The Unified Theory Of Nutrition Part 2

Part II -

…Thus, this reality has led me to Brink’s Unified Theory of
Nutrition which states:

“Total calories dictates how much weight a person gains or
loses; macro nutrient ratios dictates what a person gains or
loses”

This seemingly simple statement allows people to understand the
differences between the two schools of thought. For example,
studies often find that two groups of people put on the same
calorie intakes but very different ratios of carbs, fats, and
proteins will lose different amounts of bodyfat and or lean body
mass (i.e., muscle, bone, etc.).

Some studies find for example people on a higher protein lower
carb diet lose approximately the same amount of weight as
another group on a high carb lower protein diet, but the group
on the higher protein diet lost more actual fat and less lean
body mass (muscle). Or, some studies using the same calorie
intakes but different macro nutrient intakes often find the
higher protein diet may lose less actual weight than the higher
carb lower protein diets, but the actual fat loss is higher in
the higher protein low carb diets. This effect has also been
seen in some studies that compared high fat/low carb vs. high
carb/low fat diets. The effect is usually amplified if exercise
is involved as one might expect.

Of course these effects are not found universally in all studies
that examine the issue, but the bulk of the data is clear: diets
containing different macro nutrient ratios do have different
effects on human physiology even when calorie intakes are
identical (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11).

Or, as the authors of one recent study that looked at the issue
concluded:

“Diets with identical energy contents can have different effects
on leptin concentrations, energy expenditure, voluntary food
intake, and nitrogen balance, suggesting that the physiologic
adaptations to energy restriction can be modified by dietary
composition.”(12)

The point being, there are many studies confirming that the
actual ratio of carbs, fats, and proteins in a given diet can
effect what is actually lost (i.e., fat, muscle, bone, and
water) and that total calories has the greatest effect on how
much total weight is lost. Are you starting to see how my
unified theory of nutrition combines the “calorie is a calorie”
school with the “calories don’t matter” school to help people
make decisions about nutrition?

Knowing this, it becomes much easier for people to understand
the seemingly conflicting diet and nutrition advice out there
(of course this does not account for the down right unscientific
and dangerous nutrition advice people are subjected to via bad
books, TV, the ‘net, and well meaning friends, but that’s
another article altogether).

Knowing the above information and keeping the Unified Theory of
Nutrition in mind, leads us to some important and potentially
useful conclusions:

An optimal diet designed to make a person lose fat and retain as
much LBM as possible is not the same as a diet simply designed
to lose weight. A nutrition program designed to create fat loss
is not simply a reduced calorie version of a nutrition program
designed to gain weight, and visa versa. Diets need to be
designed with fat loss, NOT just weight loss, as the goal, but
total calories can’t be ignored. This is why the diets I design
for people-or write about-for gaining or losing weight are not
simply higher or lower calorie versions of the same diet. In
short: diets plans I design for gaining LBM start with total
calories and build macro nutrient ratios into the number of
calories required. However, diets designed for fat loss (vs.
weight loss!) start with the correct macro nutrient ratios that
depend on variables such as amount of LBM the person carries vs.
bodyfat percent , activity levels, etc., and figure out calories
based on the proper macro nutrient ratios to achieve fat loss
with a minimum loss of LBM. The actual ratio of macro nutrients
can be quite different for both diets and even for individuals.
Diets that give the same macro nutrient ratio to all people
(e.g., 40/30/30, or 70,30,10, etc.) regardless of total
calories, goals, activity levels, etc., will always be less than
optimal. Optimal macro nutrient ratios can change with total
calories and other variables. Perhaps most important, the
unified theory explains why the focus on weight loss vs. fat
loss by the vast majority of people, including most medical
professionals, and the media, will always fail in the long run
to deliver the results people want. Finally, the Universal
Theory makes it clear that the optimal diet for losing fat, or
gaining muscle, or what ever the goal, must account not only for
total calories, but macro nutrient ratios that optimize
metabolic effects and answer the questions: what effects will
this diet have on appetite? What effects will this diet have on
metabolic rate? What effects will this diet have on my lean body
mass (LBM)? What effects will this diet have on hormones; both
hormones that may improve or impede my goals? What effects will
this diet have on (fill in the blank)?

Simply asking, “how much weight will I lose?” is the wrong
question which will lead to the wrong answer. To get the optimal
effects from your next diet, whether looking to gain weight or
lose it, you must ask the right questions to get meaningful
answers.

Asking the right questions will also help you avoid the pitfalls
of unscientific poorly thought out diets which make promises
they can’t keep and go against what we know about human
physiology and the very laws of physics!

BTW, both ebooks also cover supplements for their respective
goals along with exercise advice.

There are of course many additional questions that can be asked
and points that can be raised as it applies to the above, but
those are some of the key issues that come to mind. Bottom line
here is, if the diet you are following to either gain or loss
weight does not address those issues and or questions, then you
can count on being among the millions of disappointed people who
don’t receive the optimal results they had hoped for and have
made yet another nutrition “guru” laugh all the way to the bank
at your expense.

Any diet that claims calories don’t matter, forget it. Any diet
that tells you they have a magic ratio of foods, ignore it. Any
diet that tells you any one food source is evil, it’s a scam.
Any diet that tells you it will work for all people all the time
no matter the circumstances, throw it out or give it to someone
you don’t like!

Article References:

(1) Farnsworth E, Luscombe ND, Noakes M, Wittert G, Argyiou E,
Clifton PM. Effect of a high-protein, energy-restricted diet on
body composition, glycemic control, and lipid concentrations in
overweight and obese hyperinsulinemic men and women. Am J Clin
Nutr. 2003 Jul;78(1):31-9.

(2) Baba NH, Sawaya S, Torbay N, Habbal Z, Azar S, Hashim SA.
High protein vs high carbohydrate hypoenergetic diet for the
treatment of obese hyperinsulinemic subjects. Int J Obes Relat
Metab Disord. 1999 Nov;23(11):1202-6.

(3) Parker B, Noakes M, Luscombe N, Clifton P. Effect of a
high-protein, high-monounsaturated fat weight loss diet on
glycemic control and lipid levels in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes
Care. 2002 Mar;25(3):425-30.

(4) Skov AR, Toubro S, Ronn B, Holm L, Astrup A.Randomized trial
on protein vs carbohydrate in ad libitum fat reduced diet for
the treatment of obesity. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1999
May;23(5):528-36.

(5) Piatti PM, Monti F, Fermo I, Baruffaldi L, Nasser R,
Santambrogio G, Librenti MC, Galli-Kienle M, Pontiroli AE, Pozza
G. Hypocaloric high-protein diet improves glucose oxidation and
spares lean body mass: comparison to hypocaloric
high-carbohydrate diet. Metabolism. 1994 Dec;43(12):1481-7.

(6) Layman DK, Boileau RA, Erickson DJ, Painter JE, Shiue H,
Sather C, Christou DD. A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate
to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles
during weight loss in adult women. J Nutr. 2003 Feb;133(2):411-7.

(7) Golay A, Eigenheer C, Morel Y, Kujawski P, Lehmann T, de
Tonnac N. Weight-loss with low or high carbohydrate diet? Int J
Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1996 Dec;20(12):1067-72.

(8) Meckling KA, Gauthier M, Grubb R, Sanford J. Effects of a
hypocaloric, low-carbohydrate diet on weight loss, blood lipids,
blood pressure, glucose tolerance, and body composition in
free-living overweight women. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2002
Nov;80(11):1095-105.

(9) Borkman M, Campbell LV, Chisholm DJ, Storlien LH. Comparison
of the effects on insulin sensitivity of high carbohydrate and
high fat diets in normal subjects. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1991
Feb;72(2):432-7.

(10) Brehm BJ, Seeley RJ, Daniels SR, D’Alessio DA. A randomized
trial comparing a very low carbohydrate diet and a
calorie-restricted low fat diet on body weight and
cardiovascular risk factors in healthy women. J Clin Endocrinol
Metab. 2003 Apr;88(4):1617-23.

(11) Garrow JS, Durrant M, Blaza S, Wilkins D, Royston P, Sunkin
S. The effect of meal frequency and protein concentration on the
composition of the weight lost by obese subjects. Br J Nutr.
1981 Jan;45(1):5-15.

(12) Agus MS, Swain JF, Larson CL, Eckert EA, Ludwig DS. Dietary
composition and physiologic adaptations to energy restriction.Am
J Clin Nutr. 2000 Apr;71(4):901-7.

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