Eating Low Carb Burns More Calories
Eating a diet rich in protein and lean on carbs may burn more calories according to a study published in the Nutrition Journal. It’s all about the laws of thermodynamics, you know, those silly little equations that claim energy is never lost, except when it comes to exchanging heat. Researchers Richard Feinman and Eugene Fine claim that “a calorie is a calorie” actually violates the second law of thermodynamics, which predicts that various sources of energy will lose more heat when burned. So what does this mean when it comes to dieting?
Plenty. Protein and carbohydrates are processed differently in the body. Protein has the thermodynamic edge, because more energy is released as heat than is converted into chemical energy or glucose. So although a chunk of steak and a bowl of noodles carry equal calories, the amount of energy the body scours from them to fuel movement or store as fat is quite different.
This would explain, according to Feinman, why two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine found that those on a low carb, high protein diet shed three times as much weight as those on a low fat diet after six months. Further evidence for this argument can be found in a study done by Dr. Astrup in Denmark, Copenhagen. He studied 12 men in a room and measured scientifically how much energy each man burned when fed a diet high in protein or carbs. Men who ate lean protein, such as pork, put out 4% more heat than those on a high carbohydrate diet, not to mention they lost more weight.
All this is good news for people enjoying a low carb lifestyle, but don=t expect the diet world to embrace Feinman=s opinion with open arms. Experts still claim the main reason people lose weight on a low-carb diet is because they eat fewer calories. But could there be another reason?
Unlike high carbohydrate diets, protein triggers a response in the stomach that affects motility and stimulates the release of glucagon, a hormone that helps us to burn previously stored fat. In normal people, within thirty minutes of eating a small amount of protein, glucagon starts to rise, peaking at two hours. In fact, glucagon can stay elevated in blood for several hours after a protein rich meal. This gives your body plenty of time to use the fat stored around your waist and hips for fuel. Combine this with Feinman’s argument regarding the second law of thermodynamics and high protein/low-carb eating should have the metabolic advantage over low fat and calorically restricted diets when it comes to losing weight.
Diet choices are like hats – not all fit or look good on everyone. But if you suffer from heart disease or diabetes, choosing a lifestyle that emphasizes a diet rich in lean protein, moderate amounts of fats and low glycemic carbohydrates can go a long way towards cheating the Grim Reaper.
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Good Carbs Lead to Weight Loss
You read that correctly. Consuming good carbs can lead to sustained weight loss, according to a study in The American Journal of Epidemiology. People who ate more refined grains, starchy vegetables, white flour and similar carbohydrates were significantly heavier than people who ate foods with “good carbohydrates” such as whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seeds. It wasn’t the total amount of carbohydrates that made the difference, it was the type of carbohydrates eaten that tipped the scales. “There are many factors involved in obesity, but our study found a clear association with eating certain carbohydrates and body weight,” said Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at UMMS, and lead author of the study.
Dr. Ma’s team analyzed data collected from 572 people in Worcester County from 1994 to 1998, as part of a National Institutes of Heath-funded blood cholesterol study conducted by Ira S. Ockene, MD, the David J. and Barbara D. Milliken Professor of Preventive Cardiology and professor of medicine at UMMS. Each subject was followed for one year, with his or her eating patterns charted at five different times during that year. Ma’s team also examined the physical activity of the subjects to control for the variables of exercise and energy consumption, thereby focusing the analysis solely on the connection between eating various food containing carbohydrates and body weight.
The carbohydrates were classified based on their glycemic index (GI) which is a measure of how much and how fast a food raises a person’s blood sugar level. Foods with a high GI value rapidly spike blood sugar, while foods with a low GI value can help control blood sugar levels. Several other studies have shown that blood sugar levels are related to fat deposition in tissues because, when blood sugar spikes, insulin is elevated and that prompts the body’s fat and muscle cells to absorb the sugar in the blood and store it as fat.
Carbohydrates are the foods that most severely affect the GI of a person’s diet. Items like potatoes, refined grains, pasta, overly processed breads, starchy vegetables and ingredients such as refined sugars and flour, have the highest GI values. For example, a baked potato has a GI of 85 and an ear of corn’s GI is 60. Other carbohydrates such as whole grains, nuts, many fruits and most vegetables, have lower GI values. A cup of broccoli, for example, has a GI of 0.
Based on the population in Dr. Ma’s study, people weighed 9.6 pounds less for every 10-point reduction in the combined glycemic index of their diet. In other words, a person with a GI of 95 typically weighed nearly 10 pounds more than someone in the study with a GI of 85, all other factors being equal. “Nearly 10 pounds is a clinically significant difference,” said Barbara Olendzki, RD, MPH, an instructor in medicine at UMMS and a co-author of the study. “One of the takeaway messages of these findings is that if people can lower the GI of their diet by choosing the best carbohydrates to eat, they should be able to lose some weight. Those lower GI foods can also be helpful for appetite control.”
Recent national studies have shown that the number of Americans who are obese has jumped 61% since 1991. Today, some two-thirds of Americans are overweight (BMI of 25 to 30), with nearly 30 percent of the country’s adult population now considered obese. The rise in obesity is believed to be a key factor in the dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes in the United States. During the same time frame, several studies have documented a significant drop in the overall fat content of the American diet. That data, coupled with the findings published this month from Dr. Ma’s study, suggest that it is the type of carbohydrate in a person’s diet, along with proper exercise and overall caloric intake, that is most relevant in affecting body weight. “We must continue to examine all the factors that play a role in obesity. In the meantime I hope these findings will help people make better choices in their diet and help those who are motivated, to lose weight and improve their quality of life,” Dr. Ma said.
So, don’t think you need to avoid eating carbs in your life. Just make wise choices and your waistline will thank you.
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Top Low Carb Diet High Fiber Breakfast Options
High Fiber Means Lower Blood Sugar Response to Carbs
A high fiber low carb diet breakfast fuels your body throughout the
day, but most low carb diets don’t emphasize the importance of keeping
fiber in your diet. So I’ve gathered some easy recommendations for my
Top Low Carb Diet High Fiber Breakfast Options:
- Steel cut oats, raisins and 2% milk. Whole grain breakfast
foods are digested more slowly, which keeps the glycemic load
down. Just 2 tablespoons of raisins are allowed. - Yogurt topped with Wheat Germ, blueberries and nuts Now this
is a great, easy breakfast treat. I use organic full fat yogurt, but
you can use a low fat one, and sprinkle the crunchy wheat germ and
fiber rich blueberries on top. I even sweeten it with some sucralose.
My choice for nuts is a sprinkling of sliced almonds. Yum! - Cottage cheese and berries I often have this for either breakfast
or lunch, using a 2% fat cottage cheese and raspberries and blueberries. - Omelets, low carb toast and 1/2 grapefruit or orange. Making
an omelet is easy. Add some carb controlled bread, such as the new
Atkin’s approved Orowheat brand, and 1/2 of a fiber rich grapefruit
of fresh orange and you’ve got loads of fiber. - Cheese, avocado, tomato sandwich Who says you can’t have
a sandwich for breakfast? Just take some carb controlled whole wheat
bread ( I take one slice and cut it in half), add a slice of provolone
cheese, some tomatoes and slices of avocado and top with the other
slice of bread. - Cold Low GI Cereal Breakfast cereal brands are changing dramatically, and ones like Kashi, Fiber One, All Bran and Nature’s Path Organic Optimum Slim are high in fiber, relatively low in carbs and full of good, crunchy taste.
Research studies have shown that children who eat a high-fiber, low
sugar breakfast were less hungry at lunchtime and ate less than children
fed a high sugar, low fiber cereal. Another study reported that people
who ate refined grains stripped of their fiber were MORE likely to gain
weight or be overweight than those eating a natural high-fiber whole
grains.
References: Pediatrics. 2003 Nov;112(5):e414.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jul;82(1 Suppl):265S-273S
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Rebound Weight Gain for Yo-Yo Dieters
New Study Explains Rebound Weight Gain
You read the title correctly. In a study published in the American
Journal of Human Biology, researchers studied the sad irony of obesity
in developing food-starved nations. “In the same household, you can
have a chubby kid and a starving kid,” , the lead researcher, stated.
He argues that obesity in developing nations is a result of the body’s
attempts to cope with childhood malnourishment. The phenomena is similar
to yo-yo dieting, where dieters who have deprived themselves gain weight
at faster rates than non-dieters when they begin eating normally again.
Under normal nutritional conditions, humans only absorb about 80 percent
of the nutrients from the food they eat, and the rest of the nutrients
pass through the body. But when deprived of nourishment, the body becomes
a super efficient machine, Frisancho said, pulling all the nutrients
from the food for energy. Further, because humans need a certain percentage
of body fat reserves to stay alive and because it takes more work for
the body to burn fat than carbohydrate, the body in starvation mode
learns to burn carbohydrate for energy and to store fat, rather than
to use the energy for growth.
I have never been a fan of induction stages of dieting, which are often
prolonged beyond the first two weeks of any diet. As demonstrated in
this article, continuous restriction of carbohydrates will only result
in rebound weight gain. That’s why it’s so important to choose the RIGHT
carbs to eat and to maintain a healthy ratio of about 35% of your diet
as high fiber, low glycemic carbs if you want to prevent rebound weight
gain when aiming for a maintenance, healthy diet.
Reduced rate of fat oxidation: a metabolic pathway to obesity in the
developing nations,
Am J Hum Biol. 2003 Jul-Aug;15(4):522-32.
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