Dr. Robert H. Lustig
I want to point out this interview that I think is important.
In it, endocrinologist Dr. Robert H. Lustig (the guy from Sugar: The Bitter Truth) explains what he believes to be the true cause of obesity.
Dr. Lustig is a very respected researcher, with extensive clinical experience in the field, and I value his opinion highly.
Some of the important points in the interview are:
- There are two ways to consider the 1st law of thermodynamics (calories in, calories out).
- Obesity is a defect in fat deposition.
- There are “biochemical forces” that make us eat more and exercise less.
- 90% of obesity is caused by an excess of the hormone insulin.
- Insulin promotes resistance to another hormone, Leptin, which is supposed to tell the brain that it doesn’t need to eat.
- Even though insulin contributes to satiety in the short term, high insulin levels lead to fat storage in the long run.
- The main driving force behind all this is Fructose, leading to an insulin resistant liver which raises insulin levels all over the body.
I highly recommend you check out the interview and pay close attention to his explanations.
It is 15 minutes long and clarifies things that are very important for anyone interested in health.
The dialogue can get a little technical at times (two doctors chatting). If there is something you don’t understand, feel free to ask me in the comments and I will do my best to explain.
Yeah I’ve seen that video, super interesting stuff…
Totally agree, insulin is the main culprit, and the fact that just about all (most all) foods available today boost it through the roof…
Mark
A very interesting interview here.
I have one question regarding this:
If we assume that Dr. Lustig is correct, and that the primary biochemical cause for obesity (and by extension any fatness not great enough to be considered obesity) is the over-production of Insulin, and if we also assume that he’s correct in that the primary cause of Insulin Resistance is Fructose, we arrive (like Andreas) at the ever deadly soda drinks and chocolate bars and other such things.
(Which by the way is a very long way to say the common knowledge that sugar makes you fat ;))
So, if Fructose is the biggest bad-guy on the block, what do we then think of Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners? Are Diet drinks then the single biggest cure for obesity?
I wish it were that simple.
Epidemiological studies link diet drink consumption with obesity, type II diabetes and other metabolic disorders.
http://www.kriskris.com/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you/
It’s possible that diet drinks could help in a controlled setting, but there haven’t been any good controlled trials on this so in my opinion we should stay away from such drinks until they have been proven safe.
I don’t think the solution to removing an unhealthy artificial food, is to replace it with something that is even more artificial. The obvious solution would be to just remove sweetened soda altogether.
Insulin is important, but there are other mechanisms at play as well. I suggest you look up the “food reward theory of obesity”, which I’m going to explain in detail some time.
Some further information that supports the need to limit fructose intake:
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/this-is-your-brain-on-sugar-ucla-233992.aspx
Hi Kris,
I love at the 3:15 marker, “More Insulin, More Fat, Period.”
Very good interview, thanks for sharing
Hi, its nice to see other Doctors are coming on board now. Dr Joel Wallach has been talked down for years. Eventually I think he will be comletely vindicated :-)
Good going Kris.
Ok, this is a very interesting video. Especially the end part, which basically says if you have high insulin levels you will not be able to burn all the energy you are consuming. You will store it as fat, even if your body wants to burn it.
I have chronic fatigue syndrome, which is basically the same as this. I need to sleep and rest a lot. So I cannot burn all the calories I consume as energy, so they get turned to fat. Eating extra ‘high energy’ foods does not give me more energy. Don’t suppose you know if there is any sort of link here, hormonally speaking?
Not that I know of, but I’ve seen a lot of anecdotal evidence about people improving their CFS symptoms by going paleo.