Is there a metaphorical equivalent of penicillin for our black boxes? (Part 5 of 5)
Perhaps there might be.
Several years ago, Gary Taubes and coauthor Dr. Peter Attia articulated a compelling view in the New York Times:
Fat accumulation in the human body is regulated primarily by the hormone insulin; we secrete insulin primarily in response to the carbohydrates we consume. These facts support an endocrinological view of obesity as a hormonal disorder caused by carbohydrate-rich foods, particularly refined grains and sugars, elevating insulin levels.
Clinical trials repeatedly demonstrate that obese individuals who consciously restrict carbohydrates but not calories lose weight— often without hunger— while experiencing significant improvements in heart disease and diabetes risk factors. Those of us who have lost weight ourselves and/or witnessed the effect of these diets on our patients can confirm that this is exactly what happens.
More than 250 medical experts signed on in support of this view. And slowly, but certainly, a new consensus is beginning to align. For instance, low-carb diets are being used on the front lines to combat Type II diabetes, and the results are stunning.
By reframing how we think about obesity—not as a moral failure, but as a hormonal problem driven primarily by insulin issues—we can find new hope. Low-carb diets often work, even when low-calorie diets fail. Not because they are magical, but because they offer a more precise therapy.
In fact, as a therapy, low carb is pretty darn impressive. Consider:
All that said, achieving optimal fat loss/better health is probably not as simple as “control insulin by going low carb.” Just as penicillin isn’t a cure for every infection out there, low-carb diets aren’t always the fix for obesity.
领英推荐
Here’s Taubes again:
“Multiple hormones and enzymes affect our fat accumulation, and insulin happens to be the one hormone that we can consciously control through our dietary choices. Minimizing the carbohydrates we consume and eliminating the sugars will lower our insulin levels as low as is safe, but it won’t necessarily undo the effects of other hormones—the restraining effect of estrogen that’s lost as women pass through menopause, for instance, or of testosterone as men age—and it might not ultimately reverse all the damage done by a lifetime of eating carbohydrate- and sugar-rich foods.”
Carb intake isn’t the only thing that impacts insulin and other fat-storage hormones and enzymes. Therefore, you may need to pay attention to these second and third-order issues as well.
New Hope and a New Framework
I believe our incorrect emphasis on calorie control has caused untold catastrophes. It’s essentially a perspective that wrongly blames the failed dieter for being a sinner—being slothful or a glutton. And worse yet, it blinds her to potential solutions that could make a real difference.
And while the insight that the Black Box “counts” hopefully answers some questions, it also leads to new ones.
What do you think?
Learn more about Adam Kosloff and Virtuoso Content here: https://lp.virtuosocontent.com/