Weight Loss: It’s Not Just Your Jeans You Need To Worry About

Not fitting into your jeans is a tell tale sign that you need to start thinking about losing weight. However, it’s not just your jeans that you may want to consider. Cutting edge science has revealed that your genes (genetic material responsible for building, maintaining and regulating every process in your body) can be affected by what you eat. Scientists are just beginning to learn about how the food we eat affects our individual health. So for all of you who have said, “I eat just what she eats and she has lost lots of weight and I have not lost a pound”, you have an explanation. It’s all in the genes.
Although this new concept of nutrigenomics (the connection between nutrition and genetics) has recently received a lot of press, I have read research dating back over a decade that shows the ill effect of eating a low fat, high carbohydrate diet on heart health for people who are genetically susceptible.
Here are a few studies that I recommend you show your doctor. Reading this stuff by someone other than a healthcare professional could be hazardous to your brain health. So give a copy to your doctor and let him/her explain it to you. Each study uses a different group (men, women and children).
1. “A very low-fat diet is not associated with improved lipoprotein profiles in men with a predominance of large, low-density lipoproteins”, Fernstrom HA et al. Am J Clin Nutr 1999.
2. “LDL subclass patterns and lipoprotein response to a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet in women” Dreon DM, et al. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1997 Apr;17(4):707-14.
3. “Reduced LDL particle size in children consuming a very-low-fat diet is related to parental LDL-subclass patterns”, Dreon DM et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jun;71(6):1611-6.
Bottom line: These studies show that using a low-fat diet increases the risk factors for heart disease.
Here’s a question for you, if this stuff has been out there for so long why are so many people still using general nutrition information for everyone? Why aren’t more people embracing various diet options for the diversity of each individual person?
More recently genes that influence your ability to lose and manage weight loss have been identified. I’ll talk about this next time but will leave you with more than just a word to the wise.
If you think you are going to lose weight because you watch a celebrity lose weight or because your friend tried the latest diet and you know it’s gonna work the same for you. Think again. Figure out how you can make your food work to help you lose weight successfully.
I will discuss weight loss specifics and various other nutrients that are associated with health promotion next week.