Evil Foods are nothing New
So we’ve all heard about the potential problem too much sugar can cause, and even too much carbohydrates in general regardless of it’s in the form of pure sugar.
The Hunt is on for Evil Foods
And of course saturated and trans fats are also bad.
It’s true that too much carbohydrate and sugar can cause measurable problems like advanced glycation end products (an issue with too much blood glucose) as well as affecting triglyceride levels (one of the circulating forms of fat).
It’s also true that excess dietary fat can cause cardivascular disease issues.
This information is likely nothing new to you as you and I are constantly bombarded with waves of media about the evils of sugar and fat.
But what is never talked about is the amount of each that might/could cause these issues? And even further the issue of total calories is never brought up.
It seems that the negative issues both sugar/carbs and fat can cause are also related to the total amount of calories you’re eating.
In other words, if you’re not eating too much overall, it seems unlikely that the mix or type of fat and carbs you eat will really have much of an impact on any of the health issues we’ve mentioned above.
A bigger issue that isn’t brought up is the stress that excessive calories puts on the body as a whole. There is a systemic inflammatory response that chronic overeating causes, and this response contributes to all of the lifestyle disorders that we associated with a ‘poor diet’.
The problem is that the focus gets shifted towards finding a food to demonize instead of the real culprit: too much food.
This proverbial food ‘witch hunt’ has been going on for longer than you or I have been alive and we just happen to be living in the most obsessive and information accessible time so it just seems even worse.
If you research the modern history of the physical culture and diet movement you’ll find that as early as the late 1800′s there were books and diets demonizing carbs, or fat, or protein (yes even protein has taken a turn as the evil food we should never eat)
It seems as though nothing has changed in the past 100 years. We’re still looking for the evil foods to blame for the problems that overeating causes.
I guess as long as this sort of misunderstanding is going on there will always be a need for someone like me to constantly repeat this simple message of ‘less total food’.
John
6 Responses to “Evil Foods are nothing New”
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October 4th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Hi John,
If it is determined that 70-120 grams of protein are optimal for muscle mass, then do these same numbers apply in a caloric deficit?
Jason
October 4th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
John, I was pleased to hear several weekends ago while hanging out with my sister-in-law, who is a dietician for a hospital, saying pretty much the same thing. My mom started criticizing my brother for drinking soda all the time and not eating less junk food and then looked to our sister-in-law for her input. As family and my brother’s wife, she obviously has his best interest in mind, and she said that as long as he doesn’t overeat, he should be fine as he wouldn’t be getting too much sugar, “bad fat,” into his body. I don’t know if this is what she preaches everywhere or if it’s something she “confesses” with those who matter most in her life, but it’s always nice to hear things like this from healthcare practitioners.
October 4th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Jason,
Some of the research supporting the protein requirements was done on people in a caloric deficit. It’s hard to say if there is a significantly different requirement based on calorie deficit or surplus.
The reality is that it’s difficult to study humans in a calorie deficit. I don’t think there are any trials specifically designed to study ‘muscle gaining in a calorie deficit’. There is little clinical application for such a study. Most of the data is derived from patients with some other form of wasting condition and that is then extrapolated to a general calorie deficit.
JB
October 4th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
John,
I can’t access the Adonis Lifestyle podcast all of a sudden, it changed.
October 5th, 2010 at 2:40 am
The devil is in the dose !
October 19th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Hi John,
This post is on point, but it raises the question of “what causes overeating?”.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on hunger and satiety.