Calorie counting and why it works (sometimes)

The "advice" given to overweight people by most health care providers is to eat less, count your calories and eat below your maintenance requirements.

This method has many flaws, including difficult adherence, lowered metabolism, loss of lean muscle, and possible nutritional deficiencies if you care more about cutting calories than you do about eating enough nutritious food.

Most glaring of all is that it doesn't work for many people. Despite the restrictive lifestyle they put themselves on, they don't seem to get much resultThis is backed up by research* showing that the effectiveness of a diet plan was VERY dependent on the current state of the individual person.

The main difference in question was what is known as insulin resistance.

Simply put, a person who is insulin resistant tends to put any nutrients eaten into their fat stores i.e. they get fatter. A person who is insulin sensitive (the opposite of resistant) tends to put their nutrients into muscles and organs for use and to be burned off.

For people who are insulin sensitive, all kinds of diets worked well for them. High carbohydrate, high fat, low fat, balanced plans, etc. So they are the lucky ones. With a high carbohydrate diet they dropped about 9lbs and with a low carbohydrate, high fat diet they dropped 11.7lbs

For the people who are insulin resistant, the results of the low carbohydrate, high fat diet were far more effective. With a high carb diet they dropped only 3.3lbs, and with a low carbohydrate diet they dropped 11.9lbs.

So, no matter who you are, a low carbohydrate, high healthy fat (coconut, butter, animal fat, nuts, avocados, etc) will work, and if you are insulin sensitive, almost any diet will work.

Besides helping you reduce weight, being insulin sensitive also reduces cardiac and diabetes risk, and tends to allow more stable energy levels throughout the day.

How does one make him/herself more insulin sensitive and more able to handle nutrients?

Here are some simple actions that all of us can do to boost insulin sensitivity and reduce insulin resistance:

• Do strength training - it boosts insulin sensitivity which long slow cardio does not

• Consume healthy fats, in particular Omega-3s and mono-unsaturates from sources like olive oil.

• Cut our refined carbohydrates (read this). For obese people I would limit this to non starchy fruits and unlimited vegetables

• Sleep well (I wrote about that here), as sleep deprivation makes you more insulin resistant

• Manage stress levels, do some relaxing stuff daily - writing a journal, hanging around with positive people, and smiling are some simple things that everyone can do

There we go, start implementing some habits that make you more insulin sensitive and more healthy!

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