The science of failing diets

Hi, welcome to newsletter #5.

Take a deep breath, relax those neck and shoulders, and lets begin.

What's inside :

• The science of failing diets

• Jargon of the day

• Habit of the week

• Goal of the month

Come new year and most of the human population will swear to go on a "diet" , lose the love handles and promise to worship their six pack abs.

But just like air fizzles out of a balloon, soon those efforts will fizzle out and you'll be back to the weightloss enthusiast pavilion.

However, the mystery still remains unsolved why is it so damn hard to eat what is right and ignore those fries?

Is it even possible to control what you eat? Does your mind plays tricks on you? How does the tub of ice cream become empty before you even know it?

Well, our brain and body does has an agenda of its own, and honestly it's completely not your fault if you don't find eating clean easy.

Here's the science behind the failing diet.

Allostasis - this word mean human body's ability to maintain its parameters within an acceptable range.

It does this by constantly changing body's physiology in response to the external situation.

Obesity is no different and your body will try to defend fat loss because fat tissue guarantees energy and hence reproductive advantage in times of lack of of food.

So the moment you're cut down calories, your body cuts down expenditure and increases "cravings" aka, increases hunger hormone ghrelin secretion and increases cue associated memory triggers in mid brain.

The mid brain Blackmagic

Our centers for eating are located in our mid brain which is largely the part of the brain outside our control. Evolution was very smart and it connivingly kept the activities vital for survival outside our conscious control like eating, breathing, sex, sleep, hunger etc.

When our brain feels threatened with lack of food, it literally makes us seek food more often without our knowledge, makes us less and rewards us with dopamine if we break our diet commitment eat food.

Thrifty gene hypothesis

This concept days that back in the day mother nature ensured our bodies became efficient in utilizing least amount of calories for most impact.
Hence only those "thrifty" genes were passed on to newer generation and here we are struggling to lose weight because your body thinks we're facing a famine again.

Survival vs longevity

All animals are programmed to maximise their chances of reproduction. And anything, including energy dense food that increases fertility is fair game in the eyes of evolution.

Our physiology always chooses short term advantage over longevity and great health. Because the focus is producing new organisms of the same species, not older healthier batch of organisms.

With ample energy dense food and lowering age puberty (especially in the western countries) and rising population it seems mother nature has the winning hand here..!

The fast food illusion.

Fast foods ought to the the most significant invention since these wheel, if you ask me. If I'd take everything that you like, or more specifically, what your brain likes, and show it to you again and again, make it easy for you to purchase it, then it's not your fault that you can't resist a burger or pizza.

Back in the day food with sugar and fat and salt were hard to get. And our ancestors spent considerable energy to eat tasty food. Now we've packed everything tasty into a bag and made it available at your doorstep.

What the secret is sauce of fast food? Added sugar, salt, fat, flavoring and preservatives.

Naturally these would be associated with nutrients, hence our body likes them , but in the lab food is engineered to be high on palatability and low on satiety. which means you want ot eat more and more.

“No one can eat just one”…remember?

I would like to hear from you. Reply with a topic you’d like me to cover.

Cheers,

Dr. Vishal.