WHY WE EAT TOO MUCH

SO, WHAT’S THE PODCAST ALL ABOUT?

This podcast really challenges the conventional wisdom of weight regulation.

Dr Jenkinson shines a light on the importance of hormonal and metabolic factors that influence our weight.

During this conversation Dr Andrew Jenkinson explains that we all have a ‘weight set-point’ – a weight that our bodies are determined to maintain. The body does this by slowing our metabolism when we reduce our calorie intake. And adjusting our hormones such as leptin, insulin and TNF-alpha to influence our appetite.

Obesity occurs when there is a total breakdown of these feedback loops. The body becomes confused and triggers appetite inappropriately. This needs to be considered a disease rather than a lack of self control. Which is not adequately taught or understood by medical professionals.

“OUR METABOLISM IS IN CONTROL”

Dr Andrew Jenkinson

Insulin is key to maintaining our weight set point. This is released when sugar is consumed by the body. Which is often hidden in high quantities in processed foods.

Frequent spikes of insulin will actually increase our weight set point.

So Dr Andrew has given us some top tips to maintain our weight set point and stop fighting our bodies.

TOP TIPS

• Focus on the QUALITY rather than the QUANTITY of your calorie intake. This means eating whole foods rather than processed foods because of the high quantities of refined carbohydrate they contain.

• If you want to reduce your weight set point, you should reduce or eliminate wheat and sugar.

• Exercise is important – but mostly from its indirect effects – by increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing cortisol rather than the number of calories burned.

• Exercise needs to be consistent – choose something you actually ENJOY and look forward to!

• Do enough exercise to build enough sweat to need a shower for 30 mins 3-4 times per week. AND do some weight training – to drive sugar into your muscles – again reducing spikes of insulin

WHAT I FOUND MOST INTERESTING

I was struck by the courage in this podcast to cite the problematic and powerful lobbyists who keep processed food cheap and control the narratives about which foods are dangerous.

We have all seen the impact government policy can have on our behaviour in the last 12 months. But there seems to be a lack of it when tackling the obesity crisis.

However the impact of obesity on the coronavirus may inspire a more aggressive response in the future. Dr Jenkinson explains recent research which hypothesises that worse outcomes for obese patients may be due to the up-regulation of ACE-2 receptors in those who eat a diet high in processed foods. This is thought to trigger an exaggerated and more dangerous response to the virus – which may explain the poor outcomes the Western world – that has been experienced in this pandemic.

SO, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

SUMMARY

We all have a natural weight set point. Which is controlled by metabolic and hormonal factors.

Insulin is key to maintaining our weight set point

To control our insulin release we need to reduce our intake of highly processed food substituting it with whole foods.

Focus on exercise you enjoy to keep it consistent. This improves our hormone profile which is what is influencing our weight.

To listen to this podcast in full – just click HERE