The Key to Automatic Weight Loss

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David Ludwig and Mark Friedman published the most important scientific paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association since the Watson and Cricks paper on DNA in 1953, which changed our whole way of thinking about genes. They also explained their findings in the New York Times piece, "Always Hungry? Here's Why."

It's not that Isaac Newton and his first law of thermodynamics was wrong. It's right -- energy is conserved in a system. This is the whole foundation of our calories in/calories out, energy balance concept of weight loss. Just eat less and exercise more, and all the pounds will melt off.

But there is one fatal flaw in that thinking. The law states that energy is conserved in a "system." It is true that, in a vacuum, all calories are the same. A thousand calories of Coke and a thousand calories of broccoli burned in a laboratory will release the same amount of energy.

But all bets are off when you eat the Coke or the broccoli. These foods have to be processed by your metabolism (not a closed system). Coke and broccoli trigger very different biochemical responses in the body -- different hormones, neurotransmitters and immune messengers.

The Coke will spike blood sugar and insulin and disrupt neurotransmitters, leading to increased hunger and fat storage, while the thousand calories of broccoli will balance blood sugar and make you feel full, cut your appetite and increase fat burning.

Same calories -- profoundly different effects on your body.

Dr. Ludwig, for the first time, explains why. It's not overeating that makes you fat. It's being fat that makes you overeat. Once you start to consume refined carbs, such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and any form of sugar, you start making a certain kind of fat cells called VAT or visceral adipose tissue.

This is no ordinary fat. It is super fat. Hungry fat. Dangerous fat. This fat starts an inexorable cascade that leads to obesity. It's like falling down an icy slope where it's almost impossible to stop yourself. You need a big ice axe and crampons. We ordinary mortals are no match for this hungry fat.

Here's what happens.

Those hungry fat cells suck up all the available fuel in your blood stream (glucose, fats, ketones). Your body then thinks, "Oh, my god, I am starving. I better eat more and slow my metabolism, so I don't die." The problem is, anything you eat gets sucked up into those fat cells around your belly, leading to a vicious cycle of hunger, overeating, fat storage and a slowing down of your metabolism. No wonder we gain weight and can't lose it.

The key trigger for all this is a simple common hormone that we all need (but not too much of).

Insulin.

Here are the take-home lessons from Dr. Ludwig's paper:

    Overeating doesn't make you fat. Your fat cells make you overeat.

 

    You make hungry fats cells by eating sugar and refined carbs.

 

    Restricting your calories will slow your metabolism, make you hungry and guarantee that your weight loss attempts will fail.

 

    Eating a higher fat, higher protein, lower sugar and refined carb diet will speed up your metabolism and cut your hunger.

 

    Controlling what you eat is much easier than controlling how much you eat.

 

    Forget calorie counting. It's not about the calories but about diet quality and dietary composition. Just try eating 1,000 calories of broccoli.

 

    End our scientifically-outdated position that all calories are equal and weight loss is simply a matter of eating fewer calories than you burn.

 

    Lower insulin by a sugar detox, and watch your body lose weight effortlessly without hunger or cravings.

 

    To learn more, watch the movie Fed Up or read The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet (my medically-designed program to cut insulin and detox from sugar and refined carbs).

 

    Stop blaming yourself for lack of willpower, and start empowering yourself by eating real, whole, fresh food that's low in sugar and starch.

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