Intermittent fasting? Low-carbon? Myths and truths about fad diets

 

Why You Fail On Fad Diets

 

There is no right answer to the treatment of obesity. This is because the right diet method is different for each individual. If you have one diet theory, it can help some people, but it may not help or even hurt others.

Before starting a diet, there are facts that we need to know in advance. The main reason why diets fail is that they have not properly identified the causes of obesity and have not made appropriate efforts to deal with them. We usually think that eating a lot and not moving well is the cause of obesity, but in fact, it is not a cause of obesity, but a symptom.

For example, let's say you have pneumonia and your fever rises to 39 degrees. What can I do to get this fever to drop again? If you take a fever-reducing drug, the fever will go down immediately, but if the medicine wears off, the temperature will rise again. Ultimately, I need to restore my body to normal through pneumonia treatment in order to return homeostasis in my body temperature.

The same goes for weight. Our body normally maintains a constant weight, but when it breaks down, it makes the wrong settings to gain fat. Hunger goes down without even trying, while satiety occurs later. What happens when you force yourself to eat less to suppress these symptoms? When the body fails to replenish fat with food, it lowers its basal metabolic rate to conserve its own energy. This can make you feel tired and make it difficult to exercise.

Having a large appetite and not exercising is not a cause, but a symptom and consequence of something wrong with your body. Those of us who mistake this for the cause focus only on eating less and exercising.

 

Diet, one knows, two don't know

 

 

We believe that fasting is always beneficial to our diet. However, when we eat less, our body tries to save fat to store energy. Even if you fast in that state, you will only lose muscle.

 

In order to preserve muscle and lose fat, you must first understand how your body works. Our body is divided into fat depots and muscle depots. Local warehouses open and close. When the door of the fat storehouse is open, it uses fat, and conversely, when the door of the fat storehouse is closed, it uses muscle instead.

 

Important in managing fat depots is a hormone called insulin. Insulin and obesity are two sides of the same coin. Insulin works by preventing fat from coming out of the fat storehouse, and when you consume too much sugar, insulin has a lot of work to do. This lowers the quality of insulin, which in medical terms is called insulin resistance. Eventually, as efficiency decreases, it becomes excessively secreted even on an empty stomach, and the door of the fat storehouse does not keep opening.

 

In order to improve this increased insulin resistance, carbohydrates must be restricted for a period of time. The news was born out of this: intermittent fasting.

 

Intermittent fasting, why 16 hours?

 

There are several types of intermittent fasting, and I think the well-known methods in my country are 16:8 and 5:2.

First, the 16:8 method

The 16:8 method is a fasting method that allows you to eat in 8 hours instead of 16 hours on an empty stomach. In fact, the 16:8 method is more popular for bodybuilders and people who work out than the general public to build muscle efficiently. In addition to providing adequate protein, you also need regular exercise between fasting periods.

What is the principle of 16:8? In general, people with healthy circadian rhythms spend about 12 hours a day on an empty stomach. The body's biological clock distinguishes between day and night depending on what you eat, and the type of hormones that your body releases varies depending on the time of day. For example, during the day, steroid hormones such as cortisol and insulin are released, but at night, melatonin and growth hormone are mainly released. So if you eat at 7 p.m., it's natural to eat at 7 a.m.

When the average person goes to bed at a time when their blood sugar drops after dinner, their insulin drops with them, opening the door to the fat storehouse. Until you eat breakfast and your blood sugar rises again, the door to the fat warehouse will stay open. The idea is to extend that time to 16 hours and increase fat consumption, which is the idea of the 16:8 method.

But what if you fast for 16 hours, but you go to sleep with a late-night snack and your blood sugar hasn't dropped? Will insulin continue to be secreted while sleeping? For those who practice intermittent fasting, the most important thing is to finish the last meal of the day at least 3~4 hours before going to bed, rather than obsessing over fasting time.

Second, the 5:2 method

The 5:2 method is a fasting method in which you eat normally five times a week but limit your eating for the other two days. 16:8 The method and principle are the same. However, if you are already in a bad mood, it is not easy to improve insulin resistance by eating fewer carbohydrates. To improve this quickly, you can even increase your fasting time by a day or two.

Effective fasting not only improves insulin resistance, but also allows you to discern 'fake hunger'. Leptin is a hormone that keeps the amount of fat in the body constant and makes us feel full. If you also develop a tolerance to leptin, your hunger will be exaggerated, making you feel like you're not full even if you eat the same amount as before. This can lead to problems with sleep.

Like 16:8, 5:2 also requires protein supplementation as carbohydrate intake is reduced. This is because the body, which has its fat depot closed, uses the muscle depot instead when it lacks energy. If you don't want to lose muscle, you need to eat more important protein.

 

Low-carb diet, why fat?

 

A low-carb diet is a diet that reduces carbohydrate intake as much as possible and fills its place with fat. Restricting carbs is similar to intermittent fasting, but low-carb diets take the view that protein also stimulates insulin, so you should eat more fat.

 

Low-carb fat is a very effective way to lose weight. This is because if you consistently cut back on carbohydrates, your brain will eventually use fat as an energy source, not carbohydrates.

 

Once we start dieting, our body initially closes its fat depot to store energy, and then uses its muscle depot instead. Over time, insulin resistance improves and fat stores open, but the brain still uses glucose as an energy source, so it still needs to be supplied through muscle protein. So our body ends up negotiating with the brain to preserve the muscle. It feeds the brain with ketone bodies that are broken down into fatty acids. So, in the long run, you lose fat and lose minimal muscle.

 

However, for a low-carb diet to really help, you need to eat plenty of good fats, such as avocados, blue fish, olive oil, and coconut oil. This is because saturated fats, which can be obtained from things like pork and beef, can worsen inflammation.

 

In addition, it can be very stressful, which is a big problem with low-carb diets. Chronic stress is a big part of the body's breakdown. When you're stressed, your brain craves a huge amount of sugar. If someone who is already addicted to carbohydrates follows a low-carb diet, it may be difficult for them to overcome mental temptations and stress.

 

Diet advice

 

 

First, you should avoid consuming carbohydrates on an empty stomach. It is recommended to fill your stomach first through proteins or fats, and then carbohydrates. Professor Park Yong-woo of Gangbuk Samsung Hospital once conducted an experiment using a patch that can measure blood sugar every 5 minutes for 24 hours. When it comes to medical diagnosis, a postprandial blood sugar of 140 or higher is usually considered a bad sign. When she ate more than she normally ate, her blood sugar soared to 168 after eating, and after eating champon, a wheat flour dish, it rose to a whopping 191. However, as a result of filling my stomach with meat first and then eating rice, my blood sugar was only 130.

 

Second, carbohydrates are recommended to avoid refined carbohydrates such as bread, rice, and noodles, and to eat unrefined multigrains. If you inevitably have to include refined carbs in your diet, a half-air bowl of air rice that can be eaten with other side dishes and digested slowly may be appropriate.

 

Third, it's a good idea to start exercising after eating 20 minutes after you start eating. Blood sugar rises 20 minutes after you start eating, and walking or exercising for nearly 20 minutes can help prevent your blood sugar from rising sharply.

 

Fourth, and most importantly, the diet method that suits everyone is different. Rather than blindly believing in fad diets, it is better to study the principles of dieting and find a diet that can fix your physical condition.