The metabolic process that drives weight gain

There is always a lot of ongoing research into what drives obesity in humans and as a personal trainer I am always interested in what the science says. At HFT we don’t focus a lot on weight loss, preferring to re-direct our attention to creating positive exercise/movement habits that support overall good health. However, I’ve been hearing a lot lately about developments in research into the metabolism slowing effects of lots of carbohydrates (particularly refined and salty ones) in the diet. Researchers have always known that eating a lot of carbohydrates / sugar tends to drive weight gain but as you can imagine, there have been lots of wars going on between theories and hypotheses!

When we consume carbohydrates, the body not only gets fructose (sugar) from certain foods and drinks that you might be familiar with (like juice and soft drink) but its now known that we can also MAKE fructose from carbs we eat too. Fructose triggers a reduction in our cellular mitochondrial function (mitochondria are the powerhouses or energy centres of our cells), so this reduces our metabolic activity, like we are going into hibernation, wanting to store our energy for the “famine”!

The research says this is then exacerbated further by having salt with, or in the foods as salt enhances the absorption of fructose. Furthermore, we then trigger our body’s hunger signals so we can continue the process of storing energy. Its a clever cascade of biological processes designed to keep us alive essentially.

 

Think McDonalds meal and a soft drink and you have the perfect recipe here for the above process, but this can also be happening in our bodies in a less obvious way on a daily basis purely due to our busy lifestyles and being unaware of what goes into our foods. In this time where there is an abundance of quick and easy foods, the science shows how the innate survival process I’ve just described is working against us.

The takeaway (pardon the pun!) is that there is no doubt that watching or reducing your intake of refined carbohydrates and alcohol is going to be key if you are trying to lose weight. All the researchers agree on that. Which we all knew too, but now we know more about the exact mechanism behind it.

 

If you would like to listen to a great podcast that explains all this in more detail and discusses diabetes and Alzheimers as well, I recommend the Paul Taylor Podcast – Episode 301 on 13th Jan 2024 with Professor Richard Johnson.