There is quite a lot of argument in weight loss circles, and some people are feeling that the “conventional wisdom” of eat less, exercise more doesn't quite cut it anymore. Conventional dieticians tell us to do this, and to cut the fat out of the diet. This view is increasingly being challenged. Of course it sounds obvious, ever since we discovered calories and the laws of thermodynamics, that reducing the balance of calorie consumption and increasing calorie burning by exercise, is the obvious way of losing weight.It is also seemingly obvious that eating fat leads to fat accumulation, and that by cutting out the fat in your life, you will cut the fat from your hips. This is further compounded by the fact that fat contains 9 calories per gram whilst protein and carbohydrates contain just 4. Trouble is, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the workings of the human body are much more complex than the 1st law of thermodynamics would indicate.
Without a doubt, at least in the short-term, the low-fat, low-calorie system works. The flaw in it is that it is so difficult to do, and even harder to sustain for a lifetime. Effectively, it is a form of semi-starvation. At the same time, consuming more calories in the form of exercise can make you more hungry, therefore compounding the torture, although in theory adding more muscle to the physique helps burn more calories in the long term. There are other advantages to exercise, such as mood elevation and ongoing mobility into old age. But surely, it is argued by more and more lay people and scientists alike, there is more to losing weight than this?
Hormones such as insulin are thought to play a huge part in fat storage, and the production of insulin is stimulated by the ingestion of carbohydrates and sugars, not from eating fat. Insulin then takes unused sugars in the blood, and converts it into fat which is locked up in the fat cells and rendered unusable as energy. This is why the chubby, pot-bellied appearance often heralds the onset of Type 2 Diabetes, where the body is less able to deal with carbohydrates. Thus the low-carb advocates like Dr Atkins argue that low-fat diets don't work, that it's actually bread, sugar, pasta, rice and potatoes that should be reduced in order to lose weight.
It does seem that cutting fat out of the diet does enable us to lose weight, in fact any method of cutting calories will work in the short-term. The problem comes when the slimmer tries to maintain their weight loss and keep their svelte new figure over the months and years following. Feeling starved can only be tolerated for a short time, and much exercise can lead to injury or boredom, preventing its continuation.
We are all waiting for that perfect, side-effect free, easy pill which will enable us all to stay slim, but in truth, research into hormones such as leptin, insulin and ghrelin, may eventually lead to breakthroughs in this area.
