Losing Weight Is More Than Limiting Calories
(The Real Reason You Lose Weight On A Cleanse)
May 30th, 2012By Brian Rigby, Clinical Nutrition Writer
A lot of people think that the calorie is king, and that the only way to lose weight fast (or even at all!) is through calorie restriction. To be certain, calories are very important--they're our body's fuel, and there will never be a way to overconsume those calories and not put extra fuel into the storage tank we call "fat".
But when it comes to losing weight successfully and quickly, it's about a lot more than simple calorie restriction, and the difference between weight loss programs that work and those that only provide extra frustration always comes down to more than the calorie.
A properly designed weight loss approach is not just the result of taking calories out of your budget. One needs to also incorporate a food elimination program to the mix to some degree.
There are three major ways that this extra step supports fast weight loss and helps you overcome weight loss resistance:
#1: It helps reduce inflammation.
#2: It works to reduce your glycemic load.
#3: It allows you to better control two very important hormones.
Reducing Inflammation Makes Weight Loss Easier
Most people realize that having excess fat is not good, but many don't realize that excess fat is actually characterized as a chronic state of low-grade inflammation. Inflammation makes it hard for our body to lose weight because it fights some of the natural hormonal responses we have to food and hunger, such as through increasing levels of IL-6 and TNFa, two pro-inflammatory cytokines which decrease insulin sensitivity and signalling.These cytokines make your insulin is less effective, and you are more likely to store excess fuel as fat as a result.
Many common foods today contain proteins which people are often sensitive to, but not outright allergic to. These sensitivities can go undetected for years because they do not cause the same debilitating symptoms an acute allergy would, but they may still be quietly undermining your health, including through increasing inflammation within your body.
For example, eliminating certain foods that patients are sensitive to has been shown to be effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease with strong connections to chronic inflammation.
Even if your body does not suffer from an overt form of inflammation, chances are that increased inflammation is still adversely affecting your health and weight loss goals.
In the PEERtrainer Cleanse, all of the common foods which provoke sensitivities are eliminated for the fourteen days, allowing the body to recover from the ill-effects they may have caused. For some, this might be the missing step standing between them and their goals.
Until you try this, you'll never know.
Insulin Tells Your Body To Either Use Energy Or Store It
Foods which are high in easily-digested starches and sugars, also known as high-glycemic foods, cause our body to release more insulin. Insulin is not a bad hormone in and of itself--it does exactly what it is supposed to do, which is help our body get rid of excess sugar in our blood.The problem is that the modern diet, with its highly-processed and rapidly-digested 'foods', causes an undue amount of sugar to be unloaded upon our blood all at once. When our blood sugar gets too high (hyperglycemia), our body releases extra insulin to counter it.
The first thing insulin wants to do is get our muscles to take that sugar up and use it for energy, but the unfortunate truth is that the highly-processed diet we eat often goes hand-in-hand with a sedentary lifestyle.
If the muscles can't use the sugar, then insulin tells your body to store it as fat, long-term storage designed for a time when food might be scarce. For most, this time will thankfully never come, but we still have to live with the results of a diet which spikes our blood sugar and insulin levels.
For Many People, This Is The Ideal Diet Approach A big focus of the PEERtrainer Cleanse is foods which have a naturally lower glycemic response. Vegetables and slow-digesting carbs still provide our body with glucose, a necessary fuel, but they provide it at a pace our body can keep up with, meaning less of that sugar is used for fat and more of is used for energy.
Keeping insulin levels low also means our body is focusing less on storing fat, and focusing more on releasing it. Why? Because...
Glucagon Tells Your Body To Take Energy Back Out Of Storage!
Insulin may be the most well-known hormone which controls blood sugar, but there is another hormone which is just as important: glucagon. Whereas insulin acts to keep your blood sugar from running too high, glucagon works to keep your blood sugar from running too low.Where insulin tells your body to store extra energy as fat, glucagon tells your body to release extra energy from that fat. This is one reason people feel better after starting the cleanse.
The Worst Thing You Can Do When Trying To Lose Weight
A myth which has been ingrained in our beliefs is that blood sugar is inherently unstable, and we need a constant stream of calories to ensure it never dips or spikes. Now people are running out to buy little snack packs and trying to eat exactly 100 calories every hour to make sure their blood sugar remains stable.
This is actually one of the worst things you can do for blood sugar stability, and worse still is that this will actually fight your ability to lose weight.
If insulin is the storage hormone, then glucagon is the "take from storage" hormone. The problem is that insulin responds rapidly to the increase in blood sugar that eating causes, allowing us to store excess energy readily, but glucagon has a much slower response which only happens after we have gone through that fuel, a process which can take up to four hours!
If you attempt to control blood sugar by eating often, the only metabolic change you are likely to make is that your body will be releasing more insulin and less glucagon. By actively suppressing glucagon secretion, your body is less likely to take energy back out of storage, and weight loss will be slow.
When you allow healthy intervals between your meals, your body gets the chance to use its own natural blood sugar stabilizer, the hormone glucagon. The result is your body spends more time in "take from storage mode" and you lose weight more readily!
Just as what you eat during the cleanse is important, the PEERtrainer Cleanse makes sure that the timing of when you eat is addressed as well, allowing your hormones to work exactly as they were intended to and allowing you to experience better results.
Weight-Loss Success Isn't Just About Cutting Calories
If you are only focused on reducing how many calories you are consuming, then you are missing a big piece of the puzzle! Cutting calories can only take you so far before you hit a weight-loss wall, and it's no wonder so many programs just don't provide long-term results. With the PEERtrainer Cleanse, you can be certain that the other important steps are addressed as well.Cutting calories is only effective if your body is capable of picking up the slack. Reducing inflammation and better regulating your blood sugar-controlling hormones allow your body to actually burn the fat it has been storing, not just reduce your overall energy levels. When these additional goals are met, weight loss occurs naturally, and you'll actually feel great while doing it!
For more information on the PEERtrainer 14-Day Fresh Start Cleanse, please click here!
Share This With A Friend
Would You Like To Be Alerted The Next Time PEERtrainer Publishes An Article?
Just Enter Your Email Below And You'll Get On Our List!
References
Ibrahim, M. Mohsen. "Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissue: Structural and Functional Differences." Obesity Reviews 11 (2009): 11-18.
http://becknaturalmedicineuniversity.com/doc/SCAT_and_VAT_differences.pdf
Gaby, Alan R. "The Role of Hidden Food Allergy/Intolerance in Chronic Disease."Alternative Medicine Review 3.2 (1998): 90-100.
http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/3/2/90.pdf
Beri, D., A. N. Malaviya, R. Shandilya, and R. R. Singh. "Effect of Dietary Restrictions on Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis." Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 47.1 (1988): 69-72.
http://ard.bmj.com/content/47/1/69.full.pdf
