THIS Is Why You Can't Lose Body FAT... (Not Calories) | The Glucose Expert Robert Lustig
Summary
TLDRThe speaker passionately argues against the use of calories as a measure of food quality and health, stating that it's an outdated concept that doesn't account for the differences in how our bodies process various types of sugars. They explain that while a bomb calorimeter might show that glucose and fructose both yield the same amount of calories, the body's mitochondria process them very differently. Glucose is beneficial as it stimulates mitochondrial function and the production of ATP, the cell's energy currency. In contrast, fructose inhibits mitochondrial enzymes and can lead to health problems by reducing ATP production. The speaker criticizes the common practice of calorie counting for weight loss, noting that it often leads to a plateau and eventual weight regain due to increased insulin resistance. They advocate for reducing insulin levels by cutting out refined carbohydrates and sugars, which are the primary drivers of insulin spikes. The advice given is to eat 'real food'—food that comes directly from the ground or from animals that have eaten such food. The speaker also warns against trusting the food industry's claims of health benefits, as they often mislead consumers with deceptive advertising and mislabeling.
Takeaways
- 🔥 **Calories are not the best measure of energy**: The speaker argues that calories, while a measure of heat, do not accurately represent the energy available to the human body in the form of ATP.
- 💥 **Mitochondria efficiency is key**: Efficient mitochondrial function is crucial for converting energy into ATP, which powers cellular functions.
- 🍬 **Glucose is beneficial for mitochondria**: Glucose stimulates two enzymes necessary for mitochondrial function, promoting the creation of more mitochondria and aiding in energy production.
- 🚫 **Fructose inhibits mitochondrial function**: Unlike glucose, fructose inhibits enzymes in mitochondria, reducing the cell's ability to produce ATP and leading to health problems.
- 📉 **Calorie counting often leads to weight regain**: Many people who lose weight through calorie restriction experience a plateau and eventually regain the weight, often higher than before.
- 🔍 **Insulin resistance is a significant issue**: The speaker suggests that weight regain is more about insulin resistance and the body's response to high insulin levels rather than just caloric intake.
- 🍽️ **Eating 'real food' is recommended**: The advice given is to consume food that is as natural as possible, avoiding processed foods with added sugars and refined carbohydrates.
- 🚫 **Avoid refined carbs and sugar**: Cutting down on refined carbohydrates and sugars is the best way to reduce insulin levels and improve metabolic health.
- 🧠 **The food industry can be misleading**: The speaker warns against trusting the food industry's claims about the health benefits of their products, which often contain deceptive advertising.
- 🏛️ **Legal action against deceptive labeling**: There are ongoing lawsuits against the food industry for deceptive advertising and mislabeling, highlighting the need for consumer awareness.
- 👨👩👧👦 **Acknowledge the challenges of a busy lifestyle**: The speaker acknowledges the difficulty of making healthy food choices in a busy world and suggests that the food industry has made it more challenging.
Q & A
Why does the speaker believe that the concept of calories should be eliminated from our dialogue?
-The speaker argues that calories, as a unit of measure, do not accurately represent the complex biological processes of energy conversion within our bodies, particularly within mitochondria. They suggest that focusing on calories can mislead people about the quality and type of energy sources, leading to health issues.
What is a bomb calorimeter and how does it relate to the concept of calories?
-A bomb calorimeter is a device that measures the amount of heat (calories) released from the combustion of a substance. It is used to determine the caloric content of food. However, the speaker points out that humans are not bomb calorimeters, and the way our bodies process and utilize energy is more complex than simple heat measurement.
How does glucose affect mitochondrial function?
-Glucose stimulates mitochondria to work more efficiently by activating two key enzymes: amyas, which increases mitochondrial production, and hydroxy ail coad dehydrogenase, which helps to oxidize carbon fragments for energy. This supports the cell's energy needs in the form of ATP.
What is the impact of fructose on mitochondrial function?
-Fructose inhibits three enzymes in mitochondria, including AMP kinase, aadl asoco dehydrogenase, and cpt1 cartin pm transferase one, which are crucial for mitochondrial function. This inhibition can lead to a decrease in ATP production and contribute to systemic health problems.
Why does the speaker argue against the effectiveness of calorie counting for weight loss?
-The speaker claims that calorie counting often leads to a plateau in weight loss and eventual regain of weight, as it does not address the root causes of obesity, such as insulin resistance. They suggest that focusing on reducing insulin levels is a more effective approach to sustainable weight loss.
What is the role of insulin in weight gain and obesity?
-Insulin is an energy storage hormone that facilitates the storage of excess energy as fat. High insulin levels can lead to increased fat storage, particularly in the liver, and contribute to obesity. Insulin resistance can also disrupt the body's ability to regulate weight through the hormone leptin.
How can one mitigate the negative effects of insulin on weight and health?
-The speaker suggests reducing refined carbohydrates and sugars in the diet, as these are the primary drivers of insulin spikes. By lowering insulin levels, one can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of obesity and related health issues.
What does the speaker mean by 'eat real food'?
-The speaker is advocating for a diet consisting of whole, unprocessed foods that are either grown from the ground or derived from animals that have consumed such foods. This approach is intended to provide the body with metabolically healthy nutrients and avoid the detrimental effects of processed foods.
Why is the food industry criticized in the script?
-The food industry is criticized for deceptive advertising, misbranding, and mislabeling of products. The speaker accuses the industry of using misleading terms like 'healthy' and 'no added sugar' on products that still contain sugar under different names, which can confuse consumers and contribute to poor dietary choices.
What is the issue with added sugars in the food industry, according to the speaker?
-The issue is that added sugars make foods metabolically detrimental, even if they are fortified with vitamins and minerals. The speaker argues that the presence of added sugars can disrupt mitochondrial function and lead to health problems, regardless of other nutritional additives.
How does the speaker suggest people navigate the challenges of a busy lifestyle and the modern food environment?
-The speaker acknowledges the difficulty of making healthy food choices in a busy lifestyle and a food environment filled with misleading products. They recommend focusing on 'real food' and being aware of the food industry's tactics to mislead consumers.
What is the importance of understanding mitochondrial function in the context of the speaker's argument?
-Understanding mitochondrial function is crucial because it is central to the speaker's argument about the importance of the quality of energy sources. The efficiency of mitochondria in converting glucose into ATP is key to cellular energy production and overall health, which is why the speaker emphasizes the negative impact of fructose and the importance of glucose.
Outlines
🔥 The Folly of Calorie Counting
The speaker passionately argues against the use of calories as a measure of nutritional value, asserting that it is an outdated and misleading concept. They explain that while a bomb calorimeter can measure the heat energy of substances like glucose and fructose, the human body does not function like such a machine. Instead, the focus should be on how efficiently our mitochondria can convert nutrients into ATP, the cell's energy currency. Glucose is praised for its ability to enhance mitochondrial function, while fructose is criticized for inhibiting it, leading to health issues. The narrative suggests that calorie counting often leads to a plateau and eventual weight regain, proposing instead that understanding and improving mitochondrial health is the key to sustainable weight management.
🍽️ Rethinking Weight Loss: The Role of Insulin
This paragraph delves into the role of insulin in weight management, positing that high insulin levels can disrupt the body's ability to regulate weight by blocking the brain's reception of leptin, a hormone that signals satiety. The speaker recommends reducing insulin levels as a strategy for weight loss, emphasizing that insulin is a primary driver of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. They suggest that cutting down on refined carbohydrates and sugars is the most effective way to lower insulin levels. The advice given is straightforward: consume 'real food'—food that is either grown from the ground or comes from animals that have eaten such food. The speaker acknowledges the challenges of modern living, where convenience often comes at the cost of metabolic health, and cautions against trusting the food industry's claims, which are often deceptive and misleading.
🚫 The Mislabeling of Food Products
The final paragraph addresses the issue of misbranding and mislabeling in the food industry, which can lead consumers to make unhealthy choices based on misleading information. The speaker provides examples of how companies use various names for sugar to deceive consumers, even when claiming 'no added sugar.' They mention specific cases where companies like Kellogg's and Post have faced legal action for their practices. The paragraph serves as a call to action for viewers to be discerning consumers and to demand transparency from the food industry. It also encourages viewers to subscribe to the channel to support its mission of providing valuable health information.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Calories
💡Bomb Calorimeter
💡Mitochondria
💡ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
💡Glucose
💡Fructose
💡Insulin Resistance
💡Refined Carbohydrates
💡Sugar
💡Real Food
💡Food Industry
Highlights
The speaker argues that the concept of calories should be abandoned as a unit of measure in medicine and diet discussions.
Calories are defined as the amount of heat required to raise 1 gram of water by 1° Centigrade.
Mitochondria are crucial for efficient energy conversion and cellular function, and glucose is beneficial for mitochondrial function.
Fructose, a sugar molecule, inhibits mitochondrial enzymes and thus hinders the cell's ability to produce ATP, the cell's energy currency.
The speaker criticizes the use of the term 'energy' when referring to substances like fructose that inhibit ATP production.
Counting calories often leads to weight loss plateaus and eventual regaining of weight, suggesting it's not a sustainable solution.
The speaker links weight regain after dieting to increased insulin levels and disrupted leptin signaling to the brain.
A better approach to weight management is to reduce insulin levels, which the speaker achieved by focusing on an insulin reduction clinic.
Cutting refined carbohydrates and sugars is the most effective way to reduce insulin levels and improve insulin resistance.
The advice given is to 'eat real food,' which is defined as food that comes directly from the ground or from animals that eat such food.
The food industry is criticized for making grocery shopping difficult and for deceptive advertising practices.
The speaker warns against trusting health claims made by the food industry and suggests taking them with skepticism.
Many products in the American grocery store are misbranded or mislabeled, with sugar content often hidden or misrepresented.
The speaker is involved in lawsuits against the food industry for deceptive practices, aiming to change these practices.
The importance of understanding the metabolic impact of food is emphasized over simply focusing on calorie content.
The speaker calls for a shift away from processed foods and towards a diet of whole, unprocessed foods for better health.
The transcript highlights the complexity of navigating the modern food landscape and the need for consumer awareness.
Transcripts
the whole issue of calories has to go
down the tubes okay as far as I'm
concerned that's the problem and I am
here to # kill the calorie as a unit of
measure it has no place in our uh in in
our dialogue it has no place in medicine
calories
suck now why do I say
that if you
take a mole of glucose and you throw it
into a bum bom calorimeter you will get
four calories per gram that's true if
you take fructose and you throw it in a
bomb calorimeter you will get four
calories per gram that's true we are not
bomb
calorimeters
okay what's a bomb calorimeter it's a
contraption that
explodes the whatever you put in it and
measures the heat that's uh given off
from it so it measures the amount of
calories in something effectively using
some that's what calories are is the
amount of heat required to raise 1 gram
of water 1° Centigrade okay so it's a
measure of heat yeah is what it is
that's what calories are now we do our
burning in these little organel inside
each of our cells called
mitochondria this is all about
mitochondria and when your mitochondria
work efficiently and well you can burn
energy uh uh you know to completion and
you can capture that energy in the form
of chemical energy in your cell called
ATP a denzine triphosphate and that's
what your cell uses to power all of the
functions that the cell needs the little
molecular Motors and making stuff and
you know basically you know and and also
cleaning house you know and recycling
junk okay in order to keep your cells
Thrive thriving and Alive okay so
mitochondria are essential now
glucose stimulates mitochondria to work
better glucose is actually
good it it stimulates two enzymes
necessary for mitochondria to work it
stimulates an enzyme called
amyas which is a the enzyme that
actually makes more
mitochondria and it's the fuel gauge on
the liver cell so it tells the liver
make
more and it also stimulates an enzyme
called HH hydroxy ail coad dehydrogenase
which is NE NE to cleave two carbon
fragments and uh burn them oxidize them
for energy too so glucose we can call
good because it helps
mitochondria fructose on the other hand
this sweet molecule in sugar in
sucrose it inhibits three
enzymes in mitochondria it inhibits that
amp kinas it inhibits an enzyme called
aadl asoco dehydrogenase lung chain it
inhibits cpt1 cartin pm transferase one
that's the enzyme that uh regenerates
carnitine which is the shuttle by which
fatty acids can get into the
mitochondria to be burned so the net
effect of fructose is to inhibit
mitochondrial
function
so does
fructose constitute energy if fructose
is actually keeping you from making
chemical energy in your cell
this is the
conundrum what do you mean by energy if
we're talking heat then fructose is
energy if you're talking ATP fructose
inhibits
ATP and that's what we're talking about
because that's what leads to systemic
health problems not the heat so all of
these people as far as I'm concerned
anyone who ever uses the word calorie
fire them
because they don't get
it they are part of the problem not part
of the
solution many people will say that sort
of counting calories has helped them
with their weight loss goals you tell me
virtually everybody who counts calories
loses a little bit of weight and then
they
plateau and then they get um you know
tired of their diet and the weight comes
rushing back okay 90% of people who try
to diet through caloric restriction
regain and sometimes yoyo back even
higher so are there I don't accept that
are there studies that support this idea
that sort of the the yo-yo dieting is a
byproduct of calorific restriction not
because of Cal caloric restriction it's
a problem of insulin resistance it's a
problem of when you gain the weight back
did you gain it in the liver is liver
fat because now you've got higher
insulin and Insulin blocks this hormone
that goes to the brain called leptin
that is uh in charge of that set point
so the higher your insulin goes the less
well your brain can see leptin and so
the less well you can regulate and so
that's what drives your weight up even
higher so you don't regain the weight by
eating you know fish and vegetables you
regain the weight because you you know
went for the bread and the rice and the
pasta and the potatoes and the sugar
what's a better plan then if I'm trying
to cut a couple of pounds what's a a
better approach to take versus sort of
calorie counting or these kind of things
get the insulin down there is no weight
gain without insulin insulin is the
energy storage
hormone 20 years ago from doing the
research on kids with hypothalamic
tumors who released enormous amounts of
insulin insin we gave them a drug that
suppressed insulin release they lost
weight and they started exercising
spontaneously because we got their
insulin down we showed that the lower we
got the insulin the more weight they
lost and the better they felt insulin is
the bad guy in this story so numerous
investigators you know the world over
have now demonstrated that insulin is a
primary driver of both obesity and
diabetes and metabolic syndrome you got
to get the insulin down okay how do you
get insulin down best way don't let it
go up what makes it go up refine
carbohydrate and sugar all the stuff you
have over there in that corner just to
be
clear he's not pointing at my lunch no
we have a pile of different sugar
products that we brought for the
interview over in the cor Corner
including various things that you find
on a shelf everything from apple juice
to some popular snacks to um some like
some some other things just don't forget
the peanut butter cups The Peanut Butter
Cups yeah and even this this is just
sort of su um it looks like water but
it's flavored water where they've added
sugar to it right um so yeah all of that
stuff over there all that stuff so so
get the insulin down all right so cut
the refined carbohydrate cut the sugar
the dietary sugar that is the single
best way to mitigate this process by
improving insulin resistance by getting
the insulin down and we have done this
time and time again basically I turned
my obesity Clinic into an insulin
reduction clinic for this reason what so
what advice do we give that is simple
and actionable for Jennifer or Judith or
Dave who's listening to this now they
are you know 40 years old potentially
they have a N9 to five job they're very
busy maybe they have some kids to feed
at the same time they they don't have
time to be like you know
looking at doing a fine sort of tooth
comb over every single thing that
they're putting into their body they're
not a scientist agreed it's a it's a
problem because the food industry has
made the grocery store a Minefield and
it's really easy to set off an explosion
if you walk in you're basically lost
that's how bad it
is understood so the the simple rule is
eat real food
so what's Real Food
well food that came out of the ground or
animals that ate food that came out of
the ground the problem is we all lead
busy lives and we're looking for labor
saving devices because people don't even
have time to cook most people 33% of
Americans don't even know how to cook
anymore so like what are they going to
do so we understand this I mean it's a
problem
agreed we need
food that is metabolically healthy for
us not metabolically detrimental and the
problem is that as soon as you put the
added sugar in the food you have made it
metabolically detrimental now the food
industry will say well there are all
these other good things in there like
vitamins and minerals we fortify it Etc
so I'm here to tell you toxin a plus
antidote B still equals
Death okay just because they put some
vitamins in there or you take a dietary
supplement if it's not solving your
mitochondrial
dysfunction what's the
point so you can't believe what the food
industry is telling you okay if they say
something is healthy it's usually the
opposite whatever it says on the package
believe the opposite because they have
an incentive to put wrong stuff on the
package and I'll be honest with you I'm
part of you know uh numerous lawsuits
suing the food industry for deceptive
advertising misbranding mislabeling 70%
of all of the items in the American
Grocery Store are misbranded or
mislabeled in what way they say things
that are not true give me some examples
well first of all any time they use the
word
healthy okay um they say no added
sugar okay but in fact they put in apple
puree or raspberry puree or evaporated
cane juice you know they they there are
262 names for sugar and the food
industry uses all of
them and so they will say that
something's no added sugar but that in
fact is actually not the case okay
there's there's a whole you know whole
host of this Kelloggs has been sued for
Raisin Bran okay everyone thinks raisin
BR well it's just raisins and bran what
color are the raisins in raisin
brand I've never seen it
well I mean raisins are purple yeah you
know purple brown yeah yeah yeah yeah
normally well the the raisins and raisin
brand are
white
why if you take the raisins and raisin
brand that's supposed to be 11 gram of
sugar but on the side of the package it
says that one serving is 18 grams of
sugar where' the other seven come from
it's the
white because they've all been dipped in
a sugar solution to make them
sweeter as an
example okay so post has been sued
General Mills theirs theirs was uh
dismissed um uh Mand a whole host of uh
uh of companies are actually under the
gun now to change their
practices if you love the dver CEO brand
and you watch this Channel please do me
a huge favor become part of the 15% of
the viewers on this channel that have
hit the Subscribe button it helps us
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