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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Jason Fung
Read between
January 9 - January 9, 2018
The important question is this: Do artificial sweeteners increase insulin levels? Sucralose13 raises insulin by 20 percent, despite the fact that it contains no calories and no sugar. This insulin-raising effect has also been shown for other artificial sweeteners, including the “natural” sweetener stevia. Despite having a minimal effect on blood sugars, both aspartame and stevia raised insulin levels higher even than table sugar.
Artificial sweeteners may also cause harm by increasing cravings. The brain may perceive an incomplete sense of reward by sensing sweetness without calories, which may then cause overcompensation and increased appetite and cravings.
THE FINAL ARBITER, therefore, must be common sense. Reducing dietary sugars is certainly beneficial. But that doesn’t mean that replacing sugar with completely artificial, manmade chemicals of dubious safety is a good idea. Some pesticides and herbicides are also considered safe for human consumption. However, we shouldn’t be going out of our way to eat more of them.
Caloric reduction is the main advantage of artificial sweeteners. But it is not calories that drives obesity; it’s insulin. Since artificial sweeteners also raise insulin levels, there is no benefit to using them.
The bottom line is that these chemicals do not help you lose weight and may actually cause you to gain it. They may cause cravings that induce overeating of sweet foods.
Yes, drinking diet soda will reduce sugar intake. But no, it will not help reduce your weight.
Consider all the people you see drinking diet sodas. Do you know anybody at all who said that drinking diet soda made him or her lose a lot of weight? Anybody at all?
large observation studies do not link dairy to weight gain. If anything, dairy protects against weight gain, as found in the Swedish Mammography Cohort.19 In particular, whole milk, sour milk, cheese and butter were associated with less weight gain,
The ten-year prospective CARDIA Study20 found that the highest intake of dairy is associated with the lowest incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Other large population studies21, 22 confirmed this association.
By eating large amounts of skim milk, lean meat and protein bars, Atkins enthusiasts were unintentionally stimulating their insulin to the same degree as before.
It is now increasingly recognized that the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific evidence and may have caused unintended health consequences. HARVARD RESEARCHERS DRS. FRANK HU & WALTER WILLETT, 2001
The hypothalamic region of the brain determines the body set weight—the fat thermostat. (For more on body set weight, see chapters 6 and 10.) Insulin acts here to set body set weight higher. In the short term, we can use various diets to bring our actual body weight down. However, once it falls below the body set weight, the body activates mechanisms to regain that weight—and that’s the long-term problem.
Obese persons that had lost weight required fewer calories because their metabolisms had slowed dramatically and desire to eat accelerates. The body actively resists long-term weight loss.
STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS SUGAR STIMULATES INSULIN secretion, but it is far more sinister than that. Sugar is particularly fattening because it increases insulin both immediately and over the long term. Sugar is comprised of equal amounts of glucose and fructose,
A bowl of seasonal berries or cherries with whipped cream is a delicious way to end a meal.
small plate of nuts and cheeses also makes for a very satisfying end to a meal, without the burden of added sugars.
Nuts, in moderation, are another good choice for an after-dinner indulgence. Most nuts are full of healthful monounsaturated fats, have little or no carbohydrates, and are also high in fiber, which increases their potential benefit. Macadamia nuts, cashews and walnuts can all be enjoyed.
Breakfast cereals, particularly those that target children, are among the worst offenders. On average, they contain 40 percent more sugar than those that target adults.11 Not surprisingly, almost all cereals for children contain sugar, and ten contain more than 50 percent sugar by weight.
Traditional and Greek yogurts are nutritious foods. However, commercial yogurts are made with large amounts of added sugars and fruit flavorings.
Eggs, previously shunned due to cholesterol concerns, can be enjoyed in a variety of ways: scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, etc. Egg whites are high in protein, and the yolk contains many vitamins and minerals, including choline and selenium. Eggs are particularly good sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that may help protect against eye problems such as macular degeneration and cataracts.
However, moderate consumption of red wine does not raise insulin
Up to two glasses a day is not associated with major weight gain17 and may improve insulin sensitivity.18 The alcohol itself, even from beer, seems to have minimal effects on insulin secretion or insulin resistance.
Coffee: Healthier than we thought DUE TO ITS high caffeine content, coffee is sometimes considered unhealthy. However, recent research has come to the opposite conclusion,19 perhaps due to the fact that coffee is a major source of antioxidants,20 magnesium, lignans21 and chlorogenic acid.
Coffee drinking is associated with a 10 percent to 15 percent reduction in total mortality.26 Large-scale studies27 found that most major causes of death, including heart disease were reduced. Coffee may guard against the neurologic diseases Alzheimer’s,28, 29 Parkinson’s disease,30, 31 liver cirrhosis32 and liver cancer.33 A word of caution here:
Instead, moderate the amount of protein in your diet to fall within 20 percent to 30 percent of your total calories.
Vinegar is also a protective factor. Used in many traditional foods, it may help reduce insulin spikes. Italians often eat bread dipped in oil and vinegar—a prime example of eating a high-carb food with protective factors.
THERE ARE FIVE basic steps in weight loss: Reduce your consumption of added sugars. Reduced your consumption of refined grains. Moderate your protein intake. Increase your consumption of natural fats. Increase your consumption of fiber and vinegar.
Eliminate sugars and refined grains. Eat more fiber. Eat vegetables. Eat organic. Eat more home-cooked meals. Avoid fast food. Eat whole unprocessed foods. Avoid artificial colors and flavors. Avoid processed or microwavable foods.
Insulin resistance keeps our insulin levels high. High insulin maintains our high body set weight. Inexorably, our high body set weight erodes our weight-loss efforts. We start feeling hungrier. Our metabolism (that is, our total energy expenditure) relentlessly decreases until it falls below the level of our energy intake. Our weight plateaus and ruthlessly climbs back up to our original body set weight, even as we keep dieting. Clearly, changing what we eat is not always enough.
But how can we induce our body into a temporary state of very low insulin levels? We know that eating the proper foods prevents high levels, but it won’t do much to lower them. Some foods are better than others; nonetheless, all foods increase insulin production. If all foods raise insulin, then the only way for us to lower it is to completely abstain from food. The answer we are looking for is, in a word, fasting. When we talk about fasting to break insulin resistance and lose weight, we are talking about intermittent fasts of twenty-four to thirty-six hours.
MYTHS ABOUT FASTING MANY FASTING MYTHS have been repeated so often that they are often perceived as infallible truths. Consider the following: Fasting will make you lose muscle/burn protein. The brain needs glucose to function. Fasting puts you in starvation mode/lowers basal metabolism. Fasting will overwhelm you with hunger. Fasting causes overeating when you resume feeding. Fasting deprives the body of nutrients. Fasting causes hypoglycemia. It’s just crazy.
