In my previous articles about the
Lipolysis Diet, I explain what to do and how to do it, yet I do not go into the "Why" it works so well and why it is important to stick with it.
I ended up drawing a diagram to explain what happens to the body to show just how the system works. I took out the chemistry terminology and all the background science to make it really easy to understand:
Let's start with fats. Fats are easy for the body to handle because it is really easy to convert fatty acid chains, from both plant and animal, into fatty acids. Fatty acids are either burned by the body or they are stored in fat cells called adipocytes.
Sugars are a bit tougher on the body because the body must convert sugars, natural or synthesized, into glucose and then into Acetyl CoA. This process is more difficult because the pancreas must release insulin in order to handle the sugar in the blood. Either the body burns the energy or it converts the A-CoA into fatty acids and stores them into the adipocytes. Problem with the Standard American Diet, or S.A.D. for short, a person can consume >100g of sugars in a day without a blink of an eye, which happens to be way more than a person can burn off while sitting at a desk. Multiply that by seven days a week and soon buttons pop off of pants! I happen to know this by personal experience.
This is where the argument always comes in. I run across droves of people who argue that fruits and honey are natural so it is good sugar, maybe even better, a healthy type of sugar. Yes, I agree, the oligosaccharides and other complex glucose molecule structures found in unadulterated plants in nature are better than synthetically processed sugars which are often heavy in pesticides, chemicals, and heavy metals. I get that and I agree. HOWEVER, the body still must convert the sugar molecules into glucose, then into A-CoA, then into fatty acids for storage.
Carbohydrates have even further to go. There are both simple and complex carbohydrates but both end up turning into glycogen. Then after a bunch of chemical conversions depending on the type and source, is eventually broken down even further into A-CoA. The pancreas releases insulin to take care of all of the sugar in the blood stream and stores the sugar into the adipocytes as fatty acids. Again, the S.A.D. has no reservations about eating thousands of grams of carbohydrates in a typical week.
In the 1950's, the movement to take out fats out of the diet was born. You can thank Doctor Ancel Keys for the start of this whole craze. However, the biggest problem with this theory was that food manufacturers replaced fats with sugars. It was then taught by every doctor, health advocate, nutritionist, child care provider, etc. to eat a high carbohydrate diet. Hence the S.A.D. infiltrated every facet of the American lifestyle and changed how Americans view food today.
Over the next 70 years, the typical daily intake of sugars and carbohydrates almost quadrupled. Especially since high fructose corn syrup became the new sugar additive to every processed food imaginable and by the mid 1980's, this artificial sweetener was in just about every packaged food from ice cream to yogurt and from potato chip dips to crackers. Soda consumption started to double, then triple by the mid 90's. Sweet snacks started to become meals in themselves and sugary cereals became the new "healthy" breakfast for children. Then fast food chains in the late 90's to early 2000's started to triple or even quadruple their portion sizes. By 2010 fast food chains started hurting so chemical food additives and fillers were ever so important to maintain profit margins. The question asked by a lot of corporate executives was, "How much could we add before our customers notice?" This is quite scary to think about in all honesty.
The problem just gets worse as time moves forward. Thus, 1 in 3 Americans are now either overweight or obese. From a professional standpoint, from all aspects of the field, I will warn every single reader that obesity takes off substantial years of your life, prohibits the quality of life you will have, increases your pain and suffering at the end of your life, and being obese takes away the dignity of death. I have had several people say to me, "What do I care, I will be dead anyway." For that I simply say I helped to cremate a 600lb man who died alone and lonely in his basement; his naked body wrapped in a tarp and placed in a horse crate which he was also cremated in. He was just in his early 50's; but I digress.
Back to the "why" the Lipolysis Diet works. When insulin levels drop the body goes into panic mode and it distributes hormones in order to trigger hunger. This is where most people succumb to hunger pangs. However, if a person doesn't feed the body right away, the body is forced to start dipping into its reserves.
That is when the mitochodria in the fat cells must start converting the fatty acids back into fuel during a beta-oxidation process. White fat, which is found in obese people, has fewer mitochondria than beige fat, which is found in athletic people, thus the process is exceptionally hard for the obese body to go into this stage. The body produces enzymes which further convert the stored fat into something the body can burn as fuel while it sends signals to the brain and stomach to feed it something sugary, loaded with lots of calories, and must have it fast!
Why does this diet work very well? When a person dumps the S.A.D. lifestyle and converts to the the Lipolysis Diet, the body starts the fat burning process. The body isn't starving to death because the body is getting plenty of food and nutrients, especially when good multivitamins are taken in conjunction with. The brain just is getting signals that the body is in fat burn mode so it triggers the pangs which are hard to ignore, especially since many obese people are not used to feeling uncomfortably hungry.
When a person starts the Lipolysis Diet, the brain and the body start to go through withdrawals. Sugar is very addictive and it can be very hard to break the habit. My suggestion is to start slowly and use replacement foods as much as possible. The menu is quite extensive and very easy to follow. Literally thousands of meals can be made using the list, plus it isn't truly a deprivation diet either. Those who think it is a deprivation diet are still addicted to sugar and carbohydrates. For those who are, acknowledgement and acceptance to the addiction is the first key to weight loss!
Good luck my friends-
