Most modern diet gurus define three common elements in any successful fat loss program.
First, calories do count … a deficit is necessary for weight loss and you can achieve this by eating less, moving more, or a combination of the two.
Without an energy deficit, your body has no reason to pull on stored energy.
Second, adequate lean protein blunts hunger. A generation ago, bodybuilders were claiming this … and the medical mainstream were dismissing it.
Current research appears to vindicate this theory. And of course, if you can put a rein on your hunger, then you’ll eat less which is more conducive to achieving a calorie deficit.
Finally, the miracle of fish oils and their essential fatty acids. Every cell in our body needs some of the right kind of fat. Omega-3’s “may” modulate appetite … and “appear” to improve fat loss “a little”.
Research scientists love hedging their bets.
The theory is that EFA’s decrease fat storage enzymes, while increasing fat mobilization enzymes. Everyone whose anyone in the world of “fat speak” subscribes to this as gospel.
Aside from these three “sacred cows” it would seem that everything else “depends” … on an infinite number of variables.
No single approach can be appropriate for all people, all of the time. The more active you are, the more carbs you would appear to need.
Okay.
And a successful diet must be satisfying … so recommendations are usually in the 20-25% range for calories from dietary fat.
For taste and fulfillment, of course. As fat is relatively tasteless (at least in my experience) I’m guessing that satiety is probably what they mean.
As a result of misinterpreting this conventional wisdom we have a vast number of people who live in fear of protein deficiency. Even vegans hold the mistaken belief that nuts, for example, are a “protein food” and must be eaten in order to prevent muscle atrophy.
Or … you could exercise. Novel concept, but I digress.
I am constantly asked where I get my protein from if I only eat meat very occasionally. Shouldn’t I be worried?
In short, no!
It is a myth that people can suffer from a lack of protein.
Well before this is even a remote theoretical possibility, they will first show visible signs of malnutrition. In fact, our bodies are clever and recycle protein … something which is not commonly acknowledged, perhaps because its impact is hard to measure.
I accept that the protein in raw plants may not necessarily be as immediately digestible as that from animal products … but in a calorically-adequate diet, that is largely irrelevant.
Further, does anyone consider what happens to animal protein when it is cooked?
The proteins become denatured and this renders their component amino acids largely indigestible. The degree to which this is a factor depends on how long something is cooked and at what temperature.
So does cooked meat, eggs and pateurized dairy facilitate, or hamper, the healing process?
Or, are animal products really just a well-marketed, gratuitous source of excess dietary fat?
Saturated fat. The kind that clogs your arteries and screws up your cholesterol!
And causes inflammation!
And doesn’t excess protein from a diet rich in animal products also result in calcium being leached from bones and teeth and lost in urine?
That’s not a trick question. It does!
Which makes most conventional diets, no matter how temporarily effective, a losing proposition over the long haul.
Instead, we should learn how to consume far more fresh, raw, organic fruit and vegetables. And “sufficient” rather than “excessive” nuts, seeds, olives, avocados and other sources of “good” fat.
A diet that supplies no more than 10% of its calories from fat (and the same from protein) will have lasting benefits … regardless of metabolic type, ancestral origin or even genotype.
Such a diet will predominate in fresh, seasonal fruit and raw, tender greens … meaning of course that the lion’s share of your calories will come from carbohydrates.
Few things can be more satisfying to a healthy, active person than fresh, sweet fruit.
And few things will make you feel better than genuine freedom from addiction to cooked and refined foods … and to the condiments that are added to intensify taste.
In matters of diet, simple is always better.
Humans were designed to eat plants, not hunt animals. Can you imagine a lion picking a berry?
Being omnivorous is a survival mechanism … but also a compromise.
