Hello, I'm Dr.
Emerson, Medical Director at
00:00:36.44\00:00:39.33
Eden Valley Lifestyle Center
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I wanted to talk to you today
about obesity, weight control
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as it's part of the
insulin resistance syndrome.
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We want to ask ourselves...
00:00:48.33\00:00:49.83
"What causes
people to be too heavy?"
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Most of us have been brought
up with the idea that it's
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too many calories in
- too few calories out -
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and that will cause weight gain.
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But we want to look at a
group later on that actually
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is no more active
than the average American
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eats 30% MORE calories
than the average American
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and yet weighs 20% LESS
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We want to show you how
you too can actually eat MORE
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and weigh LESS
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How is obesity defined?
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Well, it's defined
as a body mass index...
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that's your weight in
kilograms divided by your
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height in meter
squared, and that's called the
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body mass index... BMI for short
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A normal BMI is 20 to 25
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Overweight is 25 to 30
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Obese is 30 to 40
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Morbidly obese is over 40
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Morbid means
disease or sickness,
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and we find that
obesity can indeed cause
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disease and sickness.
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Now, you don't actually have to
calculate your body mass index
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There are charts that
are available where you
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look across the top,
and you find your weight
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and then you move
down to your height to find
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your body mass index...
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And as you move down looking for
your height, you may find that
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you're too
short for your weight.
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How big a problem is obesity?
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Well, an American, as of 2002,
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1 in 4 American adults have it.
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It costs 17 billion dollars
a year to treat the diseases
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that are made
worse by obesity...
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And it killed about
300,000 Americans each year.
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It contributes to
medical problems such as
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diabetes, heart disease,
hypertension, sleep apnea
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gallstones and osteoarthritis...
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making these problems worse,
more difficult to control.
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It actually also increases
your risk of sudden death
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The risk increases dramatically
when your body mass index
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goes over 29.
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Your risk of premature death,
if you're in the obese range,
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increases by 50 to
100%, but even mild degrees of
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being overweight 10-20
pounds can confer an increased
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risk of death, especially
in 30 to 64-year-old age group.
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Now apart from the health risks,
there's also a social stigma...
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People don't
like to be overweight.
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In fact, if I want to talk
to a group of nurses about a
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health topic, on making rounds,
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all I have to do is start
talking to one of the nurses
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about weight
control, and VOOM...
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the whole nursing floor is there
and they want to hear about it
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It's a hot topic
usually on the floors.
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How does obesity rank
in terms of prevalence?
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Is it growing in problem,
or is it being alleviated?
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And actually, we're finding that
it is increasing at alarming
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rates in terms of prevalence.
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On the West Coast...
the West Coast tends to lag
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behind the East Coast in terms
of the prevalence of obesity,
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were usually 5% less in
prevalence on the West Coast
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But we're finding
that every 10 years,
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the prevalence has been
increasing since about 1991
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by about 10%
every 10 years or so.
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On the West, it used to
be anywhere from 10% or less
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as of 1991, but as of
2008, it has increased to
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somewhere around 20
to 25% on the West...
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And on the East Coast, in
the 1990s, it was 10 to 14%
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and now it has
increased to 25 to 30%.
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The problem is
getting to be so bad
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that actually one of the
airlines made a rule that
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if you are too
large to fit in one space,
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you were
required to buy 2 spaces.
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And I remember seeing a
little cartoon that showed this
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beanpole of a guy going up
to the airline ticket agent,
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and she is
responding and saying...
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"No sir, we cannot
sell you half a ticket. "
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So, he wasn't able to
get a discount being thin.
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How do we treat obesity?
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How do we solve the problem?
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First of all, does a
low-calorie diet work?
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News stands carry a
new diet every month.
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These are usually
low calorie diets.
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Presumably, they have a
low calorie diet every month
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because the
last one didn't work.
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The issue of McCall's,
January 1992, ran a story
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about Oprah...
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She had lost 67
pounds 2 years previously
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and all the world rejoiced.
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However, the world was very
saddened at the time of this
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article, because she
had regained all the weight
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that she had lost.
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Dr. Callaway, in an
interview on the next page,
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actually reviewed
the low calorie diets,
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and showed that her
failure was predictable...
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that it was expected...
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and then he goes on to
explain why it's predictable...
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why a low-calorie diet is
actually doomed to failure
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and will actually
cause INCREASED weight gain
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in the long run.
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The page, describing
the interview, had a picture
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of her, and the caption
showed "slender or starved"
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And the question is,
"Do we have to be starved
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in order to be slender?
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We want to actually
show, and give evidence today,
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that... no, you don't have
to be starved to be slender.
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Well, where did our
understanding that low-calorie
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diets were not
helpful actually begin?
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It started around 1959...
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Stunkard and McLaren-Hume
reviewed the low-calorie diets
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over the previous 30
years, and they found that
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7 of them were very
good, and were considered
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well-conducted.
00:07:40.98\00:07:42.00
So they looked at
those 7, and they found that
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all but one of them
had a maximum weight loss
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of only 20 pounds or more for
less than 30% of the patients.
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Less than 8% of the
patients lost 40 pounds or more.
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And they asked
themselves, "Why the failure?
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Why doesn't a low-calorie
diet work long-term to help
00:08:00.76\00:08:05.09
patients lose weight?"
00:08:05.12\00:08:06.73
So to investigate,
they did their own study.
00:08:06.76\00:08:08.81
They looked at the
next 100 patients that were
00:08:08.84\00:08:11.57
coming to their clinic, and
they put them on an 800 to 1500
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calorie per day diet.
00:08:14.33\00:08:16.43
Now to give you
perspective, a normal adult male
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usually take about 2500
to 3000 calories per day...
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So they were getting
less than half the normal
00:08:23.25\00:08:25.14
amount of calories per day.
00:08:25.17\00:08:27.22
At the end of the
treatment program,
00:08:27.25\00:08:29.99
only 12 out of 100
patients lost 20 pounds.
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After 1 year, only 6 were able
to maintain this weight loss
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and after 2 years, only
2 out of the initial 100,
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were able to
maintain their weight loss.
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And they asked themselves...
"Why? Why the dismal failure?"
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Well, they
interviewed the patients,
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and they found that nervousness
was one of the problems.
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Weakness... of
course they had no calories,
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so, of course, they were weak.
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Irritability was
another symptom fatigue, nausea
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One patient actually
had increased nervousness,
00:09:02.05\00:09:06.27
developed a
schizophrenic reaction;
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he was admitted to the
hospital, and he gradually
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regained most of
the weight he had lost.
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So, the question then
is... "Why doesn't a low calorie
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diet work?"
00:09:19.52\00:09:21.41
Well to look at this, we
want to find out actually how
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God designed our bodies.
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God actually designed our
bodies to adapt to whatever
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stress we put it under.
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Do our bodies adapt to exercise?
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Well, we all know that it does.
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If we exercise, lift
weights, run... our musculature
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gets stronger to adapt to the
stress we're putting it under
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But many of us don't consider
the fact that possibly our
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bodies can adapt to starvation
ALSO to protect yourself
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from dying from
too few calories.
00:09:56.94\00:10:00.19
So we want to look at how
our bodies adapt to starvation
00:10:00.22\00:10:03.57
Two studies give light
on this interesting concept.
00:10:03.58\00:10:08.26
In 1919, the Carnegie
Nutrition Experiment was done
00:10:08.29\00:10:11.87
Patients were put on a
1400 calorie per day diet.
00:10:11.90\00:10:16.94
Now the body
immediately compensated.
00:10:16.97\00:10:20.16
What happened was the
metabolism slowed down,
00:10:20.17\00:10:23.37
and this would be
reasonable if you lose your job,
00:10:23.40\00:10:27.21
and you don't have
money to pay the power bill,
00:10:27.24\00:10:29.34
you turn your thermostat down.
00:10:29.35\00:10:31.11
If the body is not taking
in the calories it desires,
00:10:31.14\00:10:34.87
it turns its
thermostat down too.
00:10:34.90\00:10:36.92
The metabolism dropped...
00:10:36.95\00:10:38.19
Body temperature dropped...
00:10:38.22\00:10:39.84
Blood pressure dropped...
00:10:39.87\00:10:41.11
Heart rate dropped...
00:10:41.14\00:10:42.38
Oxygen consumption dropped...
00:10:42.41\00:10:44.31
CO2 production dropped...
00:10:44.34\00:10:45.58
They were burning less calories.
00:10:45.61\00:10:47.24
They were radiating less heat.
00:10:47.27\00:10:49.01
They were conserving calories.
00:10:49.04\00:10:51.36
AND they became
much less active.
00:10:51.39\00:10:54.60
If you've ever
been on a water fast,
00:10:54.63\00:10:57.87
cutting back the calories
dramatically, after a day or 2,
00:10:57.90\00:11:02.24
your energy level
is at a low point.
00:11:02.27\00:11:05.24
You might be looking
out the window, and say..
00:11:05.27\00:11:07.17
"Ah, that's an interesting
bird, I'd like to get a closer
00:11:07.20\00:11:09.89
look at it" and
you're about to get up
00:11:09.92\00:11:11.88
and you think... "Nah,
maybe I'll just sit here,
00:11:11.91\00:11:14.31
and not look at the bird"
00:11:14.34\00:11:15.76
because the
energy level is so low.
00:11:15.79\00:11:17.92
This is what they noticed
in that Carnegie Experiment
00:11:17.95\00:11:21.90
When they came OFF the diet,
the fast, the low calorie regime
00:11:21.93\00:11:27.66
...they found that they
actually gained MORE weight
00:11:27.69\00:11:31.00
than they had initially lost
during the starvation period.
00:11:31.03\00:11:34.79
Well, later, after World
War II, they did another study
00:11:34.82\00:11:40.59
They were going to go in
to free starvation victims
00:11:40.62\00:11:44.50
and they found that if they
fed these starvation victims
00:11:44.53\00:11:48.36
too fast, they died...
suddenly the heart would stop
00:11:48.39\00:11:52.78
And so, they needed
to study starvation,
00:11:52.81\00:11:55.32
and how to re-feed
starvation victims.
00:11:55.35\00:11:58.10
So they took 32
conscientious objectors,
00:11:58.13\00:12:01.24
and they put them on
a semi-starvation diet
00:12:01.27\00:12:03.88
for 6 months.
00:12:03.91\00:12:05.71
The normal things that you
expected would happen happened
00:12:05.74\00:12:09.79
Of course, the
metabolism slowed down.
00:12:09.82\00:12:11.95
They were starting to
conserve calories again
00:12:11.98\00:12:15.05
and they became much less active
00:12:15.08\00:12:17.34
What they then found was
that the weight dropped as well
00:12:17.37\00:12:23.71
...and this wasn't surprising
00:12:23.74\00:12:25.40
The muscle mass
dropped to about 60% of normal
00:12:25.41\00:12:30.34
The body fat also
dropped to about 33% of the
00:12:30.37\00:12:34.92
original body fat weight, and
the metabolism was much lower
00:12:34.95\00:12:40.72
This was at the end of 6 months.
00:12:40.75\00:12:42.81
Then, they re-fed them.
00:12:42.84\00:12:44.24
They gave them their
normal calorie intake,
00:12:44.27\00:12:46.37
and what surprised them
was the response the body had
00:12:46.40\00:12:49.65
to this re-feeding.
00:12:49.68\00:12:51.55
As they re-fed them, the
muscle mass slowly increased
00:12:51.58\00:12:55.71
At the end of the year, it
was still a couple of pounds
00:12:55.74\00:12:57.98
below what it
was before the fast.
00:12:58.01\00:13:00.74
The metabolism
also slowly increased,
00:13:00.77\00:13:03.97
but at the end of the year,
it was still several notches
00:13:04.00\00:13:07.85
below what it was
before they started the fast.
00:13:07.88\00:13:12.10
But body fat,
jumped up and at 33 weeks,
00:13:12.13\00:13:16.53
it was about 10 pounds
MORE than the body fat weight
00:13:16.56\00:13:21.29
before their fast.
00:13:21.30\00:13:22.94
It jumped and peaked at about
32 weeks, slowly came down,
00:13:22.97\00:13:26.87
but at the end of 1 year, the
body fat was still 2 to 3 pounds
00:13:26.90\00:13:30.30
ABOVE what it
was before the fast.
00:13:30.31\00:13:33.29
The question is...
"Why did the body do this?"
00:13:33.30\00:13:35.65
Why did the
metabolism come up only slowly,
00:13:35.68\00:13:38.47
and stay below what
it was before the fast?
00:13:38.50\00:13:40.96
Why did the muscle mass
not come back up to normal,
00:13:40.99\00:13:43.24
but stayed below normal...
00:13:43.27\00:13:44.53
and why did the
body fat go VERY high...
00:13:44.56\00:13:47.30
ABOVE what it
was before the fast,
00:13:47.31\00:13:49.23
and only slowly come down
toward normal still remaining
00:13:49.26\00:13:52.93
a couple of pounds above
what it was before the fast?
00:13:52.96\00:13:56.07
Well, the body was
again adapting to starvation.
00:13:56.10\00:14:00.30
At the end of the
starvation period at 6 months,
00:14:00.33\00:14:03.39
the body now was
re-fed, and the body said...
00:14:03.42\00:14:06.67
"You know, we've just come
through 6 months of starvation,
00:14:06.70\00:14:09.84
we now have
calories... we'd better prepare
00:14:09.87\00:14:13.14
for the next starvation. "
00:14:13.17\00:14:15.23
So, to prepare for
the next starvation,
00:14:15.26\00:14:18.08
we're going to keep the
muscle mass low, so we have less
00:14:18.09\00:14:21.05
muscle to feed...
00:14:21.08\00:14:22.38
We're going to keep
the metabolism low, so that
00:14:22.41\00:14:24.95
we're burning fewer
calories, so that we can
00:14:24.98\00:14:27.45
save more
calories in terms of fat,
00:14:27.48\00:14:29.86
and we're going to
keep the body fat HIGH
00:14:29.87\00:14:32.49
Higher than it was so that
when the next starvation comes,
00:14:32.52\00:14:35.33
we'll have more fat
to feed less muscle with"
00:14:35.36\00:14:39.01
...And this is
what the body does.
00:14:39.02\00:14:40.59
In countries where
there are annual famines,
00:14:40.62\00:14:43.63
they find that the
people, when the crops come in,
00:14:43.66\00:14:48.71
will become obese...
00:14:48.74\00:14:50.26
When the crops are eaten
up, and they go into starvation,
00:14:50.29\00:14:53.76
they become very thin, low
muscle mass, low metabolism
00:14:53.79\00:14:56.83
And when the crops come
in again they become obese...
00:14:56.86\00:15:00.22
And they go through this cycle,
00:15:00.25\00:15:01.73
and this is what
protects them from starvation.
00:15:01.76\00:15:06.41
We have found that
this concept of the body
00:15:06.44\00:15:11.00
adapting to starvation also
works with dieters and wrestlers
00:15:11.03\00:15:16.67
In high school, we used to do
something which is not advisable
00:15:16.70\00:15:21.95
but we would stop
eating for a day or 2 to try to
00:15:21.98\00:15:26.98
lower our weight, so
that we would make weigh-ins
00:15:27.01\00:15:29.54
to wrestle at a
lower weight class.
00:15:29.57\00:15:32.92
Then, once we made weigh-ins, we
would eat and eat to try to get
00:15:32.95\00:15:36.98
our calorie intake up, so we
would have energy to wrestle.
00:15:37.01\00:15:40.53
This is called, "weight-cycling"
00:15:40.56\00:15:43.63
The body, however, adapts
to this weight-cycling as well
00:15:43.66\00:15:47.81
and they found that in
a study with wrestlers,
00:15:47.84\00:15:50.43
the ones that weight-cycled,
that would cut their calories
00:15:50.46\00:15:53.91
...eat, cut
their calories and eat,
00:15:53.94\00:15:55.24
had a lower resting
metabolic rate, than wrestlers
00:15:55.27\00:15:59.20
that did not weight-cycle...
00:15:59.23\00:16:01.02
And, of course, with wrestling,
you want all the metabolism
00:16:01.05\00:16:04.19
you can... you DON'T
want a low metabolic rate.
00:16:04.22\00:16:07.81
They've also looked at obese,
or actually non-obese patients
00:16:07.84\00:16:13.14
They took a thousand of these
and they looked at them to see
00:16:13.17\00:16:17.18
if weight-cycling
affected them as well.
00:16:17.21\00:16:20.20
And they found that if these
weight-cyclers had been on a
00:16:20.23\00:16:24.02
low-calorie diet
for a week or more,
00:16:24.05\00:16:26.94
4 times or more,
over the previous year,
00:16:26.97\00:16:30.15
that their metabolism
was lower than the women that
00:16:30.16\00:16:36.57
had not done the weight-cycling.
00:16:36.58\00:16:39.83
They then looked at patients
who were put in a hospital,
00:16:39.86\00:16:48.66
or at home, and
placed on a low-calorie diet
00:16:48.67\00:16:52.14
And they wanted to find
out if the body remembers
00:16:52.17\00:16:56.06
its experience
with a low-calorie diet.
00:16:56.09\00:17:00.71
So the first group was
in an outpatient program
00:17:00.74\00:17:05.55
They put them on a
restricted calorie diet
00:17:05.58\00:17:08.77
It was actually a low-carb
diet, 800-1500 calories a day
00:17:08.80\00:17:13.51
And they found that as
outpatients, the first time
00:17:13.54\00:17:16.00
they did it, they
lost 0.19 kilograms per day
00:17:16.03\00:17:20.45
They then took
them OFF the diet,
00:17:20.48\00:17:23.39
and the patients regained
not just the weight they lost,
00:17:23.42\00:17:27.66
but 120% of the
weight they'd lost.
00:17:27.69\00:17:30.29
They actually gained more weight
than they lost which was not
00:17:30.30\00:17:33.06
too unexpected.
00:17:33.07\00:17:34.31
They then said, "Well okay,
we'll put them on a diet AGAIN"
00:17:34.34\00:17:38.26
The second time they put
them on the low-calorie diet,
00:17:38.29\00:17:40.84
this time they only lost
not 0.19 kilograms per day,
00:17:40.87\00:17:45.27
but 0.15 kilograms per day.
00:17:45.30\00:17:48.19
They were losing
weight at a SLOWER rate
00:17:48.22\00:17:51.90
And they thought,
"Well, what's going on here?
00:17:51.93\00:17:53.74
It's not working as
well as it did the first time
00:17:53.75\00:17:56.04
So let's go and try
to correct the problem...
00:17:56.07\00:18:01.22
Maybe they're cheating?
00:18:01.23\00:18:03.28
Maybe they're eating
more than they're supposed to.
00:18:03.31\00:18:06.98
Because after all,
they're doing this at home...
00:18:07.01\00:18:08.60
we can't really monitor them.
00:18:08.61\00:18:09.78
So let's put them
in the hospital"...
00:18:09.79\00:18:12.03
And sure enough, they
put them in the hospital...
00:18:12.06\00:18:14.50
put them on the
same low-calorie diet,
00:18:14.53\00:18:16.44
and, yes, they did
lose weight at a faster rate
00:18:16.47\00:18:20.12
the first time they did this.
00:18:20.15\00:18:21.52
They found that they
lost 0.47 kilograms per day
00:18:21.55\00:18:26.66
which was losing
weight at a faster rate than
00:18:26.69\00:18:30.20
as an outpatient.
00:18:30.23\00:18:31.89
When they came off the
diet... again, they regained
00:18:31.92\00:18:35.07
115% of the
weight they had lost.
00:18:35.10\00:18:38.26
They actually gained more
weight than they had lost.
00:18:38.29\00:18:41.30
So they put them BACK in the
hospital, monitored very closely
00:18:41.33\00:18:45.01
how many
calories they were taking
00:18:45.04\00:18:46.29
They were on the same
program, but THIS time,
00:18:46.30\00:18:48.54
they didn't lose
0.48 kilograms per day,
00:18:48.57\00:18:51.90
they lost 0.37
kilograms per day.
00:18:51.93\00:18:55.81
And the question
is... "Why were they losing
00:18:55.84\00:18:57.66
weight at a slower rate?"
00:18:57.69\00:19:00.75
Well, what was happening
was the body was now REMEMBERING
00:19:00.78\00:19:06.10
what had happened before.
00:19:06.13\00:19:08.48
The first time they
went on the low-calorie diet,
00:19:08.51\00:19:10.67
the body said, "I think she's
going on a low-calorie diet,
00:19:10.70\00:19:13.87
we'd better turn
down the metabolism"
00:19:13.90\00:19:17.83
And it did it more
slowly, more gently,
00:19:17.86\00:19:20.56
and there was a
slowing down of the metabolism
00:19:20.59\00:19:23.52
but there was still
some significant weight loss.
00:19:23.55\00:19:27.81
She had calories... the body
said, "We'd better get ready
00:19:27.82\00:19:30.06
for the next starvation"
00:19:30.09\00:19:31.28
So they regained more
weight than they lost.
00:19:31.31\00:19:33.66
The second time, she went
through the low-calorie diet,
00:19:33.69\00:19:37.14
the body says,
"She's doing it AGAIN."
00:19:37.17\00:19:39.72
"We recognize this, we'd
better shut down the metabolism
00:19:39.75\00:19:42.45
FASTER, SOONER,
protect her more quickly"
00:19:42.48\00:19:45.91
The metabolism
shuts down faster,
00:19:45.94\00:19:48.19
and the weight loss
DROPS... in other words
00:19:48.22\00:19:51.76
the rate of weight loss
decreases, and they lose
00:19:51.79\00:19:54.57
weight more slowly because the
body is now conserving calories
00:19:54.60\00:19:59.12
more aggressively,
and starting sooner.
00:19:59.15\00:20:07.39
So, why do these
low-calorie diets not work?
00:20:07.43\00:20:16.13
Well again, to review...
00:20:16.17\00:20:18.22
a low-calorie diet causes
00:20:18.26\00:20:20.28
weight gain in the
long run because the body is
00:20:20.47\00:20:23.25
trying to conserve
calories for the next starvation
00:20:23.28\00:20:28.68
It stores them as fat,
keeps the muscle mass low,
00:20:28.71\00:20:31.73
and keeps the metabolism low.
00:20:31.76\00:20:34.61
This is how the body
responds to starvation.
00:20:34.64\00:20:39.24
In the long run, starvation
diets are tolerated poorly
00:20:39.25\00:20:44.52
We just don't
tolerate being starved,
00:20:44.55\00:20:49.22
and we tend to go OFF
of those starvation diets
00:20:49.25\00:20:51.58
And when we do, that's
when the weight-rebound occurs.
00:20:51.59\00:20:59.66
We have a problem with
repeated starvations, or diets
00:20:59.70\00:21:07.74
because the more
times we repeat the process,
00:21:07.77\00:21:10.07
the more the body responds
by increasing the weight.
00:21:10.10\00:21:16.90
Well, the next
question then comes is...
00:21:16.93\00:21:20.56
"What about the Atkins Diet?"
00:21:20.59\00:21:22.98
I've had friends that go on
the Atkins Diet and they lose
00:21:23.01\00:21:26.16
weight... at least initially.
00:21:26.19\00:21:28.27
When was the Atkins
Diet actually introduced?
00:21:28.30\00:21:31.72
Well, it was actually introduced
around 1860 by William Banting
00:21:31.75\00:21:35.82
This is not a new program.
00:21:35.85\00:21:38.26
The Atkins Diet is essentially
a low-carbohydrate diet
00:21:38.29\00:21:43.53
and a high
protein and high fat diet.
00:21:43.56\00:21:48.12
Now, the reason it's
high protein, high fat
00:21:48.15\00:21:50.44
is because we only get
calories from 3 sources...
00:21:50.47\00:21:53.26
Most generally speaking, we
have carbohydrates, proteins,
00:21:53.29\00:21:58.44
and fats.
00:21:58.47\00:22:00.11
Some people include alcohol, but
that's not one we want to use.
00:22:00.14\00:22:05.08
Many risks involved
with alcohol intake.
00:22:05.11\00:22:07.89
If you decrease one of those,
generally, you then have to
00:22:07.92\00:22:12.40
concentrate on the other 2.
00:22:12.41\00:22:13.66
So a low-carb diet pushes you
to a high protein, high fat diet
00:22:13.67\00:22:18.41
Well, this Atkins Diet really
became a craze around 2004
00:22:18.44\00:22:26.37
in America.
00:22:26.38\00:22:28.08
Many low-carb alternatives
were being put out and promoted
00:22:28.11\00:22:33.09
to people, and the
market was buying them avidly.
00:22:33.12\00:22:39.84
It was similar to the
1980s low-fat options that were
00:22:39.87\00:22:47.87
being offered at that time.
00:22:47.90\00:22:49.22
What is a low-carb diet?
00:22:49.25\00:22:51.39
Well, in general, the
central nervous system
00:22:51.42\00:22:54.21
needs about 130 grams
of carbohydrates per day.
00:22:54.24\00:22:58.96
This is because the brain...
the central nervous system
00:22:58.97\00:23:01.72
can only burn carbohydrates,
it can't burn fats.
00:23:01.75\00:23:07.28
There's also a need in the
nutritional status of our system
00:23:07.31\00:23:14.91
to get nutrients,
vitamins and minerals...
00:23:14.94\00:23:19.68
And these vitamins and minerals
are basically found mainly
00:23:19.69\00:23:23.05
in the plant products.
00:23:23.08\00:23:24.43
And, in order to
get enough nutrients,
00:23:24.44\00:23:27.51
they recommend not
just 135 grams a day,
00:23:27.54\00:23:31.19
but 225 to 325 grams
of carbohydrates per day
00:23:31.22\00:23:36.41
to guarantee enough of
the vitamins and minerals
00:23:36.42\00:23:40.20
to be taken in.
00:23:40.23\00:23:42.39
Because the Atkins Diet
avoids the carbohydrates,
00:23:42.42\00:23:45.71
it has to avoid the plant
foods and so there are some
00:23:45.74\00:23:48.77
nutrient deficiencies
and the Atkins Diet requires
00:23:48.80\00:23:51.32
you to take the supplements
in order to compensate for this.
00:23:51.35\00:23:56.20
Does the Atkins Diet meet
either of these requirements?
00:23:56.23\00:23:59.85
Actually... No.
00:23:59.86\00:24:00.90
It starts at about 20
grams per day, and then slowly
00:24:00.93\00:24:05.05
increases to 60 grams a day...
00:24:05.08\00:24:07.43
Nowhere near the
135 grams needed for the
00:24:07.46\00:24:10.85
central nervous system, or
the 200 to 300 grams needed
00:24:10.88\00:24:14.00
for your nutrition.
00:24:14.03\00:24:15.58
Well does the Atkins Diet work?
00:24:15.61\00:24:19.01
Well, it does cause
weight loss initially...
00:24:19.04\00:24:22.16
And the question is... Why?
00:24:22.20\00:24:25.42
Well, when they observed
the people on the Atkins Diet,
00:24:25.45\00:24:29.45
what they found
was that there was no
00:24:29.48\00:24:33.79
official calorie
restriction, but the people were
00:24:33.82\00:24:36.87
only eating about 66% of
their normal calorie intake.
00:24:36.90\00:24:42.52
Well, why were they only getting
66% of their normal calories?
00:24:42.55\00:24:45.85
Because they weren't telling
them to restrict their calories
00:24:45.88\00:24:48.30
What they found was that
their appetite was suppressed
00:24:48.33\00:24:51.58
They had no desire for anymore
of the foods that were available
00:24:51.59\00:24:56.74
because there was just
protein and fat mainly,
00:24:56.77\00:24:59.79
very little carbohydrates,
and it was the carbohydrates
00:24:59.82\00:25:02.17
that were replenishing,
or satisfying the appetite,
00:25:02.20\00:25:06.81
and without those, they
had a suppressed appetite.
00:25:06.84\00:25:09.85
So they hypothesized...
00:25:09.88\00:25:11.11
Is it possible that the
reason people on the Atkins Diet
00:25:11.14\00:25:14.09
lose weight... is
because of calorie-restriction?
00:25:14.10\00:25:17.50
Well they did a test to find out
00:25:17.53\00:25:20.34
They took 25
people, paired them up...
00:25:20.37\00:25:22.55
And they had a test
group, and a control group.
00:25:22.58\00:25:25.63
The test group was, of
course, the Atkins group,
00:25:25.66\00:25:28.94
and they were on the Atkins
Diet, the low carbohydrate diet
00:25:28.97\00:25:34.18
And each of them was
paired with another person on a
00:25:34.19\00:25:37.89
low-calorie diet.
00:25:37.90\00:25:39.92
A regular diet,
lots of carbohydrates,
00:25:39.95\00:25:42.20
but they restricted
their calories to match
00:25:42.23\00:25:45.03
the Atkins calorie intake.
00:25:45.06\00:25:47.75
So the Atkins calorie intake
were spontaneously eating only
00:25:47.78\00:25:51.25
about 66% of their
normal calorie intake
00:25:51.28\00:25:54.93
The low-calorie diet
was forced to be restricted
00:25:54.96\00:25:59.87
to match the Atkins group...
00:25:59.91\00:26:01.40
And when they went
out, after about 6 weeks,
00:26:01.43\00:26:05.74
they found that
both groups lost weight
00:26:05.77\00:26:08.80
at exactly the same rate.
00:26:08.81\00:26:11.31
They found that neither of
these diets was tolerated well
00:26:11.34\00:26:16.86
and the Atkins Diet had a
lot of other complications
00:26:16.89\00:26:20.96
...vitamin and mineral
deficiencies that raised
00:26:20.99\00:26:23.43
the low-density lipoprotein
levels which is hazardous
00:26:23.46\00:26:29.17
So that the Adkins
group, and the low-calorie group
00:26:29.18\00:26:32.31
were both causing weight
loss from low-calorie intake
00:26:32.34\00:26:36.75
and, of course, when you
have a low-calorie intake
00:26:36.78\00:26:39.18
and you stop and come off
it, you get a weak rebound.
00:26:39.21\00:26:42.14
Side effects for the
Atkins group were constipation
00:26:42.17\00:26:45.32
because there's
no fiber in the diet
00:26:45.35\00:26:46.48
Weakness... because
there are no calories
00:26:46.51\00:26:47.88
Headache, bad breath, muscle
cramps, diarrhea and rash...
00:26:47.91\00:26:50.59
And you needed to compensate
with lots of vitamins, minerals
00:26:50.62\00:26:54.69
vitamin A, C, and E
00:26:54.72\00:26:56.57
So in review, the
low-calorie diets are actually
00:26:56.60\00:27:02.67
doomed to failure because
of calorie restriction...
00:27:02.70\00:27:06.90
And the body then compensating
for a low-calorie diet by
00:27:06.93\00:27:12.10
putting on more weight
after the diet is stopped
00:27:12.13\00:27:16.51
and the metabolism lowering...
00:27:16.54\00:27:18.78
body fat increasing...
00:27:18.81\00:27:20.45
muscle mass decreasing
to compensate for this
00:27:20.48\00:27:24.73
starvation that
you put it through.
00:27:24.76\00:27:26.76
We're going to look,
next time, at exercise...
00:27:26.79\00:27:31.86
Is this the solution
to a weight problem...
00:27:31.89\00:27:37.66
or are there other solutions
that we need to look at?
00:27:37.69\00:27:42.45
So for now, we hope
that you can follow through
00:27:42.48\00:27:49.52
on the next program where
we can look at these other
00:27:49.55\00:27:53.63
possible sources of the
obesity problem in America.
00:27:53.64\00:27:59.89
We look forward to
seeing you again next time...
00:27:59.92\00:28:03.41
And for now, may God bless!
00:28:03.44\00:28:05.19