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SigMT Vol12 Iss 2

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SiG MT 98 SiG MT 98 As far as the scientific study of physics is concerned, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. is is inherently true. However, the effects of one calorie as compared to another within the ecosystem of a human body can be quite varied. A calorie of carbohydrate requires the body to release insulin from the pancreas to facilitate the transferal of the carbohydrate across cellular membranes, where it can be used for energy, or stored, based on the current requirements of the body. If a very large quantity of carbohydrate is consumed (this is why my wife and children are no longer allowed to bring Cinnamon Toast Crunch into our home as I can consume multiple boxes prior to lunch in a single day.) then a very large amount of insulin will be required to deal with the carbohydrate. is creates a roller coaster of blood sugar, and an associated inflammatory response as the blood sugar rises and falls. is process repeated over time can injure the vessels of the body and contribute to cardiovascular disease. e message here isn't that carbohydrates are the devil, it's excess that's the devil. Granted, you could live forever without consuming another carbohydrate for the rest of your days. is is scientific fact - there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. However, fats and proteins are essential, and you cannot live without them indefinitely. Eventually, you'll run out of stored fats, your muscle will waste away, physiologic systems will fail, and you'll die, but this would take a very long time. e longest documented fast was conducted in 1973, by a 27-year- old man, who started at 456 pounds and 382 days later, ended at 180 pounds. It was a voluntary fast, and he remained healthy throughout the experiment. at said, the FLoT describes the bedrock rule of any weight-loss diet; they must include a method for consuming fewer calories than are expended as activity and heat. e net calories in, must be fewer than calories out, or those calories may be stored by the body as adipose. If physics works, then how could two people, eating the same diets, experience different results? Perhaps one person releases more energy as heat. Perhaps they have a faster heart rate. Perhaps millions of different things, but what you have to remember is that you must consume fewer calories than you're using if your body is going to pilfer any of its precious stored calories. Mammals are generally equipped to survive famine. We feast, store the calories and save them for the famine. If one never perceives famine, then those calories are held into perpetuity, allowing the body to get heavier and heavier. I've had friends and patients approach me, swearing up and down that they eat perfectly and still gain weight, or at least fail to lose weight. People training for marathons, Spartan Races, Tough Mudders and the like, who curse and rage and froth and foam that they're not losing weight with their increased activity levels. Perhaps this is why dietary logging results in improvement, independent of other variables. e simple act of charting food intake alone results in improved dietary outcomes. You wouldn't know it looking at me, but I've completed the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race, three times. I've beaten Lance Armstrong twice, and Floyd Landis once, aer their athletic careers were erased from the record books (semantics, but I'll take the win). I wore my fancy heart monitor watch in one of those races, which took around 12 hours to complete, covering 110 miles above 10k feet elevation. I replaced the 10k calories burned during the race before lunch the following day, and then proceeded to move into an enormous caloric surplus. You can't out-exercise a bad diet. Sometimes, trite is true. Aer Leadville, I wasn't logging my calories. I wasn't writing anything down. I was engaged in the "See Food Diet". See food, eat food. Each time, I was heavier by dusk the following evening than I was before the race, despite having such a titanic caloric expenditure. Log your food. Figure out where those random calories are sneaking in from. Invest in a

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