You may have prescribed to various diets plans to lose weight fast, or another “best weight loss diet” or a “quick weight loss” scheme etc. But if you are reading this article, chances are that you have figured out by now, that those are nothing more than “quick” marketing schemes and whether you lost weight or not, you certainly lost your money. It is estimated that the global weight loss industry is USD 600 Billion and much of it is wasted.
The internet is filled with “advice” for the gullible- promoting anything and everything from Foods to lose weight, best weight loss diets, healthy diet plans, to fancy home delivered meal plans.
In this article you will learn the key to a successful diet to lose weight and how to avoid falling prey to misinformation about weight loss and how to know which is the best diet plan for YOU!
The low everything diet
You have heard it all- Low carbs, low fat foods, low salt, low everything. Well, on a low everything diet, I promise you that anyone will lose weight. But you will also lose your mind!
The “low everything diet” will make your life so miserable that you will not be able to follow it for much long. Plus, much of that sacrifice would have been unnecessary!
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But first, let’s examine how the low-everything movement started. It started in ignorance. Ignorance of the fact that human bodies are significantly different from each other. So, when people are ignorant and don’t know what to do, what do they do? Spray and pray- precisely what the nutrition and diet professionals and individuals have been doing all along. They have been doing all the unnecessary things that only make it difficult and complicated to follow but potentially do bodily and mental harm to individuals.
Remember, before science discovered the facts about earth, it was thought by various cultures that the earth was flat, that it was resting on the nose of a dolphin or on the tip of a cow’s horn, etc etc. Unfortunately, much of nutritional advice today sounds like that. Same advice doled out to everyone, online and offline.
Carbs are bad? Not for some.
A little thought experiment for you- if carbs are bad, why doesn’t everyone become obese on carbs, likewise, if fats are bad, why not everyone become fat or have a heart attack, why doesn’t the widely recommended “bullet proof” diet work for you and many others?
We live in a one size fits all world of nutrition. Due to lack of knowledge and innovation, the same stuff is repeated and recycled often, even if it’s worthless. So, if you have tried many things and failed, it’s not your fault.
But, thankfully, things are changing fast, thanks to the new science of human genetics.
We are a mosaic of genetic information
We don’t look the same. We are different down to our fingerprints. If I pass your fingerprints for mine, it won’t fly anywhere. But we are happy to pretend that something far more complex in human biology, human Nutrition, can be treated the same across all humans. Pure BS!
Below are a few differences between humans in how their bodies process various foods.
- Nearly 70% of the world population carry the gene for obesity. This explains why obesity is growing rapidly around the world. However, people can reverse the effect of this gene by exercising and including more protein in their diet.
- Milk is one of the most widely consumed foods, but only 30% of adults around the world can process the lactose sugar in milk. If you are not among the 30% who can digest milk, you are likely to suffer a number of gastrointestinal symptoms that could be impacting your nutritional status, weight and overall health.
- Wheat, a widely consumed cereal can cause celiac disease or gluten intolerance in up to 10% of the world population, causing several health complications. All you have to do is eliminate gluten and the problems go away. But you only have to avoid gluten if you are one among the 10% who are gluten sensitive!
- About 23% of the global population carry a gene (AMY1 gene) that allows them to produce large amounts of amylase enzyme needed to digest starchy carbohydrates. For these individuals, eating carbohydrates is not an issue!
- About 50% of the global population have genetic variations in the TAS2R38 gene which is associated with increased bitter taste perception and decreased consumption of vegetables. Vegetables are an excellent nutritious but negative calorie foods which can help you reduce weight
- About 65% of people carry a variant of the MTHFD1 gene that is associated with decreased mobilization of triglycerides and increased accumulation of fat
- Nearly 15% of people have a variant of the APOA2 gene which is shown to be associated with an increased risk for obesity on high saturated fat intake
- About 58% of Japanese men have a genetic variant in the ALDH gene which is associated with enhanced alcohol dehydrogenase activity and enables them to have more drinks as compared to non-carriers, who experience hangovers sooner.
- About 35% of the global population carry a variant in the CYP1A2 gene which is associated with slow metabolism of caffeine and increases the risk for heart attack with increased coffee intake.
These are but a few examples, there are many more nutritional aspects in which you may be different than others. Unless you learn about your specific metabolism, much of your weight loss efforts will be trial and error.
If you have been struggling to lose weight and tried everything under the sun, please stop abusing yourself! You have been following what is known as “trial and error” method (aka. Spray and pray), which is the “I don’t know what I am doing” approach.
First step is to understand your body. Understand your genetics. Understand your metabolism. Understand what works for YOU. Only then can you succeed in reaching an optimal body weight. Otherwise, you are wasting a lot of time and not to mention money.
Only YOU can truly understand what works for you and knowledge of your biological self will guide you in the right direction. So take action today to understand your genetic metabolism.