Can you be fat and fit?
Can one be fat and fit? According to Joel Fuhrman, M.D., in the 2021 “The Truth About Weight Loss” Summit, there’s no such thing as an overweight healthy person.
“Even if your cholesterol is good and you don’t have diabetes, even if you’re eating healthy, if you’re overweight, you’re still not healthy,” he said.
Dr. Fuhrman explained that since fat cells don’t have a strong blood supply, they’re naturally hypoxic: They make the body produce more estrogen, increase cancer risk, make you insulin-resistant and promote angiogenesis, a signal for blood vessels and tumors to grow.
“Fat has many negative consequences. The more overweight you are, the more insulin-resistant you become. Fat makes you want to eat more. But when you lose weight at the rate of at least two pounds a week, the negative consequences decrease: Your estrogen and insulin resistance go down and you become antiangiogenesis,” he said.
Dr. Fuhrman is the president of the Nutritional Research Foundation and is in the Northern Arizona University Health Sciences faculty. He created the Nutritarian concept, a nutrient-dense diet meant to prevent cancer, delay aging and lengthen lifespan. Nutritarians are at an ideal weight or on their way there and practice moderate caloric restriction in the context of micronutrient excellence.
True hunger
Overweight people tend to eat emotionally, recreationally (eating outside the need for calories) or to subdue toxic hunger/withdrawal symptoms. They can’t tell what true hunger is yet.
Dr. Fuhrman said that when people are withdrawing from caffeine or other addictions, they usually eat to suppress their feelings. There is a disconnect, so they don’t recognize true hunger. He clarified that hunger comes from the neck right below thirst. Shakiness, weakness, fatigue, stomach cramps, headache and irritability are withdrawal symptoms, not real instinctual hunger. Since these symptoms disappear after eating, people think it’s hunger. But he asserted that you only feel true hunger when your body tries to stop you from burning muscle for energy.
He added that fatigue is not a sign of hunger but a signal that you are not eating properly, unless you just need rest and sleep.
“Eating when you’re hungry doesn’t lead to fat deposition in your body. If you’re overweight, you must be going through some food addiction,” he said.
“Hunger is the sauce. Unless you’re hungry, you can’t truly taste something. Simple foods taste great when you’re hungry. If you’re not hungry, that’s just recreational eating and then you need to ratchet up the flavor enhancers just to enjoy your food,” he said.
Relapsing
The bestselling author behind notable work such as “Eat to Live” observed that his cookbooks and weight loss books are what sell. His other books, “Fastfood Genocide” and “Disease-Proof Your Child,” are less popular. Dr. Fuhrman stressed that the more you know and educate yourself, the fewer the gaps in your knowledge. We stumble in areas we are ignorant in, so filling in the gaps in our knowledge base to be aware of our emotional attachments to food is important.
For instance, while ultra-processed, hyperpalatable food is prevalent, we can concentrate on accessing nutritionally diverse and delicious food worldwide instead to expand our palate.
A common pain point is how to help people in unfortunate, unsupportive environments where the family sabotages their efforts instead of encouraging them. Dr. Fuhrman said that these people may need professional guidance. “They need to respect, learn, protect and appreciate the person they love for doing what they’re doing. We need to build a relationship of goodwill instead of animosity,” he said.
He also advised finding pleasure in life outside of food in a way that benefits the soul. Stringent weighing and measuring diets don’t tackle the root cause of why one is overweight. When you’re feeling great about yourself, food isn’t “bad” or a prize. You get to eat till you’re satisfied, not until you’re stuffed.
For over 25 years, Dr. Fuhrman has shown how to achieve sustainable weight loss and reverse heart disease, diabetes and other ailments with smart nutrition. Once a world-class figure skater, he placed second in the United States National Pairs Championships in 1973 and third in the 1976 World Professional Pairs Skating Championship in Jaca, Spain. He has lent his nutritional know-how to advise sports medical committees, professional and Olympic athletes, and athletic trainers to optimize performance and prevent injury.
Dr. Fuhrman cautioned that if you’re on a diet to lose weight but don’t plan to sustain it long-term, just quit. His method is an anti-cancer and anti-dementia program, which naturally embeds weight loss not just in the short-term. “Unless you can stick with it forever, there’s no point,” he said.
