or sugar in it. Splenda seems to work fine for me in coffee. Desserts - I look for "no sugar added" ice creams. Kroger house brands and Blue Bunny seem to have a reasonable selection. I look for low carb items, and particularly avoid those where most of the carbs are not dietary carbs (dietary carbs are OK). Meats, natural fats, cheeses, Ranch dressing, eggs are all prominent in my diet. Not much exercise was added, if any. If it's a "low fat" item, I avoid that to avoid the crap they add to make it tastier. Herself kept wanting to buy Lite Butter - until she read the ingredients! Gag.
Pretty much laid off anything "white" - white flour, white sugar, white rice... If you consider insulin as being the hormone that converts carbs (and sugar is pure carb) to fat, then cut the carbs and you cut the weight. BUT - not so simple. Complex carbs aren't as bad as "white" or refined carbs - take longer to break down, so insulin doesn't spike.
Still not that simple, though. Media would have you believe "just stop x and you lose weight".
It's the mechanism of how carbs and fats get into your bloodstream. There is a barrier in your gut to stop toxins created by bacteria in your gut from getting into the blood. Gram negative bacteria release endotoxins when they die. Endotoxins are incredibly poisonous (without the barrier, mamals would never have evolved). However, they can sometimes hitch a ride on fat molecules. When they enter the blood, they cause a general low-level inflamation. How YOUR body reacts to the inflamation varies, but it is generally presented as arthritis, obesity (due to imbalance in hunger-realted hormones), hypertension, artherioscelrosis, and several other "modern" diseases. "Maybe" even some cancers. Maybe!
The low-fat craze leveraged off this hitchhiking mechanism - lower the fats, lower the toxins in your blood, and the inflamations subside... However when you remove fats, food tastes terrible. So manufacturers subsituted all sorts of chemicals, trans fats, and SUGARS, to make the food taste good again. Back to square one, or worse.
Seems the answer is more in killing off the gram-negative bacteria. Bitter foods tend to alter the pH in your system making for a less hospitable environment for the gram negative bacgteria but leaving good bacteria unharmed. Chinese use bitter melon. Other bitter foods will have similar impacts. The results of removing gram negative bacteria results in fewer toxins entering your blood. Hunger hormone imbalances go away (as do many cravings), the overal infalmation dies down, and your particular reaction to the toxins diminishes.
I lost 40 lbs in 6 months, and have kept it off. I eat a balanced diet, having added far more greens and leafy vegetables. I'm off blood pressure meds, and cholesterol was cut in half and the HDL (good cholesterol) is way up. I still minimize taters, rice, pinto beans, BBQ beans, peas, and anything with white flour or sugar in it. Splenda seems to work fine for me in coffee. Desserts - I look for "no sugar added" ice creams. Kroger house brands and Blue Bunny seem to have a reasonable selection. I look for low carb items, and particularly avoid those where most of the carbs are not dietary carbs (dietary carbs are OK). Meats, natural fats, cheeses, Ranch dressing, eggs are all prominent in my diet. Not much exercise was added, if any. If it's a "low fat" item, I avoid that to avoid the crap they add to make it tastier. Herself kept wanting to buy Lite Butter - until she read the ingredients! Gag.
