After reading "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes, I am thoroughly convinced that the obesity epidemic is caused by too many refined carbohydrates.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1400040787/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Lots of critics of low carb diets that have limitless caloric intake frequently argue that it infringes on the 2nd law of thermodynamics, ie that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
What they fail to understand, and what I failed to understand is the internal caloric exchange between body fat and other cells. Hunger is created when your muscle and organ cells don't have enough energy.
When you consume whole fruits and vegetables, you get a modest increase in insulin that fattens you slightly so that you have energy between meals and at night. And during harvest season, for the winter. That's all we evolved in terms to do in terms of carbs.
These days, people eat powdery fine carbohydrates constantly. Insulin remains high. Insulin doesn't give a shit if your muscles and organs haven't filled up yet, or are hungry later. Insulin was designed to store fat, and if you increase insulin with sugar/flour, it remains so high that it literally locks away calories into body fat.
The second law of thermodynamics applies, but their equation is wrong:
deltaCalories = CaloriesIn - CaloriesOut
It is incorrect. Here is the correct equation:
0 = CaloriesIn - CaloresOut +/- CaloriesToOrFromFat +/- caloriesFromCannibalizedTissueOrReducedMetabolism
First, the body always balances the equation. If you consume too much sugar, CaloriesToOrFromFat reduces the effective CaloriesIn. The body responds with increased hunger. Whether or not you choose to overeat, you still get fatter.
Your average levels of insulin govern your body's body fat % equilibrium. If you consume sugary, starchy stuff all day, you probably have a 15-20% equilibrium before adulthood.
After you mature, it's about 25-33% because you no longer have growth hormone competing with insulin.
On top of all of that, if your muscles and organs develop insulin resistance, your setpoint increases to 33-60%, and these are your type 2 diabetes and mega-obese people.
But here's the trick to reverse it: reduce insulin. Stop eating refined carbs.
If you do this, your setpoint reduces to 9-18% body fat. CaloriesToOrFromFat becomes positive, reducing the necessary CaloriesIn (hunger). Your muscles don't care if the energy is from recent food or body fat, it's all the same.
This is why Atkins and high-carb low insulin diets like the Japanese diet are so effective. People burn off body fat quickly, have a high metabolism, and experience no hunger.
By far the most important lesson from this book is that "You get fat not because you're overeating, you're overeating because you're getting fat."
So, so far so good. I have some before shots, and once I get done with the program completely I'll have my after shots and I'll post em on here. I hear that the second phase of insanity is when the really hardcore results appear so will see.
