A nutritional study1 on digestion compared the health of mice whose digestive tracts were free of bacteria to mice containing unhealthy bacteria levels. The bacteria-free mice were fed 29% more calories than a group of control mice. Researchers found that the bacteria-free group of mice had 42% less body fat even with the increase in calories. The same mice were re-introduced to their normal, not-so-healthy gut bacteria and had a 57% increase in body fat and insulin resistance.
This study shows that eating fiber-rich vegetables will lower insulin resistance and help grow good bacteria that in turn burn more calories. “Good bacteria” consume their nutrients from the healthy dietary fibers found in vegetables, fruit and whole grain. “Bad bacteria,” the bacteria that cause you to gain weight, thrive on processed foods and natural refined sugars.
Please just eat real food!
Nutrigenomics is the study of how foods react with our genes. The discipline of eating real food displays that the fresh ingredients within have properties that help keep you healthy. These natural foods control genetic expression (the process genes use to produce proteins). Furthermore, controlling these functions allows you to lose weight.
Try eating a 500-calorie donut, then journal how you feel. The next day at the same time eat 500 calories worth of vegetables. Now compare notes. More than likely, after eating the doughnut you were hungry and had low energy a few hours later from sugar crash and toxins. Could you even eat 500 calories worth of vegetables? After a vegetarian meal, I bet you were full and had energy.
A calorie really is not a calorie; don’t get caught up with this worthless myth that drives the billion-dollar fad-diet industry. When you eat real foods that drive gene function (nutrigenomics), weight loss is a typical side effect, with a primary benefit of an improvement in overall health. When you are healthy, you will lose weight. Keep it simple. Eat real foods that contain naturally occurring fats and high levels of fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. All these will put your metabolism into overdrive!
“es Out” rule is NOT as simple as it sounds…Part 6 of 6
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Reference
- Backhed F, Ding H, Wang T, Hooper LV, Koh GY, Nagy A, Semenkovich CF, Gordon JI. The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.2004 Nov 2:101(44):15718-23.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC524219/
- Phillips C M. Nutrigenetics and Metabolic Disease: Current Status and Implications for Personalised Nutrition. Nutrients 2013, 5, 57; doi:10.3390/nu5010032
