Counting Calories NOT the Key to Weight Loss

Al Roker recently revealed that he lost “about 45 pounds in the last few months” by combining a daily walking routine with a low-carb diet. The 67-year-old weather presenter revealed On Monday’s TODAY show, he eats about 100 grams of carbohydrates a day.

Roker is living proof that the key to losing weight is not counting calories but cutting carbs. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition supports Roker’s plan. Lead author Dr. David Ludwig says that “the body fights against calorie restriction.” The endocrinologist and professor of pediatrics and nutrition at Harvard Medical School says that limiting calories slows metabolism and makes people hungrier.

According to foxnewsLudwig says it’s not so much that eating too many calories leads to weight gain, but the high sugar content of certain carbohydrates that causes the pancreas to release the hormone insulin and store too much energy. When our bodies produce too much insulin, fat cells become programmed to store calories, he says. The low-carbohydrate diet that the participants in Ludwig’s study ate consisted of 20% carbohydrates, 60% fat, and 20% protein.

Low-carbohydrate diets are also recommended for those with diabetes as it helps control blood glucose levels. Of the three macronutrients that provide energy (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats), carbohydrates have the greatest effect on raising blood glucose levels. Protein has a small to moderate effect, and fat has the smallest effect, says diabetes.es.

Ludwig suggests that our approach to weight loss has been backwards.

“Given the choice between bread and butter, for years we focused on getting rid of butter,” he said. “But maybe between the two, the bread is the bigger problem.”

Dr. Jeff Vollek of The Ohio State University has researched low-carb diets for 25 years and says research shows that people who follow a low-carb diet can lose up to 10% of their body weight and not retrieve it.

“When you limit carbohydrates, the body becomes really good at burning its own body fat because it doesn’t have a lot of sugar to burn for fuel,” he said, according to Fox News. “The vast majority of adults in the US (over 100 million people) consume too many carbohydrates relative to their tolerance, which is why low-fat diets don’t work for most people. A strong body of research demonstrates that reducing carbohydrate intake is a safe, effective, and sustainable approach to improving weight and metabolic health.”