The Myth of Diets

We are making more and more effort to stay healthy and fit, but recent studies show that traditional diets—which restrict food intake and promote continuous exercise to burn calories—do not provide a long-term solution to obesity and all the diseases associated with being overweight; in fact, they can even further disrupt the metabolism in certain people.

A proper, balanced diet can help your metabolism burn body fat instead of storing it; this, combined with short bursts of intense activity, is what stimulates and activates your metabolism in a consistent and healthy way over the long term.

Although tremendous progress has been made in the treatment and management of some of the health consequences of obesity, cases of type 2 diabetes and at least 80% of heart attacks could be prevented by following a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, and refined carbohydrates, along with physical activity or exercise to counteract a sedentary lifestyle.

Debunking Myths

Debunking the myth of miracle diets is not easy, as it requires recognizing that we are defined by our habits and that health should be a habit rather than a clothing size, understanding that “eating a little of everything” is the key to balance.

The quality of our food and exercise are key to achieving this balance. Excesses—whether “too little” or “too much” of one or the other—create imbalances in the messages our body sends us through hormones about what it needs, so we ourselves disrupt our metabolism through our habits.

For example, eating high-quality food in moderation, combined with moderate exercise, usually leads to “reprogramming” the metabolism with the right nutrients so that it behaves like that of a naturally thin person.

So the myth that “eating less and exercising more is the way to be healthy and slim” isn’t exactly very healthy in the long run, and it doesn’t save us from hunger pangs or cravings either.

Metabolism or reference weight

The reference weight is what we call metabolism. It is the level of body fat that our body strives to maintain, regardless of how many calories we consume or burn.

This reference weight is determined by a series of hormonal signals sent by the intestines, the pancreas, and fat cells that reach the hypothalamus in the brain, regulating how much we eat, how many calories we burn, and how much body fat we store.

We all have a reference weight that determines whether we will be thin or overweight in the long term. Obesity in certain people is simply the result of the body maintaining its weight in a regulated manner.

A calorie isn’t just a calorie

Not all calories are created equal; we can determine their quality based on four factors:

-Satiety: the rate at which satiety sets in and how long it lasts in the body after ingestion.

The added satisfaction and nutrition provided by filling foods help prevent the side effects of hunger.

Calories’ ability to make us feel full causes us to eat less but consume more nutrients, so we feel full much sooner and for longer, automatically preventing overeating—which is completely different from eating less food and getting less nutrition (feeling hungry and spending the day tired or in a bad mood).

More water, more fiber, and more protein mean greater satiety. The space a food occupies in the stomach and the rest of the digestive system depends primarily on the amount of water and fiber it contains.

-Nutrition: vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, and fatty acids found in calories.

Nutritional quality also influences whether we burn body fat or, conversely, slow down our metabolism and store fat. When we eat more foods rich in water, fiber, and protein, we get more essential nutrients, while avoiding overeating and overloading the body with glucose.

For example, 250 calories from chocolate cake are not the same as 250 calories from vegetables. Calories are very different when it comes to nutrition for health and the body fat we need to burn.

Good sources of high-quality protein include legumes, milk, and nuts.

But how can we tell what’s nutritious in packaged foods? Determining nutritional quality is very simple: by checking the nutrition facts label, the number of calories and the amount of nutrients per calorie in that serving will guide us—and may surprise us, for better or for worse.

– Whether active or passive, the ease with which it is converted into body fat or energy.

A calorie is not just a calorie when it comes to how efficiently our metabolism converts it into body fat. Active calories are stored quickly, while passive calories are those that our body can easily convert into energy.

Fiber and protein are completely inactive, so eating a healthy diet remains very simple. Fiber isn’t digested, so it can’t be stored as body fat, and it helps keep us regular.

In contrast, the metabolism of proteins is somewhat more complex: the body breaks down proteins into amino acids, fats into fatty acids, and carbohydrates into glucose. Once the fatty acids have been converted, they are stored as body fat, and if there are more than we need, this is what is known as lipogenesis.

-Aggressiveness: calories that are stored as body fat.

When we eat, the digestive system directs the calories to where they should go. The rate at which calories accumulate will determine the likelihood that they will end up being stored as body fat.

The body is capable of handling many calories, but it cannot function at its peak if it has to manage a multitude of aggressive demands at once; therefore, the system stores the excess calories in adipocytes or body fat. To better understand the “aggressiveness” of calories, the glycemic index, and the glycemic load, we must first understand how the body obtains energy.

The body does not store fat simply because we eat a lot of food; fat storage is triggered in response to eating foods that cause more glucose (sugars) to enter the bloodstream than the body can use.

It is very important that we distinguish between “a lot of food” and “a lot of glucose at that moment.” We can eat kilos and kilos of food and still avoid gaining kilos and kilos of body fat, as long as the glucose produced from the food does not exceed the level that the body can handle at that moment.

A healthy diet does not cause blood sugar levels to rise excessively. If we focus on increasing our intake of filling foods that are rich in water, fiber, and protein, we will automatically consume a low glycemic load, store less body fat, and reduce our risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease.

Eating Healthy and Smart

The more filling, nutritious, passive, and non-aggressive calories are, the healthier they are, since their quality restores our hormones, prevents us from overeating, and lowers our baseline weight.

On the contrary, the less satiating, non-nutritious, active, and aggressive calories are, the more unhealthy they are, disrupting our hormones, encouraging us to overeat, and raising our baseline weight.

High-quality calories include non-starchy vegetables, nutrient-dense proteins, fats from whole foods, and fruits low in fructose.

They are filling, gentle on the stomach, nutritious, and low in calories. These foods are healthy; they fill us up quickly and keep us satisfied for a long time, so cravings are minimal. They also stimulate the release of hormones that burn body fat, aid digestion, and help lower our baseline weight.

Low-quality calories are exactly the opposite. Starches and sugars are unsatisfying, harsh on the body, lacking in nutrients, and active. When we eat unhealthy foods, we end up eating much more to feel satisfied because of their low nutrient content, and they are quickly converted into body fat. They stimulate fat-storing hormones, which clog the intestines and raise our baseline weight.

When you put it all together, it becomes clear why eating as many healthy calories as possible will help you stay healthy and slim in the long run, while eating fewer calories will not.

Burning more calories is basically the same as consuming fewer calories

Exercising to help your body burn fat over the long term is completely different from exercising just to burn a few calories. Moving your body slowly, safely, and with strength accelerates metabolic recovery, which is the foundation of stress-free weight loss. Resistance training is key to staying slim and healthy.

This doesn’t mean that exercise is useless. What we mean is that traditional high-impact, moderate-intensity exercise, such as jogging, isn’t effective. However, low-impact, low-intensity activity, such as walking, is great for your health.

High-intensity, low-impact exercise, such as resistance training, is effective for losing weight.

Just as we drink more when we exercise more, we also eat more if we exercise more—for a reason as simple as this: “consistently high or consistently low energy expenditure” leads to a consistently high or consistently low appetite.

For example, running is believed to be very good for cardiovascular health, isn’t it? Recent studies have found that running causes injuries in more than half of the people who do it. And that running is just as healthy as boxing. On the other hand, moderate, consistent exercise helps us relieve stress by making us feel more active.

A lack of physical activity appears to be the result of being overweight, not its cause.

Studies show that obese people have a similar level of physical activity to that of thin people. The only proven link between weight and physical activity is that obesity can lead to a lack of physical activity.

Although it is clear that modern life is much less physically demanding than it was in the middle of the last century, this does not necessarily mean that we burn fewer calories overall today.