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To: jdege
Telling people who are overweight that they need to eat less and exercise more makes as much sense as telling people who are constipated that they need to eat less and poop more.

Why, because people who consume less energy than they burn won't lose weight? Is that what you're suggesting?

It’s technically true

Say what? So if I consume less energy than I burn I WILL lose weight after all?

but it totally ignores consideration of the actual causes.

Huh? So the actual cause of weight gain has nothing to do with consuming more energy that you expend? But didn't you just say that this was the cause.....technically speaking?

41 posted on 02/03/2014 2:35:06 PM PST by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: Mase

Telling people who are overweight that they need to eat less and exercise more makes as much sense as telling people who are constipated that they need to eat less and poop more.

Why, because people who consume less energy than they burn won't lose weight? Is that what you're suggesting?

People who consume less energy than they burn may lose weight. Or they may not. And if they do, it might be fat that the lose, or it might be lean mass.

The energy equation will always balance, but it won't necessarily balance in the way that you would like it to.

Whether fat is moving into or moving out of the fat cells depends entirely on the hormonal balance in the blood stream surrounding the cells. If the insulin levels are up and the glucagon levels are down, the GLUT4 transporters are actively pulling glucose into the fat cells for conversion into fat, regardless of what the total energy balance for the body is.

If you cut back on total calorie consumption and insulin levels remain high, you will not burn fat. Your metabolism will slow, various metabolic processes will either be run more efficiently, or will be suspended entirely. You will cannibalize muscle tissue, and even your internal organs. You may lose weight, but you will not lose fat, and you will not improve your health.

To claim that reducing the total calorie balance will always result in weight loss is equivalent to claiming that reducing the total calorie balance will always lower insulin levels - and the scientific literature clearly documents that that is not always the case.

In particular, it's not the case when people with the collection of metabolic disorders known as the metabolic syndrome reduce calories while continuing to eat high-carbohydrate diets. Metabolic syndrome is driven by insulin resistance, which means higher-than normal insulin levels in response to carbohydrates. And this isn't a rare condition. Estimates put those suffering from it at 25% of the adult population, increasing with age. 40% of adults over 50.

For this (large) group of people, the eat-less/exercise-more prescription doesn't just not work, it's positively harmful.

44 posted on 02/03/2014 7:42:31 PM PST by jdege
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