All Calories Are Not Created Equal

When I was really, really overweight and extremely unhealthy in my mid-twenties, I asked my doctor for help losing weight. Her response was very concise: a calorie is a calorie, so eat fewer calories and exercise more. The take-home message: it doesn't really matter what you eat, as long as you don't eat very much.

I know now how very flawed that thinking is. Doctors are not taught about nutrition. Doctors are trained to treat symptoms of disease by prescribing drugs. Nutrition is about disease prevention and real healing, two things that are missing in our current health care system. Unfortunately, far too many people are relying on their doctors for nutrition information…and getting some really bad advice.

We humans have evolved to avoid starvation. When we eat less, our bodies think food is becoming scarce, and we automatically switch into conservation and storage mode [read: loss of energy and gaining weight]. When we eat a lot of food, our bodies understand that it is ok to burn calories normally and let us maintain a normal activity level.

We humans also evolved eating mainly things we could pick or kill. This means vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and meat. Agriculture, and consequently the introduction of cultivated grains and dairy products, is a very, very, very new thing. Our bodies simply weren't made to eat the way we are currently eating.

Blood sugar fluctuations are the main cause of weight gain. When you eat food with a "high glycemic load," your blood sugar spikes. High blood sugar is toxic, so your body freaks out and does whatever it can to lower your blood sugar quickly, which includes socking it away as fat.

To prevent blood sugar fluctuations, you must eat foods that are high in fiber and don't have quickly digested carbohydrates like refined flour and sugar. Good quality fats (like olive oil, coconut oil, and unrefined nut oils) also slow digestion and keep blood sugar steady.

The best foods to eat for weight loss are unprocessed, natural, close-to-the-source foods. It really isn't complicated, but it's difficult to remember when we are surrounded by low-quality, convenient, cheap food. The way your body processes 600 calories of donuts is completely different from the way it processes 600 calories of black beans or fish or sesame seeds.

My advice for the healthiest way to eat, and the best way to lose weight, is to eat a relatively high-fat, high-fiber (vegetables and fruits), low-dairy, grain-free diet.