The Sweet Tooth

So I've been thinking about something for a while... And it has to do with the fact that I haven't really been eating any carbohydrates lately, and it surprisingly hasn't been that difficult. Sure I have bad days when I feel bad about not eating with the group, and chug a beer or eat a piece of cake or chocolate or something, but other than that I haven't had "cravings" for sweets or starches.

This isn't really a new concept for me - I've never tried to diet before, or deprive myself of anything. This is not to say that I haven't said no to goodies because I know they are fattening; I have indeed denied myself an additional doughnut on occasion (though I am known to take literally the phrase "eat as much as you like"). I have experienced the occasional craving though, staying up late into the night to bake and eat a dozen cookies because I need the taste and can't wait till morning. And not once did a guilty thought cross my mind -- well, other than the obvious, "lol... fatass." But the point still stands: dieters often complain about cravings.

My mother tried Atkins for a long time. She has in her lifetime developed an insatiable desire for starchy foods, almost to the point of rationalizing why she's eating them. I suppose the cravings can get to be too much. She was unable to truly give up desserts, and would use artificial sweeteners to replace them. (She reads this blog so I will be as gentle as possible)

If you haven't read Gary Taubes, I'll give a nice hand-waving explanation: artificial sweeteners stimulate the release of insulin. This is normally okay, but if you have no carbs in your diet then it will make you feel tired because it inhibits the use of fat for energy, which basically leaves only protein as a viable source. But we know from Stefansson that protein is not really a viable source of energy. This will make you crave more sugar/starch. If you believe what Taubes believes about the theory of dieting, this will ultimately lead to failure of the diet. You feel tired, you feel hungry, and you feel a desire for the foods that will ruin your diet - and not only will they ruin your diet, but they will finally make you feel good, full, and full of energy. This leads to some sort of Pavlovian response and you start salivating at the thought of a carbohydrate, and pretty soon Dr. Atkins is slipping on ice and you wanna try the sugar-water diet.

For me, while I haven't lost much weight, the cravings have been minimal - and, more interestingly, seem to be on the decline. Since I didn't think about trying to lose weight, I've been letting myself have "desserts" if I can get them to fall under the category of "meatetarian." This includes almost nothing, so I've been eating almost no food that stimulates the over-release of insulin. And while I can't prove it, I'd like to believe that somehow this connection between a reduced insulin response and a waning sweet tooth are connected. It has worked wonders for the rest of my teeth too - no sugar and no starch means next to no decay in my teefs (except for when a piece of steak gets stuck between your teeth and you can't get it out... it leads to breath of death breath...).

I tried to discuss this recently with a family member who was admittedly fairly drunk at the time. He was planning on trying a starvation style of diet, with protein bars throughout the day and "lean and green" in the evening. I know there's something behind the theory of having several small meals a day (improves the bodies ability to absorb and use protein, compared to eating fewer large meals), but I was still cautious. Stefansson's experience had taught me that without enough fat, high protein diets lead to serious diarrhea - diarrhea is a great way to lose weight but it's really bad for you. Starvation diets tend to lead to increased hunger, reduced energy, reduced activity level, and reduced efficacy fairly quickly. It's also not meant to be a long-term thing, so it's unlikely that it would lead to lasting weight loss. I recommended the meat diet as an alternative, even though it hasn't helped me lose much weight. He brought up gluttony and sloth and fast food and overeating and it made me wish everyone had Taubes in his back pocket.

This is when something that I considered odd was brought up in the conversation. He essentially asked me, "What's the catch?" I was taken aback - what could possibly BE wrong with the meat diet? He makes a good point though - why is it not more popular? I've been thinking about this for a while now... Atkins is relatively popular, and the meat diet is essentially that (though I would say to lay off the leafy greens tbh). What are the health risks associated with a high meat diet? After all, high red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks compared to those with a low red-meat consumption. Strangely, the heart-disease risk factors of people who are studied while on these sorts of diets are always generally better than those of people on other diets.

The health risks of the meat diet are not fully understood, and are mostly heresay. For example, go to urban dictionary and look up "meatatarian" and go to the second definition (they spell it wrong). I don't know about the rest of you, but I think this is the reason the meatetarian diet is not more popular. People hear it and it makes their skin crawl. Sure, a lot of guys would love to eat meat all the time, and they'd love to believe that it's healthy (which it is). But they believe deep down that it's bad for them. Plus, no one wants to give up beer. Or pizza.

Think of other weight loss plans that work. Eating less works, but it leads to stagnated results and hunger, and is also uncomfortable. Exercising works too, and it makes you stronger, and most people agree it makes you look better! This is leaps and bounds above what the meat diet claims to do (ummm... not kill you?). And people STILL don't do it?

For these reasons I think the question, "What's the catch?" is a silly question, that is asked only because of preconceived biases, and without any solid basis. What's the catch with exercising? Then why isn't it more popular?

I've rambled for long enough now, so I'm gonna end this for now. Might update with input/output later... Know this: things are back to normal, and I'm swearing off binge drinking lol.