“Well that’s just ridiculous! It’s right there in the word!”
I know, it’s confusing. Most of us have been told our entire lives that fat is bad and that you need to eat less fat if you want to be healthy. Unfortunately, not only is this not the case, but it’s actually DANGEROUSLY WRONG.
First, let’s review some basic biology.
Every cell in your body, everything that is YOU, is made from the things you eat. We all understand this on some level, but WHO CARES?!?!
Your cells care, and if you don’t listen to them, you’re not going to like what happens.
Every cell membrane in your body is made up of three primary things (Stick with me through the science-jargon):
- Phospholipids – These are the gatekeepers of the cell. They control what is allowed in the cell, and what isn’t.
- Cholesterol – These stabilize the phospholipids and keep them in position.
- Proteins – These act as the channels that allow molecules to enter and exit the cell.
“Ok, nerd. What was the point of me reading that? Am I back in middle school science?”
What this tells us is that your body needs 3 primary things in order to build EVERY CELL: Phospholipids, cholesterol, and protein.
And what exactly are ‘lipids’?
FAT. Lipids are fat.
Simply put, your body needs fat, cholesterol, and protein in order to function and be healthy. If it doesn’t get these things YOU WILL DIE.
No, I’m not being dramatic. If you don’t eat fat, you will get sick, and you will die. If you don’t eat protein, you will get sick and you will die. If you don’t eat carbohydrates, you will get healthy and you will thrive.
“Wait, what? Where did carbs come into this?”
I know, right? I listed the primary components of every cell in your body, and carbs didn’t come up at all.
Because your body doesn’t need carbs.
We’ll dive into that pretty major idea in other posts. Right now we’re talking about “What Makes Me Fat?!?!?”
Ok, here’s the short answer: Insulin makes you fat.
Insulin does a number of things, but here are the important bits that are relevant to ‘fat’ and health:
- Insulin regulates blood sugar levels. Specifically, it is responsible for removing excess glucose from the bloodstream.
- It stores excess glucose in your liver.
- It stores excess glucose in muscles and fat cells.
More generally, this effect is called INFLAMMATION. Insulin takes all that extra sugar your body doesn’t need and stashes it anywhere it possibly can. The more sugar you have in your body, the more insulin it produces, the more glucose gets stored away.
To sum it all up, you ingest sugars, your body makes insulin, the sugars get stored in your body.
i.e. – You get FAT.
Fat isn’t the problem. Your body is MADE of fat. Every cell NEEDS it to operate and survive. Especially your brain. The problem is when your body ingests too much sugar, it stuffs it all into your fat, muscle, and liver cells. Then your body has to retain extra water to be able to flush out all that junk once the insulin calms down.
Unless you keep eating sugar. Then the insulin never calms down, you get fat, you stay fat, your body gets exhausted of constantly pumping out insulin, becomes resistant to insulin, then you get diabetes, then you die.
“But I don’t eat sugar! I eat whole grain breads and salads. HEALTHY FOOD! And I’m still struggling…”
Let’s make this clear: CARBS ARE SUGAR.
Your carb heavy diet is KILLING YOU. Seriously, go look at the labels for the foods you eat every day. No, really. I’ll wait here. Go.
[…]
You didn’t go? Seriously, go!
[…]
Ok, either you went and you’re all “Holy poop!”, or you didn’t, and my poop comment will make you want to look as soon as you get a chance.
You’re welcome 😉
Essentially. Here’s how your body operates:
Eat sugar -> Have sugar in body
Eat carbs -> Body breaks carbs immediately into sugars -> Have sugar in body
Eat fat and protein -> No sugar in body -> Body needs energy -> Body activates process to break fat down into energy
That last process is where MAGIC happens.
Stay tuned.
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