8/3/2023 0 Comments Cutting macro percentagesOver the past century fat and carbs have drifted towards each other in percentage terms as we have perfected modern agricultural practices, food processing and the widespread use of chemical fertilisers that have enabled us to double our food production. This drift towards similar intakes of carb and fat intakes is no longer only happening on an annual basis. This drift toward more hyperpalatable energy-dense fat+carb zone is accompanied by an increase in energy intake and a slowing of weight loss (and typically weight regain in the long term). After this initial period, they were encouraged to increase carbs or fat to the point that they thought was sustainable over the long term. Participants in the DIETFITS study were asked to reduce their carbs or fat as much as possible initially while still prioritising whole minimally processed foods. However, in spite of our best efforts, we tend to regress back towards a mixture of fat+carbs whenever they are available to us. The DIETFITS study showed that we can lose weight on either a low-carb (winter) or low-fat diet (summer). Activity levels are higher and total calorie intake is lower in summer and lower in winter.Carbohydrate intake is highest in summer and lowest in winter.Fat intake is lowest in spring when carbs are highest.Body weight is at the lowest at the end of summer and increases through autumn up to winter.But nevertheless, some degree of seasonal exists for humans as demonstrated by this data from obese humans from suburban Minnesota. In modern times, the variation in our environment is less extreme than it would have been in the past. There are numerous benefits in syncing our light exposure, food and sleep with the daily cycles.īut what if we are also adapted to an annual rhythm and our biology is synchronised to the annual seasonal rhythms? Could it be that nature not only provides the ideal food to prepare us for the coming season but that the foods that are available to us in each season also plays a role in regulating our body weight set point and therefore our appetite? We are beginning to accept that our biology is intimately linked to our daily circadian rhythm and the effect of light, temperature and food on our bodies. While hibernating bears are an extreme example of the way nature drives our chronobiology, before the adoption of agriculture, humans would have also experienced cyclical food availability that helped us to build fat for winter in autumn and lean muscle and fat loss in spring. In spring and summer, they’re out fishing for lean protein in the thawing river, building back up their muscles ready to start the process all over again ( PSMF).Through winter they hibernate and use up some of their fat (LCHF/keto).In autumn, these bears eat berries and fatty meat to get big (carbs+fat).While humans today are largely removed from the adaptive pressures of nature, for many animals like Beadnose the bear (pictured here in June 2018 and September 2018) getting fat in preparation for winter is a matter of life and death. In our modern food environment, we have a constant stream of supra-autumnal foods that help to fatten us up for a winter that never comes (see Why Our Food System is Screwed, Nutritional Myth Busting and Should You Eat Lancet).The unique foods available in different seasons not only provides for current and future needs but may actually stimulate/suppress your appetite to modify your body weight set point (see Escaping our Infinite Autumn).To survive, we had to adapt to extremes (see Don’t Eat for Winter). Nature provided more carbs in summer, more fat in winter and more lean protein and fibre in spring.To recap the discussion from previous articles: (If you don’t want to understand why this works, you can skip straight to the pie charts and tables further down). How we’ve used this understanding to fine tune the Nutrient Optimiser algorithmīut first, some context.
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