- Is overeating carbs worst than overeating fat
when it comes to weight gain?
That's what I'm exploring in this video.
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If you saw the first video in this series,
it's quite evident that cutting carbs
is not necessary to lose weight.
Now this is quite a big blow for advocates
of the Carbohydrate Insulin Hypothesis like Gary Taubes.
But what about gaining weight, are carbs worst than fat?
Clinical trials show this is not the case
if we match the calories.
In this study of 16 men, 9 lean and 7 obese,
subjects were fed a strict diet providing a 150%
of caloric requirements designed for weight gain.
The additional 50% calories came from either
carbohydrate or fat for 14 days at a time.
Subjects completed both diets in a crossover design.
Researchers found out that, both carbohydrate
and fat overfeeding caused almost identical
increases in body weight, fat mass and lean mass.
This increases did not differ significantly
between the lean and obese subjects either.
There's another similar overfeeding study
that also found no differences between diets
in total weight gain or fat mass gain after 21 days.
This actually holds true whether we overeat calories or not.
So safe to say when calories are matched,
there's no difference in fat gain
between eating carbs or fat.
So insulin is not having any significant impact
in fat storage.
Okay, so have I convinced you yet, or do you still believe
that carbs are uniquely fattening?
Even if we ignore the clinical studies,
which is the most powerful evidence we have,
the observational and historical evidence
just does not support this theory either.
Indigenous groups like Tarahumara Indians
and Kitavans, all thrive on very high carb diets
for hundreds of years, obesity was very rare,
if not, non-existent in all of these indigenous groups.
For example, Kitavans have virtually no overweight people
and very low insulin levels despite a diet
that was 70% carbs.
The same was observed
for pre-industrialized Asian populations
up until the 20th century, who were eating staple foods
like rice, noodles, potatoes and fruit.
Even by the 1990's, 50 to 60% of calories eaten
in Japan and China still came from carbs.
This was more than the US or UK
yet obesity rates were much lower.
If carbs themselves are fattening,
these populations would not have had lean bodies
and good health overall, regardless of active they were.
Let's not forget that there is still modern day humans
thriving on high carb diets too.
For example, the Japanese island of Okinawa
has the greatest proportion of centenarians in the world,
that is people living over a 100 year olds.
The Okinawans diet has always been carb dense,
particularly, sweet potatoes and legumes
and rice to a lesser extent.
In fact, a massive 85% of their calories
came from carbs up until the 1950's.
More than 65 years later, and so many of them
are still alive and well.
Those from the Greek island of Ikaria
also lived long and healthy lives
despite a diet high in bread, potatoes and legumes.
Almost one in three inhabitants lives to be 90 years old
which is two and 1/2 times the rate of Americans.
The science is in guys, carbs are no worse
for your waistline than any other nutrient,
at least from a metabolic point of view.
This makes sense when you consider all the past
and present populations that thrive on high carb foods.
That's not to say high carb junk foods are fine
but it's the calories and the fact that
it's so easy to consume large quantities of them,
that is the real problem and not the carbs themselves.
Thanks for watching.
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