Now that you understand the science behind fat storage, you can easily understand why it can be a struggle to lose weight eating a modern diet. The Modern American Diet that we have all been instructed to eat to maintain “health” is actually making us fatter by supplying an endless stream of carbohydrates. The general paradigm was to eat foods that contained large amounts of carbohydrates (complex or simple) and stay away from foods that were high in fat. This causes us to go into “sugar burner” mode, meaning that instead of burning dietary and stored fat for fuel, you immediately burn and then store as fat the carbohydrates that have been converted to glucose in your body. When in “sugar burner” mode, you store dietary fat in a meal in your fat cells to be burned at a later date. When you constantly consume carbohydrate this “later date” never comes because you are feeding yourself a constant supply of sugar through carbohydrate.
It is estimated that only 100 grams of glucose (in the form of glycogen) can be stored in the liver. This amounts to less than one day’s worth of energy. Another 350 to 500 grams of glucose (again in the form of glycogen) can be stored in your muscle tissue. This is equal to enough energy to workout at a moderate pace for 90 minutes.[1] Consider that a male weighing 150 pounds at 10% body fat has more than 50,000 stored calories to use as fuel. This would allow a person to run for almost 4 days straight without refueling! Evolution over the past 2.5 million years has designed humans to store large amounts of fat to be used as fuel. The Modern American Diet gets in the way of this access to plentiful stores of fat by supplying an endless amount of sugar that gets in the way of accessing and burning fat.
The BeginnerPaleo Diet works because it automatically directs you away from the simple sugars, grains, processed foods and soft drinks that causes you to store fat and toward foods that are naturally low in carbohydrates and higher in protein, fat and other essential nutrients. What the BeginnerPaleo Diet tells us is what had been the conventional wisdom in medicine for hundreds of years before the USDA stepped in: that sugar, flour, potatoes, and rice are what make a person fat, not meat and fat.
When you eat a BeginnerPaleo meal, it will primarily consist of proteins, fats and vegetables and some low “fructose” fruit (more on fruit and the effects of fructose later). If you have been eating a Paleo Diet for more than a week, your body will be adjusted to burning fat as its primary fuel source. This means that you are “fat adapted” and out of the “sugar burner” mode. When you are fat adapted, your primary source of fuel is both exogenous (meaning through the food that you consume) and endogenous (fat stored in your body). If you just started the Paleo diet, it will take a short amount of time before you become “fat adapted” – generally anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks depending on a range of factors.
The Paleo Diet is Not a Low Carbohydrate Diet
It is important to understand that The Beginner Paleo Diet is not a low carbohydrate diet. The media and other diet experts lump in the Paleo Diet when they mention “low carb diets” such as the Atkins Diet and South Beach Diet. Because the Beginner Paleo Diet is based on eating foods that existed before agriculture dominated our modern diet, you will naturally consume foods that have a lower carbohydrate content. Most “low carb” diets completely eliminate or severely restrict foods that contain carbohydrates. This eliminates foods that are allowed on the Paleo Diet, like sweet potatoes, most fruits and some vegetables. These foods contain essential nutrients and vitamins and will contribute to your weight loss and overall health and well being while eating a Paleo Diet.
You Will Eat Foods With Lower Energy Density on the Paleo Diet
Recent research into why people stay with a traditional diet has revealed that people who eat foods that are lower in energy density but higher in volume tend to be more successful.[2] Energy density is the amount of calories that are contained in food. Foods with a high energy density have more calories and carbohydrates than foods with a lower energy density. Additionally, high energy density foods typically have less volume by weight than those with a low energy density. For example, one-fourth of a cup of raisins contains 123 calories and 29 grams of carbohydrates . One-fourth of a cup of raw grapes has 29 calories and 7 grams of carbohydrates. For the same volume of food, you would consume 22 grams less of carbohydrates by eating raw grapes versus raisins.
Energy density is primarily determined by three factors: (1) water content, (2) fiber and (3) fat content. Research has shown that people tend to eat the same volume of food regardless of the food’s energy density.[3] Therefore, an effective way to reduce both calories and carbohydrates consumed is to eat foods that will fill you up with a lower energy density. The majority of foods consumed on the Paleo Diet are foods that are naturally low in energy density and high in volume. Processed modern foods, which on average contain the highest energy density with the lowest volume, are excluded. While eating the Paleo Diet, you will feel less hungry while eating more food.
You Won’t Feel Hungry or Deprived on the Paleo Diet
An additional reason people fail to adhere to the Modern American Diet is that they feel hungry all of the time. Feelings of deprivation do not exist on a Primal Diet. When you feel deprived or hungry all of the time, if becomes difficult to make any diet a permanent part of your life. Foods that are high in protein and fat have been found to be the most satisfying. Luckily, the bulk of the food consumed on the Paleo Diet is naturally high in both protein and fat. This will allow you to eat until you are satisfied and continue to lose weight.
[1] http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-metabolic-paradigm-shift-fat-carbs-human-body-metabolism/#axzz1wBxJskQY
[2] http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00195
[3] http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/ff_weightwatchers/all/1