To Eat Or Not To Eat…?
This question seems to arise quite frequently in everyday life and it seems that there is still quite a headache over the correct answer.
Do we eat more frequently or less frequently?
Historically, if we wanted to speed up our metabolism, we were told to eat small frequent portions throughout the day (up to 9 even)!
For so many unbelievably scientific reasons, we know that statement is nothing more than a fallacy at best. The science simply does not support the mindset and, quite frankly, it tends to do the opposite and make people gain weight!
This goes to show that the $10/hr personal trainer you just hired at your gym might not actually know as much as you think they do.
Remember, that everyone is out to make a dollar. Let’s cut through that Ponzi scheme and look at the science that PROVES otherwise.
The Role of Growth Hormone
Growth hormone plays a role in every single metabolic process at the cellular level and impacts our growth (duh), recovery, and repair.
Simply put, without it, we would never develop as a child, grow into our adult bodies, have a strong skeleton, or develop lean muscle mass.
There are two main regulatory hormones that help encourage and cease the production of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary gland.
Ghrelin and somatostatin are the two big players in keeping our metabolism and growth in check.
Do you ever feel hungry and you get a rumble in your tummy or hear it gurgling for food?
Well, that is Ghrelin doing what it is supposed to do! Ghrelin stimulates hunger and lets us know to go get food.
What happens when that sensation occurs and you DONT get food though?
You mobilize your stored fats (triglycerides) and glucose to use for energy. Once again, our body is not stupid. It has a built-in system that keeps everything functioning as it should without us ever having to think about it.
To summarize, Ghrelin is a good thing. You get the hunger sensation and DON’T eat, which in turn is a pulse of growth hormone that helps our metabolism move stored energy.
Remember, excess stored energy is what makes us fat and puts us at a cardiovascular and metabolic risk for developing a chronic condition.
Alternatively, somatostatin is known as growth hormone inhibiting hormone. This little devil talks to the pituitary gland and tells it to not release growth hormone.
As a result, we do not mobilize any excess energy (fats and sugars) and we continue to store whatever excess energy we eat.
Because we live in a society where there is food abundance, we are never truly hungry enough to mobilize the fats and sugars that we need to be fit and healthy.
We keep eating, thus inhibiting ghrelin which doesn’t allow growth hormone to activate and we keep getting fatter and fatter.
This is the downward cycle that many individuals find themselves in and don’t know how to get out of.
Being Hungry is Okay
For so long, we have been drilled into us that being hungry is not something we should have to experience. Especially living in a developed world.
Let me ask you something, how are we a developed world when we are turning every single person into a heart attack or diabetes waiting to happen?
Our bodies, our chemistry, our genetics are simply not made to eat constantly. Not to mention the inundation of highly processed foods to add salt into the wound.
So to answer the initial question at the beginning. To eat or not to eat?
It really does break down to what your specific goals are.
If you want to gain weight, for a bulk, then you need to eat every 2–3 hours which activates somatostatin and tells your body to not release growth hormone and hold on to the fats and sugars we currently have stored and continue to store more.
If weight loss is your goal, then you should be putting roughly 4 hours between each meal and DO NOT snack.
Every time you snack, you are not allowing growth hormone to be pulsed and released. Again, this causes you to hold on to your excess energy like fats and sugars.
I can certainly promise you in every sense of the word, you will NOT starve to death. Our ancestors did not have access to a drive-thru or pre-packaged foods. They had to always hunt for their next meal.
If we have lived this long as a species, you can certainly forgo the bag of Takis and live another day.
And for God’s sake, when you do decide to eat a meal, please make it a real meal!
Don’t go out and get a freaking Impossible burger when you can get a steak.
If our ancestors had access to that, we would no doubt be dead and not survived for as long as we have. Metabolic disease is man-made and easily, EASILY, fixed.
Please don’t counter that with- “Our ancestors didn’t live as long as we do.”
You are correct in that statement, however, partially. They didn’t live as long because of acute infections. The western world has virtually eradicated many major illnesses that would be a death sentence for us previously.
Diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and obesity simply didn’t exist living in food scarcity and eating like we were at the top of the food chain.
Infections did.
You Get What You Pay For
Everyone has heard that old adage. It is certainly no secret. From cars to financial advice. Remember that everyone is out there to make a quick buck.
You want to find a provider, or anyone in any service, that has the heart of a teacher and is willing to provide the education to you so YOU, the consumer, can make an informed and educated decision about your health.
I am not dogging at trainers, but again, if you are paying for some that are really cheap, you are not going to get the most out of your money and efforts.
Seek out individuals who are worth a damn and treat you as a very important individual.
Because you are!
This is your health and your life. Remember that we only get one so why not make it as amazing as we can while we are here?
If you are seeing a provider that will not answer your questions or gets placed on the defensive when you offer another solution, you need to find yourself another provider.
We are all human and don’t know every single thing about everything (although a lot try to pretend).
You should find someone who can be honest with you and state that they don’t know but will look into it and find the answer for you.
It is certainly easy to get wrapped up with all the information that we have readily available at our fingertips. Now, more than ever, we need to look at the cold, hard, scientific facts about what is happening.
No more making this a guessing game and not seeing the success from all your hard effort.
Our society is more engaged in the gym than ever before, yet we are the fattest we have been. Clearly, we do not have a gym problem, we have a food problem.
Didn’t Einstein say that “doing the same thing over again and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity?”
Why are we not listen to our bodies? They continue to talk to us, we just don’t like to listen.
Be strong. Be brave.
