Part V – The Phantom Menace
The link between diet and disease is discussed in this lecture. We explore how diet causes heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke and cancer amongst other diseases and the implications for treatment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yoOx_7MLn0 Download Lecture Slides & Notes
Nutritionism’s Great Blunder
Dr. Ancel Keys has been accused of many great nutritional crimes, but his greatest blunder was the inadvertent triumph of nutritionism. Dr. Keys was one of the great proponents of saturated fat as one of the main determinants of the epidemic of coronary disease in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This led directly to the low...
Fibre reduces Insulin – How To Lose Weight X
When we consider the nutritional benefits of food, we think about the vitamins, minerals and nutrients they contain. We think about components in the food that nourish the body. Fibre is completely different. The key to understanding fibre’s effect is to realize that the benefit lies not as a nutrient, but as an anti-nutrient. Fibre...
Fibre – How To Lose Weight IX
Fibre is the non-digestible part of food, usually a carbohydrate. A more formal definition is the “dietary constituents that are not enzymatically degraded to absorbable subunits in the stomach and small intestine”. These are generally plant foods, but occasional animal foods such as liver glycogen are included. Common types of fibre include cellulose, hemicellulose, pectins,...
The Great Carbohydrate Debate – How to Lose Weight VIII
In the ongoing effort to lose weight, the uncontroversial first step is to reduce added sugars. The next step is to reduce refined carbohydrates. There are many diets that advocate increasing carbohydrate intake instead. And some of them do indeed work. Controversy surrounds the humble carbohydrate. Is it good or bad? From the mid 1950’s...
Wheat – How to Lose Weight VII
Wheat is one of the most vilified foods in the nutritional world. From gluten concerns to obesity, the poor fellow doesn't have a friend to call his own. Yet wheat, along with rice and corn, is one of the most ancient domesticated foods in existence. The original Paleo - if you will. How can wheat...
The Tyranny of Breakfast – How to Lose Weight V
Breakfast is, without question, the most controversial meal of the day. The advice to eat something, anything as soon as you step out of bed has often been regurgitated by health professionals without question. People confess to skipping breakfast like they've committed a great nutritional crime. Breakfast really needs to be downgraded from “most important...
The MultiFactorial Nature of Obesity – How to Lose Weight II
The multifactorial nature of obesity is the crucial missing link. There is no one single cause of obesity. Do calories cause obesity? Yes, partially. Do carbohydrates cause obesity? Yes, partially. Does fiber protect us from obesity? Yes, partially. Does insulin resistance cause obesity? Yes, partially. Does sugar cause obesity? Yes, partially. All these factors converge...
Cardio-protective effect of Saturated Fats – Hormonal Obesity XXXIX
Saturated fats turned out to be not quite as toxic as we had believed once the trans fats were stripped out. But many studies pointed out the fact that there is a chance that they may actually be protective against heart disease. The study "Dietary fats, carbohydrate, and progression of coronary atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women" examined...
Populations in Transition – Hormonal Obesity XXXIII
The populations of China and the Far East are slowly developing the same epidemic of diabetes and obesity that has overtaken the United States. As noted in the previous post, one of the strongest correlations with obesity is the intake of wheat. As noted in the Sugar section, the sugar intake is also increasing the...
Sugar Sweetened Beverages – Hormonal Obesity XXX
The epidemiological evidence linking sugar consumption and diabetes as well as obesity is overwhelming. Very little controversy surrounds this fact. Another demonized food – salt, by contrast is far more controversial. Many people argue that salt is not as bad as advertised – myself included. But sugar, alas, has few defenders, only pushers. This doesn’t...
Sugars 1 – Hormonal Obesity XXIX
Sugars are fattening. Of that, there is really little doubt. Almost everybody can agree upon this fact. The reason it is fattening is a little more contentious. Some consider sugar as empty calories since they contain few essential nutrients. Others think that sugar makes food more 'palatable' and thus cause us to overeat these foods....
