USA Researchers have published a scientific paper claiming that overeating is not the primary cause of excess weight. The corresponding article was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
For more than a hundred years, nutritionists have been following the energy balance model, which states that weight gain occurs when a person consumes more energy than he spends.
Instead, scientists led by David Ludwig from Harvard Medical School propose to consider the carbohydrate-insulin model as the main one. “When children begin a period of rapid growth, they consume a thousand kilocalories more per day. But what is primary here: does food cause growth, or does growth make you feel hungry?” says the researcher.
The carbohydrate-insulin model blames modern nutrition models with a high glycemic load, rich in fast carbohydrates, for obesity. It doesn’t blame overeating. Products with a high glycemic index include pastries, sweets, and fast food.
Such products, when consumed abundantly, cause hormonal reactions that change human metabolism, contributing to fat accumulation, weight gain, and obesity.
Overeating and Carbohydrates
When consuming a large number of fast carbohydrates, the body increases insulin secretion and suppresses glucagon secretion. It signals fat cells to accumulate more calories, leaving fewer calories to nourish muscles and other metabolically active tissues. The brain begins to feel that the body is not getting enough energy, which leads to a feeling of hunger.
The carbohydrate-insulin model is not new, but the current work presents it most fully and provides a lot of evidence. The authors hope that the adoption of this model will allow nutritionists to explain to people how to lose weight without starvation and serious moral efforts.
