Cutting Calories Doesn't Work - It's simple Algebra ❌🥗 || Jason Fung
Summary
TLDRThe video challenges the effectiveness of calorie counting for weight loss, explaining that weight gain is not simply caused by eating more calories than burned. The speaker argues that calorie counting follows circular logic and doesn't address the root causes of weight gain, such as hormonal imbalances (e.g., insulin), poor eating habits, or emotional factors. They explain that the body's metabolism adjusts when calorie intake is reduced, making weight loss difficult. Instead, the focus should be on underlying factors like processed foods, sugar intake, or eating patterns rather than just calorie reduction.
Takeaways
- 🤔 Calorie counting and cutting calories does not work and has never worked for weight loss.
- 🔄 Body fat is a result of calories in minus calories out, meaning energy stored from excess food intake.
- ⚖️ The equation 'increased body fat equals calories in greater than calories out' is a balanced equation, not a cause-and-effect relationship.
- 🧠 Saying 'calories in greater than calories out causes weight gain' is circular reasoning; it doesn't identify the underlying causes.
- 🔄 Body fat increase and excess calorie intake are equivalent, not a cause-effect relationship, similar to alcoholism and alcohol consumption.
- ⚙️ Simply eating fewer calories doesn't lead to weight loss because the body compensates by burning fewer calories.
- 🔬 The balance between calories in and calories out is influenced by factors like hormones (e.g., insulin) that affect fat storage.
- 🛠️ Issues like insulin resistance, processed foods, sugar intake, and emotional eating are deeper causes of weight gain beyond calories alone.
- ⏰ Factors like eating late, stress eating, and food quality impact weight gain more than just calorie quantity.
- 📉 Studies have shown that calorie reduction alone doesn't result in sustained weight loss, challenging the idea that calorie counting works.
Q & A
Why does the speaker claim that calorie counting doesn't work?
-The speaker claims that calorie counting doesn't work because the body adjusts its energy expenditure in response to reduced calorie intake, negating the effect of consuming fewer calories. Additionally, the focus on calorie counting overlooks the underlying causes that shift the balance between calories in and calories out.
What is the energy balance equation mentioned in the script?
-The energy balance equation mentioned in the script is 'body fat equals calories in minus calories out.' It describes how body fat is the result of the balance between the calories consumed and the calories burned.
How does the speaker explain the relationship between body fat and calories in/out?
-The speaker explains that body fat and the balance of calories in and out are equivalent, meaning increased body fat is simply the result of more calories being consumed than burned. They argue that saying one causes the other is incorrect because they are the same thing.
Why does the speaker compare calorie counting to alcoholism?
-The speaker compares calorie counting to alcoholism to illustrate that focusing only on the intake and output (e.g., alcohol in vs. alcohol out) misses the deeper root causes, such as addiction or mental health issues. Similarly, focusing solely on calories ignores the underlying hormonal and behavioral factors contributing to weight gain.
What is the problem with reducing calorie intake according to the speaker?
-According to the speaker, reducing calorie intake doesn't work because the body compensates by lowering its energy expenditure, meaning that the balance between calories in and out remains unchanged, and weight loss stalls.
How does the speaker describe the role of insulin in weight gain?
-The speaker describes insulin as a hormone that promotes fat storage. When insulin levels are high, the body is more likely to store fat, even if calorie intake is reduced. This hormonal shift affects the balance between calories in and out.
What are some of the factors the speaker mentions that can affect the balance between calories in and calories out?
-The speaker mentions factors like insulin levels, sugar consumption, ultra-processed foods, food addiction, emotional or stress eating, eating too late, refined carbs, and frequency of eating as contributors to the imbalance between calories in and calories out.
What does the speaker suggest is the root cause of weight gain, if not calories?
-The speaker suggests that the root causes of weight gain include hormonal imbalances (such as high insulin), emotional and behavioral factors (like stress eating or food addiction), and dietary habits (such as consuming too much sugar or ultra-processed foods).
Why does the speaker argue that calorie counting is a form of circular logic?
-The speaker argues that calorie counting is circular logic because people assume that weight gain is caused by eating too much, but then use weight gain as evidence that someone is eating too much. This doesn't address the underlying causes or explain how many calories are 'too much.'
What does the speaker say about the effectiveness of studies on calorie reduction and weight loss?
-The speaker claims that no scientific study has proven that reducing calorie intake by a specific amount, like 500 calories per day, consistently leads to weight loss. They argue that the body compensates for reduced intake by lowering its energy expenditure, making calorie reduction ineffective.
Outlines
📊 Why Calorie Counting Doesn't Work
The speaker introduces the topic of calorie counting and explains that it has never worked and will never work due to simple algebra and the concept of thermodynamics. They briefly mention the energy balance equation and how body fat is a function of calories in minus calories out. This mathematical approach leads to the conclusion that focusing on calories alone isn't the key to weight management, as the relationship between calories in and calories out is what really matters.
🔄 Calories In vs. Calories Out: A Misleading Equation
The video discusses the misconception that weight gain is caused by consuming more calories than expended, emphasizing that calories in and calories out are equivalent and cannot directly explain the cause of weight gain. The speaker points out that this reasoning is circular and illogical, similar to saying alcoholism is caused by more alcohol intake than alcohol metabolized. They highlight the need to ask deeper questions beyond calorie balance, such as what drives excess calorie intake or reduced expenditure.
🚫 Why Eating Fewer Calories Doesn't Guarantee Weight Loss
Here, the speaker debunks the idea that simply reducing calorie intake leads to weight loss. They explain that research shows the body compensates by lowering its energy expenditure when calories are restricted, maintaining the same imbalance and preventing significant weight loss. This is due to the body's response to reduced calories, driven by hormones like insulin, which regulate fat storage and energy partitioning. The key is not just the total calories but the underlying mechanisms that shift the balance.
💉 Insulin and Weight Gain
The speaker explores how hormones, particularly insulin, play a critical role in weight gain. Insulin signals the body to store fat, altering the relationship between calories in and calories out. For example, people given insulin will gain weight regardless of calorie counting because insulin shifts the balance. The video emphasizes that focusing on calories alone ignores the hormonal influence that controls how the body uses and stores energy.
⚖️ Finding the Real Cause of Weight Gain
This section encourages viewers to investigate the real causes of weight gain, such as excessive sugar intake, processed foods, emotional or stress eating, and other lifestyle factors that influence insulin and the body's calorie partitioning. Rather than blaming willpower or inaccurate calorie counting, the speaker suggests identifying specific behaviors that disrupt the energy balance, such as eating too late or too frequently.
🔄 The Circular Logic of Calorie Counting
The speaker explains why calorie counting seems intuitive but is ultimately circular logic. People often blame weight gain on overeating, but the proof of overeating is simply the weight gain itself. There is no clear, measurable number of calories that works for everyone, as the body's energy expenditure adjusts based on intake. The speaker shares that studies consistently show calorie reduction alone does not lead to sustainable weight loss, as the body compensates by lowering its calorie burn.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Calories In, Calories Out (CICO)
💡Body Fat
💡Thermodynamics
💡Hormones
💡Insulin
💡Metabolism
💡Circular Logic
💡Processed Foods
💡Energy Expenditure
💡Weight Loss Plateau
Highlights
Calorie counting and cutting calories doesn’t work and will never work due to simple algebra.
Body fat is a store of food energy or calories, meaning calories in greater than calories out results in fat storage.
The equation calories in minus calories out doesn’t show a cause but reflects the balance of energy.
Increased body weight is equal to calories in being greater than calories out, meaning the two are mathematically equivalent.
Blaming increased body fat solely on higher calorie intake is illogical since both are the same thing.
Using an alcohol analogy, alcoholism isn't caused by alcohol in greater than alcohol out but by deeper issues like addiction.
Telling someone to 'just eat less' is not the solution, as it ignores the body’s adaptive mechanisms.
When you reduce calorie intake, the body compensates by reducing energy expenditure, maintaining weight gain.
Hormones like insulin affect how calories are processed, driving fat storage even with controlled intake.
Insulin shifts the relationship between calories in and out, leading to fat gain regardless of calorie count.
External factors such as stress, food addiction, and ultra-processed foods can shift energy balance beyond calorie counting.
Night eating, food timing, and stress are often key contributors to weight gain, not just excessive calories.
The idea that weight gain is due to eating too much is circular logic and doesn’t explain the underlying issue.
In calorie restriction studies, the body adapts by lowering its energy expenditure, halting weight loss.
No scientific study proves that reducing calories by a set amount guarantees consistent weight loss over time.
Transcripts
hi today I'm going to talk about why
calorie counting and cutting calories
doesn't work has never worked and will
never work and it really comes down to
simple algebra and we're not breaking
any laws of thermodynamics here stick
around and we'll talk more
[Music]
about let's start with the energy
balance equation which is that body fat
equals calories in minus calories out
because body fat is just a store of food
energy or calories so if you're eating
calories and you're burning calories
well if calories in is greater than the
amount of calories out then you're going
to store some of that as body fat this
is a balanced equation so there's never
a caloric deficit there are three
variables here body fat calories in and
calories out and they must all balance
together so if we simply look at it as a
mathematical equation you can rewrite
this and say that increased in body fat
is equal to calories in greater than
calories out so because these two things
are equal just like if you were to write
3 + 4al 7 anywhere you see seven you
could put 3 + 4 and anywhere you see 3 +
4 you could put seven because they're
equivalent quantities so So when you say
that increased body weight equals
calories in minus calories out anywhere
you see one you can replace it with the
other so here's the problem when people
start to then ask the question what
causes increased body weight or obesity
what causes it lots of people will say
well calories in greater than calories
out causes increased weight gain but
that's not true they're actually the
same thing one did not cause the other
let's look at it from a mathematical
standpoint if you say calories in
greater than calories out led to
increased body
fat let's replace the calories in
greater than calories out with increased
body fat because they're equivalent
quantities which means that you're
basically saying that increased body fat
is caused by increased body
fat logically this is completely
nonsensical
they're not one did not cause the other
they simply are the same thing just like
if you're to say that alcoholism equals
alcohol in minus alcohol out obviously
right if you drink alcohol and you
metabolize alcohol the leftover is how
much alcohol is in your system so if
you're to say what causes alcoholism
nobody would say well alcohol in greater
than alcohol out causes alcoholism
because it it doesn't they're actually
equivalent they're the same thing saying
you're alcoholic is the same as saying
that alcohol in is greater than alcohol
out so then you have to ask the deeper
question that is why is alcohol in
greater than alcohol out and that's
where you might say well it could be due
to addiction it could be post-traumatic
stress disorder it could be depression
it could be poor coping mechanisms
whatever it is is not alcohol in greater
than alcohol out which focuses you on
the actual solution that is if
depression is the problem focus on the
depression don't just say drink less
alcohol that's the answer to worldwide
alcoholism because it's not yet
logically we've applied exactly the same
thing so let's get back to increased
body weight so some people might say hey
here's the solution you simply eat fewer
calories if you reduce the calories in
you're going to lose body weight which
is 100% not true why because it's not
the total number of calories that is
important it's the fact that it's
greater than your calories out why
doesn't eating fewer calories work
because a hundred years of nutritional
research has consistently shown one
thing if you simply reduce the number of
calories you eat your body will burn
fewer calories that is if you reduce
your calories in your body will reduce
the calories out in which case calories
in is still greater than calories out
and therefore you still got increased
weight gain it's not the number of
calories it's the relationship between
those two items the calories in and the
calories out and what change that
relationship well hormones such as
insulin do for example insulin is a
natural hormone it tells your body to
store body fat so if you eat calories in
insulin is telling your body to store
some of his body fat so to keep that
relationship between calories in greater
than calories out so that you gain body
fat that's why you can make anybody fat
if you give them enough insulin they
will gain weight because insulin is
Shifting that relationship between
calories in calories out and that's the
whole problem if you simply look at the
calories you're not going to understand
the problem it's the relationship
between those calories or it's the way
that the body is partitioning those
calories that is the problem you can
think of this as a deeper uh problem
what is causing the increased body
weight is the same thing as saying why
is calories in greater than calories out
and you can say okay so maybe it's too
much insulin such as when we give people
insulin maybe it's eating too much sugar
which will also spike in maybe it's the
ultra processed foods maybe it's food
addiction maybe it's emotional eating
maybe it's mindless eating maybe it's
too many refined carbs maybe it's eating
too often maybe it's eating too late
maybe it's stress eating maybe it's junk
food maybe you're eating out too much
maybe it's you're eating too many sweets
or potato chips or french
fries that then focuses you on the
problem because if your problem is that
you're eating too late which can
stimulate insulin as I've written about
in my blog then you need to shift your
eating to earlier so people who are
night shift workers that can certainly
be the problem and the problem isn't low
willpower or they didn't count their
calories properly it's that yeah they
were eating too late and when you fix
that problem then the weight problem
will go
away so why does calories in calories
out seem so intuitive because it's a
classic case of circular logic if you
are gaining weight people say well it's
because you're eating too much well how
do you know you're eating too
much because you're gaining weight so in
other words you're gaining weight
because you're eating too much and
you're eating too much because you're
gaining weight so one thing proves the
other but in no case have you actually
determined how many calories is actually
too much and in fact many many many
people have done this they've measured
the number of calories that they burn so
for example H when they try to lose
weight they find that they're burning
1,500 calories a day so the nutritionist
will come in and say okay you need to
eat 1,200 calories a day guess what they
start to lose the weight and then the
body responds by reducing its energy
expenditure to 1,200 calories a day and
then the weight loss completely stops so
they can never come up with an answer an
absolute number of how many calories it
is they just say well it's not working
because you're not counting your
calories right but you were counting
your calories out the problem is you
didn't focus on the root cause of why
calories in is greater than calories out
and what is Shifting that
balance so don't be fooled by all those
people who say calorie counting always
works it almost never works every single
study we've done shows that it doesn't
work there is no study that says you can
take somebody reduce 500 calories a day
and they will lose weight there is no
study in all of the scientific
literature in all of human history that
actually shows that
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