Your body casually switches from one metabolic state to another between meals, during intentional or accidental starvation, and under extreme workload or stress. This metabolic duality is very much like a hybrid engine — the moment it runs out of electricity (foods in humans), it switches over to gasoline (fat in humans), and keeps running, running, and running. In this respect, our unique physiological ability to function without food for a long while is the foundation of life itself. Alas, it also makes us fat.
These two hybrid-like states are called, respectively, anabolic and catabolic metabolism. From a weight loss perspective, anabolic metabolism drives the obesity epidemic while the catabolic enables weight loss. If that’s what you are after, you really want to befriend catabolic metabolism.
If having these two types isn’t enough already, there are also the two aspects of metabolism – one for energy regulation, another for energy utilization. When, for example, you are gaining weight because of endocrine disorders, the problem is with energy regulation. When you are perfectly healthy, but gain weight anyway, the problem is with energy utilization – a euphemism for eating too much. But in many cases, probably most, the regulation and utilization dysfunctions of metabolism run in parallel. When they combine, weight gain goes faster and weight loss slower.
The thyroid gland influences energy metabolism through the regulation of thermogenesis. A consistently lower body temperature may contribute to weight gain because the body uses less energy to keep itself warm, while a consistently high temperature may cause weight loss because the body requires more energy than the diet provides, and will catabolize protein and fat tissue to compensate for the deficit. Also, certain thyroid disorders may cause cutaneous and dermal edema (i.e. myxedema) and ensuing weight gain related to the accumulation of fluids, not fat.
Similarly, adrenal disorders contribute to weight gain because they reduce the rate of energy use for physical and mental activities. In this case, the unspent energy is converted to body fat. The adrenals don’t control energy and structural metabolism directly as does the thyroid gland.
It is worth noting that anabolic metabolism starts from the digestion and assimilation of nutrients. By “nutrients” I mean not only water, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and alcohol (yes, it is an energy-dense nutrient), but also micronutrients – the term reserved for vitamins, minerals, and microelements that are the essential catalysts of endless metabolic reactions and regulation functions. Digestive disorders like enteritis or celiac disease result in an inability to assimilate nutrients, and will cause weight loss. Other digestive disorders, such as heartburn, gastritis, or gallstones, skew the diet toward excessive carbohydrates, and may contribute to weight gain.
Metabolism goes haywire when the thyroid gland overproduces hormones (hyperthyroidism) or the pancreas fails to produce insulin (type 1 diabetes). In both cases, the victims’ bodies literally “burn” their stores of fats and proteins to compensate for the breakdown of glucose metabolism. Both of these problems are related to the regulation of energy metabolism, and, just like with digestive disorders, they cause weight loss, not gain.
The metabolic waters are muddied even more by the state of the respiratory function. The delivery of oxygen to the tissues is an essential part of energy metabolism. When the body isn’t getting enough oxygen because of anemia, or reduced lung capacity, or heart disease, or what have you, the exact same diet may suddenly start causing weight gain because of the reduced utilization of consumed calories.
Finally, you need to distinguish between energy and structural “metabolisms.” Your body undergoes a constant process of cell division — the old cells die off, the new take their place. This process requires a boatload of raw materials – fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins from the foods you consume (exogenous) or from what’s already stored in the body (endogenous). Thanks to a well-run structural metabolism, you can keep losing endogenous (body’s own) fat while still consuming a relatively satisfying reduced calorie diet.
But it all comes together once you understand the differences between anabolic and catabolic “metabolisms.” As you well know, people don’t suddenly drop dead when they go on a hunger strike, or get lost in the wilderness without food, or fast for medical or religious reasons. Our innate ability to survive without any food for a long stretch of time has been made possible courtesy of catabolic metabolism, while anabolic metabolism is what makes catabolic possible in the first place.
Sound like Greek to you? Well, here is how it all plays out together.
Weight loss, meet your maker!
Merriam-Webster dictionary describes metabolism as “the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated.” This definition applies to all living cells, not just humans’.
The term metabolism itself is derived, according to the International Scientific Vocabulary, from the Greek metaballein, which, in turn, is composed of metabole (change) + ballein (to throw). In terms of a living body’s metabolism, the change means converting substances into energy, and the throw means using it.
The conversion of carbohydrates into glucose is a change; the use of glucose for energy, a throw. The conversion of glucose into body fat is a change, the use of fat for energy — a throw… That is, essentially, what the term metabolism means. To lose weight, you need to master the art of throw.
Appropriately, when we lack energy, we blame metabolism, and when a child is hyperactive, we blame it too. So it is a double-edged sword — it gives, it takes, it makes us fat, it makes us slim, it makes us lethargic, it makes us hyperactive, and on, and on, and on…
Anabolic metabolism happens to be the change part. The catabolic happens to be the throw… When your liver converts nutrients into body fat — this is anabolic metabolism in action. When your body switches over convert its own fats, proteins, and carbohydrates (glycogen) for energy — this is catabolic metabolism. In the properly managed weight loss diet, spent up fat is thrown out from under your skin. The key accent here is on “properly managed” because you only want to “throw out” fat, not muscles.
In simplified form and from a dieter’s point of view, the conversion of food into energy is anabolic metabolism. The conversion of energy stored in the body between meals as carbohydrates, fats and proteins — catabolic metabolism. Translated to our concerns, anabolic metabolism makes people fat, catabolic — slim. That is exactly what we want — to get slim, not fat, to throw, not to change (from slim to fat), catabolic — not anabolic. Anabolic — fattening; catabolic — slimming.
Sustained weight loss is catabolic metabolism in disguise. To master that art of permanent weight loss, you first need to master the art of catabolic metabolism. The body enters the catabolic state only after all sources of energy from food are completely used up. The more you ate, the longer it takes to assimilate and expend energy from consumed food. Not a big secret, really…
Better than the Prius
People who have either mastered or do not interfere with their hybrid metabolism are very much like the light, agile and thrifty Prius — they travel a lot further on a lot less fuel. A good example — the diminutive, slim Kenyans and Ethiopians, the descendants of the Masai tribe, who are — women and men alike — the consistent winners of all the world’s top marathons. In their native habitat, Masai tribesmen consume nothing but meat, dairy, and blood of ruminant (i.e. grass-eating) animals in their herds because they are peripatetic nomads and their main trade is cattle ranching, not land cultivation. They breathe thin mountain air, don’t grow crops, and do not consume much, if any, carbohydrates — the arid regions of Eastern Africa aren’t hospitable to agriculture, but provide plenty of grazing plains for their livestock.
Since these extraordinary Africans came along to compete in the marathons, the Americans, Asians, and Europeans can rarely make it into the top ten, forget about winning. For the same reason the men’s soccer never made it big in the United States — it is darn hard to find eleven guys who can run a hundred yards back and forth for almost two hours non-stop, often under the blazing sun… No, not with our carbohydrate-dominated diet…
The principle “technologies” that make these African runners win marathons (or Germans, Spaniards, Brazilians, and Argentines, also predominantly carnivore cultures, dominate professional soccer) are similar to the hybrid engine: top runners and soccer players rely on on-demand energy from proteins and fats stored in their bodies courtesy of catabolic metabolism, and they stay away from carbohydrates — quick and uncontrollable anabolic fuel. Lo and behold, their respective cultures and culinary traditions predominantly follow a carnivorous diet.
Plant-based carbohydrates are the most plentiful and rapidly available source of energy. For that reason, the term glucose metabolism is often used instead of anabolic metabolism. Though it is technically incorrect, in the context of weight loss it recognizes glucose as a primary energy source behind anabolic metabolism.
Likewise, because fat is the most abundant source of energy inside the body, the term fat metabolism is often used instead of catabolic metabolism. This is also not entirely correct because the body will not metabolize its own fat for as long as the fat derived from foods is present in the blood in the form of triglycerides. Not only that, but this excess fat will also be dispatched for storage right under your skin – the principal mechanism of gaining weight.
The same rule applies to dietary protein – the body will not metabolize its own lean tissue for energy as long as amino acids derived from foods are still present in the blood. That is why the intake of dietary fat and protein during weight loss diets must be managed just as carefully as the intake of carbohydrates, but with a twist: you watch out for fat to prevent further weight gain and to facilitate weight loss, while you watch out for protein to prevent muscle and bone tissue wasting.
And this brings us to ketosis – a part of energy metabolism that is on everybody’s mind, thanks to the famous Atkins Diet.
Ultimate fuel or ultimate villain? It depends…
The natural catabolic process of breaking down dietary and adipose fats into usable energy produces ketones. This process starts when your body runs out of all exogenous (dietary carbohydrates) and endogenous (glycogen in liver and muscles) sources of glucose – a primary source of energy for the blood, brain, and central nervous system. When a medical professional tells you that ketones are dangerous, he or she confuses this process with alcoholic or diabetic ketoacidosis – two potentially lethal conditions.
The term ketosis was coined by late Dr. Atkins. I say “coined” because the correct term for what he had in mind is lipolysis, or the process of hydrolysis of triglycerides [fats in the bloodstream] into free fatty acids. The ensuing process produces ketones bodies – water-soluble compounds that are used for energy when glucose is in short supply. Ketosis itself isn’t a process, but simply the presence of detectable ketones in the blood stream.
I realize it all may sound confusing or complicated, so feel free to use the term ketosis whenever describing the physiological wasting of body fat, but I prefer not to use this term because some medical doctors who equate ketosis with deadly diabetic or alcoholic ketoacidosis may “bludgeon” me to death the way they did Dr. Atkins and his eponymous diet.
When doctors are legitimately afraid about your safety, even when this concern may be unfounded, diets fail. To prevent this failure we want your doctor’s unconditional support, hence I’ll stick with the term lipolysis because it is considered safe and acceptable, an innate part of catabolic metabolism, and the primary mechanism of sustained weight loss.
Please note that the body can remain in catabolic state even when a moderate amount of carbohydrates is consumed because it will still require fats for structural metabolism. If fats are limited in the diet, then the body will utilize fats from adipose tissue. That’s how weight loss is possible without apparent ketosis.
Even though anabolic and catabolic “metabolisms” are part and parcel of life itself, the predominant groupthink about catabolic metabolism is mostly negative. This state of affairs has nothing to do with reality, and everything with vanity. Here is why:
How did catabolic metabolism get the bad rap?
If you are an athlete, and you want to build muscle — a form of stored protein — you need to consume a lot of protein-containing foods. Because muscles can’t be too big or too strong for an athlete, many use anabolic steroids to speed up muscle growth by stimulating, among other things, appetite and improving digestion — the drive behind the anabolic metabolism, or changing of food protein into muscles. (Anabolic steroids are synthetic male hormones, the derivatives of testosterone.)
The athletes’ pumped-up bodies demand a lot of energy to just move around, and lots more during the workouts and competitions. Once the energy from recently ingested food is exhausted, the body switches into catabolism to provide required energy.
The athletes’ bodies catabolize proteins stored in their muscles to provide glucose required by the body for a proper functioning of the blood, the central nervous system (CNS), and the brain. In the athletes’ parlance, this process is called appropriately muscle wasting.
Athletes keep away from too many carbohydrates, because they cause fat gain, and body fat obscures their muscles during competitive events. They do need some carbohydrates though, to spare muscle from wasting. For them, it is an endless balancing game.
To obtain enough protein to accommodate their objectives, the athletes devour steaks, fish, shrimp, lobster, and an array of processed (man-made) protein supplements from animal (mostly whey) and plant (mostly soy) origins. Health-wise, they pay a rather high price for their skewed diet. According to the experts in the field, the rate of digestive disorders in endurance athletes (not necessarily body builders) approaches 80%. Yes, eighty per cent[1]. That’s among mostly young and supposedly healthy men and women.
For athletes, catabolic muscle wasting is anathema, a curse, because it “eats” into their hard-earned muscles, and makes them less competitive… So they eat more protein to get muscle back. The information on the Internet about the virtues of anabolism, and the hell of catabolism isn’t intended for you, but for bodybuilders who aren’t overweight to begin with, and who have a very different set of goals from yours — they want to gain weight (through muscle mass), not to lose it.
THE TAKEAWAY:
You can manage your metabolism because you and only you have the power to choose the substances that your body changes into energy, and you determine how often and how much to “feed the furnace”. In other words, weight loss is nothing more than the conscious, intentional management of your metabolic “furnace” through your diet.
Embrace and employ catabolic metabolism in all its forms to attain safe and permanent weight loss. The following points outline the key concepts of catabolic metabolism:
— Effective and permanent weight loss is attained with a help of a catabolic state – an innate function of energy and structural metabolism.
— For as long as dietary nutrients are present in the alimentary canal and the bloodstream, the body will remain in an anabolic state.
— Excess proteins and fats in the diet terminate the catabolic state even with zero carbohydrates in the diet, and may lead to weight-gain just like when consuming excessive carbohydrates;
— Keeping the body in a catabolic state for extended stretches of time is the most efficient way to attain safe and natural weight loss;
– You can lose weight without apparent ketosis by allowing your body to catabolize its own fat for the needs of structural metabolism. To attain this state, you must limit fat consumption to “essential” levels.
— The concept of a “plentiful” or “ luxurious” weight loss diet doesn’t have any bearing on actual human physiology, biochemistry, and the first law of thermodynamics which postulates that energy is invariably conserved. In terms of the human body, the excess energy is conserved as body fat.
— The fear of the catabolic state coming from people engaged in athletics isn’t based on health-related concerns, but vanity (I will not look good) and necessity (I need strong muscles to compete.) These factors do not apply to people pursuing fat loss.
— The loss of muscle tissue during catabolic metabolism can be mitigated by the adequate consumption of dietary proteins. Excess proteins aren’t helpful for weight loss because they terminate the catabolism of body fat.
— The body cannot obtain essential fatty acids through catabolic metabolism, hence they must be consumed throughout the weight reduction diet.
— In addition to essential fatty acids, the proper weight loss diet must always include an adequate amount of dietary fats to enchance satiety; to assure the release of bile from the gallbladder in order to prevent the formation of gallstones; to neutralize the astringency of bile; to assimilate fat-soluble vitamins and related minerals; and for the maintenance of intestinal mucosal membrane.
— Avoid using the terms ketosis, ketogenic diet, or catabolic diet when communicating with medical professionals about your intentions to lose weight. Instead, use the “politically correct” terms lipolysis and reduced calorie diet to spare well-meaning doctors from nervous breakdowns.
— If you plan to have a scheduled medical checkup, increase the amount of easily digestible carbohydrates in advance of your appointment to rid your body of ketones. Medical doctors are on the lookout for ketones in the blood in order to screen out type 1 diabetes.
In the next three posts I plan to address the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, their impact on weight, and their respective roles in diet success and failure.
Previous posts from the “Why Diets Fail?” series:
1. The Real Reason Diets Fail and What You Can Do About It
2. How Long Will It Take Me to Lose the Weight?
3. Why One Calorie For Her Is Half a Calorie For Him
4. The Top Four Misconceptions Behind Weight Loss Failure
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Photography credits:
Cover illustration: © 2013 iStockPhoto LLP;
Why do cucumbers tast bitter? What can I do to avoid this problem?
You have a small error in wording that conflicts with the standard medical usage of the term essential. You wrote: “you need to eat a lot of proteins, because the body cannot synthesize essential amino acids unless you supply it with plenty of protein-containing foods”. Keeping with the standard usage, essential fatty acids and essential amino acids are those which the human body cannot synthesize and thus must be consumed.
I also feel that both you and Sarah are not clarifying (in this post) the increased energy expenditure that a high fat diet provides. Both of you say your diet is 50-60% of calories from fat. Those percentages are in the sweet spot for both weight maintenance and weight loss. Michael’s 75% fat can produce the abdominal adipose “fat” loss that exposes the abs, but it may also cause stress that unbalances the endocrine system. The following study is often cited: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564212/
I too am a fan of Weston Price, Mary Enig and Sally Fallon. I found that Dr. Diana Schwarzbein helped me a great deal with her explanations of diet and the endocrine system. I have found that using plenty of the good fats in the preparation of Dr. Schwartzbein’s list of non-starchy vegetables is the key to weight maintenance and health. (along with adequate proteins and her recommended level of carb intake) (I thank the great nutrition writer Jonny Bowden for pointing me to Dr. Schwarzbein)
Robit,
Thank you for your comments. I re-phrased that paragraph, and updated the post.
In regard to the energy expenditure study. They reported 40%-40%-20% (carbs-fat-protein) diet as best at maintain normal energy metabolism, while 10%-60%-30% was providing the highest energy expenditure. In general, I recommend 20%-50%-30% ratio, which is much closer to optimal, but not as extreme.
Thank you very much for the reply. I like the 20%-50%-30% ratio too, with the added goal of getting the carbs from low-glycemic-load foods. For many years I knew that I had a glucose level that was always low with a graph that was basically flat. By trial and error I learned that I had to keep my carbs low, but sometimes that even did not prevent the funk. Finally last year I got an older book by Dr. Paavo Airola and learned that too much protein also causes insulin release. It was only last fall that I finally learned that it is not only ok but good to get half or more of your calories from fat. I think I have hammered myself for years with the over excretion of cortisol that was done to counter the low blood glucose levels caused by the over excretion of insulin. I feel I am healing on the higher fat diet, but I believe it will take some time. My poor liver was doing heavy grunt-work for a long-long time.
Robit,
You are very welcome. I am a former late stage diabetic. I had to stay on high-fat, near zero-carbs, moderate protein diet for several years to normalize hyperinsulinemia, essentially the same situation as yours, so I understand the process well, and it goes way beyond hyperinsulinemia. I’ll address this topic in depth in future posts because it is fundamental to sustained weight loss.
I enjoyed the article and think it has some great information, however, much of the information you provide about athletes in the beginning is incorrect. I understand that you are trying to use these examples to prove your point, but you need to do further research into the diets of successful African distance runners. Their diet is predominantly carbohydrate (sometimes reportedly 80%). While you defintely described the Masai’s diet accurately, they tend to be a tall and mucch more muscular people than the Kenyan and Ethiopian distance running tribes…. who do practice agriculture.
Also, to say that the lack of popularity of American soccer is due to not being able to field a team of physically capable players is just silly. American athletes are among the best in the world and consistently win olympic medals … soccer is not as popular here because it has to compete with other high profile, highly funded professional sports leagues.
Like I said, I liked this article, but it is hard to get past some of these inaccuracies. It would be much stronger if you just omit those parts.
Dana,
Thank you for your comments.
True, the guys and gals who get to win marathons tend to be taller, but not all Masai. Unfortunately, you are confusing wealthy urban Kenyans and Ethiopians who are really huge and incredibly well built with Masai nomads. Besides, Kenya and Ethiopia are very large counties. Of course they do have agriculture. I was specifically referring to nomads, not to entire regions.
By definition nomads can’t be large because it affects their ability to breath thin mountain air and move around along with their herds. Also, nomads can’t have 80% carbohydrate diet because it requires storage, refrigeration, kitchen, and cooking (i.e. a homestead).
Soccer players are universally smaller and lighter than baseball, basketball, or American football players. These kind of athletes are simply not “cultivated” in the USA. We don’t value small men or promote them into athletics. That is, incidentally, why women’s soccer is so much more popular in the USA than men’s.
Yes, we win a large number of medals because we are a wealthy nation and because we have 312 million people to chose good athletes from. Chinese (who are smaller and not as wealthy), are beginning to win as many medals or more. Please look at this from a relative point of view, not absolute.
I love the analogy of our body as a hybrid car switching automatically between fuel sources.
In a hypothetical, perfectly functional, slightly overweight body. When will most fat burning occur?
Assume no breakfast and well-balanced healthy meals at noon and 6pm.
How does snacking effect that? How about breakfast? Exercise timing?
Thanks
Tim,
Your questions regarding “perfect timing” do apply to ketogenic diet, but not so much to the kind of diet that I recommend.
In general, if a diet you are on isn’t ketogenic (along the lines that I recommend), most “burning” takes place at night, while you are asleep.
For the record, I have nothing against ketogenic diet, except it may be difficult to maintain for people who aren’t particularly large, a pronounced smell of acetone on one’s breath is a serious handicap for people who work outside of home, and there is always a risk of muscle wasting which is particularly acute for women who have significantly less muscle tissue than men.
Interestingly, in The Art & Science of Low Carb Eating, Volek mentions that when you are in ketosis blood levels of ketone will be low because you are burning the ketones quickly, so they don’t accumulate in the blood, so you should smell of ketones. There’s person on the Low Carb High Fat Yahoo group who is controlling her schizophenia by staying in ketosis.
Kris, this depends on each particular person. Some people smell, some don’t. I’ll explain this in further posts.
Interesting discussion. I would make a few points. I interpret the aim of the RRARF diet is to boost your intake of all the vitamins and minerals, so your metabolism is functioning at its best. Trying to lose weight if you are deficient in some nutrients doesn’t work so well. The deficiency may be contributing to insulin resistance & elevated insulin levels which turns off fat burning. Also realize that your body’s response to restricting calories is to slow down your metabolism, which is why starvation type diets don’t really work very well. You need enough good fats to keep you satisfied for several hours after you eat. In the process you are likely to eat less, though some folks claim they actually eat more calories that way, but still lose weight because their body is burning energy fast.
The other thing to remember is that people vary greatly in how they respond to various mixes of carbs, fats, & proteins, vitamins & minerals, etc. What works for one person may not work at all for another person. You have to figure out what works for you, as several have indicated. You may need some targeted supplements to get your metabolism perking along nicely. Some people may do well on a lower fat higher fiber diet. In Perfect Health Diet they make the point that gut microbes convert fiber into fat, so they put fiber together with fat providing fat energy.
For the record, I would like to make a quick comment regarding RRARF diet (Rehabilitative Rest & Aggressive Re-Feeding). Its author, Matt Stone, also refers to it as “HED”, or High Everything Diet. Here is a brief excerpt:
“2) Start each day by eating as much food as you can possibly eat within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning. […]
3) As soon as you feel inclined to eat again — eat again! See how easy this is! Eat until you do not desire another bite, potentially eating slightly more than you desire. Make sure each feeding you eat to fullness. No snacking. No light meals. If you eat 3 meals per day, fine. If you eat 7 meals per day, fine. Eat until you are deeply satisfied each time though. That is key. You do not have to force lots of unwanted food down your throat. That will ruin the whole experience. Eat as much as you can enjoy.”
Full text: , page 39
In other words, RARRF diet is not a weight loss diet, but a rehabilitation diet. This approach has been widely used in the former Soviet Union in government-run “sanatoriums” — a hotel-style medical clinics situated in resort area. They were providing a month-long R&R for stressed-out mid- and upper-level party officials, army officers, and managers of various enterprises.
These sanatoriums were exceptionally regimented, with three daily meals in the 3,000-4,000 calorie range, mandatory walks, morning exercises, massages, sunbathing, swims (pool or sea), day time sleeps, light entertainment in the evenings, and some physiotherapy for people with various ambulatory disorders (bad back, sinusitis, etc.).
The thing is, back in 1950s-1980s, the rate of obesity in the Soviet Union was under 10% in women, and under 5% in men, so this kind of rest and regimen wasn’t an issue for the majority of patrons in these establishments. And they were quite effective and restorative for reasons well elucidated in the document above, especially for people from Northern regions of Russia.
I don’t have any doubts that RRARF diet may be effective for its intended purpose — rest and rehabilitation, — particularly for younger and healthier individuals with means to afford a month-long rest away from children, work, television, smartphone, Facebook, and a spouse.
According to some of its advocates, RRARF diet may be effective for weight loss. Perhaps it is. If not, come back to read my book.
Right! I am picking up what you’re putting down now. I hope I didn’t come across as rude, I really am enjoying all these posts and look forward to the rest of the series.
Woops that was meant to be a reply to a lower post…
In nearly every low carb book, I’ve read about how your need to transform your body from being a sugar burner into being a fat burner. My understanding of everything I’ve read in regards to that concept is that your body can be “trained” over a period of time to have a fuel preference based on what types of food you typically consume. Apparently, most American diets, being high in carbs, have made our bodies sugar burners, and the goal is to transform our bodies into fat burners. To achieve this, you should lower carbs and increase fat intake, otherwise you will remain a sugar burner and will need to constantly refuel your body with carbs to prevent muscle wasting (along with side effects related to blood sugar spikes and drops).
From reading your articles, I am understanding that you can be burning fat yet not be in a catabolic state (burning fat that you’ve eaten), and you can also be in a catabolic state without burning fat (“throwing” your muscles instead of your body fat). Hopefully, my understanding is correct. If so, my question to you is this:
Is there any truth to the concept of “training” your body to be a fat burner instead of a sugar burner thereby making your body consistently prefer to use body fat as an energy source when in a catabolic state?
Trudy,
The body does what it needs to do based on your diet composition. It adapts fairly quickly to any change. The need to “retrain” has to do with unconditional reflexes along the Pavlovian dog’s experiments, not with the ability to quickly switch from one metabolic state to another. I’ll address all of these issues while describing transitional diet.
All that said, if the body doesn’t get enough “sugars,” it starts “burning” fats the moment it experiences the need for them. That is what “catabolic metabolism” is all about, no training or re-training required.
Thanks for the reply. Loving your series and can’t wait for the next installment.
I used to do faith based fasting in my early twenties for 2-4 days at the time, but now that I’m in my late 50’s and have type 2 diabetes and adrenal insufficiency, I get nauseous and dizzy if I miss a meal. Is that why you don’t recommend fasting? Even tho I am obese, I don’t fast for weight loss, but for faith based matters.
When I told my brothers that I couldn’t seem to lose any weight since I started having adrenal problems and then diabetes, one of them said I was just making excuses. I’m trying to eat a traditional diet with fat from grass-fed animals and taking high vitamin butter oil and cod liver oil, but have no energy or strength.
Wendell,
What you are experiencing is called “hypoglycemia,” and this condition is quite typical for type 2 diabetes, particularly if you take sugar lowering pills. It (nausea, dizziness, and fainting), has nothing to do with adrenal issues. Obviously, fasting is a no-no in this situation. Just keep sublingual glucose tablets (sold at any drugstore) handy during these episodes. Pop one up under the tongue, and it will stabilize your blood sugar pretty fast. Just don’t use them as candy….
I’m a 5’10”, 48yo guy. I went from a high of 250lbs to 185 following a strict low carb, paleo diet and exercising. However, I stalled about 20 pounds from my desired weight.
Routine labwork showed my Fasting Blood Glucose to be 125, and hbA1C also a bit high. Doc wanted me on pre-diabetes meds and a strict diet. I did not tell him of my LC ways.
I declined meds, but added in about 100g of carbs from starch sources like potatoes and rice. Within a few weeks, my FBG was in the 85-95 range and stays there as long as I eat starch daily. Also, I broke my stall and am now at 165lbs and maintaining effortlessly.
I’m told high FBG is a direct result of LC due to physiological insulin resistance. I have found what works extremely well for me is:
– No breakfast
– No snacks
– Lunch at 11am of 4oz fish (canned sardines or fresh) and 1 large potato with no added fats or dairy.
– Dinner at 6 with another potato or serving of starch and regular paleo fare (meat, cheese, fruit, veggies, nuts.
Eating like this keeps my FBG in the low 90s and post-prandials below 140.
How important do you think maintaining blood sugar in a certain range is, and what do you make of the physiological insulin resistance from LC diets?
Tim,
There are two types of “blood sugars” in the system — endogenous (from gluconeogenesis) and exogenous — from foods. Elevated A1C and FBG that you were experiencing were related to gluconeogenesis (mostly the conversion of proteins to glucose). The reason behind this phenomenon is that insulin can’t recognize well endogenous blood sugars because its response is directed at consumed carbohydrates. Once you added them, the problem self-corrected immediately. This is a fairly common issue, and I believe I was the first on to describe it about 12 years ago in my Russian-language book about type 2 diabetes. It isn’t an easy concept to grasp for doctors because it isn’t taught in medical schools.
I printed the article out and had not heard of the two types of metabolism being “anabolic” and “catabolic”. The word “lipolysis” was also a new term to me. I had to print it out and read it slowly to get anything out of it, and although I think it may shed more information on the metabolism issue that is apparently so important in losing and maintaining healthy weight and a good endocrine functions, and over-all health, all this is essentially a wait and see what this book ultimately says before we can really pass judgment or see if it makes the thumbs up or thumbs down in Wise Traditions. I use those book reviews as my lead to follow or not to follow recommendations in any new books.
I will say that I am at least at the moment very glad I head and found Matt Stone of 180 Degree and have been eating his warming food recommendations in one of e-books “Eat to Heat” and have stopped all the low-carb, and started to eat lots of coconut oil and instead of eating simple carbs as he sometimes recommends I have incorporated complex carbohydrate veggies, and even some ancient high-brix grains.
For the first time in a long, long time, I am finding my body temperature rising steadily and my weight coming down slowly but surely. I plan to stay with that plan for at least a year because as we all know or should know that all of this falls into the dictates of the natural law, and that any book, or article will no doubt work differently depending on how the natural laws work in us individually. I was way too cold, and feel much better with the 3 TBS of Coconut Oil and the warming foods. Sardines and Pinto beans being two that are very high in RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) which has a whole lot to do with body temp., and having read the book by Dr. Benjamin Frank M.D.-Dr. Franks No Aging Diet from the 70’s, in which he was way a head of his time in the issue of metabolism, I am finally have success, but I’ve only been doing it for about a month and know I have a long way to go!
Maria,
I am also an advocate of balanced weight loss diet (i.e. the one that includes carbohydrates) but for somewhat different reasons (i.e. to spare lean tissue from wasting). That said, I don’t believe that carbohydrates alone are responsible for lower thermogenesis, and I already explained why I believe so in another response related to this post.