When you increase your blood sugar with a meal or snack rich in processed foods or very starchy carbohydrates, the sugar has to get out of your blood quickly. That’s insulin’s job – ushering insulin out of the blood stream and helping it find a place to go. However, as we’ve talked about before, insulin isn’t really effective at doing it’s job in many overweight people. Why? Because the chronic state of high blood sugar from constant carbohydrate consumption floods the body with insulin and we develop what’s called “insulin resistance”. When insulin is always hanging around, the tissues and cells that normally respond to it become immune. It’s kinda like how we get used to the brightness of the sun after being outside for a while. When you first step outside, the sun can sometimes be overwhelming. You squint, shield your eyes and look away. But, after a while, you’ve adjusted. It’s no big deal. You aren’t squinting and it doesn’t seem so bright. You’re used to it.
When insulin is always around due to chronically elevated blood sugar, your cells become immune to it. That is a problem for a number of reasons, but today we’re going to talk about what happens when insulin is no longer able to quickly remove that sugar from the blood and it just hangs around in the blood stream.
There’s a reason we need insulin to clear sugar from the blood ASAP. When it hangs around, it can become quite toxic. One of the things sugar does when left to linger is bind to proteins or fats that are naturally present in your blood. Not only does this render the protein/fat ineffective (and it can’t do what it’s in the blood to do) but it forms something called Advanced Glycation End Products (AGES). The acronym is really quite appropriate; these AGES age you.There’s absolutely no question that they accelerate the aging process.
AGEs cause destruction throughout your entire body. Through research, AGEs have been implicated in the development of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, neuropathy and much more. They damage your cells, which is the starting point for almost all disease. They can impair blood flood and have been linked to asthma, eye problems and systemic inflammation.
From a cosmetic perspective, AGEs seriously impair skin health. The body sees these AGEs as foreign bodies, triggering an inflammatory response. This can lead to both internal and topical inflammation. AGEs are naturally drawn to the collagen and elastin within your skin. Collagen and elastin are then no longer able to do their job effectively. The result? Fine lines and wrinkles.
It’s important to note that you can also increase your exposure to AGEs from smoking or eating foods that have been cooked at very high temperatures (grilled, fried, etc). We certainly can’t eliminate our exposure to AGEs – they are naturally formed within our bodies, but reducing their prevalence by managing our blood sugar is KEY.The simplest way to do that is by eliminating processed foods, sugars and wheat products.
Let’s start with the not-so-hidden dangerous of processed foods, yeah? THEY AREN’T REAL FOOD. Need we continue? Haha. For real though, let’s think about it for a minute.
An apple comes from an apple tree
A chicken breast from a chicken
A potato grows in the ground
An oreo comes from…..? A factory? No bueno.
Studies have linked consumption of processed foods to obesity as well as various health conditions including heart disease, cancer, ADHD and arthritis. Very few people would probably argue that processed foods are good for you yet these non-food items make up the majority of most Americans’ diets. Get THIS crazy statistic: $0.90 of every food dollar in this country is spent on processed foods. No wonder we’re overweight, tired and sick!!
If you’re looking for lasting fat loss, processed foods have got to go. Here’s what we know: because many crucial nutrients like fiber and healthy fats have been stripped from processed foods, they are easier for your body to digest. That’s not a good thing when it comes to fat loss. What it means is that they spike your blood sugar faster and it plummets almost as quickly. Your body spends less time and energy metabolizing these frankenfoods. This is why you can eat a bag of potato chips and never feel full or scarf down a huge bowl of cereal and be hungry just an hour later. It feels very different to eat a steak or an omelet.
Additionally, because these foods are easier for your body to digest, that means you burn fewer calories during the digestive processed compared to a whole-foods meal. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to enjoy a nice meal, I’d love to burn off as much of it as possible during the digestive process!
It’s important to also realize that the companies producing processed foods are out for one thing: your money. They want you to crave their food. These companies spend millions of dollars on food and behavioral scientists whose job it is to identify just how to make you crave their food and not be able to stop eating it. They’ve identified combinations of flavors and textures that trigger the reward center in your brain, making their processed food item as addictive as a drug. That’s not an exaggeration, guys. Check out the conclusion from a recent study on Oreos:
“…Oreos activated significantly more neurons than cocaine or morphine. ‘This correlated well with our behavioral results and lends support to the hypothesis that high-fat/ high sugar foods can be thought of as addictive”
The goal of many of these food scientists is to capitalize on what is called “vanishing calorie density” – the way foods with very few nutrients but lots of flavor and texture melt in your mouth and require little effort to digest trigger your brain to think you aren’t really eating any calories. You just keep eating, and eating, and eating….
From a fat loss standpoint, processed foods are your worst nightmare. From a health standpoint, they don’t look much better!
Processed foods, in general, are packed with added sugar, salt and unhealthy fats to improve mouth feel, flavor and extend shelf life. If you made a homemade cookie from minimally processed ingredients, could you put it in your pantry for a year and go back and eat it? Uh, no. Foods aren’t meant to have long shelf lives yet processed foods will often look (and taste!) the same after sitting on a store shelf for years. Here’s what I think: if a food has a long shelf life, it’s probably borrowing from YOURS.
Stripped of nutrients like fiber and omega 3s, these foods have little to no nutritive value. They are certainly nutritionally inferior to whole foods like vegetables, fruits and protein. However, they’re covered with marketing “health” claims! These food companies graffiti the packaging with confusing and often misleading claims like “a great source of fiber!” or “sugar free” or “an excellent source of whole grains”. To a consumer who doesn’t understand the risks of processed foods, they might be tricked into thinking they’re making a healthy choice.
Then there are the ingredients themselves – man-made chemicals, artificial colors and flavors that at the very best are questionable with regard to their impact on our health. Studies have been done on many of the common ingredients found in processed foods and the results are frightening. I’m not an alarmist and I think everything stated above is reason enough to avoid these things, but I do want to draw your attention to a few concerning ingredients and urge you to look at the labels before you buy your next boxed or bagged food-creation.
BHA (butylated hydroxyamisole) – used as a preservative, this also has been linked to cancer
Artificial colors – chances are you’ve heard a lot about risks associated with certain artificial colorants and there really is no question that if you’re looking for optimal health – especially for your children – these need to be avoided. For a good overview of the risks associated with artificial colorants, check out this document.
I could go on for days about all the research that has been done but it boils down to a very simple point: our bodies were created to process real food. These man-made frankenfoods are nutritionally inferior to whole foods, they encourage us to overeat and they may in fact be a significant detriment to our health. Keep it clean – eat whole foods.
I don’t care if you eat “healthy”. I’m sure that more often than not, you probably do. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter. No offense. I know your intentions are good. Mine were too. I grew up in a home where my mom very much believed in serving healthy, balanced meals. I studied nutrition. I made “healthy” choices.
Healthy eating and fat loss eating are NOT the same thing. A fat loss way of eating IS a healthy way of eating but the reverse is not necessarily true. I’d argue that the standard definition of “healthy” eating isn’t healthy at all but that’s a a discussion for another day. Today I want to talk about eating for fat loss.
If you consider yourself a healthy eater you might be focusing on getting adequate vitamins and minerals in your diet. You might request brown rice instead of white when ordering out and select low-fat dairy options at the grocery. Kudos for your intentions but that’s not going to transform your shape and help you reach your fat loss goals.
I wrote on Facebook the other day about a conversation I had while on vacation. One of my family members was asking me about Primal and what kinds of foods I eat. She shared that she wants to lose some weight and asked what she should be eating for breakfast. She felt like she was making a good choice – granola with fruit and yogurt – but isn’t getting any results. I explained to her that while that breakfast may be considered “healthy”, it is actually working AGAINST her fat loss goals and she needs a major breakfast overhaul. I’ll tell you why…
One of the greatest determinants of your ability to burn fat is your total carbohydrate intake. I’m not about to advocate a “no carb” diet because it’s not necessary for fat loss and I don’t believe in extremes, but hear me out. Carbohydrates trigger the release of insulin. Insulin regulates your blood sugar by ushering glucose into your cells. Insulin is a necessary hormone but it is a STORAGE hormone. It signals your body that plenty of energy is available (via the carbs you just ate or those it has previously stored) so it can go ahead and turn off all your fat-burning machinery because that extra fat isn’t needed for energy. At the same time, it takes all those extra carbs from your meal and sends them away to be stored as fat.
For your body to allow stored fat to be burned, insulin MUST be low. What does that mean in terms of your fat loss food choices? You need to watch your carbohydrate intake. A fat loss diet emphasizes to primary components:
Non-starchy vegetables
Quality protein
One of the most straight-forward ways to transition towards a fat loss way of eating is to start eliminating processed foods. Most are very carb-dense and offer very little nutritive value. Focus on whole foods – foods that are exactly as nature intended them.
From there, structure your meals around your non-starchy vegetables and quality proteins. I usually make sure that about ½ my plate is made up of veggies like brussel sprouts, cabbage, asparagus or greens, another ¼ from quality protein and that no more than 2 of my 4 or 5 meals include a small amount of carbohydrate such as sweet potato, quinoa or fruit.
When I am going to enjoy carbohydrates, I make sure that I time them appropriately to maximize fat loss. I have them in my first meal post workout or at my dinner time meal. I almost ALWAYS avoid carbohydrates in the morning. Here’s why:
When you wake up in the morning your body is in peak fat-burning mode. You’ve been fasting overnight and your metabolism is primed. While you were sleeping, cortisol (a stress hormone) was rising. It’s 24-hour peak is around 7am. If you introduce carbohydrates in the morning, you introduce insulin. Your body is very insulin sensitive after your overnight fast and insulin and cortisol do not play well together. The combination accelerates fat storage. Not only that, but when you raise insulin in the morning (telling your body there is no need for fat burning because fuel sources are readily available via carbohydrates), it limits your body’s ability to burn fat throughout the day.
For that reason, I eat my carbohydrates in the evening when I am less insulin-sensitive and when my cortisol level aren’t at their peak.
Striving for a “healthy, balanced diet” in the traditional sense may not only not help you burn fat, it might actually encourage fat storage. Switching your mindset to focus on the nutritional pillars of a fat loss diet will get you on the fast track to your goals!
I love the phrase “When you know better, you do better”. Information is one of our most powerful tools. With it, we can create and achieve just about anything we want as long as we have the desire and commitment to go with it. Unfortunately, there is an enormous amount of misinformation on food, nutrition and weight loss. You can have the desire and the commitment but if you’re misinformed you’ll end up frustrated and defeated. No bueno. I spent years in this cycle getting nowhere fast. Often I had the commitment and desire but acted on terrible information. Othertimes, I floundered with good information and a solid plan but just not enough commitment or desire. Today, I want to tackle some of the major misconceptions about carbohydrates and fat loss to arm you with the right information for when you’re ready to start moving towards your fat loss goals. Don’t let some of the technical terms make your eyes glaze over….I’m going to break it down and hopefully share some things that help you see carbohydrates differently.
Wheat-based products are the cornerstone of the Standard American Diet. Conventional wisdom has encouraged Americans to cut fat and cholesterol and increase their consumption of whole grains. Where has that gotten us? Fat and unwell.
Wheat is a grain and is considered a complex carbohydrate. Complex just means that they are longer chains of sugar molecules linked together. When people think of complex carbohydrates they often think of whole grains. When they think of whole grains they think “healthy”. That right there is the misconception I want to address.
Carbohydrates spell trouble for fat loss because of their ability to raise your blood sugar quickly. The more quickly it raises your blood sugar the worse it is for fat loss. The story we’re usually told about this is that simple sugars (think tablespoon of table sugar) is going to break down really quickly and raise our blood sugar fast while something like whole grain bread is going to break down more slowly and not mess with our blood sugar as much. Guess what: that’s not exactly true!
The particular type of complex carbohydrate found in wheat is the most easily digestible and therefore has a more significant impact on blood sugar than even straight table sugar!! We refer to the ability of a food to raise blood sugar as the Glycemic Index (GI) – the higher the GI, the more the food raises blood sugar. Here are a few examples that might surprise you.
Food
Glycemic Index
Whole grain bread
72
Shredded wheat
67
White bread
69
Table sugar
59
Snickers bar
41
So what do we see here? Pretty shocking, huh? Whole grain bread raises your blood sugar MORE than straight table sugar or a Snickers bar? Yup. Same with shredded wheat. Not only that, but whole grain bread increases your blood sugar more than white bread!
So what does all this blood sugar have to do with weight loss? Almost everything, really, but we’re going to hit a couple of highlights today.
One of the primary determinants of hunger is low blood sugar. Well wait, if that’s true, shouldn’t whole grains keep you full since they raise your blood sugar? Nope, that’s the thing: grains send your blood sugar on a rapid roller coaster ride. It shoots up quickly and then plummets – this is why you can eat a big bowl of cereal for breakfast and find yourself starving an hour later. Of course you eat more to silence your growling stomach and the cycle repeats itself, keeping you in the vicious peak-valley blood sugar cycle. As Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly, puts it – wheat is an appetite stimulant.
These rapid surges in blood sugar also activate the release of insulin – the hormone that allows glucose to enter into the cells. Insulin is a major player in the fat loss journey. If insulin is chronically high, you CANNOT be in fat burning mode. It won’t allow it.
Here’s what goes down when we consume carbohydrates. After it’s broken down into glucose, that glucose is first fed to the muscles. Storage there is limited and is used when you have short, intense bursts of physical activity. If the storage within the muscles is full, it’s next sent to the liver for storage. Again, this is a limited storage area. When the liver storage is full, the glucose is sent to be stored in fat tissue – unlimited storage capacity. Your body perceives these as critical stores in case of famine and does not easily give them up. Energy is much more easily obtained from your muscle or liver stores. Fat storage puts up a fight.
Insulin is what allows excess glucose (or protein or fat) to be stored in fat tissue. When insulin is high, fat storage is high. When insulin is low, fat storage is low. High blood sugar results in high insulin and therefore accelerated fat storage.
If you want to access your fat stores, burn that fat and move it out of your body, you MUST regulate your blood sugar, avoid those dangerous peaks and valleys and that will regulate your insulin activity.
Wheat is one of the most dangerous culprits when it comes to increasing blood sugar (and insulin). It not only stimulates appetite but also fat storage – a very counterproductive and unhealthy combination.
By adhering to the Primal Principles of constructing your meals around protein and vegetables and avoiding processed foods, you’ll go a long way towards reducing your wheat intake. Start there and you’ll notice improvements in your energy levels, mood and body composition.
Sometimes you need something sweet. You need it more than you need to freaking breathe. You aren’t getting anything else done until you’ve scoured your cabinets and found something sweet. Uh huh. I get it. I’ve been there. I still get there!!
There are several ways to keep that feeling at bay, but today we’re going to tackle it head on. I’m going to share with you some of the things I do when I just MUST have something sweet but don’t want to blow the day, go off the rails and undo the progress I’ve made.
I tend to use these strategies in order to see if I’m able to ride it out and have it pass or if I absolutely need to indulge.
Go for a walk. I know, I know – it’s a stall tactic. A diversion. It sure is! Getting outside to clear my head settles me down. Often, my cravings arise from stress or emotion and I seem to settle down instantly when I slow down outside. If the weather is crappy I’ll jump on the treadmill and put something mindless on TV or listen to music that makes me want to dance.
Take a hot shower. This is a reset button for me. It’s kind of funny how it works but taking a shower reminds me of how I want to take care of myself. I feel pampered, I feel like I’m making myself a priority. I use a luxurious exfoliating scrub and dry brush and more times than not I come out of the shower feeling slightly empowered. While I might still want something sweet, I’ve recharged my willpower battery and it’s easier to talk myself out of it.
Chew sugar-free gum. If you know me, you know it’s a bad moment when I realize I’m out. I used this strategy during the afternoon at work all the time. I couldn’t exactly go for a walk or jump in the shower – it would be 3pm and all I could think about was the nut, chocolate and berry trail mix in the break room. Ahhh! Gotta have gum!! It saved me more times than I care to count. (Special shout out to my girlfriend Crystal who let me steal her gum allllll the time!)
Have a diet soda. Before you jump out and call me a hypocrite (but you can, I’ll confess to really loving Diet Coke) there are some healthier options out there which are really tasty! My favorite is Zevia. It’s sweetened with Stevia (a natural, calorie free sweetener) and the cream soda flavor is unreal.
Protein power concoctions. I have created some pretty awesome (and absolutely terrible) protein-powder treats. They aren’t something I have every day but when needed, they do the trick for a sweet treat. My favorite is protein pudding. I’ll mix a scoop of protein powder with a drop or two of stevia, some vanilla extract, almond butter and just enough unsweetened almond milk to make it thick and creamy. So good! You can also find recipes online for protein microwave mug cakes (some of them are good, just don’t overcook them or they’ll literally turn into a brick).
Bite and Toss. This one is reserved for the most extreme circumstances and requires tremendous self-discipline. This is not for amateurs. Haha. Here’s how it works: a few weeks ago I was at Trader Joe’s getting groceries. I was overcome with the most undeniable urge for their peanut butter cup trail mix. I couldn’t say no. I bought it. I couldn’t even wait until I got home! I ripped it open while driving (massive bag that should last a family a week and probably cost me $9) and shoved a handful of the deliciousness right into my face. As I enjoy every second, I realized I could probably devour the bag mindlessly before getting home. So, I did what any normal person would do. I folded it up, set it aside, and didn’t eat anymore. Hahahaha. Yeah right! Who are you kidding? I did no such thing. I rolled down my window, held the bag from the bottom and let allllllll the delicious nuts, berries and peanut butter cups fall along the highway at 65 mph. Uh huh. I sure did. That was me, shaking out the bag along I-40. It wasn’t the first time. I’ve also gone into Whole Foods, bought a cookie, stood in the parking lot to take a bite and then tossed the rest of the cookie in the trash before I could talk myself into finishing “just one harmless little cookie”. If you can’t say no, at least say “just a bite” and then get rid of the rest!! Fast!
I’m glad I can laugh at myself throughout this process. Man, food is complicated and those cravings can get way powerful, can’t they? Give a couple of these strategies a try and let me know what you think. Oh, and if I pass you along the highway and you’re chucking Oreos out the window, I’ll smile and wave.
