The devil is in the dose.

If you browse around the cyber-inter-web-o-sphere and look around for ‘healthy nutrition’ information you’ll likely find a big list of  “items to avoid”.

Here are some of the common ones I can think of off the top of my head:

Saturated Fat

Trans Fat

Sugar

Artificial Sweeteners

Genetically Modified Anything (which is ridiculous considering about 80% of the modern food supply has some level of modification…these people are living in a fantasy world)

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Non Local Foods (the 100 mile diet people think it’s possible to eat just from their local area…with no conception of how impossible this is from an economic standpoint)

Red Meat

Butter

Refined White Flour (or anything that is made with white flour)

I’m guessing you recognize most of the items on this list and have heard or read somewhere why each one is “bad for you”.

So whats left to eat?

Some veggies, maybe a bit of fruit…perhaps an egg white…

But even too many of one type of veggie could cause a problem if nothing more than some serious gastro intestinal discomfort.

The point is that none of these things are bad at a manageable dose.

The issue with most foods is never the food itself, it’s always the dose.

A teaspoon of sugar in your coffee just makes it a really tasty coffee.

Consuming pounds of sugar on a weekly basis in the form of sweet snacks, dressings, baked goods etc…now you’re asking for diabetes.

Just remember that the devil is always in the dose never in the food itself.

John

For Most of us a lack of Thyroid Hormone is NOT the cause of weight gain.

Sticking with the hormone theme we’re going to discuss thyroid hormone today based on a request from Lillea.

I’ll try to knock this out in a way that makes sense without leading to more questions but rather leading to at least some sort of understanding.

Thyroid hormones T3 and T4 are released from your thyroid gland (located in your neck) and they affect all cells of your body. They basically tell the cell what pace to work at (this is a very unscientific term but you get the point)

Too much thyroid hormone and your cells start working overtime, this can lead to a whole host of problems including irritability, restlessness, anxiety, hair loss, muscle aches, intolerance to heat, weakness, tremors, hypoglycemia, and many other symptoms, one of them being weight loss.

But any weight loss effect you might get from being hyperthyroid isn’t worth living with the other effects.

In short, it would really suck!

The most common cause is an autoimmune disease known as “graves disease”, a less common cause is an inflammation of the thyroid gland (there are also other even more rare causes that aren’t worth discussing here)

Hypothyroid is the reverse (having low thyroid output) which may also be caused by an inflammation of the thyroid.

Some of the symptoms are fatigue, depression, cold intolerance, muscle cramps, poor muscle tone, osteoporosis, weight gain, water retention.

In summary, hypothyroidism would also suck!

The point being that hormonal manipulation to cause weight loss (in this case thyroid hormone) is likely not a viable option considering all of the other issue it could present.

If you feel like you have a weight problem because of an underactive thyroid this can easily be tested for, and you would likely have many other symptoms as well.

With that said, underactive thyroid is rare and in most people’s cases they’re perfectly healthy and simply eat a bit too much.

So if you REALLY think you have a thyroid problem I suggest doing some simple google type internet research first and then booking an appointment with your physician to get yourself tested if you seem to have the signs and symptoms of thyroid deficiency.

BUT if you make it all the way to getting tested don’t be surprised if your levels are perfectly normal and that most of your signs and symptoms weren’t due to thyroid deficiency but rather an inactive lifestyle.

John

Imagine Your Body is a Race Car and You're the Driver

Certain hormones have become buzz words in the diet and fitness media and I get a lot of questions about them. People want to know more about each hormone that they’ve heard of like, insulin, glucagon, growth hormone, leptin, ghrelin etc.

But my question back would be…what for?

Having a technical explanation of the workings of a particular hormone (which btw is impossible without taking a physiology degree to understand it) isn’t going to make you any better at losing weight or controlling the look and feel of your body.

Imagine your body is like a car, how you drive it, where you take it and how you treat it, and what you put into it is going to determine how successful you will be at weight loss…getting a mechanic to explain the inner workings of the engine and the transmission isn’t really going to change your ability to drive.

What you need is a driving coach, not a mechanic. (which is the difference between having a weight loss coach and asking some scientist to explain a hormonal pathway)

So this is my answer to every question about every hormone.

For starters we should just define what a hormone is.

In the simplest terms and hormone is just a chemical messenger that is usually (but not always) released in one part of the body and travels to another part of the body to tell a system/orgran/group of cells to change/augment it’s function.

The original location of the hormone and it’s destination is different and varies from one hormone to the next.

For example insulin is secreted by the pancreas and exerts an effect at the liver and muscle and fat tissues all over your body to uptake nutrients.

Leptin is produced by adipose tissue (fat cells) and goes to a spot in your brain (hypothalamus) and has some effect on appetite which isn’t fully understood.

Growth hormone is secreted from a gland in your brain and has effects on all tissues of the body, promoting lipolysis, muscle growth and cellular repair just to name a few.

Each of these and hundreds more hormones are doing their thing all day long regardless if you’ve read about them or not.

The point is that knowing anything more about these hormones isn’t going to help you lose weight…but finding a way to eat less calories will!

I think too many people are getting caught up worrying about what his under the hood of the car when all they really need to do is spend more time practicing driving.

John

The Claim: Low insulin levels are correlated with a shift to a high percentage of fat burning

Answer: FACT

Although insulin level is correlated to fat loss, it’s not the only hormone responsible for controlling fat storage and burning.

Growth hormone is also essential to cause fat to be released from stores and burned.

In other words, the COMBINATION of low insulin and high growth hormone is the key to releasing and burning fat. Low insulin alone cannot do this by itself.

But none of this is anything you have to worry about because growth hormone will naturally be high when insulin is low (assuming you’re a healthy adult without any diagnosed insulin or growth hormone disorder)

So although this is technically a fact, it’s irrelevant and useless information and focusing on manipulating insulin through weird diets like low carb has caused more harm than good for most people.

John

The Claim: Adding an extra pound of muscle to your body causes you to burn about 50 more calories per day

Answer: FACTOID

Muscle tissue only burns about 5 calories per day. This is a well established scientific fact that you can easily verify with a quick browse through the scientific literature. The most metabolically active tissues are your internal organs (heart, liver, kidneys, brain etc).

There is a persistent factoid that 1 pound of muscle burns all kinds of extra calories and a common number cited is around 50 calories per pound of muscle. I’m not sure where this number comes from because there isn’t any scientific evidence to back this up.

If weight loss is your goal then adding muscle isn’t going to help. You gotta eat less calories.

John

The Claim: Your metabolic rate is determined by your fat free mass

Answer: FACT

Your metabolic rate is most closely correlated with your fat free mass (lean body mass). Your fat free mass is all the parts of your body that aren’t fat (rather obvious explanation)…this includes organs, bones, skeletal muscles and extracellular water.

The most metabolically active tissue of your lean body mass is your internal organs which account for approx 80% of your BMR.

The metabolic activity of your organs is tightly regulated and predictable and there isn’t much you can do to change it. Don’t bother comparing yourself to others (as someone else’s ability to burn calories will never help you burn them)

There are some pretty good metabolic rate calculators online that do a decent job of estimating metabolic rate.

I’m 6’0 tall and about 183lbs and my BMR comes out to around 1900 calories per day which is pretty accurate.

If you use a metabolic rate calculator online don’t bother with the activity factor calculation because they tend to waaay overestimate calories burned from activity. If anything just use the BMR calculated as a general guideline if what you need…oh, and probably go with the lowest estimate you can find as some of the calculators also overestimate quite a bit.

John

The Claim: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and kickstarts your metabolism. If you skip breakfast you’ll overeat at the end of the day and you won’t perform as well at work/school.

Answer: FACTOID

Eating breakfast has no special effect on your metabolism or metabolic rate as it were. If you like to eat breakfast then by all means go ahead, but don’t expect it to help with your ability to burn calories.

There is some persistent claim that breakfast can also help with cognitive function but this research was only shown to have an effect in children. It may very well be that growing children might do better in school if they get something to eat in the morning simply because it keeps them happy and more attentive in class. Whatever the case may be it is clear that there is no effect of breakfast on adults.

So, eat breakfast if you like, but be aware that it’s not going to have a special effect on your ability to burn fat or get work done.

John

Unless you have a degree in human biology…and in many cases even if you do…you do not understand what ‘metabolism’ means.

Eating Less Calories isn't Dangerous for your Metabolism

This word gets thrown around the fitness and diet media and is used to scare people into thinking there is a dangerous level of calories that will destroy their metabolism. This of course is a false premise considering your ‘metabolism’ isn’t a thing that can be destroyed or sped up or slowed down (not without drugs).

“metabolism’ is just the sum of the processes of your body on a cellular/systemic level…that’s it…that’s all it’s ever been…nothing more. So what…who cares. Why do fitness marketers keep talking about it?! I’ll never know.

And there is virtually nothing you can do to change this.

Eating at or below your actual BMR isn’t going to ‘damage’ your metabolism any more than eating above it. And speaking of which, why don’t marketers suggest that there could be ‘metabolic damage’ when people overeat!? …anyone…anyone? Right just what I thought, this lie doesn’t lead to lucrative weight loss products.

The following claims are false and are your best way to know that a person is clueless about biology and physiology and nutrition if they say:

Eating too few calories is going to ‘slow’ your metabolism (unless they’re referring to people who are starving to death…and are in fact about to die)

that there are foods that can ‘damage’ your metabolism

That you can speed up or slow down your metabolism (without drugs…and that this would be a good thing in either direction)

That a slow metabolism is responsible for weight gain

that a fast metabolism is responsible for weight loss

That you have any control whatsoever over your metabolic rate

That your meal timing or exercise timing can affect your metabolic rate

…and any other garbage claim you hear from any fitness marketer with the word “metabolism” in it…

If you see any of the above claims, you can be assured that the person who said them is sorely lacking in their understanding of how the body works.

If you want to lose weight…EAT LESS than you are currently eating. End of story.

John

You’re unique, just like a snowflake…you’re one of a kind…just like everybody else! So here is your special bear to make you feel good about being so special.

Just for you, cuz you're special!

Ok so now that we’ve all stroked our ego’s enough and reminded ourselves that we’re ‘special’ lets get down to the business of exercise and diet.

I hate to have to be the one to break this to you (actually no I don’t, I love bringing stuff like this up), but when it comes to diet and exercise, you’re not special…you’re not even unique…in fact you and me and everyone else is very easily measured and categorized into general and predictable groups.

Fitness/nutrition marketers will stroke your ego and tell you that not only are you special, but so is your metabolism and your body, and that you need a special diet and exercise program…they’ll go on to say that the only reason you’re not satisfied with your body (if you’re in fact not satisfied with it right now) is because nobody has come up with a diet or workout that addresses your specific unique needs.

I find it rather ironic that this marketing message of unique one-of-a-kindness is trumpeted to a mass audience…

This marketing strategy plays right into each of our personal stories that we tell ourselves on a daily basis. It allows us to validate all of our shortcomings and fears and it removes the responsibility from us for the way our bodies look…this sets the trap that leaves us highly vulnerable to fall for the next fitness/diet item that is designed ‘just for us’.

There are lots of things that make you truly one of a kind; where you grew up, how you were raised, things you like and don’t like, your specific personality traits and quirks, your finger prints, your voice, even your gait (how you walk).

So don’t worry, you really are unique (just like everybody else! ha…sorry I can’t help but add that part in because it’s just so ironic)

So this is where reality sets in and the uniqueness ends and the commonalities begin.

This is the list of just some of the things that you and everyone else have in common:

1. There is a finite and predictable amount of muscle you can build based on your height and somatotype (assuming you’re not using steroids)

2. Your metabolic rate is determined by your lean body mass and is pretty much fixed within a tight range (see point 1 for explanation)

3. The only way you can lose weight is eating less calories than you burn (for real, this actually applies to everyone)

4.  Your body digests and reacts to food just like everyone else’s (give or take a couple items you might be allergic to or a congenital bowel disease)

So in general, your body isn’t as unique as your personality is.

And that is a good thing. That means you don’t need to search high and low for exercise and diet advice that will work for you. In fact what worked for most other people will work just fine for you too.

So have fun during your special day today, but remember that we’re mostly the same when it comes to exercise and metabolism.

John

#10 – Obese people have slower basal metabolic rates than non-obese people

Answer: FALSE

This is a common fallacy to assume that obese or overweight people have a slower metabolic rate and that they are somehow just not burning enough calories. From here the thinking is they can lose weight by increasing their metabolism and in turn increase the amount of calories they are burning.

The reality is that overweight and obese people (when compared to height and age matched non overweight people) have a higher metabolism and would burn more calories on a daily basis.

A bigger body that has more mass and is processing more food is simply doing more work. Metabolism is just the description of all the metabolic processes going on in your body.

If you’re body is bigger than mine and you regularly eat more food than I do, then you’re body is busy processing that food and laying down more fat mass (which is more work). This actually translates to a higher metabolic rate or a greater degree of calories burned per day compared to someone who isn’t as big and not eating as much. None of this adds up to weight loss.

It just means that a bigger body has a bigger metabolism, and a smaller body has a smaller metabolism.

If you want to actually see some weight loss results/success I suggest you forget about the word metabolism. Strike it from your vocabulary and focus on eating less food.

Any weight loss product that is making a claim about changing or speeding up your metabolism is bogus and I wouldn’t waste even a second reading about it let alone a penny buying it.

John