There are several reasons why, as we get older, our chest, back, shoulders and arms keep getting smaller and our gut just keeps getting bigger. Even though we perceive that we have the same activity level, the same job, and the same eating habits, something is going on in our bodies. It will take several articles to fully explain this phenomenon.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on November 3, 2010, obesity and overweight affect 208,000,000 adult Americans. Of the preventable causes of death and disability in this country, obesity is second only to smoking tobacco. Rather than outlining the health risks of obesity, I will concentrate on a healthy diet in this article.
There are dozens of diet books written about obesity: the Atkins diet, the Pritikin diet, the Eat More-Weigh Less diet, the Zone diet, the Carbohydrates Addict diet, the Beverly Hills diet, the Power Protein diet, the Sugar Busters diet, the Grapefruit Solution, the New Cabbage diet, and around a dozen more. How do you know which is right?
One simple rule can end the confusion: The higher our insulin level goes after a meal, the more fat we are going to pro- duce. More specifically, if one eats foods that increase the insulin level, specifically white bread, rice, sugar, etc., the body is stimulated to make it store fat. At the same time, high insulin levels antagonize the production of growth hormone and various other hormones, and instead cause pro- inflammatory hormones to be produced that ultimately cause the aging of our cells.
In 1822, the average American diet included the equivalent of approximately two teaspoons of sugar per day. By 1995, it had increased to approximately 40 tea- spoons of sugar in our diets per day. In 2005, the average American diet included 56 teaspoons of sugar per day. These tea- spoons of sugar equivalents include rice, white bread, potatoes, white (not whole wheat) pasta, various cookies and candies, and other processed foods. These are all carbohydrates with a high glycemic index (please look up glycemic index on the internet for more information). How much of our diets should be in the form of car- bohydrates? Believe it or not, there is no known need for dietary carbohydrates! The National Academy of Sciences Insti- tute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board in 2005, Chapter 6, page 275, states, "The lower limit of dietary carbo- hydrate compatible with life is apparently zero provided that adequate amounts of protein and fats are consumed." Now, I don't advocate such a radical position nor do I follow it myself, but the truth lies somewhere between the above statement and the current diet we are eating.
Don't worry. I will not recommend that you follow a specific diet, because diets do not work. In fact, 85% of people who lose weight after following a specific diet gain it back within two years. In fact, there are few medications, diets or dietary supplements that have ever succeeded by themselves in the long term.
Did you know that when we go on a calorie-restricted diet, which is what all of these diet books have in common, 75% of the weight we lose is from fat and 25% is from muscle? Over time, if we lose enough weight, we simultaneously lose enough muscle to drastically decrease our metabolism and decrease our calorie burning ability, both when we sleep or perform our daily activities. In an upcom- ing article, I will discuss exercise and the optimal weight to maintain muscle.
Speaking of metabolism, during sleep, our metabolism drastically slows in order to maintain the energy we took from our food before going to sleep. In other words, while we sleep our metabolism slows down like a hibernating bear's, so the energy we consume prior to going to sleep will still be there in the morning. If we do not eat breakfast, our metabolism stays slow for the entire day, thus hindering our body's ability to burn calories.
More importantly, because we have evolved from a hunter-gatherer society, once we awaken, we are brimming with stress hormones (creating high blood pres- sure, which is why heart attacks are com- mon the first thing in the morning) so that we can hunt and gather to provide food for our families. If we do not have break- fast, the stress hormone (cortisol) which is released prevents our bodies from mak- ing testosterone and growth hormone ("HGH"), which keeps us thin and young.
The chemical pathway in which testos- terone is made starts with cholesterol. which goes to pregnenolone, which goes to progesterone. Progesterone then makes testosterone. This path is overridden by our stress hormones, which cause the pregnenolone not to go to progesterone and testosterone, but to go right to cortisol. Cortisol causes hunger, fat deposition, anxiety disorders and many, many other unwanted reactions in our bodies, and ultimately, adrenal fatigue is possible.
Multiple studies have shown that obese individuals frequently eat fewer meals per day. A recent study of 379 men revealed that those who were fed only one or two meals per day were heavier, had higher cholesterol levels and higher glucose lev- els than those who ate more frequently. Studies in children have shown that chil- dren who eat five or six times a day weigh less than those who eat three meals per day. Remember, the higher our insulin level goes, the more fat we are going to deposit around our bellies.
So, let's get more specific about how we should eat for good health and an anti-aging lifestyle. Remember, weight loss can be obtained without specific caloric restriction. What a relief! And weight loss alone does not necessarily translate into improved health status. One of the books mentioned earlier talks about people who are "skinny-fat." They are skinny, yet they have no muscle tone and therefore are actually flabby. A low glycemic load Mediterranean-style diet leads to both weight loss and a long healthy life. Low glycemic diets include nuts; legumes (like beans, peas and lentils); whole grains; a moderate amount of vegetables; and concentrated protein sources such as fish, chicken, eggs and beef (not hamburgers, salami or bologna, etc.); olive oil and avocados. Fruits are allowed; however, one must eat the entire orange rather than drinking orange juice. A glass of orange juice contains the equivalent of 13 teaspoons of sugar, which will raise the insulin level, cause our bodies to absorb it, and store it as fat. One-half hour later, our energy will crash and stress hormones will be released, telling our bodies to eat more. We can try to ignore this feeling and these hormones, but it won't change the outcome.
No matter how you feel about your motorcycle, your body is your most impor- tant machine. Fuel it correctly, and your energy will increase, your health problems will decrease and the healthy hormones that proper diet encourages will improve your sex life. If that's not encouragement to change your eating habits, what is?
Dr. John Alevizos is Board Certified in Family Practice as well as Anti-Aging Medicine. He has offices in Santa Ana and Irvine, CA., has been in private prac- tice for 17 years, owns three motorcy- cles and did his internship and residency at USC in Los Angeles.