Hi I have a question about Dr Greger author of, How not to die. And exponent of the plant-based diet, he says fat causes diabetes not carbs.

[jpscloud]

My current thinking on dietary fat follows from soaking up Jason Fung's books, articles and you tube vids - fat doesn't trigger an insulin response, and without an insulin response your body doesn't try to store incoming nutrients as fat. I am as greedy as they come and I can say with complete honesty that I can only eat so much fat (with non starchy vegetables and protein - if you give me fat with carbs I will eat until I pass out) before a genuine satiety state hits.

Carbs trigger an insulin response, which tells your body to store any excess incoming nutrients as body fat - first in the liver, then when there's no more room there, in other parts of the body (such as visceral fat). I personally (and I know many others are like me) lack the off switch for carby, sugary, salty, fatty combinations. Carbs vary in their GI and therefore insulin response, sure, but they do all trigger a response while fat does not.

Finally on carbs, particularly grains - it's in the interests of the world's biggest investors for us to consume them in the forms they are offered to us. Those are the forms that make us want to eat them up yum and bypass satiety. I struggle to resist them every day, and for most of my life have failed. I know I'm not alone!

And finally on fats, animal fats are historically not associated with cardiovascular disease as we have been told (plenty of reliable science on that now) - while most of the processed seed oils we're told are healthy are loaded with inflammatory Omega 6, and likely rancid before they're even packaged. Plenty of disease potential there.

 

[jpscloud]

My response would be simply that while (as a population) we ate high levels of saturated fat and meat, we had lower levels of heart disease, obesity, and T2 diabetes. When the official advice changed in the the 1980s to recommend high carb rather than a traditional diet of sat fat and meat, we have seen increases in heart disease, obesity and T2 diabetes.

There is usually some sleight of hand going on when dietary fat is mentioned, usually to obscure the difference between dietary fat and body fat. I don't think anyone suggests that body fat, particularly round the organs, is a good thing. However, that body fat is a product of glucose (digested carb) storage, and not storage of dietary fat.

I've been watching some good videos featuring Chris Van Tulleken, who has a lot to say about that official advice - he and others point out that the advice to switch to carbs and ultra processed foods had nothing to do with our health and everything to do with the pockets of the world's most powerful investors. The most astonishing example is that mountains of cotton seed waste product were turned into margarine and touted as super healthy. The byproduct was worthless but the margarine was a gold mine, until the reality of trans fats was no longer deniable. It amazes me that the UK still hasn't banned trans fats outright!

The ultra processed foods featuring carbs haven't been properly called out yet, but it's starting. Again, investors aren't interested in our health, but in which breakfast cereal (or whatever ultra processed carbs) best bypasses our satiety response.