According to several independently done studies, the key to losing weight is simply to eat the right foods. Proteins and fat are actually the best foods for losing weight because they satisfy people for longer and do not cause the dramatic blood level spikes or high insulin levels that carbohydrates do. In fact, until the last few centuries, the average human diet consisted mostly of these two vital ingredients. In controlled experiments, people who are put on an almost entirely protein-fat diet (1900 total calories a day) with less than 240 calories a day from carbohydrates end up losing one to three pounds a week without feeling noticeably hungrier. The energy levels of people following these diets actually increase during their “fast” and overall wellness levels go up.
The only negative side effect is occasional diarrhea caused by the loss of food retention in the digestive system that results from this diet (which is also the mechanism of weight loss). This diet has long been known about and till the 1940s; carbohydrate reduction was generally accepted to be the only way to lose weight. Why haven’t you heard about this? The diet goes against everything the American Health Association has been professing to the public for years. The National Health Association has now admitted high carbohydrate intake is more responsible for obesity and heart disease than high fat intake, but because of previous claims it will take years for this revelation to make its way to the officially prescribed Association diet plans.
During the hunter gatherer age, people ate diets that consisted mostly of protein and fat. Carbohydrates were not heavily relied upon for energy until the advent of the agricultural revolution. During the short time frame between the revolution and now, humans have not had time to adapt to changing eating patterns. Thus it intuitively makes sense that you can lose weight by eating a traditional high protein high fat diet. Studies have shown that eating a high carbohydrate diet, not a high fat one is correlated to a higher incidence of heart disease. This is because the fatty acids and triglycerides that clog arteries are composed not only of fat but also of high energy carbohydrate chains. High levels or sugar in the blood are needed in order to direct the synthesis of these clots. It is for this reason that tribes like the Maori which eat an extremely high fat high protein diet demonstrate an almost nonexistent level of heart disease and obesity.
One dieting example: when two British nutritionists, Bruce Bistrian and George Blackburn told their obese patients to eat nothing but lean meat, fish, and poultry (650 to 800 calories a day) for a year healf of them lost ast least 40 pounds each. This weight loss was mostly maintained after the diet was finished. However, when people added 400 calories of fruits and vegetables to this diet (whose calories come from carbohydrates) patients lost half as much weight and hunger rates actually increased.
Sticking to a high protein, high fat diet that consists mostly of meat and some vegetables and fruit is the most effective way to quickly lose large amounts of weight without being debilitated by hunger pangs. This novel concept may be hard for many to believe, so if you are not fully convinced I would suggest you read the book Good Calories, Bad Calories for more information and supporting data.
