Question: I find myself gaining weight, in spite of following the principles of nourishing traditional diets. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer: In my book The Fourfold Path to Healing, I explain that one of the keys to effective weight control is controlling the levels of the hormone insulin in your tissues and blood. Insulin is secreted when the sugar level in the blood and tissues is higher than needed for immediate energy use. The usual reason this occurs is that you are eating more carbohydrates in your diet than you need for your activity level. Or, as I sometimes tell patients, you may be eating like a marathon runner but exerting the activity of a couch potato.
Lowering your carbohydrate intake to 75 or fewer grams per day will result in a gradual weight loss for about 70-80 percent of the patients I see, until they achieve something like an ideal weight (which, by the way, is not a weight that leaves you model-thin). But experience has shown me that by no means is this strategy succesful with everyone.
So, what are the options if this amount of carbohydrate reduction is unsuccessful? The first option is to decrease the carbohydrate level to about 40 grams per day for two weeks every 2-3 months. This will usually work, although it is a Spartan diet that many people find unpleasant or even impossible.
A second option is to get on a rigorous exercise program and keep the carbohydrate level the same. However, many report that this also doesn’t work or at least not very quickly.
Another option is to supplement with the fat-burning enzyme known as lipase. Taking a high potency enzyme supplement between meals three times per day as far away from food as possible will often help mobilize the fat stores. If you experience a slight feeling of nausea when using these enzymes, taking some bitters two to three times per day will often help clear out the fat breakdown products produced by the enzyme digestion. There are many brands of these enzymes commercially available.
If these simple procedures don’t seem to work, a cleansing program might help clear out the liver and jump start the weight loss. Standard Process makes a very good purification program which can be used every six months to initiate the weight loss. It can be obtained through many health care providers.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2006.
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I am over 40 and find weight gain to be happening more rapidly. I have been a type 1 diabetic since the age of 11. in the past five or six years we’ve been eating more of a nourishing traditions diet. About 2 months ago I tried a lower carb Paleo diet. I did not have adequate energy to get through the day, and I began to put a little bit of weight on. So, I checked out what Weston A.Price would say about type 1 diabetics. The article that I read said stick with 60 carbohydrates a day. Here is this thing even adjusting my insulin levels on an insulin pump, there are times when I have low blood sugars. I treat these with pure 100% juice. There are my carbohydrates for the day. If on days when my blood sugar does not require treating with juice, I often still don’t have the energy to get through the day. I’ve been doing some house painting as well as spending hours weeding in my garden. I wouldn’t consider myself a couch potato since I don’t even have a television. Is 60 grams of carbohydrates enough to provide the energy I need to get my work done? When I’m eating about 100 carbohydrates a day, I can keep going. What is a type 1 diabetic to do?
I am also Type 1 diabetic and have discussed this with my endocrinologist and diabetes educator. The information I received is that you will need to have a plan to decrease your insulin intake if you are losing weight. This should be done with the help of your endo, a dietician, and a diabetes educator.
I have not fat, I dont know why?
What vitamins I can be
Nice information!!! Weight loss becomes difficult if you don’t know the exact reason of you getting fat. sometimes it can be thyroid that is causing you weight gain.
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If you do not have a thyroid, then what approach would you take to losing fat on the lower half of the body??
A dietitian or nutritionist would be best in answering this . i have tyroid problems too, which keeps me from losing weight .
i had a terrible problem with hair growing on the palms of my hands but since switching to a low carb diet, the hair has all but disappeared. Has anyone else experienced this?
What is an ideal weight? Is bmi a useful tool? What weight/body fat % is considered to low for woman, in 5’5 and 140 lbs, my body fat is about 24%.
As you said in paragraph 3, 40g of carbs in a day is perfect, I personally have two slice of toast in the morning (~30g of carbs), then no other carbs for the day & allows space for 1 beer – which covers the final ~10g of carbs.
Superbly written article