The Top 4 Weight-Loss Myths in Washington, DC
In Washington, DC and everywhere else it seems as if the government, nutritionists, medical doctors and “established” organizations are hell-bent on making Americans FATTER by spewing utterly ridiculous and completely unsubstantiated advice about how to eat and lose weight. Here is some of their most popular nutrition related weight loss myths:
Myth #1: A calorie is a calorie
First, let me ask you a common sense weight loss question – if you had two identical twin sisters and you put them both on very different 1,500 calories diets. The first one ate all of her calories from McDonald’s and the seconds one get all of her calories from lean, healthy meats, fish, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds, and a small amount of fresh dairy products. Do YOU think they’d look the same at the end of a year?
We have actually known that all calories are NOT created equal for at least 50 years, and we keep getting the same results over and over and over again.
SEE OUR RESULTS
Take this study for example. All participants were on hypocaloric diets (less calories than they need). All did the same amount of activity, ate the same number of calories, etc. The ONLY difference was where those calories came from. The results speak for themselves.
Group A: 1000 calories at 90% fat: lost 0.9lbs per day
Group B: 1000 calories at 90% protein: 0.6lbs per day
Group C: 1000 calories at 90% carbs – actually gained some weight (not really significant though). (1)
We keep repeating these types of studies and we keep getting the exact same results – the less starch and the more fat and protein you eat, the more fat you lose. Period. (2-6)
Why do our so-called authorities in Washington, DC keep selling us the same raft of lies? That is probably a book in and of itself, but here’s the gist: Official nutrition recommendations are political and financial decisions – who made campaign contributions (it is DC)? Who’s lobbying for what recommendations? What industry group does this scientist work for? Who paid for the research? Was it the same company that will make money off of its favorable results?
The list of questions goes on and on and on. Plus, there’s also just plain old stubbornness – people like tradition, they like to do what they’ve always done.
Rarely are official nutrition recommendations the result of years of practical experience about what works and what doesn’t, and a thorough and unbiased review of research. The people who make official recommendations do NOT usually work one-on-one with people helping them to get weight loss results. If your mortgage payment doesn’t depend on your ability to produce results, then I do not care what you have to say.
Myth #2: High protein, low carbohydrate diets are unsafe
There are at least 15yrs of peer-reviewed clinical research saying that there is absolutely no risk posed to normal, healthy people from short or long-term exposure to a high-protein diet. In fact, higher protein/lower carbohydrate diets have consistently been shown to outperform low-fat/high-carb/low-protein diets for weight(fat)-loss, in the treatment of diabetes, and for heart health. (7, 2-6)
For the record, carbohydrates are NOT actually an essential nutrient. There are essential fatty acids (fats), essential amino acids (protein), and essential vitamins and minerals. BUT there is NO SUCH THING as an essential sugar (carbohydrate). You could go the rest of your life without a single gram of carbs and be perfectly healthy.
In fact, many aboriginal cultures subsist on nothing but animal products. For example, the Massai in Africa live almost exclusively on whole milk, beef and cow’s blood until very recently.
That’s ungodly amounts of saturated fat, animal fat, and cholesterol, and no plants whatsoever. But, they don’t even know what heart disease is. No, its not because they don’t live long enough. It because American nutritionists are wrong about essentially everything. But, that is a book in and of itself.
Myth #3: Juice is healthy
The federal government in Washington, DC and Nutritionists would have you believe that drinking a glass of juice is the same as eating a piece of fruit. Well, the fact of the matter is that a glass of juice is about as nutritious as a glass of Pepsi.
A. To make a small 8oz glass of OJ, you must extract all of the sugar from FIVE oranges. Once for ounce, OJ has the same amount of sugar as Pepsi. Is it better because it’s “natural”? NO! Cocaine is a plant extract, is it now a health food? All sugar comes from plants anyway. There is NOTHING more fattening than a bunch of sugar.
B. In the process of extracting the juice virtually ALL of the vitamins are lost due to exposure to the air and from the chemicals used to increase extraction yields from the fruits.
Conclusion: all sugar, no vitamins – not a health food. Instead of OJ, eat an actual orange. It has fiber, tastes good and it will make you feel full (unlike the juice, so it is really empty calories that your body won’t register as having eaten them). Bureaucrats in Washington, DC don’t necessarily have your best interests in mind when writing policy, some times they are trying to help sell more oranges because you can drink for more than you can eat.
Myth #4: Moderate drinking is healthy
Doctors love to say this one. They say it for two reasons, both of which are misleading at best:
Reason #1 is there was a large study of studies (meta analysis) that showed that people who drank moderately lived longer than those who did not drink at all. There’s a HUGE problem with this study, former alcoholics and people who were so sick that they could not drink were lumped into the group of people who CHOSE not to drink. They took the average life expectancy of all those different types of people to get their “data.”
If you’re so sick that you can’t drink alcohol, you probably don’t have long to live. And being an alcoholic is VERY hard on your body and will probably shorten your lifespan.
Reason #2 is that alcohol thins your blood. Well, so does water and fish oil, and those have ONLY positive side effects. Whereas alcohol IS a toxin, and it does stimulate both fat storage and muscle loss – that is a bad combination for weight (fat)-loss.
Conclusion: Drinking in moderation is something that you do because you like it, not because it has any health benefits whatsoever. “But red wine is healthy” you say. The good stuff in red wine comes from the grapes that it was made out of – grapes. You can just eat the grapes and rid yourself of the alcohol.
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References
1. Kekwick and Pawan. Metabolic study in human obesity with isocaloric diets high in fat, protein or carbohydrate. Metabolism. 1957 Sep;6(5):447-60
2. Christopher, DG, et al. Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN Diets for Change in Weight and Related Risk Factors Among Overweight Premenopausal Women: The A TO Z Weight Loss Study: A Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2007; 297: 969 – 977
3. Yancy, WS, et al. A Low-Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet versus a Low-Fat Diet To Treat Obesity and Hyperlipidemia: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004: 769-777
4. Volek, JS, et al. Comparison of energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on weight loss and body composition in overweight men and women. Nutrition & Metabolism 2004 1:13
5. Layman, DK, et al. A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles during weight loss in adult women. Hum Nutr and Metabolism. 2003 113:411-17
6. Meckling KA, et al. A randomized trial of a hypocaloric high-protein diet, with and without exercise, on weight loss, fitness, and markers of the Metabolic Syndrome in overweight and obese women. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2007 32(4):743-752
7. Kalman D, Antonio J. The effects of a high protein intake on markers of health in weight trained athletes. FASEBJ 2000;15(4):a631.14.
