It’s solely pure to fret, proper?
And I suppose I can solely communicate for myself right here, however there’s hardly ever a day that goes by that I’m not apprehensive about SOMETHING, whether or not it’s my children or one thing in my enterprise or the canine not consuming her dinner.
And an enormous factor I see my purchasers worrying about, particularly once they’re new to my program, is the truth that for the primary time of their lives, they’re being inspired to eat MORE. And never solely that, I’m telling them to eat meals that for many of their life, they’ve been instructed to avoid—eggs, meat, cheese, butter.
So they begin worrying that this new means of consuming can’t probably be HEALTHY.
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They begin worrying about issues like energy, and fats, and ldl cholesterol—satisfied they’ll by no means shed some pounds & get wholesome in the event that they don’t.
And I perceive why it occurs. As a result of we’ve all been indoctrinated by many years of unhealthy recommendation, and sadly it’s left us all a little bit bit scarred and terrified of the fallacious issues.
And that’s why immediately, I needed to take a deep dive into actual analysis—to essentially dig into precisely why these fears are off-base, what’s really holding you again with regards to well being, and tips on how to break away with info, not myths.
So buckle up, as a result of it is a deep one. However I promise it gained’t be boring.
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My identify is Ruth Soukup and I’m the founding father of Thinlicious and the creator of the Thin Adapted System, in addition to the New York Occasions bestselling creator of seven books.
And if that is your first time studying, right here’s what it is best to learn about me: I’m a 46-year-old lady—ALMOST 47—who struggled with my weight and well being for ten lengthy years, failing at eating regimen after eating regimen, till I lastly determined to take a radically totally different method.
As an alternative of beginning yet one more eating regimen, I began researching. And I rapidly realized that nearly every thing we’ve ever been instructed about well being and weight reduction, about what makes us shed some pounds and what makes us fats, is completely fallacious. We’ve been lied to for the final 70 years. And it’s had a devastating impact on our well being.
So I modified the best way I ate. I finished specializing in energy and began worrying about HORMONES. And I misplaced 49 kilos with out weight-reduction plan or Ozempic or making myself depressing, and now I’ve stored that weight off for years.
However that journey modified me. Frankly, I’m nonetheless a little bit pissed that I struggled for SO lengthy after I didn’t should, and my objective now could be to assist as many different ladies as doable discover out the reality. I’m obsessive about serving to ladies over 40—such as you—ditch the crap holding you again and discover actual freedom by means of reworking your well being.
And that’s what this weblog is all about: a well being revolution that’s not about fast fixes or medicine, however actual, lasting change.
So now you realize what you’re getting your self into, and you’ve got a little bit extra context for why I care a lot about this subject!
And let me simply let you know—immediately, we’re going BIG. We’re taking a deep dive into one of many largest hangups that so many ladies have with regards to consuming in a means that may really FIX your hormones and heal your physique.
It’s one thing I hear about on a regular basis from the purchasers in my TAS program, and I assume I simply need to set the file straight, as soon as and for all.
As a result of we’ve all been so brainwashed by all of the bullshit that we will’t really consider that ignoring energy, consuming extra fats, and never panicking over ldl cholesterol IS the best way to shed some pounds and get wholesome for all times.
It simply doesn’t appear doable, particularly whenever you’ve spent your complete life watching your energy, skipping butter, and avoiding eggs and crimson meat, as a result of that’s what all of the specialists, together with perhaps even your physician, have satisfied you is the one strategy to shed some pounds and get wholesome.
And I get it—I purchased those self same lies for many years.
However they’re lies, and immediately I need to show it to you. That’s why we’re taking a deep dive into what over 50 years of analysis really says, after which chopping by means of the noise with straight-up proof.
And simply in case you STILL don’t consider me and need to go even deeper, I’m going to ensure to hyperlink all of my sources within the present notes to be able to learn all of them for your self if you wish to.
We’re going to sort out these sizzling matters separately, in three massive chunks—energy, fats, ldl cholesterol—in order that by the top of this weblog publish, you perceive precisely what’s been stated and what you’ve been instructed, why it’s fallacious and what the precise analysis says, and what you’ll be able to really do about it.
As a result of frankly you’re good, you’re prepared, and also you deserve the unfiltered fact, not some watered-down well being fairy story.
Energy—Why You’ve Been Tricked Into Counting
Okay, let’s begin with the factor you’ve in all probability been eager about virtually daily because you had been a youngster: CALORIES.
And actually, is there something we’ve been conditioned to emphasize over extra?
We’ve been instructed time and again to depend them, to trace them, to chop them, and above all, to “preserve a calorie deficit” as a result of it’s all simply simple arithmetic, proper? It’s simply “energy in and energy out.” Based on all of the specialists, energy are imagined to be the magic bullet for shedding pounds and staying wholesome.
And so each eating regimen you’ve ever been on has seemed the very same means. You intention for that good little quantity, whether or not it’s 1,200 or 1,500, or a sure variety of factors, believing in the event you can simply keep below that line, the kilos will lastly soften off.
Weight Watchers even tried to persuade us that “Zero Level Meals” had been the reply we’ve all been ready for. It was nonetheless nearly energy.
It’s one of many oldest myths within the well being sport, and it’s been letting you down for means too lengthy. And in the event you’ve ever been on a eating regimen and FAILED, you in all probability already know, deep down, that there’s one thing fallacious with this paradigm.
So how did we get right here?
Properly, as Gary Taubes explains in his ebook, Why We Get Fats, this complete calorie obsession kicked off someday after World Conflict II, when the “energy in, energy out” thought began taking on. It was based mostly on the legislation of thermodynamics, which says that power is neither created nor destroyed, however can solely change from one kind to a different.
And on the floor, it sounds so logical, proper? It was simple to get on board with an concept that appeared so simple, so widespread sense, so scientific.
So by the Nineteen Fifties, this concept of needing to depend energy was just about all over the place, after which it bought completely locked into place within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties when the USDA pointers instructed us all to “eat much less, transfer extra.”
And that’s proper in regards to the time that Large Meals noticed their probability to create a complete new class of meals, and man oh man, did they ever bounce on it—pushing low-cal snacks, eating regimen sodas, something to persuade you your physique’s only a math equation: burn greater than you eat, and also you’ll be advantageous.
What’s worse, although, is that docs purchased into it too. And so they’re nonetheless telling you to chop again, even whenever you’re ravenous your self and the dimensions gained’t budge.
However right here’s the factor nobody is telling you—not your physician, or the eating regimen business, or all these meals firms making an attempt to persuade you to purchase their poisonous low-calorie processed crap.
“Energy in, Energy Out” is a lie. That’s not how our physique works.
The legislation of thermodynamics doesn’t apply to our physique, as a result of our physique will not be a easy system. It’s an extremely COMPLEX system, an intricate community of processes that each one work collectively to maintain us alive and functioning.
And the system that RULES all of those processes in our physique, the system that determines whether or not we retailer fats or burn it, the system that offers us power or tells us we’re hungry is our ENDOCRINE system, which is only a fancy phrase for HORMONES.
Our HORMONES are what run the present.
And all of our hormones are interconnected, all of them work collectively, which implies that if one is out of whack, they’ll all be tousled.
And the hormone that’s the largest drawback for nearly all of us is INSULIN.
As a result of all these low-calorie meals we’ve been consuming are nonetheless loaded with sugar and poisonous processed substances and synthetic chemical sweeteners, which has principally prompted an epidemic of insulin resistance on this nation.
Dr. Benjamin Bikman lays this all out in a TON of element in his wonderful ebook, which I extremely suggest, Why We Get Sick.
However the backside line is that insulin resistance is operating the present for 90% of us, locking in fats and preserving your physique from burning it. When your insulin is excessive, your physique CANNOT burn fats. Interval. Finish of story. It doesn’t matter how few energy you eat.
And on the flip aspect, whenever you hold your insulin low and take your hormones out of disaster mode, you’ll be able to principally eat as many energy as you need or want, as long as you retain consuming the proper sorts of meals. Your physique gained’t retailer the additional as fats, as a result of your hormones are telling you to burn it for power.
Gary Taubes dug into this even additional in one other considered one of his books, Good Energy, Dangerous Energy, the place he unpacks 50 years of analysis that present how calorie restriction fails time and again, whereas getting insulin below management really works.
A 2018 JAMA examine examined it—500 individuals, break up between low-sugar and low-fat diets. The low-sugar group reduce insulin ranges and misplaced extra weight, no calorie counting wanted.
A 2020 Metabolism trial confirmed the identical factor—low-sugar DOUBLED weight reduction in comparison with calorie-counting in simply 12 weeks.
And never solely that, a 2019 Vitamin & Metabolism examine discovered that chopping energy jacked up starvation hormones by 30%, whereas consuming a low-sugar eating regimen stored them regular.
What it actually all comes all the way down to is that the factor it’s worthwhile to be apprehensive about most ISN’T energy or how MUCH meals you’re consuming, it’s whether or not the TYPE of meals you’re consuming is preserving your insulin excessive.
Proper now you’re chopping energy, feeling hungry on a regular basis, and nonetheless not dropping—as a result of energy aren’t what’s driving this. They’re principally a distraction, and so they’re stealing your power.
So what are you able to do about it? STOP counting—begin consuming REAL meals that retains your insulin low. Actually, it’s fairly easy, not less than in principle. Persist with WHOLE meals which can be low in sugar. Meat, greens, wholesome fats. Keep away from poisonous processed rubbish. However eat as a lot as you need.
You’re not failing since you’re weak; you’re caught as a result of the calorie fantasy is a BIG FAT LIE—one of many largest ones we’ve ever been instructed.
So it’s time to let this one go, my buddy. The analysis backs you up, and your physique will thanks.
Fats—Why It’s Not the Villain You Assume
Alright, transferring on—let’s discuss one thing else you’ve in all probability spent an excessive amount of time stressing out over, particularly in the event you’re a toddler of the ‘80s and ‘90s like me.
FAT.
I don’t learn about you, however I can distinctly keep in mind spending my highschool years satisfied that fats was the most important villain within the well being world. I really stored a pocket-size fats gram guidebook on me always!
All whereas chowing down on so-called wholesome fat-free snacks like Snackwell cookies and Pink Vines and the worst of all—these Olestra potato chips that had been supposedly made with fat-free fats that really simply wreaked havoc in your intestinal tract. Bear in mind these?
In any case, most of us have been conditioned to keep away from fats prefer it’s the plague—butter, meat, oils—as a result of we’re satisfied it’s why we’re carrying further weight or placing our coronary heart in danger.
And although you’ll have given up on the Snackwell cookies and Olestra chips, you’re in all probability nonetheless mechanically reaching for “low-fat” every thing—yogurt, dressings, skim milk—pondering that’s the good strategy to keep lean and wholesome.
It’s one of many sneakiest lies we’ve been bought, and it’s been holding you again for means too lengthy.
So the place did this line of BS come from?
Properly, it began again within the Nineteen Fifties with Ancel Keys and his “fats kills” principle—a shaky examine that pinned coronary heart illness on saturated fats.
We NOW know that this examine—and others prefer it—had been really funded by the sugar business, who had been apprehensive by different analysis that was clearly exhibiting sugar as the issue.
In order that they rigged the system of their favor, and this new concept that fats is unhealthy took off like wildfire. By the Nineteen Seventies, it was completely locked in—medical colleges began instructing it, the USDA rolled out low-fat pointers in 1977, and as soon as once more Large Meals noticed their golden ticket.
They began pushing vegetable oils, margarine, “heart-healthy” low-fat snacks—something to persuade you that butter and steak had been out to get you.
Medical doctors after all bought on board too, as a result of that’s how they had been being educated. However the actually unhappy half is that recommendation has caught round, whilst the entire thing began to unravel and the reality began to emerge.
However right here’s the actual story: science says fats is NOT your enemy. It’s your buddy.
A 2010 American Journal of Medical Vitamin meta-analysis checked out 21 research with 347,000 individuals and located completely NO hyperlink between saturated fats and coronary heart illness.
Harvard’s 2015 assessment discovered that fats really lowers insulin, cuts irritation, and revs up your metabolism, whereas low-fat diets mess all that up.
A 2021 Lancet examine put high-fat diets up in opposition to low-fat, and guess what occurred? Excessive-fat gained fingers down, dropping weight and triglycerides by 20%.
And a 2019 Vitamin & Metabolism trial confirmed that fat-based diets reduce irritation markers by 25%, whereas low-fat pushed them up 10%.
The reality is that wholesome fats—the non-ultra-processed form that comes from animals and olives and coconuts and avocados—is NOT clogging your arteries or piling on kilos. Fairly the other, in reality. It’s really preserving your insulin low, regulating your hormones, therapeutic your intestine, and serving to your physique BURN fats moderately than retailer it.
Yep, you heard that proper: fats makes you burn fats, not retailer it.
Actually, a 2020 Metabolism examine discovered high-fat diets boosted fats burn by 15% over low-fat.
And a 2018 Journal of Lipid Analysis confirmed that saturated fats really cuts leaky intestine markers by 18%.
So when you’re avoiding fats and grabbing all that “gentle” junk as an alternative, it’s leaving you drained, bloated, and caught. I do know that is laborious to consider, however extra wholesome fats is what it’s worthwhile to break away.
So what are you able to do? Properly, this one’s simple. Cease avoiding it! Begin consuming a complete lot extra wholesome fats, whereas avoiding the processed junk and seed oils as a lot as you’ll be able to.
You’re not risking your well being; you’re reclaiming it—and as soon as once more the analysis proves it each step of the best way.
Ldl cholesterol—Why You’ve Been Terrified of the Unsuitable Factor
Okay, final however not least, let’s sort out the large elephant within the room that everybody freaks out about at any time when we discuss consuming extra fats: CHOLESTEROL.
And actually, has there ever been an even bigger unhealthy man within the well being world?
We’ve been taught to worry it, together with something which may increase it, like eggs, crimson meat, and saturated fats, for so long as most of us can keep in mind.
The conditioning is so deep, it impacts our meals selections with out us even realizing it.
I imply, give it some thought—what number of occasions have you ever opted for an egg white omelet or chosen rooster as an alternative of steak since you thought it was the more healthy selection?
It’s one of many sneakiest well being scams of the final century, and it’s executed an actual quantity on us.
So how did this mess even begin?
Properly, as soon as once more, we have to return a couple of many years, as a result of this one kicked off within the Nineteen Sixties with the Framingham Coronary heart Research, which linked blood ldl cholesterol to coronary heart threat.
Fairly quickly, medical colleges, the American Coronary heart Affiliation—all the large photographs—jumped on board.
“Decrease ldl cholesterol, save lives” turned their mantra.
And like with fats and energy, Large Meals and Large Pharma noticed nothing however greenback indicators.
The meals business pushed processed vegetable oils and margarine as “heart-healthy” swaps for butter and animal fat, whereas drug firms rolled out statins and bought docs prescribing them like sweet.
We had been instructed to ditch eggs and steak and cargo up on complete grains and “heart-healthy” cereals as an alternative.
It was a full-on propaganda assault, and most people are nonetheless shopping for it, although it’s wrecked our well being in methods we’re solely now beginning to see.
Individuals are fatter and sicker than ever, and our well being nosedive strains up completely with this “low ldl cholesterol” push.
However as soon as once more, it’s all an enormous fats lie, and the analysis backs every thing I’m about to let you know.
First off, let’s get tremendous clear in regards to the fundamentals: consuming meals excessive in ldl cholesterol—like eggs, steak, and saturated fats—doesn’t really increase your ldl cholesterol. Even the Framingham examine confirmed that!
They actually tracked individuals for 30 years in that examine and located ldl cholesterol from meals barely strikes your blood ranges—lower than 2%.
As an alternative, virtually ALL of the ldl cholesterol in your physique—greater than 80%—is produced in your liver. And that’s as a result of it’s NOT some evil poison that we’ve been led to worry—it’s really an important constructing block your physique must operate.
Right here’s the deal: ldl cholesterol isn’t simply sitting there clogging issues up. It’s busy constructing your cell partitions, making hormones like estrogen and testosterone, and even serving to your mind work proper.
Even LDL—the so-called “unhealthy” ldl cholesterol—isn’t doing unhealthy issues. It carries fats round your physique, clears injury, and retains your nerves firing. With out it, you’d be in bother.
However the checks most docs run don’t let you know that, which is a HUGE a part of the issue. They offer you complete ldl cholesterol, HDL, and LDL numbers, however skip LDL particle dimension—which is what really issues for threat.
So your physician fingers you a half-baked check, says your LDL’s too excessive, and pushes statins.
And also you associate with it since you’re scared. In spite of everything, every thing you’ve heard screams that ldl cholesterol’s unhealthy information, and in case your ldl cholesterol is excessive you possibly can drop lifeless of a coronary heart assault at any second.
So let’s discuss what the science ACTUALLY says.
To start with, you’re not about to die in case your ldl cholesterol is excessive. Even when your LDL quantity is greater than your physician thinks it ought to be. Actually, a 2021 Lancet Wholesome Longevity examine tracked 1.8 million individuals over TWO DECADES, and located definitively that people with greater LDL DIDN’T die sooner. Many really lived LONGER.
So take a breath.
Particularly as a result of a variety of different analysis backs this up, with newer research exhibiting that seniors with greater ldl cholesterol usually outlive these with decrease ranges, particularly previous 60.
Why? As a result of ldl cholesterol helps your immune system, fights off pathogens, and retains your mind sharp—stuff you want extra of as you age.
Now, let’s discuss statins—as a result of that is the place it will get messy. For most individuals, statins are means worse than ldl cholesterol ever could possibly be. A 2021 examine on the Society of Nuclear Drugs assembly discovered of us with gentle cognitive points on lipophilic statins—like atorvastatin—had DOUBLE the chance of dementia.
Why? These statins cross into your mind, mess with ldl cholesterol there, and tank metabolism in areas hit first by Alzheimer’s. Plus, they’re overprescribed—greater than 80% of oldsters don’t really need them, per a 2022 Annals of Inner Drugs report.
Not solely that, they jack up your threat of diabetes by greater than 46%, trigger muscle ache, and BLOCK CoQ10, which is your coronary heart’s gasoline. That’s proper, the drug your physician is telling you that it’s worthwhile to be taking to decrease your ldl cholesterol to be able to defend your coronary heart is definitely HURTING your coronary heart.
All whereas Large Pharma’s laughing all the best way to the financial institution. Statins are at the moment essentially the most extensively prescribed drug on the market, and docs hold pushing them regardless of no actual profit for many. It’s a rip-off, plain and easy.
Backside line right here, ldl cholesterol isn’t the large scary monster you assume it’s.
Right here’s extra proof: a 2019 Journal of the American Coronary heart Affiliation assessment discovered no hyperlink between dietary ldl cholesterol and coronary heart threat, however did discover {that a} low sugar eating regimen cuts irritation and improves general well being.
This shouldn’t really be a shock, as a result of we’ve recognized it for a very long time. Again in 1863, Dr. William Banting’s Letter on Corpulence confirmed low-carb, high-fat diets reduce coronary heart points. No statins required.
Extra lately, a 2020 JAMA examine discovered that high-sugar diets tripled triglycerides, however eggs didn’t budge them.
Ldl cholesterol generally is a complicated subject, however what it actually comes all the way down to is that your physique wants ldl cholesterol—it’s not the enemy. It builds cells, hormones, and mind energy, per a 2018 Journal of Lipid Analysis.
The one actual menace with regards to ldl cholesterol is when your LDL is made up of small, dense particles moderately than giant buoyant ones. The 2021 Metabolism examine confirmed that.
So what are you able to do when your physician tells you your ldl cholesterol is simply too excessive? Properly, you must begin ensuring the check outcomes she or he is taking a look at are literally telling the entire story.
The traditional check docs run don’t.
So push again and ask for a CAC scan; it’s 90% correct for artery plaque. If it’s clear, you’re advantageous.
Or get an NMR Lipoprofile to examine your particle dimension. In case your LDL particles are giant, you’re advantageous.
Then hold consuming a eating regimen of complete meals loaded with nutrient-dense crimson meat, eggs, and wholesome fats. As a result of insulin’s the actual menace, not ldl cholesterol.
Usually my TAS purchasers do usually see ldl cholesterol bumps early on, however these numbers are likely to degree out as irritation drops. And the analysis says you’re secure, so now hopefully you’ll be able to lastly cease worrying about it!
Remaining Ideas—You’ve Received the Energy Now
I do know this was a meaty publish and I threw a LOT of data and knowledge at you abruptly, but it surely’s SO necessary to grasp the reality, which is that you just’ve principally been fed a large pile of lies about energy, fats, and ldl cholesterol—many years of it—and it’s stored you spinning as an alternative of thriving.
You’re not loopy for worrying—Large Meals, Large Pharma, and old-school docs pounded this into you—but it surely’s time to let it go.
The analysis is evident as day—insulin and irritation, not energy, fats, or ldl cholesterol, are what’s driving your weight, your power, your well being. Your hormones are the motive force.
Understanding this and making use of it to my very own life is how I misplaced 49 kilos and have stored it off for years, whereas consuming like a queen.
It’s additionally how I’ve now helped hundreds of girls over 40 do the identical with my Thin Adapted System—aka, my TAS program.
And actually, TAS is superior, it truly is. As a result of although these things is easy in principle, in apply it could possibly really feel laborious to implement. My program not solely offers you a transparent path to success, with all the sensible instruments you want, but it surely offers you the help and the science-backed schooling to really implement it in your life for good.
And in the event you’re prepared for a greater strategy to dwell—a life-style that won’t solely aid you lose the burden, however really HEAL your physique, then there’s no higher means to try this than by becoming a member of TAS.
To seek out out extra and get signed up, simply go HERE.
On the finish of the day, this isn’t nearly weight—it’s your life on the road.
You’re too drained to your children, too foggy to your objectives—these outdated lies stole that from you. Actual meals brings it again: power, readability, confidence.
You’re not failing since you’re weak—you’ve been misled, and now you’ve bought the reality.
What you do with this info is as much as you.
Be at liberty to share it with a buddy who’s caught in the identical mess.
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