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HEALTH
TIPS
Principles
of Weight Control
From The
Whole Kernel, Book 1, pp. 92-97, by Dr. Ede Koenig, Ph.D.
The body is one of God’s most marvelous creations. It is like a complex computerized machine that has been programmed to survive. The regulating center of this marvelous machine constantly reads the information about its environment and fine tunes the body’s use of energy so that it will have the optimal chance to survive. Excess energy can be stored or wasted, depending on the needs of the machine and its program.
Understanding
that the body is programmed to survive in any environment helps us
to understand its fat storage mechanism. A population which is
subject to periodic famine or scarcity of food needs a certain amount
of stored fat to survive. Thus, if the body knows it will not get
sufficient calories from time to time, it will seek to prepare for
the times of scarcity by storing an extra quantity of fat reserves.
Understanding this helps us explain why traditional dieting, which
restricts caloric intake, does not work. The bodies regulating center
does not distinguish between a famine condition and the regular
intervals of restricted calorie dieting. To the body, they are the same.
A
diet which restricts caloric intake below what is needed to maintain
ideal body weight at the current activity level brings about the same
body response that a famine would. The body responds to starvation in
several ways.
First, the body will store any calories not immediately needed for the life process. Second, the body will lower the basal metabolic rate so that less calories (energy) will be used. This also lowers the energy and consequently the activity level of the individual. Thirdly, the body will begin to burn protein then fat. Lastly, the body’s regulating center will increase the appetite to signal the need for more food. This prompts the person to devour any food that might be available. Traditional, or starvation, dieting has created the "Dieters dilemma" because the body’s famine survival instinct makes it both ineffective and counterproductive.
Instead of permanently lowering the weight, the long term results of starvation dieting is to increase the tendency of the body to store fat The body’s regulating center makes certain that any excess calories consumed will be stored for future use.
Thus, traditional dieting actually increases what some weight-loss experts have termed the body’s weight set point. The body now strives to hold onto even more fat then it did before.
Another
negative result of this type of dieting is that it causes the body
to lower the metabolic rate. This lowered metabolic rate means that
less energy is being used, so fewer calories will be burned. It also
means that the dieter has less energy, and will be less inclined to
be active. So, instead of continuous and rapid weight loss, the
process of burning fat is actually slowed down. With the lowered
metabolic rate, the process of weight gain will be even faster than
normal caloric intake is resumed.
The initial quick weight loss experience on a restricted calorie diet is largely due to the loss of lean muscle tissue, not fat. This means that even though the body is lighter in weight, it actually contains more fat by percentage then it had to begin with. Even more important, the body’s ability to burn fat is actually reduced because fat is burned primarily in the lean muscle tissues.
Lastly, the regulating center’s action increases the appetite and causes real stress to the dieter. The more restricted the caloric intake, the more the regulating center increases the appetite. Hence, the dieter eventually must give in to these hunger signals and eat. This is frequently called a binge. The dieter interprets this eating as a lack of self control, which results in damage to self esteem, but this is not the result of any lack of self control. The ravenous appetite created when the body is not receiving sufficient calories is not a sign of weakness; it is the body’s natural response to starvation. The need to eat is as natural as the need to breath. We cannot deny these needs and we can only control our breathing when we play a musical instrument or swim, but we cannot deny our need to breathe. The same thing happens to every dieter who tries to lose weight by the starvation method. Sooner or later he or she must "come up for air" by eating the nearest available food. And when these calories are taken into the body, it is ready to utilize and store them more efficiently then ever.
To put it all in a nutshell, traditional dieting causes the dieter’s whole life to become more and more food-centered as he or she gains greater amounts of fat on fewer and fewer calories. At best, this approach can only afford the dieter temporary success because it puts the body’s regulating center completely out of touch with reality.
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"The
content of this site is not intended as medical advice. Its intention
is solely informational and educational. Please consult a medical
professional should the need for one be warranted."
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