A lot of people lose weight when they switch to a Paleo diet. Awesome. A lot of people lose
weight when they take up meth, or smoking, or get cancer, or go vegan, or do some fasting, or
jump on Weight Watchers, or take Phen-Fen or whatever it’s called, or go to some Biggest
Loser-esque boot camp. So how do we know that it is healthy? Oh, that’s right. Because our
ancestors ate that way. It’s in our DNA. I remember.
I don’t think there’s a bigger myth on the face of the planet than the weight loss myth. Okay,
well, that’s a little strong – but it certainly seems to be the biggest and most pervasive myth in
the health and fitness industry. The weight loss myth is basically that if you lose body fat, and
get lean, it will improve your health. This is a huge rabbit hole, but we will dive into it at
least part of the way.
It’s true that carrying around excess body fat is probably not a representation of what could be
considered “optimal health.” But you should know that, despite our prejudices against it and
beliefs that it is causing us all to “drop dead of heart attacks and get diabetes,” the actual data
that has been gathered suggests that if you are an American citizen over age 65, your greatest
mortality and morbidity statistics actually lie in the BMI range of 30-35. Yeah, you read that
right. The compiled NHANES data, some of the best data we have on bodyweight and risk
factors, actually finds that what is called Stage 1 obesity (BMI 30-35) is protective against
degenerative disease and statistically increases the lifespan of an American citizen. You
won’t see that in the Weight Watchers pamphlet or hear that being talked about on the Biggest
Loser.
If you are leaner than that, or heavier than that, you get sick more often and die younger. So
much for all this anti-fat hysteria. Being slightly obese isn’t exactly as scary as it’s made out
to be by your favorite diet guru or news network.
So, to begin this conversation, we must acknowledge that having some body fat has been in no
way proven to be unhealthy. This same data has shown that if you are physically fit, excess
body fat becomes even less of a risk factor and that someone who is “fat AND fit” is much
more likely to outlive someone who is thin and unfit.
Likewise, all of the risk factors associated with obesity have shown to be overturnable with
some improvements in diet and lifestyle EVEN IF THOSE DIETARY CHANGES DON’T
RESULT IN WEIGHT LOSS.
How’s your brain doing now? All this suggests, as some of my favorite authors like Linda
Bacon, Paul Campos, Laura Fraser, Glenn Gaesser, and Gina Kolata have been shouting for
years, that health risks and problems that we normally blame on obesity don’t have anything to
do with obesity. It’s just that many of the diet, lifestyle, socioeconomic, and other conditions
that cause increased risk of health problems and early death often cause excess body fat to
accumulate as well.
Okay, I’m tired of trying to fit in all these quotes in appropriate places. I’m just going to drop
them all in one place. I’ve got nearly 30 pages of great quotes harvested from large stacks of
books on this topic. Here is a nice sampling to help you believe that I’m not making this shiz
up…
To begin with, everything we know about weight loss suggests that losing weight is extremely
unhealthy, even if the weight loss is maintained – which it almost never is, and especially when the weight loss is not maintained and the pattern of losing and gaining weight is repeated again and again. But I, and you, should at least be willing to give paleo diet recipes the benefit of the doubt. After all, it involves the consumption of a very nutritious, whole foods diet and getting some good exercise in with plenty of time to rest and recover. Even the anti-weight loss authors that I selected recognize that eating a nutritious diet and staying physically fit are generally great virtues (excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little as making health recommendations on a statistical basis is kind of my pet peeve).
These lifestyle changes, Paleo-influenced or otherwise, can indeed result in incidental and spontaneous weight loss without a conscious attempt to restrict calories or even macronutrients. As was pointed out in some of the above quotes, there’s a difference between unintentional and intentional weight loss. The former is a frequent by-product of an improvement in the healthiness of one’s diet, lifestyle, and mindset. The latter comes typically from deliberately limiting one’s food intake or burning extra calories through exercise without replacing them with an increase in food intake. And we know that such a strategy does not work out long-term any more than holding your breath to reduce your oxygen levels works out long-term.
So I guess what I’m getting at is that weight loss is not just weight loss. And just because a
Paleo diet, especially a carbohydrate-restricted Paleo diet, results in spontaneous weight loss
– that does not make it healthy. I’m sure that some people who lost weight on the diet did so
because the diet and lifestyle was much healthier than what they were pursuing prior. But
some didn’t. This I know for sure. I’ve come across many that had to learn the hard way that
Paleo, their darling Paleo that they fell in love with when things were going so great – the
energy flowed, mind body soul fat was flying off, mood was spectacular, was actually causing the new health problems they were encountering (many of them related to hypothyroidism and/or
adrenal fatigue).
But you will generally see hypothyroid symptoms emerge with the vast majority of weight loss
no matter how that weight loss was achieved – regardless of how unintentional and regardless
of how healthy the diet and lifestyle may be. This is due to the simple fact that as body fat stores decline, so does the amount of circulating leptin. As leptin falls, so does thyroid hormone production. Plain and simple, unless of course one happens to increase their sensitivity to leptin hormone – a riddle that modern science has been unable to solve thus far.
But Paleo or not, based on what we know about obesity, one should assume that any weight
lost by any means is…
Sure, a paleo diet meal plan, when it works for weight loss, is probably one of the highest percentage ways to lose weight without negative repercussion. But that percentage, if I had to estimate, is still probably below 10%.
Most of you will disagree about weight loss being unhealthy. That’s because you are
confusing assumption for knowledge. There is a big difference. Trust me. I used to “know” it
all too. Don’t take my word for it. Look into it for yourself. You’ll find that once you get past
the propaganda promoted by those selling diet books, products, pills, and pet theories.
weight when they take up meth, or smoking, or get cancer, or go vegan, or do some fasting, or
jump on Weight Watchers, or take Phen-Fen or whatever it’s called, or go to some Biggest
Loser-esque boot camp. So how do we know that it is healthy? Oh, that’s right. Because our
ancestors ate that way. It’s in our DNA. I remember.
I don’t think there’s a bigger myth on the face of the planet than the weight loss myth. Okay,
well, that’s a little strong – but it certainly seems to be the biggest and most pervasive myth in
the health and fitness industry. The weight loss myth is basically that if you lose body fat, and
get lean, it will improve your health. This is a huge rabbit hole, but we will dive into it at
least part of the way.
It’s true that carrying around excess body fat is probably not a representation of what could be
considered “optimal health.” But you should know that, despite our prejudices against it and
beliefs that it is causing us all to “drop dead of heart attacks and get diabetes,” the actual data
that has been gathered suggests that if you are an American citizen over age 65, your greatest
mortality and morbidity statistics actually lie in the BMI range of 30-35. Yeah, you read that
right. The compiled NHANES data, some of the best data we have on bodyweight and risk
factors, actually finds that what is called Stage 1 obesity (BMI 30-35) is protective against
degenerative disease and statistically increases the lifespan of an American citizen. You
won’t see that in the Weight Watchers pamphlet or hear that being talked about on the Biggest
Loser.
If you are leaner than that, or heavier than that, you get sick more often and die younger. So
much for all this anti-fat hysteria. Being slightly obese isn’t exactly as scary as it’s made out
to be by your favorite diet guru or news network.
So, to begin this conversation, we must acknowledge that having some body fat has been in no
way proven to be unhealthy. This same data has shown that if you are physically fit, excess
body fat becomes even less of a risk factor and that someone who is “fat AND fit” is much
more likely to outlive someone who is thin and unfit.
Likewise, all of the risk factors associated with obesity have shown to be overturnable with
some improvements in diet and lifestyle EVEN IF THOSE DIETARY CHANGES DON’T
RESULT IN WEIGHT LOSS.
How’s your brain doing now? All this suggests, as some of my favorite authors like Linda
Bacon, Paul Campos, Laura Fraser, Glenn Gaesser, and Gina Kolata have been shouting for
years, that health risks and problems that we normally blame on obesity don’t have anything to
do with obesity. It’s just that many of the diet, lifestyle, socioeconomic, and other conditions
that cause increased risk of health problems and early death often cause excess body fat to
accumulate as well.
Okay, I’m tired of trying to fit in all these quotes in appropriate places. I’m just going to drop
them all in one place. I’ve got nearly 30 pages of great quotes harvested from large stacks of
books on this topic. Here is a nice sampling to help you believe that I’m not making this shiz
up…
To begin with, everything we know about weight loss suggests that losing weight is extremely
unhealthy, even if the weight loss is maintained – which it almost never is, and especially when the weight loss is not maintained and the pattern of losing and gaining weight is repeated again and again. But I, and you, should at least be willing to give paleo diet recipes the benefit of the doubt. After all, it involves the consumption of a very nutritious, whole foods diet and getting some good exercise in with plenty of time to rest and recover. Even the anti-weight loss authors that I selected recognize that eating a nutritious diet and staying physically fit are generally great virtues (excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little as making health recommendations on a statistical basis is kind of my pet peeve).
These lifestyle changes, Paleo-influenced or otherwise, can indeed result in incidental and spontaneous weight loss without a conscious attempt to restrict calories or even macronutrients. As was pointed out in some of the above quotes, there’s a difference between unintentional and intentional weight loss. The former is a frequent by-product of an improvement in the healthiness of one’s diet, lifestyle, and mindset. The latter comes typically from deliberately limiting one’s food intake or burning extra calories through exercise without replacing them with an increase in food intake. And we know that such a strategy does not work out long-term any more than holding your breath to reduce your oxygen levels works out long-term.
So I guess what I’m getting at is that weight loss is not just weight loss. And just because a
Paleo diet, especially a carbohydrate-restricted Paleo diet, results in spontaneous weight loss
– that does not make it healthy. I’m sure that some people who lost weight on the diet did so
because the diet and lifestyle was much healthier than what they were pursuing prior. But
some didn’t. This I know for sure. I’ve come across many that had to learn the hard way that
Paleo, their darling Paleo that they fell in love with when things were going so great – the
energy flowed, mind body soul fat was flying off, mood was spectacular, was actually causing the new health problems they were encountering (many of them related to hypothyroidism and/or
adrenal fatigue).
But you will generally see hypothyroid symptoms emerge with the vast majority of weight loss
no matter how that weight loss was achieved – regardless of how unintentional and regardless
of how healthy the diet and lifestyle may be. This is due to the simple fact that as body fat stores decline, so does the amount of circulating leptin. As leptin falls, so does thyroid hormone production. Plain and simple, unless of course one happens to increase their sensitivity to leptin hormone – a riddle that modern science has been unable to solve thus far.
But Paleo or not, based on what we know about obesity, one should assume that any weight
lost by any means is…
- Impermanent
- Unhealthy
- Destined to trigger health problems attributable to a reduced metabolic rate
Sure, a paleo diet meal plan, when it works for weight loss, is probably one of the highest percentage ways to lose weight without negative repercussion. But that percentage, if I had to estimate, is still probably below 10%.
Most of you will disagree about weight loss being unhealthy. That’s because you are
confusing assumption for knowledge. There is a big difference. Trust me. I used to “know” it
all too. Don’t take my word for it. Look into it for yourself. You’ll find that once you get past
the propaganda promoted by those selling diet books, products, pills, and pet theories.