Just as our hunter-gatherer ancestors, we are designed to live in a state of metabolic flexibility where our energy production system can easily switch from burning fat to carbs and back as per convenience.
And like our paleolithic fore-fore-fore fathers, we are encoded for a diet high in fat, sufficient in protein, and low in carbs. Also referred to as being fat adapted.
But this modern, consumerist oriented lifestyle which serves the palate and not the belly, focusing on the commercial viability and not the health and thus the ethical repercussions, has created an entirely new branch of cuisine known as 'Palatable food' which is designed? to cause dependence (And also to last indefinitely), leading to metabolic diseases aplenty, and 'withdrawal and craving' reflex which we have begun to incorrectly identify as hunger.
Mostly processed and refined products come under this category. (Read: High glycemic index, Sugar, Processed/Refined carb)
You have atleast enough 'fat reserve' in your body to last you more than a month. Your body is self-intelligent. Then why does your body create hormones to signal hunger?
Why doesn't it just use what it has?
*Your average consumption of calories per day is 2000-3000.
Some facts for you
*100% of all processed fructose(sugar) you consume gets converted into Triglycerides by the liver.
*Triglycerides are just carbs your body didn't require at that time and converted into fat for future need
*The term 'hedonic hunger' refers to one's preoccupation with and desire to consume foods for the purposes of pleasure (Read: Palatable Food) and in the absence of physical hunger.
*Fats, Protein, and Fibre enhance satiety while Carbohydrates impair it.
*Thylakoids (Veggies) decrease hedonic hunger
*Furthermore, according to a study, individuals on high fat low-carb diets had 25% less calorie requirement than the control group.
The only way to switch up the fat metabolism pathways(Which are probably rusty by now) is by creating a carb deficit, whether by exercise, fasting, or a low/no-carb diet.
For your reference, on a < 30g carbs diet (Read: Keto), our body consumes the available carb (Stored in the muscles and liver in form of Glycogen) within the first day, and then begins to switch the metabolism pathways to fat burning by day 2-3 (Read: Ketosis), starts to become efficient by day 9-10 (The first 10-15 days aren't easy), and completely adapted by week 6 or more.
But Hey!
Even during this period, you're not supposed to starve yourself. Load up on nutrient dense fat and protein. Eat at much as you feel like. Once your metabolism has adapted, the requirement will invariably diminish.
Honestly, even when you're fat-adapted, it doesn't mean that you can start having processed carbs, refined sugar, etc.
Yes, you can have whole food based carbs at a higher quantity, but the moment you start consuming food with a high glycemic index, your body's gonna get hooked onto it like a prostitute on crack, and your metabolism is gonna take a hit.
A note about Fat: Saturated/animal-based fat has been unreasonably vilified.
There are two kinds of LDL. The first one, known as large buoyant LDL, is raised by saturated fat and is unrelated to heart disease, while small dense LDL cholesterol is the true atherogenic particle. Carbohydrates, not fats, raise the small dense LDL cholesterol.
Another byproduct of carbohydrates, sugar specifically, are triglycerides, which correlate better and predict heart disease.
The fat that's actually harmful for us is the Trans/Hydrogenated fat and
Refined/Processed/Hot-Pressed Vegetable/industrial seed oil.
Go read about it. There's plenty of information on the same online. Even research papers.
The ideal lifestyle best suited to our biochemistry would be something akin to consuming only whole/unprocessed foods (High on veggies and healthy fat, moderate on protein and low glycemic whole food carbs | Fixed meal times & early dinner) mixed with regularly exercising at moderate intensity and low-carb intermittent fasting (such as 5:2 or 16:8), so as to keep our metabolism flexible and fat adapted. It's the author's opinion that there is a directed correlation between insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome and visceral fat, and inversely with fat adaptation/metabolic flexibility.
Reach out if there are any queries. <3
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