Stop Blaming Fat

Day 60, Fast Day #29

My mother used to tell me, with the best intentions, that "only fat makes you fat."

Keep in mind that my mother has a legitimate Ivy League degree in medicine and a Master's degree in food science. As a result, I did not have much reason to question her views on health and nutrition when I was growing up or to think that things other than fat made you gain weight. However, a lot of research has been done in nutrition since my mom was last in school and I have learned to critically question everything I hear and read (especially when it comes from my mother).

When my mom went to medical school, fat was the enemy in the war against America's rising weight and weight-related health problems. Since the 1970s, the US government has been campaigning against high-fat foods (foods over 30% fat) in an effort to improve the health of Americans. Because fat has been villainized, the food industry aggressively markets "low-fat" and "fat-free" foods as healthier food choices. It is estimated that low-fat food labels may be a factor in the overeating of junk food by 65% of people who are overweight. "Low-fat" and "fat-free" does not translate into healthier, nutritious, or low-calorie. A lot of foods marketed as lower fat, reduced fat, or fat-free contain added flavoring agents like extra sugar and salt and only a slight-reduction in calories. Check the nutrition label carefully before going with a low-fat version of a food.

Scientists have figured out that fat is not the only thing that makes you fat. We now know that insulin decreases the breakdown of fat (lipolysis) and triggers the storage of fat. When we eat foods that have a high glycemic response (they trigger a rapid increase in blood sugar in the body), the human body produces insulin to remove excess glucose (sugar) from blood. Your body removes excess glucose with insulin because excess glucose is toxic. So, those sugary low-fat and fat-free options at the grocery stores can still make you gain weight by slowing down your body's ability to break down fat. Not only that, but the extra sugar overtime can lead to insulin-resistance, which can cause diabetes. Some commons foods that rate high on the glycemic index are low-fat, including: white bread, bagels, white rice, Russet potatoes, popcorn, pretzels, and a variety of cereals.

Given what we now know about insulin's role in fat storage, it is no longer fair to crusade against fat as public enemy #1, especially since America has gotten increasingly overweight over the years despite the propaganda against high-fat foods. I am not advocating eating a ton of high fat junk food by any means. I am simply advocating for an updated science-based approach to improving public health and curbing obesity. Plus, avocados are about 80-90% fat. Anyone that hates on avocados is clearly out of their mind because avocados have an array of health benefits and taste incredible.

Haters gon' hate. Fatty and healthy avocados.

ADF Side Effect - You Keep Going, and Going, and Going...

Day 36, Fast Day #17

I am alive and still alternate day fasting. I have lacked the energy and focus to finish a blog post over the last few days due to a rough week of spring allergies. The uncharacteristically nice weather here in Seattle has seemingly caused every single plant in the region to blast the air with its pollen. Because all of these plants are trying to reproduce with my sinus cavity, I have been feeling like the living dead (minus the hunger for human flesh and brains). Sitting down and blogging with a fuzzy brain, runny nose, and ear and nose congestion has yielded about three partially-completed posts.

(If for some reason urination freaks you out, I recommend skipping the rest of this post.)

I am neither pregnant (yay) nor suffering from a urinary tract problem (yay), so I assume the recent increase in my peeing frequency is from alternate day fasting. Luckily, I spend a lot less time cooking and eating on this diet, freeing up my time to search for toilets.

It appears that a normal, healthy person urinates 6-8 times a day on average. I have been more in the 8-12 times a day range. I doubt I have a reduced-capacity bladder despite getting some flak about having a woman's "microbladder" in reference to me needing a pitstop at least once every road trip in the past. In fact, women and men's bladders are approximately the same size. It is the bladder positioning due to special lady organs that irritates a woman's bladder more often and creates the urge to urinate. Hence, the line for the women's restroom.

Whether I am fasting or feasting, I am likely thirsty. As a result, I have been drinking large amounts of water and herbal tea. It is obvious why I am peeing a lot. Consuming lots of water and water-filled foods is a common trick often used by dieters because water makes you feel full for zero calories. Research shows that increased water consumption may be an independent factor in women's weight loss as well. I too have been using water as a food substitute to wait out hunger pains on my fast days so I feel volume in my stomach without the calories.


One of the non-beverage ways I have been absorbing all of this water volume is through the produce I am eating. On my fast days, I have been packing in fruits and veggies for their volume and nutrition. Below are some of the fruits and veggies, with their respective water content, that I have been eating on fast days for reference:

Apple, 84% water, ~72 kcal (medium fruit)
Blueberries, 85% water, ~41 kcal (per 1/2 cup)
Carrots, 87% water, ~30 kcal (large carrot)
Orange, 87% water, ~65 kcal (medium fruit)
Broccoli, 91% water, ~30 kcal (1 cup)
Peppers, 92% water, ~60 kcal (1 bell pepper)
Spinach, 92% water, ~7 kcal (1 cup)
Strawberries, 92% water, ~46 kcal (1 cup)
Watermelon, 92% water, ~46 kcal, (1 cup)
Tomatoes, 94% water, ~35 kcal (medium fruit)
Celery, 95% water, ~9 kcal (long stalk)
Cucumber, 96% water, ~45 kcal (medium fruit)

In fact, if I ate every single thing on this list in these portions, that would be about 486 calories total and within the fast day calorie goal. Mind you, I probably wouldn't eat this list alone on a fast day because that would be 62 grams of sugar (which is over twice what is recommended per day) and there is not enough iron or protein. However, these foods are still great for getting in vitamins, phytochemicals, and fiber.

On a different water-related tangent, I will call to your attention that the encouragement to drink a ton of water for health somewhat revolves around myth. The common advice to "drink 8 glasses of water a day to avoid dehydration"  lacks hard evidence. You do need to drink enough fluids to replace what you lose daily (again, basic math like calorie intake and outtake for weight management). But a lot of the water we consume comes from the food we eat. The water consumption an individual requires is based on a lot of factors including the climate they live in, their size, and their lifestyle. As long as you can pee, it is very rare that too much water will be a problem for you. Just make sure you have enough electrolytes.

I also have yet to find the study that is often referred to in blog posts and articles (which all have broken links, when there is an attempt at a citation or source at all) claiming that the human sense of thirst is very weak and is often confused with hunger, resulting in 37% of people mistaking thirst for hunger in "studies." Perhaps I am searching for the wrong keywords? Or perhaps 37% of the people in this mysteriously unsearchable "clinical study" are just idiots and cannot differentiate their own bodily needs. Either way, 37% is not a majority, so I am not sure how this line of reasoning about our sense of thirst has been turned into such thriving urban legend. The study I did find in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that hunger is not related to thirst at all. My conclusion is to just drink water when you are thirsty. You will likely be aware of when you are thirsty.