meal timing: LEF's obesity protocol, opposite of WD

[Guest guest]

To add to the time-of-eating / meal size discussion:

LEF (Life Extension Foundation) has an obesity protocol on their site

(http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-083.shtml) which argues that, in

direct opposition to the WD eating schedule, that you should aim to

eat the bulk of your calories in the morning at breakfast (even your

sweet desserts, if that's where you still are nutritionally...), then

two moderate snacks mid-day, and a light dinner no later than 6:30

pm. After 6:30 pm you should NOT eat anything else, lest it be

stored as fat. To aid in keeping that restriction, they promote a

supplement called Avolean, which is a sugar extract from avocados (d-

mannoheptulose). Avolean, " taken correctly " apparently can do quite

wonderful things (per LEF): it suppresses insulin production, but not

to the point of causing hyperglycemia, it " normalizes " fasting

insulin, and blocks carb cravings (they mention it might even cause

carb aversion!). Here's a quote from their protocol:

" Using avocado extract can produce the following benefits:

By cutting down the craving for carbohydrate foods, fewer calories

are consumed, resulting in a reduced provocation for the pancreas to

overproduce insulin.

By inhibiting a pancreatic enzyme involved in insulin synthesis,

there is a reduction in serum insulin levels, thus reducing the

excess storage of glucose into body fat.

By reducing excess insulin, bloated adipocytes (fat cells) are able

to release stored fat. "

They make the point that whenever there is excess serum insulin, as

is the normal situation in obese people, the fat cells can not

release their stored fat and you _can't_ lose body fat.

There is another thought-provoking claim in this piece that I want to

toss out for discussion:

" Exercise, the other popularly prescribed " treatment " modality, has

only one disastrous consequence for obese individuals: exercise

lowers the need for insulin (Kirwan et al. 2002; Reynolds et al.

2002). Obese individuals already have too much insulin. Therefore,

exercise causes the excess to be that much more excessive! "

I am not expert in any of these subjects, so it's unlikely that I

will be able to answer of your questions about these ideas. I am

hoping those of us with better biochem backgrounds will comment,

though.

p.s.: LEF has an annual sale on its supplements, which ends this year

on Feb 2nd. LEF members get an extra 10% off. (disclosure: I am a

member, but I certainly don't agree with everything LEF says and

does!)

[Guest guest]

>> " Exercise, the other popularly prescribed " treatment " modality, has

only one disastrous consequence for obese individuals: exercise

lowers the need for insulin (Kirwan et al. 2002; Reynolds et al.

2002). Obese individuals already have too much insulin. Therefore,

exercise causes the excess to be that much more excessive! " <<

I don't know - I have been struggling with a back injury on and off since April,

and there's no question that periods when I am able to exercise my weight loss

has been double what it is when I have been unable to. I lose regardless, but

exercise without question makes it faster by a factor of two!

Perhaps it's because on the low carb eating plan, I am no longer producing too

much insulin even though I'm still obese? I will say there are women at the

Curves where I go who work out constantly who are eating low fat or who have

made no changes to their way of eating, who have not lost any weight at all

during the time I've been going there. They always ask me what I'm doing and

oooh and ahhhh at the weight I've lost, but they still cling to their

anti-Atkins paranoia and won't even read the book. So weird.

Christie

[Guest guest]

Chris-

>Is this utterly preposterous or am I missing something? Exercise increases

>insulin sensitivity, so, while you are technically decreasing your need for

>insulin, obviously the corollary of that is that you'll produce less

>insulin.

>Furthermore, exercise stimulates adrenalin, which has the opposite effect of

>insulin on fat cells (adrenalin induces lipolysis).

It may not be as preposterous as you think, but I suspect it varies fairly

widely from person to person. Not everybody will reduce insulin production

so quickly in response to an increase in sensitivity -- a lot of feedback

mechanisms get screwed up in metabolic diseases. This might help explain

why some people hit plateaus and have such trouble getting past

them. Obviously low-carbing aids greatly with insulin problems, though,

and low-carbers run into far less plateauing.

-