Food, we all have issues with it good or bad. Food can give us great joy or great despair. Of one thing we can all
be sure, food is important. Unlike other things, we can never do without food. No one can go without ever eating
again. Nutrition research and our own personal experience proves that the type and quantities of food we eat is
important and can make profound changes in our lives. Foods and, more importantly, combinations of foods
can cause or triggers different reactions or changes in the body.
When we speak of foods that promote or trigger weight loss, we are really speaking of how your body utilizes the
proportions of the macro nutrients in the foods you eat. The macro nutrients include: Protein, Fat, and
Carbohydrate. The concept of macro nutrients (Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrate) in food causing changes or
reactions in the body is not new. The British Journal of Nutrition (1) has shown since 1998 that the macro nutrients
in the foods we eat can affect us down to the level of our DNA and RNA. So, because of genetics and
biochemistry each individual reacts to food macro nutrients differently. We see examples of this with the millions of
people affected by food allergies. Many people are familiar with and affected by foods like milk, peanuts, cheese,
and wine that cause allergic reactions and migraine headaches. However, far fewer people are familiar with foods
that promote weight loss until now.
Both the journal Plant Foods and Human Nutrition (2) and the journal Forum Nutrition (3) reveal that changes in
the proportions of macro nutrients ingested can effect changes in weight. Thus, weight loss is not only
dependent on how much you eat but also the proportion of macro nutrients in the foods you eat. In fact, research in
the journal Physiology and Behavior (4) suggests that macronutrient composition and proportion may be
even more important than calories.
Scientists can actually measure the relationship between how macro nutrients are metabolized (broken
down) in the body through a process known as Calorimetry. Calorimetry is commonly done at hospitals,
research facilities and elite fitness facilities reserved for professional and Olympic athletes. It involves the athlete
riding a sophisticated cycle or treadmill while attached to a mouth breathing device and electronic body monitors. It
measures oxygen inhaled versus the products of metabolized macro nutrients exhaled with a mouth monitor.
Research in the journal Acta Diabetol (5) confirms that Calorimitry measurements of metabolized
macronutrients is different among people, even the same person at different ages.
These days, there is much media “hype” surrounding the relative benefits of each of the macro nutrients.
Carbohydrate and Fat have fallen out of favor as seen in so many of the “no or low” fat and carb diets. While
protein is seen as the champion of good. Although the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (6) provides incites
as to why the macro nutrient Protein may be most satisfying to the body, this journal and many others
indicate that ALL the macro nutrients are important in dieting. So, despite fad diets and media hype; ALL of
the macro nutrients are essential to life and NONE are more important than the others. Any healthy diet will include
ALL the macro nutrients although not necessarily in equal proportions. You should also know that carbon is common
to all the macro nutrients and all the macro nutrients are all ultimately metabolized through a set of chemical
reactions called the Krebs Cycle to generate heat and energy.
Until now, the only way to calculate a weight loss food trigger would be by an expensive and week long stay at a
hospital, research facility or elite fitness facility. Now, commercially available software allows anyone to easily
calculate their own weight loss food triggers in the privacy of their own home. Macro nutrient information
that would have been derived from Calorimetry can now be approximated indirectly by using Body Index metabolism
calculations.
Weight Loss Food Triggers
Foods and Food Combinations that Promote Weight Loss
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By
Dr. Leslie Parchment
&
Dr. Scott Lindsay
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