Harvard study: binge eating is not the main cause of obesity

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With the development of the economy and the improvement of living standards, obesity has become a major public health problem worldwide
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According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 2 billion people in the world are overweight or obese

In fact, obesity is not only a feature, but also a disease
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Obese people not only have inconvenience in life and decreased exercise capacity, but also are susceptible to metabolic diseases and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

In response to the growing obesity problem, the "Dietary Guidelines for 2020-2025" issued by the US Department of Agriculture tells us that weight loss requires adults to reduce calories obtained from food and beverages and increase calories consumed through physical activities
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This method of weight management is based on a century-old "energy balance model", which states that weight gain is due to more energy intake than energy consumption
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In today's world, surrounded by delicious, massively sold, and cheap processed foods, it is easy for people to consume more calories than they actually need

According to this model, overeating and insufficient physical activity have led to the obesity epidemic
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Despite decades of public health information recommending that people eat less and exercise more, the incidence of obesity and obesity-related diseases has been steadily increasing

However, the "energy balance model" treats obesity as an energy balance disorder
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This view reiterated the principles of physics, but did not consider the biological mechanism of weight gain

Recently, a team of 17 internationally recognized scientists, clinical researchers and public health experts came from Harvard Medical School, Weill Cornell School of Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, the National Institutes of Health and other institutions in the "United States An article was published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, entitled: Carbohydrate-Insulin Model: A Physiological Perspective of the Obesity Epidemic
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This research supports the "carbohydrate-insulin model", which believes that obesity is a metabolic disorder and is more related to "what to eat" rather than "how much to eat"
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This also explains why many people eat less and exercise more, but fail to lose weight

The "carbohydrate-insulin model" puts forward a bold claim: overeating will not lead to obesity; the process of getting fat will lead to overeating
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The current obesity epidemic is due to hormones' response to changes in food quality: especially foods with high glycemic load, they fundamentally change our metabolism

In general, the author of the article points out the fundamental flaws of the "energy balance model" and believes that the "carbohydrate-insulin model" can better explain obesity and weight gain, and also points the way for more effective and longer-lasting weight management strategies.

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You should pay more attention to what you eat, not how much you eat
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The lead of the study, Boston Children's Hospital (Boston Children's Hospital) endocrinologist, Harvard Medical School professor Dr.
David Ludwig (David Ludwig) explained why the "energy balance model" It does not help us understand the biological causes of weight gain: For example, during a fast-growing puberty, you may consume 1,000 calories a day, but is overeating leading to rapid growth, or rapid growth leading to hunger and overeating?

Professor David Ludwig

Contrary to the "energy balance model", the "carbohydrate-insulin model" boldly declares that overeating is not the main cause of obesity
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The model attributes the current obesity epidemic to modern eating patterns, which are characterized by excessive consumption and high glycemic load
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Food: especially processed carbohydrates that are easy to digest
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These foods can cause hormonal reactions and fundamentally change our metabolism, leading to fat storage, weight gain and obesity
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When we eat highly processed carbohydrates, the body increases insulin secretion and inhibits glucagon secretion
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In turn, this sends a signal to fat cells to store more calories, thereby reducing the energy expenditure of muscles and other metabolically active tissues
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The brain thinks that the body is not getting enough energy, which leads to hunger
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In addition, when the body tries to save energy expenditure, the metabolism may slow down as a result
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Therefore, even if we continue to increase excess fat, we tend to stay hungry
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Carbohydrate-insulin model

Therefore, to understand the obesity epidemic, we need to consider not only how much food we eat, but also how the type of food we eat affects our hormones and metabolism
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The "energy balance model" asserts that all calories from food are similar to the body, which ignores the key part of the puzzle
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In fact, the "carbohydrate-insulin model" is not a newly proposed new model
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It can be traced back to the 20th century, but this one was developed by Harvard Medical School, Weill Cornell Medical School, University of Copenhagen, and the National Institute of Health
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The opinion articles published by a team of 17 internationally recognized scientists, clinical researchers and public health experts from research institutes and other institutions are the most comprehensive expression of the "carbohydrate-insulin model" so far
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In summary, this article summarizes more and more evidence to support the "carbohydrate-insulin model"
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In addition, the author also identified a series of testable hypotheses to distinguish the two models to guide future research
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Using the "carbohydrate-insulin model" instead of the "energy balance model" has a fundamental impact on weight management and obesity treatment
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The "carbohydrate-insulin model" does not urge people to eat less, but proposes another way to make us pay more attention to our diet
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Reducing the consumption of fast-digesting carbohydrates reduces the body’s potential motivation to store fat
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In this way, we can lose weight with less hunger and struggling
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Finally, the author of this article also pointed out that these two models need further research, and finally test these two models, which will also lead to more accurate new models
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To this end, they called for constructive discussions and cooperation with scientists with different views, and rigorous and fair research to test the predictions of the "carbohydrate-insulin model"
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Article link:

https://doi.
org/10.
1093/ajcn/nqab270

(Source: Internet, reference only)

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