Have you ever tried, or thought about trying, a low-carb diet for weight loss?

Well, you might want to think again…

…because according to new research, low-carb and ketogenic diets are in big trouble.

Today, doctors and nutritionists everywhere are recommending these dangerous diets more than ever before.

And this only continues to add to the misinformation and thyroid confusion.

In fact, just yesterday I received the following comment.

It was from a woman who is just beginning to feel the difference that the right carbohydrates can make.

Yet all three of her doctors are unhappy with her dietary improvements. And they continue to prescribe her a ketogenic diet.

 “All of my holistic doctors (I use 3: one is a chiropractor who originally diagnosed me after years of seeing doctor after doctor. A second is my MD and oversees my blood work and thyroid medication. And the third is an online doctor / nutritionist.) None of them like that I do more servings of fruit which I incorporated from your recommendations. But this seems to work for me.”

(I’ll show you what I mean about “the right carbohydrates” in just a minute.)

I’ve written in detail about the dangers of low-carb diets. They suppress thyroid function and even cause hypothyroidism.

Yet many are still clinging to low-carb diets in hopes of losing weight and keeping it off.

Now, new research has shown that low-carb and ketogenic diets are actually worse for weight loss.

And that carbohydrates are NOT the cause of today’s obesity epidemic.

Debunked: The Low-Carb for Weight Loss Hypothesis

Meet Gary Taubes…

For years low-carb advocates, such as Gary Taubes, have claimed that carbohydrates are the cause of today’s obesity problems.

Taubes makes these claims based on the Carbohydrate-Insulin Hypothesis for Obesity.

The Carbohydrate-Insulin Hypothesis states that obesity is caused by high insulin levels.

It claims that insulin increases fat storage while starving the body. And that this leads to increased hunger and decreased energy expenditure.

In other words, Taubes claims that eating carbs:

  • Promotes fat storage
  • Prevents fat loss
  • Leads to overeating
  • Lowers your metabolism
  • All which results in obesity

Now, there has been plenty of previous research challenging this hypothesis.

But Taubes claimed that no study conducted has been able to disprove it…

… until now.

Meet obesity researcher, Dr. Kevin Hall.

Dr. Kevin Hall conducted a landmark study to end the debate over the low-carb diet hypothesis.

And this landmark study showed that low-carb diets are actually worse for fat loss than higher-carb diets.

Energy expenditure and body composition changes after an isocaloric ketogenic diet in overweight and obese men

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2016/07/05/ajcn.116.133561.abstract

“Body fat loss slowed during the KD and coincided with increased protein utilization and loss of fat-free mass. Conclusion: The isocaloric KD was not accompanied by increased body fat loss”

You can see Kevin Hall explain some of the results of this study in this video here:

 

 

The Low-Carb Study Results

There were two phases of the study:

  1. The higher-carbohydrate phase (50% of total calories from carbs and 25% of total calories from sugar)
  2. The low-carb phase (5% of total calories from carbs and 2% of total calories from sugar)

During the higher-carbohydrate phase, subjects lost 1.1 lbs. of body weight over the final two weeks of the higher-carbohydrate phase.

During the low-carbohydrate phase, subjects did lose weight quickly in the beginning.

Yet, it was NOT from fat loss.

With the low-carb diet, fat loss actually slowed significantly.

During the initial two week low-carb phase, fat loss decreased while muscle wasting increased.

This occurred due to the depletion of liver glycogen, drop in blood sugar, and the subsequent release of the stress hormone cortisol.

During the final two weeks of the low-carb phase, overall weight loss slowed considerably. And fat loss remained lower than during the higher-carbohydrate diet.

Over the course of the study, the low-carbohydrate diet resulted in far less fat loss than the higher-carbohydrate diet.

According to Kevin Hall…

“…it took the full 28 days of a ketogenic diet to lose the same amount of fat as was lost in the first 15 days of the normal carbohydrate diet.”

Now, as expected, the low-carb ketogenic diet resulted in the following changes:

  • 47% reduction in insulin secretion
  • 11-fold increase in urinary ketones
  • Large increase in levels of circulating fats in the bloodstream

These were the exact changes that were expected by low-carb advocates.

Yet, they did not result in greater fat loss as expected, according to the Carbohydrate-Insulin Hypothesis for Obesity.

This is extremely important because it shows that low-carb advocates are wrong about insulin.

It shows that insulin doesn’t work the way many doctors and low-carb advocates believe it does.

This study showed that low-carb diets are not the answer to today’s obesity problem.

But more importantly… it showed that eating carbohydrates and insulin are not the cause of obesity either.

What This Study Means to You and Your Thyroid

This study also further supports much of what we teach here at Forefront Health.

  1. It showed that low-carb diets directly deplete liver glycogen and over-activate your adrenal glands. This increases cortisol production and muscle wasting.

    Cortisol also suppresses your thyroid function by blocking the conversion thyroid hormone by your liver.

  1. The low-carb diet also resulted in high levels of circulating fats in the bloodstream.

    These fats suppress your thyroid function by blocking your cells from using thyroid hormone.

    And if those circulating fats come from polyunsaturated-fats, they will block your entire Thyroid Hormone Pathway.

(Note: I cover the dangers of these polyunsaturated-fats in detail in this article on “The Worst Food for Your Thyroid”).

These Are the Carbohydrates You Should Be Eating for Weight Loss

This study doesn’t mean that high levels of insulin aren’t problematic.

However, not all carbohydrates are equal when it comes to insulin response.

And this is why we focus primarily on fruit, and fruit-like sugars, for carbohydrates.

Fruits and sugars that contain fructose don’t stimulate insulin secretion the way that starches, breads, and pastas do.

Because of this, they don’t result in insulin surges and blood sugar crashes.

So, they can be used safely to help regulate blood sugar, even for diabetics.

(Note: Struggle with hypothyroidism and diabetes? Discover why sugar isn’t the problem and what you can do about in this article on “Hypothyroidism and Diabetes: How to Reverse It”.)

It’s easy to become consumed in the search for some miracle weight loss diet that doesn’t exist.

And we now know that low-carb diets are not the answer for weight loss.

However, we also know that your thyroid regulates your metabolism. And anything that improves your thyroid function WILL help give you a metabolic advantage.

And this can be accomplished through your diet.

You’ll learn one of the easiest ways to use your diet to boost your metabolism and thyroid function when you download the 3 Food Triple-Thyroid-Boosting Daily Protocol.

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The 3 Food Triple-Thyroid-Boosting Daily Protocol is all about taking the first step to overcoming your hypothyroidism. And it works by fixing some of the hidden underlying issues that are holding your metabolism and thyroid hostage.

If that sounds like what you need, then download the protocol and use it for yourself.

Click here to learn more about the 3 Food Triple-Thyroid Boosting Daily Protocol.