Chapters 16 and 17 were extremely boring and interesting all at the same time in my opinion. Both spent much time discussing the common belief that excess calorie consumption and lack of exercise cause obesity. Again, we were reminded of the disconcerting fact that research studies conducted to solve the obesity problem by reducing calorie consumption or increasing exercise have failed miserably to elicit long term weight loss. He then also goes on to say that we know that a positive calorie balance causes weight gain. That is the first law of thermodynamic and Taubes describes this as being no more helpful than telling us that someone is an alcoholic because they drink too much. The problem is all of the obvious fixes to this problem don’t work. Less calories in or more calories expended simply leads to changes in metabolic rate to maintain weight. This is all information that had been covered in previous chapters and felt very redundant to me. The question is; What causes the calorie excess? Finally, he gets to a point that gives us some clue and he uses a couple great analogies to help us understand. Consider kids. Why do they grow taller? Is it because they eat a lot or because growth hormone is secreted causing them to grow and they simply eat accordingly? Its the whole, chicken or the egg thing. Which came first? Intuitively we all know the answer. We see kids all of a sudden eating like they have a hollow leg and we assume they must be having a growth spurt. The hormones cause the tissue growth and they eat to have a positive energy balance to support it. Is it possible that growing wide rather than tall is somewhat similar? Could it be that adults become hormonally oriented towards growth and then eat more and move less to create a positive energy balance to support the growth? Fat gain in females when pregnant definitely supports this possibility. When women become pregnant they very quickly begin to store fat. Is this because they all of a sudden decided to eat more and move less? No. They are designed, quite wonderfully I might add, to secrete hormones that cause them to store fat to support the growth of the baby and to support the nursing of the baby after birth. Consequently, they get hungry and eat more and move less to support this vital, life giving tissue growth. In both pregnant women and growing children the hormone secretion caused the excess tissue growth and the eating and activity levels adjusted to support this process. Taubes implies here that the same type of mechanism may be at work in obesity. There is a hormonal issue first and then the lifestyle has no choice but to support hormonally driven fat storage. The big question obviously then is; What causes the hormonal imbalance? We are not there yet. Stay tuned here or better yet pick up the book and read chapters 18 and 19 this week and maybe a little more light will be shed on the subject. Post thoughts and questions to comments.
Filed under: Nutrition Tagged: | Good Calories-Bad Calories
