One of the more difficult things to sort out from the enormous amount of information out there is the actual effect, if any, of dietary composition on resulting body composition. This is complicated from the get-go by many rodent studies that are done on reproductively mature animals that are still growing. How to compare this to humans who cease growing vertically once they reach adulthood? Next we have to sort through the studies that are done, and the implications of them, in the context of weight loss/underfeeding vs. those in the context of weight gain/overfeeding. Clearly there are compensatory mechanisms at play in both situations that are drastically different. Lastly, and here's where we probably have the least amount of information, and practically nothing in humans, what role does one's dietary composition have on their body composition over the long haul for a "normal" weight stable adult? Verifiable science basically fails us on this last point, and we're left mostly to the "wolves" of the diet/fitness industry -- e.g. body builders, trainers and nutritionists for elite athletes, etc. -- for their anecdotal reports. I don't mean to disparage these folks with the term wolves (hence the quotes), but we can never separate the reports from the reality when there's money on the line in a world where ads are required to include "results not typical" disclaimers. While I'm not saying all of these folks, or even a majority, are of the 2am infomercial variety, the claims remain largely unverifiable. It would sure be cool if there was a privacy-sparing way to collect verifiable body composition, dietary and activity data for a large population of free-living humans, eh?
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