Written by Joseph E. Scherger, MD MPH Medical Director, Restore Health Disease Reversal.
Every day there is an equation going on in your body. Every person has a threshold of how many grams of carbohydrates they will burn for energy. The usual threshold is 30-50 grams of carbs. Ingest more than your threshold, and you will add body fat. Ingest less, and you will burn body fat for energy and you will lose weight. You will learn your threshold by looking at your diet and scale. That is the simple secret of all low carbohydrate diets including Adkins.
Eating excess carbs, not eating fat, makes us fat (see Dr. Mark Hyman Eat Fat, Get Thin). Insulin is the hormone that allows us to turn all sugar and other carbs into energy. That makes insulin a “good hormone” and even lifesaving to any type 1 diabetic. But, insulin is also a “bad hormone” that turns all carbs we do not burn into body fat. Most Americans ingest too many carbs daily, and overwhelm the insulin response (insulin resistance) and our blood sugar rises as we add more body fat.
The formula for burning off your excess body fat is to be low carb in your diet by avoiding grains, sweets and alcohol with time-restricted eating (intermittent fasting) of more than 12 hours daily. The formula that works for my patients is to eat just two meals a day over an 8 hour period, e.g. from 11AM to 7 PM. That will allow 16 hours of only water, coffee or tea and at least 4 hours of fat burning for energy. If you stop grains and sweets like ice cream, you can have one drink daily and stay below your carb threshold.
Restore Health offers personalized health services and non-pharmaceutical solutions to reserve disease, visit their site at www.restorehealth.me for more info and to book an appointment call 760-898-9663 or email [email protected]
