Why we get fat

While surfing on-line, I found a site that recommended the book "Why we get fat and what to do about it". The site said that it is one of the best diet books around, so I immediately ordered the free sample on my Kindle, read it, bought the Kindle version and read it in two days. It is not an easy read because it's quite technical, but it really does explain why a low-carb diet is the only way to lose weight and also why it is also the healthiest possible diet. The healthiness of it was new info for me.

The basic argument is that what makes us gain weight has nothing to do with how many calories we consume. Instead, it is a high level of insulin that makes us gain weight (fat). And what raises our level of insulin? You guessed it: carbs! And the higher the GI of those carbs, the more they raise our level of insulin. So to lose as much weight as possible as quickly as possible, it is perfectly safe to cut out carbs completely for a while, or even for as long as it takes. It is not easy, but it does work.

What foods have zero carbs? All meats, including fowl, fish and seafood. This means when they are in their natural state. So with processed meats you do have to be careful and check the carb content, since e.g. some sausages are made by adding e.g. flour. Eggs have zero carbs. Hard, aged cheeses have zero carbs. Processed cheese and the kind you spread may have carbs, so do check the label. Oil has zero carbs. Butter has less than one gram of carbs per 100 g, so a very minimal amount. So these are all ingredients that you can use in unlimited quantities and still lose weight.

How is this possible? The mechanism is explained in great detail in the book and, as I said, it is very technical. However, I will try to explain at least a little bit. There have been numerous studies of people (in e.g. Africa, South America), who are extremely poor. The children's growth has been stunted because of malnutrition. And yet the mothers are fat!! How is that possible? It is because they can only afford to eat carbs, since they are the cheapest food option. They can't afford to eat meat. So these mothers are over-weight and under-nourished.

Studies have also been done in the 1960s of indigenous peoples who lived on only meat, fowl and fish. They were extremely fit, healthy and thin and did not have any vitamin or other deficiencies. So humans in fact can live - and thrive - on meat alone. It containts all the essential minerals, amino acids and fatty acids and nearly all the vitamins we need. The only exception is vitamin C, but studies have shown that eating carbs means our body needs more vitamin C, and not eating carbs means that we need less vitamin C. So throw in a few berries (or cabbage) and you're good to go.

What is even more dramatic is when the book compares the health of indigenous peoples who eat little or no carbs to those who eat lots of carbs. The people who eat no carbs do not suffer from e.g. obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer is nearly unknown, as is asthma. So it would seem that these diseases are caused by eating carbs. When a Japanese person eating a traditional Japanese diet (fairly low carb and high fat & protein) moves to the US and starts to eat a high-carb American diet, he/she will develop all the same health issues as Americans. And there are many, many studies that give the same result. The evidence is fully conclusive: high-carb is bad for you, low-carb is good for you. And it also of course matters what kind of carbs you eat, so the lower the GI the better. Green, leafy vegetables are low GI and sugar is high GI. So all carbs are not created equal.

Seriously, read the book: it may well save your life. Or at least make you very healthy, thin and very beautiful. Carbs even cause premature aging of the skin!

The photo is showing a dinner or lunch option: steak (with just salt and pepper, cooked in butter), a glass of red wine and a caprese or tomato and mozzarella salad. It contains basil leaves, ground black pepper and extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil.