Have I found the answer?

My relationship with food is interesting. I eat plenty but I am rarely happy when I am eating. I care a huge amount about the quality of what goes into my mouth but sometimes I seem unable to control the quantity. I am not obese but I'm not skinny and I've always carried a few extra pounds - sometimes a few extra stone. I'm quite clever, I know all the theories and I have opinions on every diet going so why am I not as slim as I would like to be?
I have a really bright friend who has similar problems. She sent me an e mail today about Zoe Harcombe and the Harcombe Diet. This same friend previously leant me a book called The Diet Delusion - I haven't even started it, but perhaps now I don't need to (yay!).
This diet is based on the theories in that hefty book; they are as follows:
  • In The Diet Delusion, Gary Taubes says the evidence is that weight gain is not a simple calories in = calories out and can't be solved by more self-control or exercise. It's all about insulin causing the body to store fat.
  • Our obesity epidemic is not because we are lazy or eating too much meat but from our increase in the consumption of sugar, white flour and white rice.
  • Taubes also says that fat is constantly going in and out of fat cells but insulin interferes with this movement so the excess fat is stored. This then starves your cells of the background energy that is normally constantly coming out of fat cells and is why you feel hungry and lethargic.
  • People are not fat because they are greedy and lazy but because hunger and lethagy are the symptoms of being sensitive to insulin and hence overweight.
I'll let you know how I get on.

Comments

Unknown said…
you have found the answer. but don't think in terms of "white." brown rice, brown sugar, brown bread, etc., are all starchy or sugary too. think in terms of avoiding or at least restricting ALL starchy and sugary things. even taubes talks about avoiding "easily digestible carbs" by which he means starches and sugars from all sources and of all qualities.
David Brown said…
You've got part of the answer. The part Taubes missed is the omega-6 hazard. Google "1 of 4 Bill Lands" and "Omega-6 Research News" to learn the rest of the answer.
Unknown said…
Thank you for your really useful comments. Scrolling down my blog all I can see is sugar!
Unknown said…
...on omega 6, you can also consult dr. mary enig. (find her paper, "the oiling of america.") simply put, you want to avoid plant oils except olive oil or coconut oil. most plant oils are very high in pufas (o6) - corn, soy, grape seed are especially bad. cook w/ butter, olive oil, lard, meat drippings or coconut oil. dress salads w/ olive oil. in gcbc, taubes does reference at least one study indicating the overall increased mortality associated w/ diets that have shifted toward pufa 6 resulting from avoiding animal fat while increasing plant oil consumption.
Anonymous said…
I'm going low-carb too. As sss says above, also being careful with the brown-type carbs.

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