The American Heart Association (AHA)promotes their latest weight-loss scheme in a new book, The No-Fad Diet. This book advises those wishing to lose weight to cut calories by 25% and–Voila!–a slow but (according to the AHA) permanent weight loss ensues. And they recommend moderate exercise to aid the process.
The circle has come full round. First, it was cut calories, then cut the fat, now back to cutting calories. When will these folks learn that there is more to weight loss than cutting calories? And when are they going to figure out that overweight people want to lose excess fat, not just weight. Weight is made of fat, muscle, organ tissue, water, bone, etc. The only part we really want to lose is the fat.
If we cut calories—no matter what kind—we’ll lose weight; there’s no doubt about it. That’s the caloric reduction part of weight loss, and it works every time—assuming, of course, that we really cut the calories. But there is another part of the weight-loss equation: the hormonal part. The metabolic hormonal milieu is changed by the type of calories consumed. Studies are accumulating to a mass that can’t be ignored showing that people following low-carbohydrate diets lose more body fat than those following low-fat diets of equal caloric value.
Just cut your carbs, stay away from junk foods (mainly high-carb processed stuff), and you’ll do fine. Not only will you be more likely to lose faster than you would following the No-Fad Diet, you will lose more FAT, which is what you want to get rid of in the first place.
Besides, who ever heard of a diet that recommended animal crackers? Talk about a fad.

2 Comments

  1. Cutting cals simply DOES NOT work in the long run — how long can one ignore gut wrenching hunger pangs — certainly not a healthy, normal human being. The best thing about the hi-protein/fat diet, I have discovered is that one does not feel hungry in between meals — and one feels fuller faster —

  2. Sure, but what generally happens is that when people go to hi protein they are generally getting more satiated on less calories. In the end it comes down to calorie deficit and what works to keep one consistent.
    Hi Guy–
    It sort of comes down to a calorie deficit. A number of well-controlled, low-carb studies have shown a weight-loss that is in excess of what would have been expected simply by a calorie deficit. There are other factors afoot.
    Best–
    MRE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *