angelweave

August 26, 2003

Newtrition


This post has been in the making for a while now.

First, I'd like to discuss fat, fat, and fat. We've seen different articles floating about the Internet news - this state, that country. Obesity is a visible, high-ranking developed-world problem. That being said, I read this article yesterday.

It has a nice breakdown of the viewponts of personal responsibility versus evil corporations who prey on mindless people. I, of course, agree with "You're fat. Your fault." At the end of this article, there's this quote.

    The system is complex and there are many layers of control," she said. "Genetics loads the gun, and the environment pulls the trigger."
The she here is Ruth Kava of the American Council of Science and Health. Genetics, eh? You think fat kids from a fat family don't "learn" a few environmental factors along the way, too?

I digress before I really get started. Today, I found this.
    Faced with an epidemic of expanding waistlines as the Irish enjoy unprecedented prosperity, Health Minister Micheal Martin confirmed he was "very tentatively" examining slapping a levy on high-fat comestibles.
Mmm! Tax. And this isn't your traditional "vice tax." We all do have to eat, you know. And, as many of us probably don't know (merely due to lack of attention paid), some of the "fattiest" fatty foods are not what you would expect.

Almonds, pecans, and cashews! Oh My!

Yep - one serving of pecans feeds your body 220 calories and 19.2 grams of fat. Now, granted 60% of the fat is monounsaturated and 30% is polyunsaturated. These little pups might carry some awesome tax, no? But I doubt anyone governmental would think of it, thankfully, being too focused on the Big Macs and little White Castles we humans CHOOSE to consume.

CI - CE

So, fat. Fat makes you fat, right? No. Calories In - Calories Expended. This is either a positive or a negative number. If you want to watch your weight, watch your calories. Monitor your activity. Learn the burn. Obviously, metabolism plays a factor in how many calories a human expends, but exercise and a healthy/balanced diet have a broader, more pronounced effect (on your metabolism, too). More muscle = more metabolism (to feed the muscle).

I'm done with fat now. I'm on to carbs.

With the low-carb diet fervor, I find it amusing that governments and political watchdog agencies are frothing at the mouth about fat. But the most famous of the low-carb diets, the Atkins diet, makes me roll my eyes as quickly as some of the political fat rhetoric.

First, the low-down on Atkins, complete with sources. I'll give the sources, first. These comprise a small collection of differing opinions.

Needless to say, this is a tiny example. People are fervent and passionate about this diet. I'll all Phil Kaplan to sum it up here with a focus on glycogen.

    When you consume a healthful and supportive diet complete with proteins, carbs, and fats, the carbohydrates are broken down into glucose. Glucose is actually blood sugar. Some of that glucose is transported and stored in muscle tissue as "glycogen." This is sort of the fuel in your fuel tank. That's important to understand. Glycogen = Fuel.

    Glycogen is used to produce energy that fuels muscle contraction. ALL muscle contraction! Don't think of muscle contraction only as exercise. Any movement requires the contraction of muscle, from blinking your eye to rising from bed in the morning. As long as you're consuming carbohydrates you access and burn up stored glycogen, but quickly replace it with new muscle fuel. An understanding of that simple fact -- that carbohydrates are the source of muscle fuel -- should raise an immediate red flag toward anything that suggests seriously limiting carbs for any extended period of time.

    Once you understand the basic premise behind muscle glycogen, you should understand that the liver also plays a role in fuel storage. Some of the carbs that you eat ultimately wind up stored as liver glycogen. Think of the liver as sort of a "pump" for blood sugar. The brain burns more calories than any other organ in your body, and guess what it uses as its primary source of fuel. Glucose! Carbohydrates! As brain activity results in the "burning" of blood glucose, the liver accesses its glycogen stores to keep blood glucose in adequate supply. Again, as you expend glycogen, the carbs that you ingest replete your supply.
That about sums it up for me. While I may be an extreme case with my crazy 90+ mile bike weekends, average Joe (who gets some exercise) just may suffer from depleted energy and function if he were to try this diet. And any diet that asks me to give up ALL fruit for a week is just nuts.

Atkins also insinuates that you can be "lazy" and still lose weight. But there's that little problem of what is "weight." That's another post for another day.

Oh, but I can eat nuts on the Atkins diet, right, because they're fat.

And now what brought us here today...

So I'm cooking dinner this evening, and I have this really funny thought. I've already alluded to it. Can you imagine the uproar of Atkins ("I'll eat the cheese off the pizza; you eat the crust") dieters if the fat tax goes into place? I mean, yow. Yow yow yow. While many of the targeted "sinful" foods are loaded with both carbs and fat, who knows where the fat tax is going to stop. That one has the potential of being a steep slippery slope. "What, you mean we taxed 'em and they still aren't losing weight? Tax 'em some more! And, this time, include..."

I think we've had enough here. Read your labels. Learn what you can. Exercise as often as possible, and, if you're really serious, keep a food diary. If you suspect that your metabolism is flawed, seek a doctor's advice.

Caution, prudence, sweat, and resistance training. There ain't no easy way.

hln

Posted by hln at August 26, 2003 10:14 PM | Nutrition
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