Today we revisit T-Nation and take a look at an article that is actually quite decent, although a bit slanted and shortsighted. The article is called ‘The Insidious Formula for Fat Gain,’ and is written by Jade Teta, a former personal trainer turned “doctor.”
As usual, he begins with the ‘calorie’ dogma, stating that eating too many “calories” and “burning” too few will make you gain weight. No, doc. Calories are a measurement of heat production, a measurement used in physics, not in physiology. And you can not “burn” a measurement of heat production. So, instead, let’s use the correct terms, as in consuming too many energy containing macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, and protein. Using the term “calories” only show that you are a pseudo-scientific retard, bleating the same idiotic dogma as the other sheep.
And with that being said, the “energy in” vs. “energy out,” is very limited thinking and most of the time totally wrong, as there are many more factors in play, and we will touch on some of them in this article review.
Then he continues with a valid question, “but if that’s all there is to getting fat, why do sleep deprivation and chronic stress have such an impact on fat gain?”
Well, that have been explained in German New Medicine, and it’s also common sense as we get into hormones. But let’s see where he is going.
He then goes on with some pretty good views, almost sounding like he’s quoting my old TDEE and calorie article, as he writes, “the body is a highly complex biochemical machine, not a simple math equation. When you really begin to look into the question, “What makes us gain weight?” you find it’s a bit more complex than the “eat less, exercise more” model leads us to believe.”
Then he presents the ‘fat gain formula,’ which he states as:
(F + S) x St = Fat Gain
High fat (F) along with high sugar (S) combined with stress (St) is the recipe for fat gain.
And yes, this is true, although it’s not the whole picture. Sugar, as in carbohydrates, is the key-factor here. As you should know, we humans are not meant to consume carbohydrates, unless really necessary for survival. All kinds of carbohydrates are simply sugars that breaks down to glucose, and glucose is extremely toxic and deadly in high amounts. That is why our blood sugar (glucose) levels are so tightly controlled by the use of insulin, and why people with high blood sugar, as in diabetics, develop such a wide array of “diseases,” especially of the cardiovascular system as in arteries and blood vessels.
When you consume carbohydrates, the removal of glucose take priority in your body and using fat as fuel is temporarily halted. This means increased storage of both glucose and available fats as body fat. So, yes, while the formula is true, it only is so because of carbohydrates. If you only consume fat or fat and protein, this does not happen. And this author, Jade Teta, forget to mention this crucial fact (or he was censored,) which is not surprising as T-Nation sells supplements and other toxic garbage, loaded with carbohydrates.
Also, another very important factor in weight gain is toxicity, as fat tissue is used for storing toxins to keep your organs from being overloaded. So, if you are exposed to a lot of chemicals, toxins, and poisons, you will gain fat much more easily.
He then continues with, “a high-fat/sugar combination has been shown in mammals to completely disrupt the normal metabolic regulation that occurs with either high-fat or high-sugar diets.”
Yes, that is true, but it’s not the full context. Again, this disruption is because of the carbohydrates. We humans are meant to consume animal fats for energy, and doing so, elicit no negative response at all. Gaining a lot of body fat while consuming only the fat and protein of animals is very hard. But if you add some dairy, as in milk sugars, packing on body fat becomes much easier. If you consume a high fat diet, just adding a little bit of carbohydrates, such as a spoon of honey, a cup of yoghurt or milk, can make you gain fat, if you go beyond your energy requirements. But if you eat exactly the same, and instead of that honey or dairy, you consume the equivalent energy from fats, you will gain no body fat at all. This is due to the toxicity priority and bodily stress of carbohydrates, and also that of hormones. As I said, there is much more to “energy in” vs. “energy out.”
Then Jade goes into a ‘rat experiment,’ where they had three groups of rats being fed either ‘high carb,’ high fat,’ or ‘high carb and high fat.’ All three groups were overfed and gained weight. The ‘high carb’ and ‘high fat’ groups self-regulated their food intake and adapted by consuming less and less. The ‘high carb and high fat’ group did not, suggesting that eating a high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet caused a loss in the ability to properly regulate appetite, almost like an appetite-stimulating drug. We’ve seen this in humans as well, and it’s not surprising.
Then he goes into the stress factor. Here he touches on cortisol, catecholamines, and NPY. “When under acute stress, we release more of the catecholamines and cortisol. When we’re under chronic stress, we release more NPY.”
He breaks it down as follows, “And, unlike the catecholamines and cortisol, which are mainly catabolic hormones (i.e., they burn fat), NPY makes you gain fat, especially when it’s around cortisol. When NPY is released in large amounts, it causes fat cells to go from immature baby fat cells to full-grown, mature fat cells. And cortisol makes the body more responsive to NPY. In other words, NPY makes us grow more fat cells, and cortisol enhances its efficiency to do so.”
Again, this is logical as it serves as a protective mechanism when stressed and concerned, forcing your body to gain fat reserves as in facing a looming famine. Our body always prioritizes survival, and that breaks down to nourishment and energy reserves. Also, stress interfere with your anabolic hormones as well, and it makes you snack to get a quick fix and release, always elevating that blood sugar.
He then concludes his article with the following statement, “We can see that high-fat, high-sugar foods aren’t just simply high-calorie, but they also cause us to lose our ability to regulate and suppress hunger. They cause hyperphagia (the fancy medical term for continuous eating). And, when we add chronic stress on top of this, we create the perfect fat-storing atomic bomb. The solution? Well, obviously, don’t follow the fat gain formula.”
Yes, however, the real solution is to not consume carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are unnatural and not part of our species-appropriate, species-specific diet.
Also, one other very important reason for “hyperphagia,” the physiological state of always feeling hungry and experience cravings, is that of nutrition deficiencies. And guess what kind of food lacks any kind of micronutrients? Yes, man-made ‘high-carbohydrate, high-fat’ foods. That is the main problem, that of consuming a ton of food stuffs, but still being malnourished since the food quality is abysmal (as in any plant-based and man-made food.)
And no, you cannot fix that by consuming toxic man-made chemical imitations of vitamins and minerals. That is another scam. You need to consume our natural species-appropriate foods of animal fats and animal proteins.
All-in-all, this was a decent article, so props to Jade Teta. I do not know if he was not allowed (as in censored) to spill the truth on carbohydrates, or if he’s still a bit trapped in the propaganda and pseudo-science. He does seem a bit keto-ish, which is a good thing. The ketogenic diet is the first step to our natural diet, the carnivore diet. Either way, it was one of the better ones I reviewed in a long time.
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