Six common beliefs addressed, Part 14

1. Studies have shown that calorie restriction increases life span.

Studies have always shown that there is a link between calorie restriction and longevity. It has been studied ad nauseum. 

But this is not a blog about longevity. This is a blog about metabolic health. 

2. When low carbohydrate and low fat diets have been studied, side by side, they show no difference in results, as long as the calories are the same.

This is correct. 

All of the studies on diet so far, have concluded that all diets have the same effect and calorie restriction always affects weight. This is what I have been saying on this blog so far. All diets affect blood glucose, which in turn affects insulin and this has a temporary effect on weight. So the claim that "all weight loss and gain is mitigated through calories", should really be that "all weight loss and gain is mitigated through insulin". Calories, like any other dietary protocol always affects insulin. But what happens after? 

Insulin is quite easy to manipulate through blood glucose. This will affect weight. But excess weight is not obesity. Obesity is excess fat. All fat loss is mitigated through leptin. This means your protocol has to get past affecting insulin, in the short term, to affecting it in the long term, enough so that leptin is affected. Calorie restriction has never been able to do that. 

No diet has been studied in the long term, but we can safely say that calorie restriction has been circulating long enough to prove itself a failure. In fact, obesity is still being researched, to this day, and still considered "a condition with no known cure". Calorie restriction has certainly not been named as the cure. 

So, we already have something that's been proven to not work - calorie restriction. This means we must go with something that might have a better chance at working - carbohydrate restriction. 

3. Does 'The Potato Hack Diet' cause weight loss?

If it effects blood glucose, it will effect insulin and you will see weight loss. The weight lost might be water and muscle, but it's still weight loss. 

As stated above though, none of these fad diets and hacks have been shown to work for the long term. You can imagine that the temporary effect on blood glucose will never lead to proper blood glucose regulation, considering that potatoes are starch which is basically glucose.  

4. Does 'The Fat Fast Diet' cause weight loss?

If it effects blood glucose, it will effect insulin and you will see weight loss. The weight lost might be water and muscle, but it's still weight loss. 

As stated above though, none of these fad diets and hacks have been shown to work for the long term. You can imagine that the temporary effect on blood glucose will never lead to proper blood glucose regulation, considering that you are restricting calories and only eating fat. That's a recipe for a double down in fat gain when the diet is done. 

5. Does 'The Protein Sparing Modified Fast Diet' cause weight loss?

This one is a legitimate weight loss protocol. It has found success and usage in a clinical setting, but it must be modified in order to make it suitable for following long term. 

This diet has been shown to affect leptin, but it is still unknown for how long. You can find this protocol on the right, side bar of this blog under 'Recommended Diets' if you want to try it out. 

6. Obesity can’t be related to sugar, because statistics show that sugar purchase has gone down, not up.

There are two reasons for this:

• People no longer need to add sugar to their food, because food manufacturers are adding it for them. This is why the sugar bowl is now an item that graces the shelves of antique stores and thrift shops, and will soon be dug up by future archaeological expeditions as a relic from the past.
• People are now using artificial sweeteners, since diabetes is running rampant. Their sweet tooth is the same as it has always been, but it can now be pacified through man made chemicals, rather than old fashioned sugar. So, if you still work at a sugar refinery, I highly recommend you go back to school and learn chemistry instead, since the future will be for those making sugar substitutes to appease all of the growing numbers of obese and diabetic people around the world.