Fat, It Does/Does Not Do a Body Good

Friday Eve, May 17, 2012

Sugar and carbohydrates are making us fat, fat is not the problem.  It's causing us to become obese, diabetic and leading to heart disease. Conversely, the the spread of a Western diet, rich in fat, is making once thin countries obese, diabetic and leading to heart disease. 

In trying to understand what foods I should eat and what I should avoid makes me feel a bit like Rod Serling from the Twilight Zone.  Sometimes it gets so contradictory I feel like starting out by saying, "presenting for your consideration..."  



And really presenting for your consideration...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level: 94 mg/dl.  Now if would just stay there. 
• Weight:  187ish again.
• Exercise:  45 minutes.  Hard to get going this morning, but the weather was cool and humidity low for Houston.  I was flying again. 
• Mood:  8.0

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal cooked the old fashioned way, in the microwave, and the usual morning fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Chicken Salad Sandwich and some carrots. 
• Dinner:  It's Friday Eve, that means pizza and salad.
• Snacks:  A thin slice of the chocolate desert the Charming Mrs. SWMBO made last Sunday.  Still got a bit of a sugar buzz this time.  Sigh. 

Fat Makes Us Fat.

I am going to start here.  The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Africa is facing a growing problem of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.  The population traditionally has been thin there (sometimes starving, but that's another matter all together) and consumed much of its calories in the form of carbohydrates.  Now as the continent shifts to a more Western style diet, namely high in fat, it is getting the health conditions found in wealthier Western countries.

I guess that's good in one respect.  Africa may be getting wealthier.

Two more Western sins are mentioned as well, smoking and lack of exercise. 

Fat Does Not Make Us Fat

Gary Taubes is a writer I respect a lot.  He has been reporting on diet for a long time and has written two very good books (here and here)on the foods we eat, mainly about how sugar and highly processed carbohydrates are making people fat.

He had a good critique of an HBO series called "Weight of the Nation" in the Daily Beast.  The series is about how we eat too much and exercise too little and that explains why we get fat.  We have to better follow the government's food pyramid and watch our portions.  (Note, I don't have HBO and can't watch it, so I depend on second hand reports.  I trust Taubes a lot to report acurately.)

Taubes has long written that the government's food pyramid is wrong and we should be eating less grains and starches, not more.  Portion size is also not that critical.  He notes we as a nation are following the food pyramid and it is not working.  We are getting fat because we are following the government's advice.

For Taubes, calories are not created equal. It's not that we are necessarily eating too much that is making us fat.  We eat too many of the wrong calories in the form of refined sugars and starches.  That in turn affect insulin and  are more likely to make us fat because those foods affect insulin, making us insulin resistant and eventually fat accumulates and we get obese. 

If we want to weigh less, we have to eat less sugar and refined carbohydrates.  Fat really does not matter.  Have cheeseburger, just no bread.

Oh, and exercise doesn't really help either.

Then there is this.

Fat Makes Us Fat. No, Really, It Does.

A very dry scientific paper describing why we get fat and diabetic.  I had to look up half the words in it and it talked way more about cell structure than I really care to know.  The key bit, however, is this:  Eat too much high fatty food and you get fat and diabetic. 

My advise is, as always, find a diet you like, that works for you and that you can stick with for the rest of your life.  There are a lot out there to choose.  And enjoy your life.  You are not getting out alive.