What really causes one to put on fat? Listening to most commercials around Silicon Valley or reading ads might convince you that the way to avoid fat is to avoid eating fat. It makes intuitive sense. But WAIT! If it were that simple, most Americans wouldn’t need a weight loss program. Of course, Root Cause Medical Clinic knows that we do.

What Happened When Americans Went on a Low Fat Diet?

Twenty plus years ago we went on a nationwide “experiment” in that arena and low fat became extremely popular. Low-fat and non-fat versions of many foods were produced with the hope of making Americans not only less obese but there was also the intention of reducing heart disease, our number one leading killer of both men and women in the U.S. What did we find after almost twenty years of dutifully eschewing fat at (almost) every turn?

We were fatter, heart disease risk had risen and diabetes risk had skyrocketed. What went wrong? It turns out that fat doesn’t make you fat – simple carbohydrates, however, do.

Why Do Simple Carbohydrates Cause Obesity?

When you remove the fat from food, like cookies, for instance, you have to maintain palatability somehow. This is done by raising their sugar content. Sugar and simple carbohydrates such as refined grains, cause the body to produce an insulin release. While it’s normal to produce some insulin in response to a meal, those meals that are very high in simple carbohydrates (imagine a large serving of white bread or white pasta) cause a large release of insulin.

Insulin has many jobs, and one of them is that it’s a fat-storage hormone. Therefore eating high simple carbohydrate meals (with very low fat), over time, induces the body to store fat! Counterintuitive perhaps, but true nonetheless. And insulin is so efficient at storing the carbs that blood sugar tends to plummet rather quickly after a high carbohydrate meal, leaving you unsatisfied and craving more simple carbs rather quickly.

You are now officially on what we at Root Cause Medical Clinic like to call the carb craving, insulin, and fat producing merry-go-round! The advent of low-fat diets brought an increased incidence of depression and anxiety, in addition to increasing obesity in America. Why? We’ll answer that soon. But here’s a hint: you need good fat to make good hormones…

What Can You Do About It?

The solution is to do the following:

• Find out why your body is not being nourished by what you’re feeding it. Remember if your cells were well-nourished, you wouldn’t have cravings.
• Discover if you have any food sensitivities that are creating stress on your body’s ability to absorb nutrients.
• Evaluate if you have any hidden infections or an imbalance of the good bacteria of your intestine (good bacteria number 60 trillion when healthy!)
• Uncover if the body is suffering from a burden of toxins.

However, you can’t do the above without some help. But that is our specialty! There are no drugs or surgery involved… just a natural weight loss program tailored to you and your specific needs.