The cause of weight gain and obesity is not due to the size of meals, but from the type of food eaten. The foods we eat and the times we eat triggers hormonal changes that send messages to the brain, to reset a control switch that regulates weight upwards or downwards, according to the latest discoveries today.

Dr Rudolph Leibel, Medical doctor, and geneticist disproved the theory that the body matches the energy consumed with energy expended. In other words, the body does not produce an equal amount of calories as in the foods consumed. In his famous experiments published in 1995, he underfed obese subjects until they lost 10% of their weight. Then he measured their energy expenditure which he found to have reduced by 15%. The energy expenditure is the amount of energy a person needs to carry out physical functions such as breathing, food digestion and exercising. However, when the subjects lost 20%, 30% and 40% of their weight, their energy expenditure remained at 15%. The expectation is that the energy expenditure will be a lot lower with the weight loss.

Many of the participants in the experiment could not lose any more weight without feeling physically ill. They felt cold and tired, and many dropped out after a 10% loss in weight. However, soon after leaving the experiment, they regained the lost weight.

According to Dr Leibel, it’s as if their bodies have been programmed to maintain normal metabolism at their set weight. People who are overweight are no different from skinny people from a metabolic point of view. The only difference it seems is that overweight people require a lot of fat to achieve normal metabolism.

 

THE BRAIN SWITCH THAT CONTROLS WEIGHT

Researchers have identified the region of the brain known as the hypothalamus as the main organ responsible for regulating our ‘set body weight.’ This set body weight can be reset higher or lower depending on the actions of hormones.

Several hormones are now known to influence our weight. Insulin is the most influential. Other hormones include Leptin, which reduces appetite and Ghrelin, which increases appetite. Amylin is another weight regulating hormone known to delay the emptying of the stomach and reduce appetite. The critical role of insulin in the body is to convert and store blood glucose as glycogen in the liver or as fat in fat cells.

When we consume foods that release a lot of sugar into the blood, insulin rises to reduce blood sugar levels and then quickly falls to normal levels. The body tightly regulates insulin levels to prevent fat cells from developing resistance from high insulin levels, a disorder known as insulin resistance. If insulin levels remained persistently high, fat cells become resistant to its effects, and this causes a rise in blood sugar levels which sends messages to the brain to reset weight higher.

With the weight now reset higher, fat cells can now expand to maintain normal metabolism and cause weight gain. In other words, we do not get fat because we eat, we eat because we get fat.

 

HOW TO RESET THE SWITCH LOWER TO LOSE WEIGHT

A well-known cause of insulin resistance and therefore, weight gain is refined carbohydrates. Carbohydrates in their natural state are not the cause of weight gain. Several traditional societies in Africa and South America have diets that are 70% carbohydrates and have a 0% incidence of weight gain or obesity.

Carbohydrates in their natural state release sugar very slowly into the bloodstream, thereby preventing persistently high levels of insulin that lead to insulin resistance.

Today many people consume foods that are high in refined carbohydrates, table sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup, all of which spike insulin levels. Refined carbohydrates such as wheat flour are easily broken into simple sugars – glucose and fructose. Table Sugar is also digested into glucose and fructose, and studies show that both sugars cause insulin resistance. High fructose corn syrup is a very cheap alternative to sugar introduced in the 1960s, and today it is found in nearly all processed foods including cereals, carbonated drinks, sauces, pastries, etc.

The most effective way to lose weight is to eliminate as much as possible refined carbohydrates and sugars from your diet.