THIS Is Why You're Fat Despite Eating "Healthy"

Summary

The video discusses the impact of dietary guidelines and processed foods on modern health issues like obesity and diabetes. It compares the current high-carbohydrate, low-fat dietary recommendations to the historical diet of humans, which consisted mainly of fats and proteins with minimal carbohydrates. The video argues that processed foods, combined with high-carb and high-fat intake, contribute to widespread health problems. It also highlights how lab rats are fattened using similar diets, raising the question of whether humans are unknowingly part of a large dietary experiment.

Takeaways

• 🍽️ The script discusses the impact of modern dietary guidelines on obesity and health, suggesting that they may have contributed to the rise in health issues.
• 🌾 It highlights that for most of human history, people consumed a diet rich in meat, fish, nuts, seeds, and seasonal fruits, with minimal carbohydrates and no processed foods.
• 📊 The speaker contrasts the historical human diet with the modern dietary guidelines, which recommend significantly higher carbohydrate intake and lower fat intake.
• 📈 The script presents data showing a correlation between the introduction of dietary guidelines and a significant increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes rates.
• 🐀 The concept of 'obesogenic' diets is introduced, comparing the composition of food designed to fatten lab rats with the dietary guidelines recommended for humans.
• 🍬 The role of sugar in contributing to obesity and health issues is emphasized, noting that high sugar intake can lead to insulin resistance and fatty liver.
• 🚫 The script criticizes the promotion of high carbohydrate diets, which can lead to insulin spikes and weight gain, especially when combined with high fat intake.
• 🥗 The importance of understanding the difference between real, whole foods and ultra-processed foods is stressed, as the latter can still fit within dietary guidelines but are often unhealthy.
• 🔄 The speaker suggests that dietary guidelines have evolved over time, with a gradual shift towards emphasizing the quality of carbohydrates and fats.
• 🌟 The script ends with a call to action for viewers to subscribe for more health-related content, indicating a series of videos aimed at educating about health and diet.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the video script regarding dietary guidelines?

The main issue discussed is the potential negative impact of modern dietary guidelines on health, particularly their contribution to obesity and type 2 diabetes through the promotion of high carbohydrate diets and the inclusion of ultra-processed foods.

What is the 'deadly combination' mentioned in the script that can lead to weight gain?

The 'deadly combination' refers to a diet high in both fat and carbohydrates, which can lead to increased insulin production and subsequent weight gain.

How does the speaker differentiate between real food and ultra-processed food in the context of dietary guidelines?

The speaker differentiates real food from ultra-processed food by emphasizing that real food fits within natural dietary patterns of humans throughout history, while ultra-processed foods often fit within the guidelines but can still be unhealthy.

What is the significance of the timeline represented by the rectangle in the script?

The timeline represented by the rectangle signifies the duration of human existence on Earth, highlighting that the majority of human history has been without agriculture and processed foods, suggesting that our current dietary patterns are a recent development.

What dietary patterns are suggested to be more in line with human evolutionary history?

The dietary patterns suggested to be more in line with human evolutionary history include a diet rich in meat, fish, nuts, seeds, seasonal fruits, and some vegetables, with a significant reduction in carbohydrates and processed foods.

How does the script compare the dietary guidelines from 1977 to the historical human diet?

The script compares the 1977 dietary guidelines to the historical human diet by noting that the guidelines significantly reduced fat and protein intake while increasing carbohydrates, which contrasts with the estimated macronutrient distribution of our Paleolithic ancestors.

What is the term used in the script to describe diets that are particularly conducive to weight gain?

The term used in the script to describe diets that are particularly conducive to weight gain is 'obesogenic,' which refers to something that causes obesity or makes people fat.

How does the script relate the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes to changes in dietary patterns?

The script relates the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes to changes in dietary patterns by suggesting that the shift towards high carbohydrate, high sugar diets, as promoted by dietary guidelines, has contributed to these health issues.

What is the role of insulin resistance in the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes according to the script?

According to the script, insulin resistance plays a central role in the development of both obesity and type 2 diabetes, as it drives the body to store excess energy as fat and leads to the body's inability to properly use glucose.

What is the significance of the comparison between the dietary guidelines and 'obesogenic rat chow' in the script?

The comparison between the dietary guidelines and 'obesogenic rat chow' highlights the similarities in macronutrient composition, particularly the high carbohydrate content, suggesting that the guidelines may inadvertently promote weight gain similar to the chow designed to fatten lab animals.

Outlines

00:00

🍽️ The Perfect Diet for Weight Gain

The paragraph discusses the impact of dietary habits on obesity, particularly the combination of high-fat and high-carbohydrate intakes leading to increased insulin levels. It challenges the conventional understanding that fat is solely responsible for obesity by emphasizing the role of carbohydrates in promoting insulin production. The speaker introduces the concept of 'ultra-processed' foods and contrasts them with 'real food,' suggesting that current dietary guidelines may inadvertently promote unhealthy eating habits. Historically, humans have consumed a diet rich in meat, fish, nuts, and seasonal fruits, with minimal carbohydrates, which differs significantly from today's diet heavy in processed foods. The speaker also highlights the rapid rise in obesity and related health issues in the past century, questioning the effectiveness of current dietary guidelines.

05:01

📊 Comparing Ancient Diets to Modern Guidelines

This section of the script compares the dietary intake of our Paleolithic ancestors, who consumed a diet high in fat and protein with minimal carbohydrates, to the dietary guidelines introduced in the late 20th century. The speaker calculates the approximate macronutrient intake of early humans based on a 2,500-calorie diet and contrasts it with the recommendations from the 1977 U.S. dietary guidelines, which advocate for reduced fat and increased carbohydrates. The paragraph also discusses the historical context of these guidelines, which were developed in response to rising health concerns, and the changes in food consumption patterns over time, including the introduction of modern grains and processed foods.

10:03

🐁 Lab Rats and the 'Obesogenic' Diet

The speaker draws a parallel between the diets of lab rats, which are intentionally fattened for research purposes, and the dietary guidelines followed by humans. The 'obesogenic' rat chow is high in both fat and carbohydrates, similar to the diets recommended by current guidelines, and includes large amounts of sugar. This comparison is used to illustrate how certain dietary components, when combined, can lead to weight gain and health issues. The paragraph also discusses the addictive nature of sugar and its role in promoting insulin resistance, which is a precursor to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

15:06

🌿 The Shift Towards Quality in Dietary Guidelines

In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on the evolution of dietary guidelines, noting a gradual shift towards emphasizing the quality of nutrients rather than just their quantity. While acknowledging the limitations of past guidelines, which have been criticized for promoting high-carbohydrate diets that may contribute to health problems, the speaker expresses hope for future guidelines that more closely align with traditional, whole-food diets. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to educate themselves about health and nutrition, and to subscribe for more informative content.

Keywords

💡Fat

In the context of the video, 'fat' refers to dietary fats, which are essential nutrients for the human body but have been a subject of controversy in dietary guidelines. The video discusses how high-fat diets in combination with high carbohydrate intake can lead to obesity and insulin resistance. It contrasts the high-fat, low-carb paleo diet with the high-carb, lower-fat modern dietary guidelines, highlighting the potential health impacts of these different dietary approaches.

💡Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are a major macronutrient that provides energy to the body. The video scrutinizes the role of carbohydrates in modern diets, particularly in relation to processed foods and obesity. It points out that the increase in carbohydrates recommended by dietary guidelines correlates with a rise in obesity and diabetes, suggesting that high carbohydrate intake, especially when combined with high fat, may contribute to these health issues.

💡Insulin

Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels by allowing glucose to enter cells. The video discusses insulin's role in the context of a high-carbohydrate diet, suggesting that excessive carbohydrate consumption can lead to high insulin levels, which in turn can cause weight gain and type 2 diabetes. It emphasizes the importance of understanding insulin's function in the body to grasp the impact of dietary choices on health.

💡Ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed foods are heavily processed items that often contain additives and preservatives. The video argues that these foods, which make up a significant portion of the modern diet, are a major contributor to health problems like obesity and diabetes. It contrasts ultra-processed foods with whole, unprocessed foods that were more common in human diets historically.

💡Paleo diet

The paleo diet, short for Paleolithic diet, is a dietary regimen that mimics the presumed diet of our Paleolithic ancestors. The video uses the paleo diet as a reference point to discuss the historical human diet, suggesting that a diet high in fats and proteins with moderate carbohydrates aligns better with our evolutionary history and may be healthier than the modern high-carb diet.

💡Dietary guidelines

Dietary guidelines are recommendations for healthy eating patterns. The video critically examines the U.S. dietary guidelines, suggesting that they may have contributed to the rise in obesity and diabetes by promoting high carbohydrate intake and low-fat diets. It compares these guidelines with the paleo diet and the obesogenic rat chow to highlight potential issues with current dietary advice.

💡Obesogenic

The term 'obesogenic' refers to environments or diets that promote obesity. The video uses this term to describe diets high in carbohydrates and sugars, which are thought to contribute to weight gain. It suggests that the modern dietary guidelines, with their emphasis on carbohydrates, may be obesogenic, leading to increased rates of obesity.

💡Sugar

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that provides quick energy but is also linked to health issues when consumed in excess. The video points out that sugar is a significant component of ultra-processed foods and is a major contributor to obesity and diabetes. It contrasts the high sugar content of obesogenic rat chow with the sugar intake recommended by dietary guidelines, suggesting that current sugar consumption levels may be unhealthy.

💡Inulin resistance

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels. The video discusses insulin resistance as a key factor in the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity. It suggests that diets high in carbohydrates and sugars, as promoted by some dietary guidelines, may contribute to insulin resistance.

💡Hybridized grains

Hybridized grains are crops that have been selectively bred for certain traits, such as higher yield or disease resistance. The video mentions that modern grains, which are often hybridized, differ significantly from their ancient counterparts and may contribute to health issues. It implies that the rapid changes in grain composition over the past few decades may have outpaced human evolutionary adaptation.

Highlights

The perfect diet for getting fat involves a combination of high fat and high carbohydrates, which can lead to increased insulin levels.

Ultra-processed foods can still fit within dietary guidelines, leading to confusion about what constitutes healthy eating.

Humans have been on the planet for over two million years with mostly unchanged DNA, suggesting our dietary needs have remained consistent.

Agriculture, which introduced grains and processed foods, has only been around for approximately 12,800 years, a small fraction of human history.

Before the advent of agriculture, humans primarily consumed meat, fish, nuts, seeds, seasonal fruits, and some vegetables.

The introduction of processed foods in the last 100 years has marked a significant shift from our historical diet.

The 1977 U.S. dietary guidelines recommended a diet lower in fat and higher in carbohydrates compared to our ancestral diet.

Obesity was virtually non-existent before 1800, with a dramatic increase following the introduction of processed foods and dietary guidelines.

Type 2 diabetes followed a similar trend to obesity, with a significant rise after the introduction of processed foods and dietary guidelines.

The relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes is not causative but associative, both being driven by insulin resistance.

The diet of lab rats designed to make them fat quickly, known as obesogenic rat chow, is high in carbohydrates and sugar, similar to the human diet recommended by guidelines.

A low-carb, high-fat diet can be healthy, but combining high levels of both can lead to weight gain and health issues.

The current dietary guidelines have been criticized for promoting high carbohydrate intake and allowing a significant amount of added sugars.

The dietary guidelines have evolved to emphasize quality over time, suggesting a move towards more natural and less processed foods.

The video challenges the viewer to consider whether humans have been unwitting participants in a grand dietary experiment with unforeseen health consequences.

The video concludes by encouraging viewers to subscribe for more content that can help them understand and master health.

Transcripts

They had designed the perfect diet to get fat.  People will say, then, that's why they get fat  

because fat has so many calories, etc., which is  true. Fat is very effective at making you fat if  

you also have a lot of carbohydrates. If you have  enough carbohydrates to drive massive amounts of  

insulin, then that's a deadly combination. When  we don't understand the difference between real  

food and ultra-processed, and the ultra-processed  still fit within the guidelines, then that's a  

problem. Hello, Health Champions! Today, I want  to talk about what would happen if you were to  

actually follow the dietary guidelines. Are they  really healthy? Are they so-so? Or are they even  

responsible for a lot of the health problems we  see around the world today? So, I want to start  

talking about what is natural for humans to eat.  What type of food, historically, have we eaten  

for most of the time that we have been on the  planet? So, if we look at this rectangle, this  

width represents how long humans have been on the  planet, and that's over two million years that our  

DNA has been mostly unchanged. It doesn't mean it  hasn't changed at all; it means as far as breaking  

down food, as far as having the DNA that produces  certain enzymes, and what our digestive tracts  

have looked like, that has not really changed  for that time period. And I'm going to pick 1.6  

million years just because it makes the numbers  work. So, we cut that in half, and we have 800,000  

years; we cut it again, we have 400,000; and then  200, 150, 25, and 12,800 years. So, this tiny,  

tiny little sliver over on the side here is 12,800  years, and this tiny little sliver represents the  

approximate time that we have had some kind  of agriculture, where we have grown things on  

purpose to mass-produce food or produce it in  higher quantities. And that little sliver also  

represents a longer time period than all of human  recorded history. And during all of this time,  

this entire time period except that last sliver,  humans have eaten meat and fish, nuts and seeds.  

We've had fruits but primarily seasonally, and  it hasn't been as sweet as the fruit that we have  

today by far. We've had some vegetables, and we've  had some tubers like rutabaga and sweet potatoes  

and so forth, but what we haven't had during that  time, as I said, is agriculture. No agriculture,  

which means we have had no grain, which is the  foundation of most food on the planet today,  

and we also have had no processed foods, which  in the U.S. is about 70% of what people eat is  

ultra-processed foods. But now let's blow up this  tiny little sliver of 12,800 years so that we can  

look at it more closely. And now this tiny little  sliver that's just a pixel wide is represented by  

this whole width again. So we can look at it  closer, and we cut that in half; that's 6,400.  

We cut it again; that's 3,200. And again is 1,600,  and then we keep cutting, so we have 800, 400,  

200, and 100 years. So now this tiny little  sliver is just 100 years, but that is still  

the entire period that we've had any significant  amount of processed foods. It's just the beginning  

of refining some flour and having some sugar  and so forth. There was sugar available, but  

it was expensive, and most people couldn't afford  a lot of it. And I hope this helps give a little  

bit of perspective that virtually all the changes  that we have seen in human diet have been in the  

last sliver of this entire time period, which is  only a sliver of the time period that we've eaten  

very differently. Now, every time I do a video on  food, I get comments like this one: "So there is  

basically nothing left to eat," and it's really  tragic when people have that perspective because  

there is still so much food to eat, but what they  mean by that is, "I have always eaten processed  

foods. I've never eaten anything else than the  foods that you talk about as being processed  

and unhealthy, and my parents have never eaten  anything else, and maybe my grandparents haven't  

either." So, they're talking about 50 to 75  years that they've eaten processed foods in their  

family, and therefore, they think that is normal  and that's what all humans have always eaten. And  

even though this is the entire time period that  humans have had agriculture to some degree, it is  

only since the 1950s that we've had modern grain,  that we have hybridized it, that we have changed  

it, that it looks very, very different; the gluten  is different, the chromosomes are different,  

and that's all happened in the last sliver, which  again is just a fraction of the sliver up here.  

Now then, the next step is when we got the first  dietary guidelines in 1977, the United States felt  

the need because they saw some very unhealthy  trends. So, they figured, hey, we got to teach  

people what to eat. So I want to compare those  guidelines with what people ate for the hundreds  

of thousands of years before we got agriculture  and before we got guidelines. And for all of  

that time, we were hunter-gatherers, and we ate  basically what a lot of people call paleo because  

we ate like our Paleolithic ancestors, and they've  done some estimates and based on what foods were  

probably available, and they would probably get  somewhere between 50 and 65% of their calories  

from fat, and they would probably get somewhere  between 15 and 25 from protein, and they would  

probably get between 10 and 25 from carbohydrates.  So, I'm going to take the midpoint of these  

ranges, and I'm going to convert it into how much  we probably ate in terms of grams of each of these  

components if we ate about 2,500 calories per day.  And then we're going to compare that to what the  

guidelines say. Now, we probably had a little over  150 grams of fat, we had about the same amount of  

protein, and we had maybe about half, or at least  under a 100 grams of carbohydrates, and that  

might be overstated because again, carbohydrates  were mostly available during the growing season,  

so we might have had six months of this much, and  then six months of considerably less. So that's  

probably what humans have eaten for hundreds of  thousands or even millions of years. And then in  

1977, the guidelines come along, and they cut  the fat almost by half, they cut the protein  

significantly, and they increase the carbohydrates  by more than four times. And then for the next  

50 years, we have got new guidelines every 5  years, and for every edition, they have refined,  

they have tweaked it a little bit, they had new  opinions, but it basically hasn't changed much at  

all. If anything, the fat has been recommended to  come down a little more, protein come up a little  

bit, and carbohydrates are very close to the  same. So what has it done to our health to go from  

our historical diet to the guideline diet? And  let's start looking at obesity. So before 1800,  

it was basically non-existent. Then in the 1900s,  we started getting some sugar and white flour,  

and we had a few per obesity, and then it didn't  accelerate very quickly; we had a couple of wars,  

world wars in there, but in the 1960s, people  recovered from the war, and we got a little  

more affluent. So for the next decades, we had a  steady rise in obesity, then from the '90s and on,  

we had a dramatic increase in obesity, and even  though genetics can definitely predispose you  

to obesity, there are genes that are more or  less favorable, the point is that overall, the  

human genome has not changed, so we can't blame  the genes if it was non-existent in the 1800s,  

and now we have 40%. It has nothing to do with the  genes because they haven't changed. So instead, we  

want to keep looking, and we want to look at type  2 diabetes, and again, it was non-existent before  

1900s. Then in 1960, it was still very, very low,  a couple of percent, then, as with the obesity,  

we saw a steady rise, and from the '90s and on,  we've had an exponential growth that's been much  

more dramatic. I want to point something out you  may have looked at already, and that is the slope,  

how quickly were these things getting worse before  the guidelines and after the guidelines? Then we  

can see that there is a tremendous difference  both in the obesity and in the diabetes trends.  

So when we look at the first arrow here, this  is where we started getting processed foods and  

where there was also some affluence; people had  more money after World War II, and then we added  

the United States dietary guidelines, and we see  that there was a tremendous change both in obesity  

and diabetes. And like I've often spoken about,  it takes a while to break the body; the body is  

very adaptive, it has lots of defenses, but if  you keep doing something decade after decade,  

eventually, it will sort of break down. And  what this represents is basically a carbohydrate  

intolerance; that's what diabetes is, it's a very  progressed stage of type 2 diabetes. And as you  

can see here, the obesity took off earlier because  already in 1990, there was a change in direction,  

whereas the diabetes took 10 years longer. We've  heard so many times that obesity causes diabetes,  

but it's not a causative relationship; it's an  association because what's really going on is  

insulin resistance that causes both obesity and  type 2 diabetes. So when we look at these curves,  

it's almost as if they had designed the perfect  diet to get fat, and some people have called  

this diet obesogenic, meaning something that is  causing obesity, something that makes people fat.  

Now here's an interesting thing about lab rats  and lab mice because they do a lot of animal  

experiments on those, and this does not mean I, in  any form, condone those experiments, but it's just  

a fact that they're out there, and they need a  lot of rats and mice to perform these experiments.  

And when they produce these rats, then they try to  make them as fat as possible, as fast as possible,  

because that's going to save them money obviously  if they can get them super fat in a month instead  

of three months, that's going to save them a  lot of money. So obviously, if there's a market,  

there are companies that specialize in this, and  they get really good at developing food that will  

accomplish fat rats as soon as possible, and they  call it obesogenic rat chow. So let's look at how  

the rat chow would compare to the other diets  that we already discussed. Now, I'm doing this  

comparison in grams, and obviously, humans are a  lot bigger than a mouse or a rat, so we're going  

to make it equivalent based on 2,500 calories. So  when we look at fat, we see that the obesogenic  

rat chow has more fat than the guidelines but less  than the Paleo. We look at protein, and it's kind  

of similar, and then we look at carbohydrates, and  it's very, very high, just like the guidelines.  

But these companies, being experts in fattening  up rodents, they also know that there's one magic  

ingredient that you have to include in very large  amounts, and that is sugar. So, out of the total  

carbohydrates of a little over 250 grams, they  have the equivalent of 163 grams of sugar in  

there, and the average consumption of sugar in the  United States, even though they don't recommend in  

the guidelines to eat that much, is over a 100  grams per person per day. And since a lot of  

people don't eat any sugar, the people who do eat  sugar probably eat at least 60 grams a day. So the  

rodent chow is higher in fat than the guidelines,  and a lot of people will say then that, well,  

that's why they get fat because fat has so  many calories, etc., which is true. Fat is very  

effective at making you fat if you also have a lot  of carbohydrates. If you have enough carbohydrates  

to drive massive amounts of insulin, then that's a  deadly combination. However, we need to understand  

the relationship here that low carb high fat is  okay, and low-fat high carb can be okay if you  

are just maintaining if you are at a healthy place  and you don't have a lot of processed foods. Then  

a very low-fat diet can work because it's very  restrictive in calories, so even though you're  

driving some insulin with the carbohydrates, then  it's not enough to make you fat because you're not  

also eating a bunch of sugar and processed foods.  However, it is much more difficult for most people  

to sustain it because it's much easier to get  hungry on a low-fat diet because fat and protein  

are what make you full and keep you full for a  long time. So, it's the combination of high fat,  

high carb that is terrible, and both the  guidelines and the rodent chow are much higher  

in carbohydrate than the low carb high fat, and  they're much higher in fat than a truly low-fat  

diet. And then as the final nail in the coffin,  they add a ton of sugar because that is very  

addictive, and it creates a fatty liver, and it  really fuels cravings. So, all put together, that  

spells out an absolute disaster. So, I bet a lot  of you are thinking right now, you're wondering,  

have we been lab rats in the greatest experiment  on humanity in history? And I'll let you answer  

that question for yourself but keep in mind  the following here: that these guidelines have  

basically demonized fat, even though they allow  30% of calories from fat, which is a whole lot  

higher than a truly low-fat diet. Plus, the fat  they're recommending is mostly so-called vegetable  

oils, which contribute to insulin resistance. And  then when they've also promoted high carbohydrate  

diets, they've basically paved the way for  ultra-processed foods, not that people need a  

lot of convincing to eat those, but when we don't  understand the difference between real food and  

ultra-processed, and the ultra-processed still fit  within the guidelines, then that's a problem. And  

for many, many years, low-fat, high carb became  heart-healthy, even if it was ultra-processed. So  

we had low-fat dairy, we had low-fat milk, low-fat  yogurt with tons of sugar in it, we have cereals,  

we had muffins, we had bread and soda that was all  low-fat, high carb, just like the guidelines. Now,  

in the defense of the guidelines, I have to say  that they do restrict sugar. They only allow 10%  

sugar, which on a 2,500 calorie diet comes out  to about 62 and a half grams, but that's added  

sugar. So natural sugar occurring in foods  like fruit are still highly encouraged. So,  

the rat chow had 60 g per 2,500 calories, so by  the time you add some fruit juice, you're not  

that far off of the rat chow percentages. And  the biggest positive change in the guidelines  

have probably been that over time, they're moving  closer; they're emphasizing quality more and more.  

So maybe in another 10 or 20 years, or a couple  of generations, then they will have moved all the  

way to eating the way that we have always eaten,  not meaning the last 50 years, but the previous  

several hundred thousand. If you enjoyed this  video, you're going to love that one. And if you  

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