Weight Loss and Carbs part 3
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For our final segment on the topic of using carbs for weight loss we want to give you a few simple, comprehensive rules for maximizing weight loss from carbs.
The first and most important distinction can make about eating carbs is to distinguish processed carbs from natural carbs.
If you can make one broad generalization to help you understand which types of carbs help or hinder weight loss, this is it.
Processed carbs are simply processed food in the form of carbohydrate.
Imagine anything you can pick from a tree or bush or pull from the ground or milk from an animal, and imagine it looking EXACTLY as it would had you just picked or pulled it. Think of these as natural carbs.
Now imaging EVERYTHING ELSE. What's left are processed carbs. Sorry folks, there is no pasta bush, soda plant, rye bread root, or tortilla tree. Pasta, soda, rye bread and tortillas are processed carbs.
Are all processed carbs bad for weight loss? No, just most of them. There are exceptions, but as your single best rule of thumb for weight loss, distinguishing between processed carbs and natural carbs in their natural state will prevent more weight gain over the long haul than any other rule you can make about carbohydrates and weight loss.
Why is Processing Bad?
With respect to carbs, there are 2 things that happen in processing that make carbs a weight loss hazard; the removal of fiber and the increase in caloric density. Check out our first article in this series to better understand caloric density.
In general, processed carbs tend to have a much higher caloric density than natural carbs.
Simply put, processed carbs are RICHER. You get more calories in the same volume of food.
The second thing that happens in processing is to remove fiber. Fiber is your friend. Fiber slows digestion, makes you expend more energy to digest and gives you a more even release of blood sugar.
Simply put, processed carbs tend to strip out fiber and increase sugar density.
This is THE main problem with processed carbs and weight gain. They tend to give TOO MUCH BLOOD SUGAR TOO FAST.
Getting too much blood sugar too fast is the foundational cause of all the sugar diseases – diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
Fibrous Carbs:
If you want to find a general rule of thumb for carbs that promote weight loss, simply look for carbs with LOTS of fiber.
Carbs with lots of fiber tend to have several characteristics that promote weight loss. They tend to have a low caloric density. Foods that have a large volume but relatively few calories tend to fill you up and slowly release sugar into your blood. This is good for weight loss.
More fiber also means more chewing. Drawing from a previous article – more chews equal more weight loss.
Processed Carbs and Leptin Resistance:
The caloric density of processed carbs promotes weight gain by another mechanism that you have most likely never heard of until now - Leptin Resistance.
Leptin Resistance promotes binge eating. Leptin resistance is the product of regularly eating foods with very high caloric density.
In simplest terms, if you tend to regularly eat really rich food, you will tend to crave really rich food all the time.
Leptin Resistance is not a matter of will power or even food preferences.
It is a physiological imbalance created primarily by highly flavorful, calorically dense, processed food and it promotes binge eating!
The Exceptions:
As I mentioned, there are exceptions to the processed food rule. In general, you can apply them to organic whole grain cereals and organic dairy foods.
Whole grain cereals that are high in fiber content have been shown to actually promote weight loss. Dairy products such as certain types of yogurt and cottage cheese can also be beneficial for weight loss.
SUMMARY:
What we have demonstrated in this article is that processed carbs have distinct metabolic properties that promote weight gain and prevent weight loss.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
There are two things you can do that will have a dramatic and immediate impact on your craving for processed carbs and ability to lose weight. In fact, the impact of these two things is so profound for anyone who simply does them that they are the FIRST and FOREMOST recommendation of Living Fitness - The LookCut Method to be fit, energetic and healthy for life. I absolutely guarantee that doing these two things will have a profound impact on your energy, your cravings and your weight loss success.
Here they are
Limit processed carbs and greatly increase mono fats
While we don't have room to go into the physiological mechanisms at work when you do this, understand there is a significant body of research indicating that doing this
-decreases cravings
-increases energy
-increases fat metabolism
-improves hormonal balance
-slows aging
-reduces inflammation
-improves disease markers for diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
What do I mean by mono fats? Your best sources are supplemental. Products like our Eicosoid70 represent a new generation of ultra powerful, ultra pure sources of Omega fats and DHA/DPA that deliver a nutrient density not possible otherwise. Are we the only guy on the block? No there are some terrific products out there. The DHA/DPA concentration of ours is greater than anything else we can find to date, so I recommend it very highly, but if you have a preference for any particular brand the main thing to understand is limiting processed carbs and increasing Omega fats exerts profound effects on your health and energy.
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