How Wheat Makes You Fat

Gluten-free is hot these days. There are books and websites, restaurants with gluten free menus, and grocery stores with hundreds of new gluten-free food products on the shelf. Is this a fad, or a reflection of response to a real problem?

Yes, gluten is a real problem. But the problem is not just gluten. In fact, there are three major hidden reasons that wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.

This is why there are now 30 percent more obese than undernourished in the world, and why chronic lifestyle and dietary driven disease kills more than twice as many people as infectious disease globally. These non-communicable, chronic diseases will cost our global economy $47 trillion over the next 20 years.

Sadly, this tsunami of chronic illness is increasingly caused by eating our beloved diet staple, bread, the staff of life, and all the wheat products hidden in everything from soups to vodka to lipstick to envelope adhesive.

The biggest problem is wheat, the major source of gluten in our diet. But wheat weaves its misery through many mechanisms, not just the gluten! The history of wheat parallels the history of chronic disease and obesity across the world. Supermarkets today contain walls of wheat and corn disguised in literally hundreds of thousands of different food-like products, or FrankenFoods. Each American now consumes about 55 pounds of wheat flour every year.

It is not just the amount but also the hidden components of wheat that drive weight gain and disease. This is not the wheat your great-grandmother used to bake her bread. It is FrankenWheat -- a scientifically engineered food product developed in the last 50 years.

How Wheat -- and Gluten -- Trigger Weight Gain, Prediabetes, Diabetes and More

This new modern wheat may look like wheat, but it is different in three important ways that all drive obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and more.

1. It contains a Super Starch -- amylopectin A that is super fattening.

2. It contains a form of Super Gluten that is super-inflammatory.

3. It contains forms of a Super Drug that is super-addictive and makes you crave and eat more.

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Failing to lose weight, here's Why?

Too Fat? Your ‘Thrifty’ Gene May Be to Blame

People who struggle with weight issues could have their ancestors to blame. Scientists have identified a “thrifty” gene that helps the body store fat and can cause someone to gain weight, even when following a healthy diet.

A new study has found that a “thrifty” gene that once helped our ancestors survive famines could be to blame for obesity.

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that mice bred to lack the CRTC3 (thrifty) gene were able to eat a diet high in fat, while normal mice who had the CRTC3 gene and ate the same diet packed on the pounds.

Study findings also revealed that animals without the CRTC3 gene were leaner than those with the gene, which also raises their risk of diabetes.

“If you feed them a diet that has up to 60 percent of calories from fat, their normal brothers and sisters that have the CRTC3 gene gain weight and become obese, insulin resistant and some go on to develop diabetes, but those who don’t have the CRTC3 gene remain lean and insulin sensitive,” lead researcher Dr. Marc Montminy told Reuters.

In their attempt to determine whether the same effects manifested in humans, scientists found that Mexican Americans who have a mutation of the thrifty gene have a higher risk of becoming obese. However, the CRTC3 gene did not seem to affect non-Hispanic whites with the genetic variant the same way, further proving that obesity is very complex.

The CRTC3 gene “slows down the rate at which the fat cells burn fat,” Dr. Montminy told Reuters. Having the gene could have been an advantage to our ancestors, who sometimes were forced to go a long time in between meals, but can be a disadvantage in modern first world countries, where food is abundant.

Dr. Montminy noted that given the study findings, pharmaceutical companies may focus future research at offsetting the effects of the CRTC3 gene to treat and prevent obesity.

Feeling sleepy even when you exercise regularly

source: weightlosssurgerychannel

The Most Common Metabolic Causes of Weight Gain

Hypothyroidism

Over 26 million Americans suffer with hypothyroidism, and less than one third of them are being properly diagnosed or treated! This is the case despite most of them having what their doctors mistakenly consider to be normal blood tests. As long as your thyroid function is inadequate, it will be nearly impossible for you to keep your weight down. The symptoms of hypothyroidism are fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance with low body temperature (under 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), achiness, and poor mental function.

Nutritional deficiencies

When you are deficient in vitamins or minerals your body will crave more food than you need and your metabolism will be sluggish.

Poor sleep

The expression “getting your beauty sleep” actually has a basis in fact. Deep sleep is a major trigger for growth hormone production and sleep also regulates the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Growth hormone stimulates production of muscle (which burns fat) and improves insulin sensitivity (which decreases the tendency to make fat). One hundred years ago, the average American got 9 hours of sleep a night. Because it raises growth hormone, getting the 8-9 hours of sleep a night that the human body is meant to have can powerfully contribute to your staying young and trim!

Yeast overgrowth

Clinical experience has shown that fungal (also known as Candida or yeast) overgrowth contributes powerfully to both sugar cravings and weight gain. Although we do not know the mechanism for this, we have repeatedly seen excess weight drop off once this overgrowth is treated and eliminated.

Insulin resistance

This causes your body to make very high levels of insulin, which causes your body to make fat.

TREATMENT
Medications

Thyroid hormone

If you have symptoms of hypothyroidism, take a therapeutic trial of thyroid hormone. The form that I recommend is Armour thyroid, and it should be adjusted to the dose that feels best while keeping the Free T4 blood test in the normal range.

Metformin

If you are insulin resistant, take metformin 500-1,000 mg a day to help restore your body’s sensitivity to the insulin you make. Check a “Fasting Insulin” blood test one morning before you eat or drink anything. If it is over 10 McU/ml (drawn fasting in the morning), you are insulin resistant. In woman who have a high testosterone from the insulin resistance (known as polycystic ovary syndrome, or "PCOS," and sometimes associated with increased facial hair), the metformin can improve overall well being and even restore fertility. Give it 3 months to work, and be sure you are taking 500 mcg of vitamin B12 a day with it as the metformin depletes vitamin B12.

Recommended Supplements

Multi-nutrient powder

To help prevent nutritional deficiencies, take a good multi-nutrient powder.

Herbal sleep aids

Herbal sleep aids can help you sleep.

Other Therapies & Advice

Check for Candida.

A healthy natural protein diet works best to gain weight instead of supplements

Actually, Protein supplements have been very popular in the sport of body building for several years. Now, these products are used by the everyday person, frequently as an aid to lose weight or lose fat tissue.

There is no biological benefit in consuming individual amino acids which is protein. Some people take them as the claim is that they are absorbed more quickly and better. However, the body’s digestive system was designed to consume and utilize whole proteins in whole foods, and it has ample of enzymes to break down proteins for the needs of the body.

If you want to gain weight then here’s some tips for you:

• Eat nutrient-rich foods. As a component of an overall healthy diet, fruits and vegetables; choose whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals; low-fat dairy products; lean protein sources; and nuts and seeds.

• Eat more frequently. Eat at least five to six small meals throughout the day rather than two or three huge meals.

• Put in calorie-dense snacks. Prefer calorie-dense foods, like as nuts, peanut butter, cheese, dried fruits and avocados. Also, include a bedtime snack, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a wrap sandwich with avocado, sliced vegetables and meat or cheese. Mix it up. Put in cheese to casseroles; nonfat dried milk to stews; soups and scrambled eggs and chicken to soups.

• Observe what you drink. Don't fill up on diet soda, coffee, tea and other beverages with few calories and little nutritional value. As an alternative, drink smoothies or healthy shakes made with milk and fresh or frozen juice and sprinkle in some ground flaxseed. And drink fluids either 30 minutes before or after a meal, not with it, to keep away from becoming full before you eat.

Exercise 45 Minutes a Day to Avoid Weight Gain

Women Who Maintain a Healthy Weight Get 45 Minutes a Day of Moderate Activity, Study Finds

Weight gain with age is common. But middle-aged women who start out at a healthy weight and get in an hour of moderate activity every day can avoid weight gain, according to a new study.

There is plenty of research on how to lose weight and keep it off, but ''there's very little research on preventing weight gain in the first place," says the study lead author, I-Min Lee, ScD, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

So her team addressed that question, trying to pinpoint the amount of physical activity needed to prevent weight gain over time, without calorie restriction, a question that is much debated with little consensus. The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Feeling sleepy even when you exercise regularly

source: webmd

Top Food Tips and Concepts to Gain Weight

Some people, youngster even eating a lot are tall and thin.

It is because of genetic makeup that they are tall and thin no matter how much they eat. It could be hereditary or have a fast metabolism. As people age, the body’s metabolic function will also change gradually. As long as you are not underweight and continue to enjoy your usual activities, then there is nothing to worry about.

Here are some healthy ways to add further calories to your daily diet and gain weight:

• Eat more frequently. Eat at least five to six small meals throughout the day rather than two or three huge meals.

• Eat nutrient-rich foods. As a component of an overall healthy diet, fruits and vegetables; choose whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals; low-fat dairy products; lean protein sources; and nuts and seeds.

• Observe what you drink. Don't fill up on diet soda, coffee, tea and other beverages with few calories and little nutritional value. As an alternative, drink smoothies or healthy shakes made with milk and fresh or frozen juice and sprinkle in some ground flaxseed. And drink fluids either 30 minutes before or after a meal, not with it, to keep away from becoming full before you eat.

• Put in in calorie-dense snacks. Prefer calorie-dense foods, like as nuts, peanut butter, cheese, dried fruits and avocados. Also, include a bedtime snack, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a wrap sandwich with avocado, sliced vegetables and meat or cheese.

• Mix it up. Put in cheese to casseroles; nonfat dried milk to stews; soups and scrambled eggs and chicken to soups.

• Have a sweet treat. However be sure to select sweets that also provide nutrients, such as bran muffins, fruit pies, yogurt, and granola bars.

From - Mdinfo - Jonathan C. Monis RN MSPH