Judging by the responses on yesterday’s post ( HERE), I am convinced that my blog is being read by soul mates ;), because obviously you support my views! I am happy with the fact, that even if it is just virtually, I am surrounded by people, who search for the truth and do not blindly trust sensations in the media!
Now, let me keep on listing the reasons, that make me think the statement “fats are unhealthy”, to be a big myth and how in reality fats and not carbs are the preferred fuel source of our bodies!
In addition to yesterday’s post, about the scientific researched, I want to say that such studies that hypothetically search for the negatives and positives of a low carb diet, usually do not continue long enough, which automatically interferes with the authenticity of the results! Why?
Probably you are already guessing it, but if we keep in mind that the diet of the subjects, who are being studied, previously contained mainly of carbs and they were the main fuel source, their bodies would need time, to “switch” to using fat as fuel. And as I mentioned the continuance of these studies is not enough, in order for such an adaptation to occur.
Imagine a drunkard, who is being treated and who is abstaining from alcohol for a week or two. I am sure that at first the reaction of his body won’t be good and he is more likely to feel bad, sick, weak, to experience headache and other similar symptoms. Would this mean, that abstaining from drinking alcohol is unhealthy, just because it made the treated people to feel bad, by doing so? Absolutely not!
This is just a result from the abstention and if the observations on the same subjects continues, for long enough, there is a big chance to note the positive changes from the alcohol abstention.
Now refer this example to researches and people who go from a diet which contains mainly carbs, to a diet with a low carb content and a high content of fats!
Besides that people often quote researches, which state that carbs are the preferred source of fuel for muscles and organs! Big mistake! First of all, here the key role goes once again to the continuum and the method of the research.
Do you know that during rest, the main fuel source of muscles are free fatty acids, which are released from the adipose tissue and ketons coming from your liver? The use of glucose and glycogen, as a fuel for muscle activity is just in emergency situations!
In a high-carb diet, the brain and the nervous system really use glucose as a fuel source. But not because they prefer carbs as fuel, but because in the presence of too much carbs, there aren’t enough ketons, because ketones come from the release of fatty acids, which are released from the adipose tissue!
And when there are sufficient amounts of carbs, the levels of insulin ( the so called storage hormone) increase and it does not allow fats to be used as fuel! When you go on a low carb diet ( with enough fats), your brain starts using ketones as fuel!
And after all if you still insist on scientific researches, there were such studies, where muscle cells were tested, so scientists could establish what is their preferred fuel source. They provided ketones, free fatty acids and glucose, as fuel sources. The results were that muscle cells chose ketones as primary fuel source!
Let me leave the scientific researches and keep on going!
What is the meaning of food? To give energy. Everything you eat, every calorie in one or another manner, is being converted in your body, so it can be used as energy or stored as energy for later use!
Here a key role plays energy-partioning. It depends mainly on the type of food you eat or more accurately on the proportion of macronutrients- proteins, carbs and fats. Let me first remind you that your bodyweight consists of passive and active tissue. The passive one is fat tissue and the active one- muscles and organs. That means that the food you eat is being used, to provide fuel to organs and muscles or it is being stored as fat!
From the listed macronutrients, carbs are the once, which in the process of energy-partioning, drive the fuel into fat storage. I.e. the body converts carbs to fats. Proteins and fats in the absence of carbs do not drive fuel to fat storage! That’s why it really matters how much carbs you eat on a low carb diet!
Here, I want to ask you, if carbs are the preferred fuel source, why does thebody have mechanisms, which convert carbs into fats and store them as fat? You know that your body is a really smart “machine” and it would never do something, that does not need to be done! Everything functions in a manner, that it could accompany the survival of the organism, in the most economic manner! So, after the body “works so hard” to convert carbs into fats, doesn’t that make you question the authenticity of the statement that carbs are the preferred fuel source?
Besides that your body can store carbs, in the form of glycogen in your muscles and in your liver, which are not more than 300-400 grams, and the fats that could be stored are practically unlimited!
This information is enough for today, but I am far from done with my explanation, so stay tuned for the third part!
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