Newsletter 31, April 2012 - The Calorie Advantage with Low Carb Diets

Get the calorie advantage and avoid starvation mode

Many experts believe that low carb diets are the best diets for avoiding the starvation mode trap. By this I mean the situation where your body thinks your weight loss is unintentional and slows down your metabolism to prevent further weight loss, thus protecting you from the 'famine'. Low carb diets are believed to have an advantage in this respect because, besides minimising insulin levels (high insulin levels encourage fat storage and prevent its release), they allow weight loss at a higher calorie intake than low calorie/low fat diets. This is sometimes referred to as the 'calorie advantage' or 'metabolic advantage'.

That a calorie advantage can exist is not universally accepted, because the concept of being able to lose weight on a higher level of calories when these come from protein rather than carbohydrate foods does not fit with the idea that 'all calories are equal'. Detractors of the calorie advantage say that it defies the Laws of Thermodynamics because energy cannot 'just disappear'. (The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only change from one form to another).

However, low carb diets are usually high in protein. Protein takes more energy to metabolise than either carbohydrates or fat, because longer and more complex biochemical reactions are required in order to break the protein down into energy that the body can use. As a result, when protein is digested, more heat is produced. This explains the 'missing' calories and so satisfies the First Law of Thermodynamics. This 'wasting' of calories is also predicted by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which says that in any reaction that is irreversible there is a loss or dissipation of energy in that reaction.

So it seems that your body 'wastes' more of your calories when you go low carb. Allowing you to eat more calories than if you were doing the traditional low calorie/low fat diet is an advantage in itself, but enabling you to lose weight without reducing your calories too drastically helps keep your body from going into starvation mode, which is another very significant benefit. Moreover, low carb/high protein diets also eliminate the constant hunger commonly experienced on low calorie/low fat diets, which is yet another signal to the body to go into starvation mode.

Put like that, there doesn't seem to be a lot going for low calorie/low fat diets, does there? Read more about the tricks to successful weight loss in 'Why Can't I Lose Weight - the Real Reasons Diets Fail and What to Do About It'.

New Recipes in the Low Carb / Low GI Cookbook

For those of our readers who are subscribers to the Low Carb / Low GI Cookbook, two new recipes have just been released: Family Blackberry Crumble (4-24) and Meatballs in Tomato Sauce (6-30). You will find these recipes already in your Cookbook next time you log in.

Your Successes, Requests and Questions

This is your spot. Whether it's your dietary success story, a request to cover a particular topic in a future newsletter or a question you would like answered, we would love to hear from you. Please do contact us.

Here is a question we answered recently:

Q: I've been following a low carb/high protein eating plan and have lost almost 50 lbs in about 4-4 1/2 months and feeling great, but I am chewing a stick or two of sugar-containing gum, but it doesn't seem to be hurting my loss. What have you to say about this?? I also do drink my caffeine diet pop daily, and, again, nothing BAD has happened, it doesn't seem. Isn't the theory that drinking diet pop will make you want sweet things more? If you don't, or don't eat the sweet things, isn't it okay to continue this way? Just wondering what YOUR take would be on these two points!

A: Congratulations on your 50lbs lost! I wouldn't worry about the small amount of sugar in chewing gum if you're still losing weight and you're taking in plenty of protein, vegetables and salads. (Assuming that you are not having more than one or two pieces of gum a day).

If your diet pop is not making you crave sweet things, then you are proving the 'theory' wrong (or at least, that it is not true for all people!) However, you do need to be wary of what sweeteners are used in the pop. Most experts now say that all artificial sweeteners are harmful, but in my opinion the one that is most important to avoid is aspartame (Nutrasweet). This is because it is an endocrine disrupter. If it disrupts the balance of your hormones its effects may not be immediately obvious, but take many years to have an effect.

Additionally, anything that is acidic and carbonated (as most pops are) is also very hard on tooth enamel and may also contribute to osteoporosis, or thinning of the bones. The caffeine in the pop will also be driving your adrenal glands hard (as will caffeine from coffee, tea, chocolate, painkillers etc). Taken with the stress on your adrenal glands that ongoing weight loss causes, I would certainly suggest you limit your intake of pop to one glass per day if you feel you have to have it. Having said that, if the pop is important in helping you to stay on low carb, then having it is better than cutting it out completely and risking falling off the diet.

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With best wishes for your continued good health
Jackie Bushell
Founder Director, GoodDietGoodHealth.com

Successful Weight Loss - the Importance of the Right Diet

Once you've decided a weight loss diet is unavoidable, how do you decide what sort of diet to follow? There is so much confusing advice out there. Sadly, the official 'healthy eating' low fat/low calorie weight loss diet, which recommends basing the diet on carbohydrates, is not the best course for many people. A carbohydrate-based diet can be a real problem for up to sixty per cent of people in Western populations. For these people, foods high in carbohydrate, even 'good' carbs such as wholemeal bread and fruit, trigger an excess of insulin and cause blood sugar imbalances. This results in an increased tendency to store instead of to burn surplus energy and to crave yet more carbs in a way that is very similar to addiction to nicotine, alcohol and other 'feel good' drugs.

The big problem with the official 'healthy eating' low fat/low calorie weight loss diet is that it ignores these hormonal aspects of weight regulation and fails to deal with the fundamental issue of carbohydrate sensitivity. Carbohydrate sensitivity (sometimes referred to as carbohydrate intolerance) should not be thought of as a disease or medical condition. It is in fact our bodies' normal response to a diet high in refined carbohydrate - food that we were never designed to eat.

So what does this mean to the average person who is about to embark on a weight loss diet? Well, sadly, it means an awful lot of dashed hopes as dieters fail to lose weight or else lose a little weight at first but are then unable to keep it up long term. They don't understand that, because their weight loss diet is unsuited to their biochemical and hormonal make-up, they are being set up to fail. And worse, when they do fail, they are made to feel that they are at fault, when in fact it is the diet that is at fault.

So is going on a 'healthy eating' low fat/low calorie diet always a bad idea? Well, if this means eating far fewer foods high in refined carbohydrates than you were before, that's undoubtedly a big step towards a healthier body and significant weight loss. But if you're already ahead of that game, and your normal way of eating is already low in refined carbohydrate foods such as cakes, cookies, pastries, pasta, pizza, white bread, white rice, ice cream, desserts, candy, sugary breakfast cereals, sugary drinks and the like, then you may well find that you lose little or no weight on the official 'healthy eating' low fat/low calorie diet. If this is the case, then don't waste time and energy trying any of the countless diets that are all based on the 'reduce the calories and fat and keep carbs high' principle. Don't fall for the 'You overeat for emotional reasons' or 'You only need more willpower' trap either. Understand that your biochemical and hormonal make-up prevents you from losing weight on a carbohydrate-based diet, and try the low carb approach instead.

Unfortunately there are many myths about what you actually eat on a low carb diet and many dietary 'authorities' still maintain that the carbohydrate-based low calorie/low fat 'healthy eating' diet is the only safe and effective diet, despite more and more clinical trials saying otherwise. Other 'authorities', although still wary of low carb diets, recommend their near relations, low GI (glycemic index) diets. However, low GI diets are still not generally low enough in carbs for those who are very carbohydrate sensitive - which probably includes most of us who find it hard to lose weight. Weight loss is actually a very complex subject, until you find a straightforward explanation of how it all works. If you're interested in finding out more, then free e-book Why You Should Consider a Low Carb or Low GI Diet is a great way to start. It helps dispel these myths by explaining the science behind low carb and low GI diets, why they are healthier for many people than the standard low calorie/low fat diet and why low carb diets may be better than low GI diets for many people.

What if you've already gone low carb but are feeling you may not be able to keep it up because you're bored with your food choices and menus, and it's too hard to stick to? Then you're probably missing some important knowledge in the low carber's armoury - how to use low carb substitute ingredients to make low carb versions of favourite foods such as bread, pizza, pastry, cakes, cookies, sauces, ice cream and desserts. If you're feeling deprived on your low carb or low GI diet, then getting a good cookbook is a must for the success of your weight loss. But be aware! Many of the low carb and low GI cookbooks out there contain lots of great recipes - but they're mostly main courses of the type that don't contain carby ingredients in the first place. If the kinds of foods you most miss are baked goods, with the right knowledge you can make low carb versions of these extremely successfully. If these are the kind of recipes you need, then the Low Carb / Low GI Cookbook is definitely one to put on your list of low carb cookbooks to investigate.

Unfortunately, as seasoned dieters will know, many diets seem to work for a while and then the weight loss comes to a stop. This is often called a diet plateau or diet stall. This can happen whatever diet you are on, and there are many possible reasons for it. As a result, it can be very difficult to work out what to do to break the stall. Much of the advice out there will focus on one or two things to change to try to get your weight loss started again. But breaking your diet plateau depends upon dealing with all, not just some, of the many nutritional, biochemical and hormonal factors that may causing it. It's important therefore to find a source of information that goes systematically through all the factors that may be causing your diet plateau and helps you to draw up a personal action plan, such as Why Can't I Lose Weight.

Life is too short and precious to spend years of it unsuccessfully pursuing a weight loss goal because you have the wrong tools!

Low carb diets are viable for long term weight control, after all

Recent studies are confirming what those of us who are already committed low carb dieters have known for a long time - that low carbing spares us from the meagre quantities, poor palatability and constant hunger of low fat/low calorie diets. Not to mention better weight loss and other advantages such as 'healthier' blood cholesterol. (High cholesterol levels are not the villains we have been led to believe, but if lowered cholesterol makes mainstream medicine feel more comfortable about the safety of low carb diets, then hey, who cares!)

It's a great pity that the myth that low carb diets are boring, restrictive and unpalatable and that dieters won't stick to them long term has been allowed to prevail for so long. The only foods that are restricted are fake foods, processed foods full of chemicals, and foods full of unhealthy refined carbohydrates. That leaves heaps of healthy, natural, tasty 'real' foods to choose from, and from which to make alternative, healthier versions of the foods and recipes we love to eat! All that is needed is a little ingenuity (or a good low carb cookbook.)

If low carb is 'undoable', it's not because it leaves you hungry, bored or nutritionally deficient. It's because today's standard diet is full of high carb, high GI refined wheat, corn and sugar, and it is in the food and catering industries' interests to keep it that way.

Those who claim that low carb diets are 'undoable' are rejecting the best chance we have of reversing not only the obesity epidemic but the diabetes epidemic too. Enlightened practitioners such as Dr John Briffa are to be applauded for helping to counter the ignorance and deliberate misinformation that exists about low carb diets. Our future health depends upon us seeing the standard high carb, high GI diet for what it is - junk that is slowly but surely making us sick.