Is Schizophrenic Science partially to blame for American Obesity?

There’s no question but that America’s increase in overall obesity is due in large part to two factors: Diet & Exercise.

More specifically, it is Poor Diet & Lack of Exercise which has brought about much – if not all – of our increased waistlines, and the accompanying health problems associated with obesity – diabetes, joint failure, etc.

To be certain, however, our nation is perhaps THE best fed – er, make that MOST fed – nation in the world, bar none. And, generally speaking, even when discounting obesity, we are a large people in stature precisely because of our excellent nutritional status. Other, lesser developed nations do not fare as well, literally and figuratively, because of that reason. People in Southeast Asian nations, the Far East, nations in the African continent, in central Europe and in South America… there are few people in the world whom are as giant – and I do NOT mean obese – as Americans.

Even before obesity became a public health issue, Americans were considered people of large stature because of our ability to produce food. There was no scarcity of it.

Now, however, the changing tide of work – with a move toward a computer-driven and service economy – Americans have increasingly become sedentary. Desk jobs, or jobs which require little physical activity, are commonplace, and along with those changes have come health problems as a natural consequence of extra weight.

Again, considering the technological changes which have occurred in our nation, the jobs some of our forebears once worked are nothing like the ones we work today. Whereas once, they labored manually, the mechanization of labor reduced their need to exert themselves as strenuously. And today, one farmer can sit in an air-conditioned tractor outfitted with GPS navigation, cellular telephone, and more, and work several hundreds – if not thousands – of acres, and not even break a sweat. Previously, that was unimaginable. Now, it’s commonplace.

Given that our lifestyles have been significantly changed because of mechanization & technology, it should also be understood that our increased ability to produce food will also have an effect upon our bodies. Bear in mind also, that Grandpa and Grandma also ate full fat, whole foods. The most processed of foods that they ever ate was probably white sugar and flour. Now, we have access to Velveeta, Easy Cheese (cheese in an pressurized can), Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, white loaf bread, boneless skinless chicken breasts, lo-cal this, no-fat that, and 100 calorie mini-cookies.

All the while, our waistlines have increased… despite the best efforts of puzzled researchers and scientists.

And yet, the pseudoscience – which I call schizophrenic science – of food research has yielded little, if anything of any significant value.

First, eggs were evil, because they had cholesterol.

Then, coffee was culprit.

Beverage alcohol of all kinds was verboten!

Next, chocolate was condemned.

Red meat was resoundingly ruled out.

Pork – especially bacon – was prohibited.

Butter and cheese were barred.

“Eat more fruit, whole grains, vegetables and legumes,” was the encouragement.

“Drink more water!,” also came along for the ride.

Then, an amazing discovery was made. There were TWO kinds of cholesterol. And, eggs suddenly became good again.

One condemned, coffee suddenly became christened as a stroke preventative. And recent studies suggest that “The results of this meta-analysis, which included prospective studies of samples of the general population, indicate that coffee consumption is not associated with a higher risk of stroke and that actually habitual moderate consumption may exert a protective effect independently from most identifiable confounders.”

Next, citing resveratrol, wine was okay – but only red wine. Then, it was discovered that researcher Dr. Dipak K. Das, director of the cardiovascular research center and top researcher at the University of Connecticut (UConn) – published falsified data. Officials found 145 cases of fabricated or false data and notified 11 journals – including the Journal of Cellular & Molecular Medicine and Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry of his fraud.

Later, it was learned that it was simply the ethanol in booze that was the source of benefit – nothing else.

Chocolate – formerly censured for aggravating acne – was again banned for bad behavior, but once bromines and theobromines in chocolate were found to have beneficial effect, it was reblessed. And most recently, chocolate consumption was associated with lower BMI (Body Mass Index), ostensibly because of epicatechin, which research has shown appears to boost the energy-producing elements of the body’s cells. So, chocolate was, and is still okay.

Along came the late Dr. Robert Atkins, whose published book “Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution” popularized the “Atkins Diet,” a dietary regimen resoundingly condemned by the American Heart Association, because it included high-fat foods, and eschewed carbohydrates & sugars of all kinds, whether processed, refined, natural or raw in fruit. People by the tens of thousands or more, lost weight when they followed his dietary recommendations.

At the height of his popularity, the elderly doctor Atkins had the misfortune of slipping on ice, falling and dying from blunt head trauma received in that fall. Almost immediately afterward, his nutritional “enemies” unlawfully leaked the results of his autopsy, and pointed to it as proof positive that his dietary regimen was flawed, and somehow contributed to his death.

However, they were wrong.

It was later quickly learned that the Medical Examiner’s Office unlawfully divulged results of his autopsy to Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington D.C. group that – like PETA – advocates vegetarianism, and opposes all animal-based food, products or research.

So, red meat and pork were back on the menu. Cheese came along for the ride, but was accompanied only reluctantly by butter. Still, some folks say, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” and ask for margarine – in all its myriad artificially colored, flavored & hydrogenated forms – instead.

It was only normal that variations upon a theme – the high protein theme, that is – would emerge. They include the South Beach Diet, the Paleo Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, etc.

And now, researchers are understanding that protein does have beneficial effects upon weight loss. Why that is, they do not know.

“Participants in a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported greater satisfaction, less hunger, and weight loss when fat was reduced to 20% of the total calories in their diets, protein was increased to 30%, and carbs accounted for 50%. The study participants ate some 441 fewer calories a day when they followed this high-protein diet and regulated their own calorie intake.

“Another study, reported in the Journal of Nutrition, showed that a high-protein diet combined with exercise enhanced weight and fat loss and improved blood fat levels. Researchers suggest that higher-protein diets help people better control their appetites and calorie intake.

“Diets higher in protein and moderate in carbs, along with a lifestyle of regular exercise are often purported by experts to reduce blood fats and maintain lean tissue while burning fat for fuel without dieters being sidetracked with constant hunger.

“Researchers don’t understand exactly how protein works to turn down appetite. They surmise that it may be because a high-protein diet causes the brain to receive lower levels of appetite-stimulating hormones. It may be due to eating fewer carbs and/or the specific protein effect on hunger hormones and brain chemistry.” -ref: http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/high-protein-diet-weight-loss

Physicians and other healthcare experts & professionals know also that protein is needed for the body to build, maintain, and properly and adequately repair itself. That is an undisputed fact. Which is also the primary reason that protein is significantly supplemented in hospital settings, particularly for patients in trauma services, ICUs, or in wound care settings.

Yet the American Heart Association, the National Cholesterol Education Program, and the American Cancer Society all continue to promote significantly reduced dietary protein intake, and even eschew protein as an unfriendly, even dangerous part of a natural, healthy or normal diet.

Typically, carbohydrates comprise the bulk source for the body’s energy, and are used first. So when dietary intake of carbohydrates are are restricted, the body then turns to, and consumes fat as an energy source, which condition is called “ketosis.” And when the body uses fat as an energy source – which the body naturally produces precisely for that purpose – the by-product produced is called ketones, which are further utilized by the body (especially the brain & heart) as energy & food. The end result from utilizing body fat as energy is… weight loss!

There demonstrable evidence that conclusively proves that high protein diets have significant weight loss benefits. In other words, it works!

Regarding the “First it’s Bad! Now, it’s Good! Don’t Eat That! Now You Should Eat It!” science is concerned, it’s essentially schizophrenic “science” at its best.

So naturally, it’s understandable why so many are in a quandary… because they don’t know who or what to believe anymore.

And yet, there is some legitimacy to some of the dietary messages with which we’re bombarded. It’s just difficult to discern which messages are legitimate, and why.

Suffice it to say, however, that even if all considerations and warnings about any alleged goodness or badness of any food were completely ignored, there is hope.

Even the ever-changing Dietary Guidelines of the USDA has this solitary sage, and unchanging piece of advice concerning diet and obesity:

“People who are most successful at achieving and maintaining a healthy weight do so through continued attention to consuming only enough calories from foods and beverages to meet their needs and by being physically active. To curb the obesity epidemic and improve their health, many Americans must decrease the calories they consume and increase the calories they expend through physical activity.”

In short, there is only ONE time-tested and proven way to lose weight.

It involves a two-step process.

They are (in no particular order of importance): 1.) Eat less, and; 2.) Exercise more.

—

Additional reading: “Ever feel like cattle in a feedlot? High Fructose Corn Syrup works wonders!“

—

Bring back butter… and cheese, red meat and whole milk! How our low-fat obsession may harm our health, says nutritionist

By Zoe Harcombe

PUBLISHED: 16:21 EST, 12 May 2012 | UPDATED: 16:21 EST, 12 May 2012

Spread the word: Butter is a  nutritional goldmine says our expert

I love butter. Smothered on vegetables or, best of all, melted over a juicy sirloin steak.

And I eat masses of red meat – lamb chops or my favourite, pork belly.

Sometimes we’ll put a piece in the oven at lunchtime, and slow cook it to make the crackling really crunchy by evening.

 My only two rules are that the meat has to be good quality and that all the fat is left on.

As a food expert, I spend my working life imploring the public to eat a nutritious diet – so I know these may sound like odd admissions.

What I am suggesting flies in the face of everything you have heard about healthy eating.

But I firmly believe that we all need to eat more fat – including the much-demonised saturated fat. I’m not talking about junk foods but fresh meats and dairy.

There should be a shift back to butter, full-fat milk and red meat – all often labelled high sat-fat foods – as they are nutritional gold mines.

Fat helps you absorb vitamins

All food containing fat contains all three types of it: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. You cannot separate them. So a food naturally high in saturated fat will also contain the other two.

In simple terms, fats are chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms attached. We eat fat, it is digested and enters the bloodstream where it transports the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K round the body.

This is partly why I find the idea of removing fat from natural food ludicrous. Take full-fat milk – this contains all four fat-soluble vitamins. If you take out the fat, you remove the delivery system.

I believe our misguided choice of man-made, low-fat versions of natural products – cheese, yoghurts, spreads rather than butter, and the like – is one of the reasons we are low in Vitamin A.

Delicious: The two key rules about meat is that it has to be good quality and that all the fat is left on

According to the most recent Family Food Survey from 2010, the average person’s daily intake of a type of Vitamin A, retinol – vital for the health of the skin, hair, eyes and the immune system, is little over half of what is recommended.

The same survey also shows that we are consuming just two-thirds of our Vitamin E requirement – essential for immune health. Many of these fatty foods also contain vital calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron.

Fat also supplies energy – eating a nice piece of bacon, fat and all, will keep you feeling fuller for longer than the supposedly slow-burning carbs in porridge.

Fat also has a key role in creating the outer layer of all our cells. So put butter on your vegetables – spinach, carrots and kale may contain Vitamin A in the form of betacarotene, but without fat to help it digest, it won’t necessarily be properly absorbed.

The mystery of diet regulations

The Department of Health bases its daily dietary recommendations – for men and women that’s no more than 30g and 20g of saturated fat respectively and about 95g and 70g of total fat – on a report by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA).

This 1984 booklet’s sub-section on fat intake claimed that comparisons between countries had shown those with lower national fat intakes had lower rates of death from heart disease.

This was based on the findings of the Seven Countries Study, published in 1970. It has been criticised for looking only at nations that proved the theory – including the USA, Finland, Japan and former Yugoslavia.

France, Austria and Switzerland were left out, and many argued that was because their fat intakes were high but heart disease deaths were lower than America.

The COMA report admits: ‘There has been no controlled clinical trial of the effect of decreasing dietary intake of  saturated fatty acids on the incidence of coronary heart disease.’

Nor is there likely to ever be – it is extremely difficult to measure the effect on the body of fat eaten in isolation, without any other environmental factors or previous health history. It seems bizarre that we are following rules based on such shaky evidence.

Eating fat won’t make you fat

In my opinion, there shouldn’t be any limit for fat consumption. But won’t we get fat? Not at all. There is little evidence that eating fat makes you put on weight.

A 1956 study gave patients alternating diets of high fat and high carbohydrate. On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet based on  carbohydrates, they all gained weight and on a 2,600-calories-a-day diet based on fat, they all lost weight.

The body absorbs the fat it needs and excretes the excess. I’m not saying don’t eat carbs – glucose is needed to supply the brain with energy.

Junk: Good quality fat is a nutritional goldmine – but junk food lacks vital vitamins and minerals. – Image by © Ocean/Corbis

But we don’t need to eat bread, which causes blood sugar levels to rise and leads to weight gain unless a person is very active soon after.

And low-fat food can contain a ridiculous amounts of added sugars. A 2006 Which report looked at 275 different types of cereals from a range of retailers and manufacturers.

More than three-quarters of the cereals had high levels of sugar, which will make you put on weight.

Back in the Seventies, we consumed more than 50g of saturated fat a day. Now we  eat about half that, consuming half the eggs, and one-fifth of the butter and whole milk.

Yet as our fat consumption dropped, a strange thing happened and it defies our dietary assumptions.

By 1999 obesity levels had risen from 2.7 per cent in both sexes to 22.6 per cent in men and 25.8 per cent in women. We are the biggest we have ever been, and yet we have never consumed less fat.

Choose real foods not junk

What nobody should do is rush out and stock up on ice cream and cake. Pure cream is about 35 per cent fat while Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream contains 15g of fat per 100g.

But the sugar content of the former is almost zero, while the latter has a whopping 25g of sugar per 100g.

Any fat left in the ice cream is probably the most nutritious part. It is the carbohydrates and sugar in junk foods that are to blame for massive weight gain.

Red meat has been linked to colon cancer. But these studies didn’t eliminate people with unhealthy lifestyles or high junk-food intake, so no real direct causal link between meat and cancer has been proven.

As a nutrition expert, people come to me complaining of bloating, digestive problems, lack of energy and weight problems.

I tell them to stop eating processed foods and stop basing their diet on starches – bread, potatoes and rice are poor sources of vitamins – and to eat only what I call real foods: meat, fish, dairy and vegetables.

More often than not, they lose weight and feel better.  My message is clear: it’s time to return to the old ways and stop treating fat like our worst enemy.

—

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2143477/Bring-butter–cheese-red-meat-milk-How-low-fat-obsession-harm-health-says-nutritionist.html