By Scotty Nelson
Raver Guest Writer
Last year I wrote an article in the Raver giving suggestions about how to avoid gaining the excess body fat that some freshmen gain during their first year of college (The Freshman Fifteen). I am writing this article to apologize for making those weight loss suggestions. I made those suggestions based on conventional knowledge of, not on the actual science behind the regulation of weight. I hope this article will debunk the reasons why we gain body fat and in return allow whomever it may concern to make healthy dietary choices. In this article I will explain that obesity is a form malnutrition caused by abnormally high levels of insulin which in return starves the body at a cellular level.
In last year’s article I implied that one gains excess fat tissue (adipose tissue) by overeating and not exercising enough (gluttony and sloth). This is not the case and the scientific world seems to be absent of any long term clinical trials suggesting that gluttony and sloth will cause one to gain weight. I am sure that at this time you are referring back to your thermodynamics textbooks to make sure that you have the First Law of Thermodynamics memorized correctly, and most likely you do. It states: The change in energy in a system is equal to the energy in minus the energy out. Your body is as a system of energy and is no exception to this law, but simply claiming that overeating and under-exercising are causes of obesity is a misinterpretation of this law. Either way let us test the hypothesis that excess fat tissue is gained by gluttony and sloth (technically known as the positive caloric balance hypothesis).
The first question to ask with any hypothesis is: Can this hypothesis explain the observations in which it encounters? Let us derive our own observations with the following questions:
Do you know someone who is constantly trying to lose weight by cutting back on the calories and exercising, yet is still “overweight?”
Do you know someone who is “not overweight” who never stops eating and who does not exercise often?
Chances are you answered yes to both of them. If you answer yes to the first one, the only option according to the positive caloric balance hypothesis is that overweight people are lying about how much they are eating and exercising and that they have no self control. This is clearly not the case. If you answered yes to the second question, according to the positive caloric balance hypothesis is that all skinny people who “over eat” are lying about how much they eat and are closet athletes. This hypothesis also fails explain why obesity is has the highest association with poverty stricken areas (for example: all Indian reservations) in which the people of these are eating less and working more than us skinny rich people.
The previous observations are not and cannot be explained using the positive caloric balance hypothesis. Nor does this hypothesis explain why obesity and malnutrition exist together in the same societies. So why do we gain excess adipose tissue? Let me explain using very basic metabolic science.
Technically the only valid statement when can get when we apply the first law of thermodynamics to the body is that obesity is caused by excess fat accumulation in the body. So logically the next question would be: What controls the accumulation of fat in adipose tissue in the body? The answer is hormones. (i.e. women tend to gain fat around their hips, men in their bellies; women gain fat during puberty, men lose fat during puberty, etc.). The hormone that has the largest control over excess body accumulation is insulin. Insulin stops our body from converting triglycerides (stored in adipose tissue) to fatty acids which our body uses as energy when we are done eating. Insulin is naturally secreted by the body before and during meals to trigger hunger and insulin levels slowly decrease as time passes allowing us to retrieve fatty acids from our fat tissue and thus allowing us to live without constantly eating. So the next question would be: What causes our levels of insulin to rise above what our body naturally secretes? The answer is carbohydrates cause increased levels of insulin.
So why do we gain weight in the form of fat? Let me explain. Our body constantly needs energy, even when we are not eating, and the end user of this energy is our individual cells. If we have a healthy metabolism, our body will convert triglycerides in our adipose tissue into fatty acid and these fatty acids will then be broken down into energy for our cells. If we do not have a healthy metabolism when our cells call for energy they cannot get as much as they need because our insulin levels our abnormally high. Our body compensates by inducing hunger to get more energy (by secreting more insulin) and we eat more. When we are hungry we eat and if we eat more foods that induce high insulin levels (carbohydrates), this becomes a viscous cycle and we get hungry again because our cells still cannot get the energy that they want. If our cells do not have the energy they need we also get tired. Gluttony and sloth are underlying side effects of weight gain. In other words, we overeat and under exercise because we are getting fat, not the other way around.
I hope that this article gives you some insight on a scientific basis on the regulation of weight. In short, carbohydrates cause heightened levels of insulin and insulin prohibits our body from converting triglycerides into fatty acids to be used as energy. This prohibition causes one to become come hungry and over eat while limiting the amount of energy our bodies can use. Again I apologize for not basing last year’s article on science. I urge you not rely on conventional knowledge from our nutrition textbooks and the US dietary guidelines, but to rely on science and the accurate interpretation of observations relating to the regulation of weight. I also urge you to read the Raver’s nutritional column as it critical analyzes the nutritional topics from a scientific standpoint. So if you are looking to lose/avoid those freshman fifteen, next time you are hungry do not eat that that low fat cereal with skim milk (mostly carbohydrates) instead bite into some bacon and eggs with some heavy whipping cream. I am sure you will enjoy them and the lifelong health benefits that come with them.
