Author Archives: shayne dhak

Low-fat vs Low-carbohydrate Which is better for Weight loss?

Posted on November 12, 2018 | 1 comment

Do you track your calories if you are trying to lose weight? Do you look at the amount of fat that is present in food? Protein and carbohydrates? For most people the answer to most of these questions is “sometimes”. When you might ask why they don’t pay closer attention to some of these attributes of food, they may mention that a single factor is more important than others. What is the main factor in weight loss when it comes to the composition of food?

Public Domain Author: Peggy Greb, U.S. Department of Agriculture

There are many advocates for the plant-based low-fat high-carbohydrate way of eating. This approach generally will contain around ~65% energy from carbohydrates, ~15% energy from protein and ~20% energy from fats. This diet calls for a large number of whole foods such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. The benefits are generally to have improved cardiovascular markers such as lowered cholesterol levels, lowered triglycerides, reduced C-reactive protein levels (inflammation biomarker) and have higher energy levels. A study took a look at a standard non-calorically restricted low-fat plant-based diet that was followed for 16 weeks. They found that with increasing percentage of energy from carbohydrates and increased consumption of total and insoluble fiber was associated with a lower weight. It also had favorable effects on insulin control which means it can be effective in reversing pre-diabetes.

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Øyvind Holmstad

Another popular diet regimen for weight loss is a low-carbohydrate diet, popular variants include the Ketogenic diet (~5% energy from carbohydrates, ~20% energy from protein, and ~75% calories from fat) or the Atkins diet (a higher protein and lower fat variant of the Ketogenic diet). These diets aim at carbohydrate restriction to induce a state of mainly burning fat for your body’s energy needs. This is a state of ketosis and this can reduce appetite which can make dieting easier. This diet also claims to improve the same cardiovascular markers as previously mentioned in the low-fat diet description. A study shows that when pinned side by side, low carbohydrate diets can lead to more favorable changes in lipid profiles, as well as being greater in effectiveness for weight loss even while calories weren’t restricted when compared side-by-side with a calorically restricted low-fat diet.

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: M21Cestda

The idea of a diet is frightening to many because the restriction is not easy especially from food. A diet should aim to increase your cardiovascular biomarkers to minimize risk for disease and increase your chances of leading a long healthy life. In dietary studies, many studies contradict results of another, A study which reviewed all the other smaller scale studies on the different macronutrient composition diets found that there was no significant difference between weight loss in different diets assuming that calories were controlled. This means that the diet that would be the ideal candidate for inducing weight loss would be a calorie restricted plan which can be followed the best.

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How much protein do we really need while in a caloric surplus?

Posted on October 22, 2018 | 1 comment

The general public has always been confused as to which diets are the ideal fit to sustain health and longevity to live a long and disease-free life. Examples include diets that are high in protein, low in carbs, high in fat, low in fat, or high in carbs.

Grass-Fed beef. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eye_Fillet,_Grass-Fed_Beef.jpg

 

Athletes are an example of people who require extensive information surrounding fitness and nutrition and muscle building is usually required when starting out. Furthermore, there are underweight individuals who struggle to gain weight. In both cases a need is gain weight in a healthy way is called for. What defines healthy weight gain? Most athletes would mention that they would like to gain muscle rather than fat because increasing lean body mass will increase your metabolism since muscles are a metabolically expensive entity. Which macronutrient partitioning should be used for maximal muscle growth and minimal fat gain?

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Protein-rich_Foods.jpg

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association took a single-blind randomized controlled trial which included 25 male and female volunteers with a body mass index between 19-30 and aged 18-35. The participants first consumed a diet (15% of energy from protein, 25% from fat, and 60% carbohydrates) for 13-25 days designed to yield information about their basal caloric needs. The following 8 weeks patients were fed 40% calories higher than their basal caloric requirements. There were three groups in this study 1) Fed a low protein diet (6% of energy from protein, 52% from fat, and 42% from carbohydrates) 2) Fed a moderate protein diet (15% of energy from protein, 44% from fat, and 41% from carbohydrates) 3) Fed a high protein diet (26% of energy from protein, 33% from fat, and 41% from carbohydrates).

The low protein group had significantly lower changes in weight and lean body mass than the other groups. The high protein group and the moderate protein group didn’t have statistically significant differences in weight change, accumulation of fat, and changes in lean body mass.

Figure 1. Body Composition Changes from 8 weeks of Overfeeding

The data shows that changes in body composition can be highly affected by protein intake since the amount of protein you should be consuming according to the American dietary Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (ADMR) is 10%-30% calories coming from protein for adults. The low protein group was only taking in 5% of their calories from protein and the results show that this resulted in a loss of lean body mass which is uncharacteristic when you’re in a caloric surplus. This means that the group that had 5% energy from protein was likely in a state of negative nitrogen balance which means that muscle breakdown exceeded muscle synthesis and due to lack of essential amino acids being present to replace the muscle that is broken down from regular muscle movement, the result is a loss in lean body mass which is undesirable while gaining weight.

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What effect do artificial sweeteners have on our gut health?

Posted on September 23, 2018 | 1 comment

We know that zero calorie drinks have been very popular lately due to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation to keep added sugars below 36 grams for adult males and 25 grams for adult females. Sweetened beverages such as coke highly contribute to this amount by boasting 39 grams in a single 12 fl oz. can of coke, Dr. Nitin Kumar of the Bariatric Endoscopy Institute says, “For someone trying to control blood sugar and/or lose weight, sweeteners can have a role as a sugar replacement”. With obesity on the rise in the United States lower calorie alternatives are gaining in popularity and artificial sweeteners have been a popular choice to reduce intake of added sugars and calories without sacrificing the sweet taste that we all crave. Is there enough research to show that artificial sweeteners don’t have any long-term effects?

Author: My100cans
License: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OldNewDietCoke.JPG

A systematic review of epidemiological data has suggested that there is a link between artificially sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain in children. This is tied together with an additional review that shows artificial sweeteners are associated with greater consumption of calories despite these compounds not contributing any calories to the diet. (2)

If the main drivers of weight gain are not caused by excessive calories from the sweetened beverage then what could be leading the greater consumption of calories? An additional study looked towards the gut for a solution. They found a link between artificial sweeteners and alteration in the gut microbiome. A healthy gut microbiome is paramount to nutrient absorption. They found that the consumption of non-caloric artificial sweeteners drives the development of a dysfunction in glucose metabolism called glucose intolerance. Dysfunctional glucose metabolism drives the development of many metabolic diseases such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome and can cause weight gain.

Equal saccharin artificial sweetener ~ Merisant Company manufacturer of sugar substitutes Author: Jphill19 License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Equal_Saccharin_Sweetner.jpg

To study the effects of artificial sweeteners, a study examined the artificial sweetener saccharin which is 300-400 times sweeter than table sugar. In this study, 10-week-old mice were given saccharin (0.1 mg/ml) corresponding to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) in humans (5 mg/kg body weight) was added to their water while using pure glucose as a control. The results showed impaired glucose tolerance starting at 5 weeks despite having the same food and liquid consumption, oxygen consumption, and energy expenditure. They also transferred the gut biome of saccharin drinking mice into water drinking mice and upon receiving the changed microbiota, these mice displayed reduced glucose tolerance.

These finding prove that artificial sweeteners negatively influence the microbiome of the mice that consume them, and this can very well serve to be similar in humans. Glucose tolerance and by association insulin control is a very important marker of a healthy metabolism so regularly consuming artificial sweeteners can be detrimental to maintaining your health long term.

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