Sandy KumskovRethinking Thin
January 24th 2008 00:55
Category: No Category
US science journalist Gina Kolata spent two years following a study at the University of Pennsylvania which compared the effectiveness of the low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet with a well-regarded low-calorie diet, the LEARN programme. After the study ended she wrote a very readable book called Rethinking Thin – the new science of weight loss and the myths and realities of dieting, published in 2007. (I got my copy from Amazon.)
She covers hard scientific research from Europe and the US into the causes of obesity and the results are expected if you follow the field, very surprising if you subscribe to the “eat less, exercise more, try harderharderharder” method of weight loss. You know, the one that every diet programme, diet supplement, diet food maker, and most diet book writers tells you will finally be the magic bullet that sorts your weight issue.
Results like:
. Inevitably, regardless of the level of personal and professional support the dieter receives, the body will regain almost all, if not all, and if not MORE than the weight lost.
. Weight, like height, is genetically determined. So you can no more control your weight (outside of a relatively small range) than you can control your height
. The theory that eating X calories causes X amount of weight gain/loss, has been thoroughly disproven many times.
. Weight can only be successfully limited within a 10 to 20 pound weight range – that is, the range that the body determines is healthy
. Fat people eat only a few hundred calories a day more than thin people do, but their bodies are much more efficient at storing those calories as fat.
. When naturally-thin people participated in a study to see how they could retain weight gained by over-feeding during the study, they did very well at gaining weight. Once the study ended, without dieting they all regained their normal weight. That is, they lost weight easily without going on a weight-loss programme.
. Almost no-one, thin people included, does enough physical activity anymore to really make a difference to their body weight
. Per capita, food intake is DECREASING. Total calories from fat is DECLINING.
So why the “obesity epidemic”?
Science doesn’t know.
But what I know is that choosing healthy fresh foods (ones you actually like) that nourish your body, moving your bones, and nourishing your spirit with self-acceptance, will make you feel fabulous!
Once scientist, Jules Hirsch at Rockefeller University is quoted as saying that the human race is changing for some reason, and body weight is only part of it. Our intelligence has increased, our height has increased. He speculates it might be due to better early nutrition or less disease early in life.
Interestingly, metaphysicians say that the vibration of human consciousness has also increased in the last twenty or so years.
Anyway it's a really interesting book, full of the latest research into this mystery, and well worth a read.
She covers hard scientific research from Europe and the US into the causes of obesity and the results are expected if you follow the field, very surprising if you subscribe to the “eat less, exercise more, try harderharderharder” method of weight loss. You know, the one that every diet programme, diet supplement, diet food maker, and most diet book writers tells you will finally be the magic bullet that sorts your weight issue.
Results like:
. Inevitably, regardless of the level of personal and professional support the dieter receives, the body will regain almost all, if not all, and if not MORE than the weight lost.
. Weight, like height, is genetically determined. So you can no more control your weight (outside of a relatively small range) than you can control your height
. The theory that eating X calories causes X amount of weight gain/loss, has been thoroughly disproven many times.
. Weight can only be successfully limited within a 10 to 20 pound weight range – that is, the range that the body determines is healthy
. Fat people eat only a few hundred calories a day more than thin people do, but their bodies are much more efficient at storing those calories as fat.
. When naturally-thin people participated in a study to see how they could retain weight gained by over-feeding during the study, they did very well at gaining weight. Once the study ended, without dieting they all regained their normal weight. That is, they lost weight easily without going on a weight-loss programme.
. Per capita, food intake is DECREASING. Total calories from fat is DECLINING.
So why the “obesity epidemic”?
Science doesn’t know.
But what I know is that choosing healthy fresh foods (ones you actually like) that nourish your body, moving your bones, and nourishing your spirit with self-acceptance, will make you feel fabulous!
Once scientist, Jules Hirsch at Rockefeller University is quoted as saying that the human race is changing for some reason, and body weight is only part of it. Our intelligence has increased, our height has increased. He speculates it might be due to better early nutrition or less disease early in life.
Interestingly, metaphysicians say that the vibration of human consciousness has also increased in the last twenty or so years.
Anyway it's a really interesting book, full of the latest research into this mystery, and well worth a read.
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Sandy Kumskov
Body Mad
Which then prompts the discussion about why we treat fat people so badly, eh?
Another day........