UPDATE (and a tiny bump for feed subscribers): I noticed a bit of traffic to a prior related post, so I'm just linking to that one here as well: Insulin Doing Its Thang! And Still No Starving Cells. It discusses another study by Keith Frayn that shows increased NEFA uptake into the muscle cells of men with hyperinsulinemia. It may be worth a read for newer readers along with The Myth of Starving Cells.
Original Content:
A little sidetrack here, but I came across an article the other day. I just had to blog on it before I forgot!
Original Content:
A little sidetrack here, but I came across an article the other day. I just had to blog on it before I forgot!
A little background as well -- A couple of years ago I wrote: The Myth of Starving Cells. As the story goes, as related by science journalist Gary Taubes, to Low Carb Diet Doctor Mike Eades, to Fat Head Naughton, insulin traps our fat in our fat cells, causing "internal starvation" as the rest of our cells go without, triggering hunger and overeating. We overeat because we are getting fat, or some nonsense like that. In the post, I discussed studies demonstrating the opposite is true. In obesity, there is failure to properly suppress NEFA release from fat cells, NEFA are elevated in the fasted state, and irrespective of absolute concentration, NEFA delivery to cells is higher. The last point leading to accumulation of fat within ectopic cells, such as muscle cells (called intramyocellular triglyceride or lipid, IMTG, IMCT or IMCL). The cells have plenty of fat fuel to burn ... indeed this is a problem!
So I was looking for a link to that Ebbeling et.al. study the other day -- this one: Effects of Dietary Composition on Energy Expenditure During Weight-Loss Maintenance. In the study, a group of obese people were put on a relatively high protein (25%), relatively low fat (30%) and moderate carb (45%) diet and lost between 10 and 15% of their initial body weight. After which they were weight stabilized and then fed one of three maintenance diets for 4 weeks in randomized cross-over fashion. These diets were P/F/C: low fat = 20/20/60 , low GI = 20/40/40, and low carb = 30/60/10.
