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Study fluctuating scientific beliefs: Overeating is not the cause of obesity, and there is a simple solution

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Researchers presented unique results in a comprehensive new study recently conducted, and came to conclusions that deviate from expectations about the causes of obesity and how to treat it.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in America indicate that obesity today affects more than 40% of the country’s citizens, which puts them at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.
The scientific guidelines provided for weight loss usually recommend reducing the amount of calories that a person gets from foods and drinks and increasing the consumption of calories in the body by intensifying physical activity.

In an article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 17 scientists from America, Denmark and Canada, who are a group of clinical researchers and experts in nutrition and public health, presented evidence through the association of carbohydrates and insulin in the biological mechanism of obesity, that the root causes of obesity are not related to the amount of food consumed but rather related to configure it.
The old ‘energy balance model’ is coming back to life but there is a problem!

This approach to treating obesity is based on a very old, centuries-old model, called the “energy balance” model, which states that a person gains weight when they expend more energy (through food) than they expend (through movement).

Statistics show that despite many calls for eating less and exercising more, the rates of obesity and diseases related to being overweight are steadily increasing from year to year.

The authors of the new study proposed an alternative model for carbohydrates and insulin, whose results indicated that the main cause of obesity is not overeating per se, but excessive consumption of foods with a “high glycemic index.”

The glycemic index or glycemic index (GI) is a rating of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 based on how high blood sugar is after eating them.

Among these foods, processed foods that contain a large amount of fast-digesting carbohydrates. The researchers concluded that these foods, which form the basis of modern Western eating habits, stimulate hormonal shifts that fundamentally alter metabolism, promoting fat storage and weight gain.
Simple advice to lose weight

The American Dietetic Association said: “When we eat highly processed (processed) carbohydrates, the body increases insulin secretion and suppresses glucagon secretion.

This, in turn, signals fat cells to store more calories, and sends less energy to muscle and other metabolically active tissues.”

“The brain receives a signal that the body is not getting enough energy, which in turn makes you feel hungry. The body tries to save energy by slowing the metabolism,” says Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who led the study. As a result, we remain hungry even if we continue to gain more fat (food).”

The researchers noted that; Rather than encouraging people to eat less, a strategy that usually doesn’t work long-term, the “carbs and insulin” model suggests a different path that focuses more on understanding what we’re eating.

According to the authors, reducing the intake of fast-digesting carbohydrates also relieves the constant feeling of hunger. As a result, people can lose weight without resorting to burdensome food restrictions or dieting.

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