Counting - not the whole story

Those of you who were brought up on the notion that you had to 'count calories' in order to keep a healthy weight and to stay healthy, this blog is for you.

For those of you that transitioned from counting calories to 'counting carbs' in order to lose weight and avoid diabetes, this blog is for you also.

Some of you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure (or hypertension) and were told to count how many grams of sodium you were ingesting each day in order to keep your condition under control. This blog, likewise, is for you.

First, counting calories doesn't work," says Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist, researcher, and professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, and the author of the 2016 book Always Hungry? "Sure, eating less and moving more will produce short-term weight loss.

1. You can’t fight your biology.

   While you may lose weight at first, our bodies have learned to adapt and survive instances of famine for millions of years. After a period of restriction, a series of biological mechanisms will occur to increase your drive to eat including: an increased production of the hunger hormone, ghrelin, which increases your appetite, an increased release of the neurotransmitter, Neuropeptide Y, which increase your drive to consume carbohydrates, and a decrease in the satiety hormone, leptin, which causes you to feel less satiated. 

2. Following a low calorie diet negatively impacts your metabolism.

   n response to a diet, your body will perceive this as semi-starvation and will lower its metabolism by up to 40% in order to conserve energy. This, in turn, decreases how much energy you are expending, which ultimately decreases the calorie deficit you are intending to achieve. Once you stop dieting, the body will store extra fat away to better survive the next “famine.” This is why research shows that dieting is a consistent predictor of long term weight gain, with studies showing that up to two-thirds of people who diet regain more weight than they lost.

3. Calorie restriction leads to rebound eating.

   Due to these compensatory mechanisms, it can often lead to rebound eating or binging, which in turn can increase feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy. And so the diet cycle continues, only the next time you try to diet, your body gets better at surviving the “famine,” which can manifest as the weight being harder and harder to lose, no matter how hard you try. It may seem like your body is undermining your best efforts to lose weight, but ultimately it is trying hard to keep you alive and safe.

The time of day you have a meal, how fast you scoff your food and even how much you chew it can affect how many calories you get from it.

A. Many believe that a low carb diet means avoiding obvious carb sources like bread and sugar. However, it’s easy to overlook carb content in seemingly healthy foods, hindering weight loss efforts.

Consider this scenario: for breakfast, you enjoy a cup of steel-cut oats topped with sliced banana. While oats are deemed healthy, they contain 60 grams of carbs per cup, and a medium-sized banana adds 27 grams. That’s 87 grams of carbs for breakfast alone, not counting lunch and dinner.

B. Stress is a natural part of life, triggering the body’s “fight or flight” response. According to studies when stressed, cortisol release initiates a chain reaction, including insulin release, leading to fat storage. Chronic stress impedes weight loss efforts as insulin levels remain elevated. Managing stress is more important than counting carbs.

C. Are your food cravings running the show? It’s time to delve into the why behind your cravings. Understanding their triggers is the first step toward reclaiming control. Carb deprivation can actually create cravings.

D. And then there's sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners have long been touted as “healthy” substitutes for sugar, but the truth is often obscured by their manufacturers. Saccharine, sucralose, and aspartame, among others, come with a laundry list of side effects, including triggering food cravings and promoting overeating. Moreover, they offer no nutritional value, leaving our bodies craving substance.

E. Overconsumption of FAT. The Keto diet really pushes fat intake. The fundamental principle of weight loss involves utilizing your body’s fat reserves for energy, achieved through a caloric deficit. Consuming an excess of fat inhibits this process, preventing your body from tapping into its fat stores effectively.

Just reducing sodium intake may not be enough. Counting grams of sodium is way too much trouble and most of us simply are not going to do it.

If reducing sodium intake isn't working, it may be helpful to focus on fresh, minimally processed foods and carefully read nutrition labels to choose lower-sodium options.

As with everything else these days, one thing is never the whole answer. The biggest problem for people's health today is 'inflammation'. It is the cause of many of these other issues that we are told to do this or that about.

Counting is a bother and it's not the whole story.

When does a 'joke' become a 'Dad Joke' ?

When it becomes apparent.