Low-fat diet can easily cause a small belly

In a BBC documentary, there is a pair of twin brothers who are doctors. They did a diet experiment. Chris adopted a low-fat diet, while Alexander adopted a low-carbohydrate diet (not even vegetables were allowed). At the beginning of the experiment, nutritionist Amanda told them in detail what they could and could not eat in the next month.

After a month, Alexander, who was on the low-carb diet, had lost 9 pounds, while Chris, who was on the low-fat diet, had only lost 2 pounds. Since identical twins have the same genes, the differences are not due to genetics but to diet.

An interesting phenomenon is that "Chris, who is on a low-fat diet, never feels full, so he keeps eating snacks." Therefore, it seems that consuming fat makes it easier to feel full. Because the reaction mechanism that transmits the message of satiety to the hypothalamus in the brain has been proven to be played by the amount of tryptophan in the amino acid that enters the brain.

The ratio of tryptophan to other amino acids related to nerve conduction in the blood will affect the concentration of tryptophan in the brain. If the binding ratio of these amino acids in nerve conduction to "lipoic acid albumin" in the serum increases, it will replace the opportunity for tryptophan in the serum to bind to albumin, thereby increasing the chance of tryptophan entering the brain to produce a sense of satiety.

This may be the reason why Chris never feels full, because his diet lacks fat, so there are fewer free fatty acids in the blood and they cannot effectively combine with albumin to form "lipoic acid albumin". In addition, from the photos it looks like Chris has a lot of fat accumulated in his abdomen. This result seems very convincing because the intake of carbohydrates will increase blood sugar and then stimulate the body to produce insulin. In addition to being a hormone needed to lower blood sugar, insulin can also convert sugar into fat. Therefore, it is difficult to use fat in the body as an energy source, which causes Chris to accumulate abdominal fat.

Another interesting phenomenon in the video is that "Chris, who is on a low-fat diet, has an advantage in the stock trading competition" (OS: This may just be luck, I don’t think the ketone bodies produced by fat metabolism make Alexander stupid). In the cycling competition, "Chris who eats a low-fat diet has an advantage", which makes sense.

Although aerobic exercises such as cycling can metabolize sugar, fat, and protein, high-intensity exercise is mainly achieved by burning body fat. Because under the condition of sufficient oxygen supply, fatty acids can be converted into acetyl coenzyme A through "fatty acid β-oxidation", and then enter the citric acid cycle to be completely oxidized into CO2 and H2O to release a large amount of energy (9 kcal per gram, higher than the 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrates). Since the characteristic of fat metabolism is aerobic metabolism, this is why aerobic exercise is necessary to lose weight.

The video also presents an astonishing fact: "The combination of fat and sugar, such as chocolate or ice cream, has the same effect on the brain as Cocaine." That’s why they’re so addictive, as it boosts the secretion of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that activates the brain’s reward center.

Conclusion: Reducing sugar intake is the only way to solve obesity. However, a low-carb diet is not suitable for everyone, especially those with cardiovascular disease.

This article comes from: Playing Science with Master Zheng

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