Consumers of wheat and other grains take in, on average, 400 calories more per day compared to people who do not eat wheat or grains.
Conversely, people who eliminate wheat/grains consume, on average, 400 calories less per day, and not uncommonly much more. (The greatest reduction I’ve ever seen is a 1500 calorie/day reduction in a male.) The reduction in calorie intake is due to the removal of the appetite-stimulating effects of the gliadin protein (via gliadin-derived opiate peptides) of wheat and related grains, the leptin hormone blocking effect of gliadin-derived peptides, and the insulin/blood sugar provoking effects of the amylopectin A with 2-hour cycles of hypoglycemia that bring on acute hunger.
Eat wheat and grains, increase calorie intake by 400 calories per day, multiplied by 365 days per day equals 146,000 additional calories over the course of one year. 146,000 calories over a year equals 41.7 pounds gained per year. Over a decade, that’s 417 pounds.
Of course, calories in do NOT equal calories out; human physiology is more complicated with several intervening factors that do not make a “calorie a calorie.” But it makes for an interesting calculation.
Of course, few people actually gain this much weight over 10 years. But this is the battle people who follow conventional advice to “cut your fat and eat more healthy whole grains” are fighting, the constant struggle to subdue the appetite-increasing effects of the appetite stimulants in wheat and grains, pushing your appetite buttons to consume more and more and more, fighting to minimize the impact.
So, if you eat “healthy whole grains” and gain “only” 10 pounds this year, that’s an incredible success, since it means that you have avoided gaining the additional 31.7 pounds that could have accumulated. It might mean having to skip meals despite your cravings, or exercising longer and harder, or sticking your finger down your throat.
400 additional calories per day times 365 days per year times 300,000,000 people in the U.S. alone . . . that’s a lot of dough.
You could try to counteract the weight gain effects of wheat and grains by reducing calorie intake while mounting monumental willpower to deal with the hunger, or by exercising to extreme levels for prolonged periods. Or, of course, you could avoid the entire appetite-stimulating situation and kiss wheat and grains goodbye . . . and lose 20, 30, or 130 pounds this year without trying.
Another thing that helps — at least for me — is to skip breakfast and eat during a time “window”. I know, breakfast is “the most important meal of the day”, but I started skipping breakfast after trying intermittent fasting, and I can’t go back. On the days I do eat breakfast, I’m just as hungry at lunch and will eat more calories overall. On the days I skip breakfast, sometimes I’ll eat more at lunch, but most times, I do not. Now, it took me a while to get to the point where I could skip breakfast (and/or lunch) without feeling shaky, but once I got over that, I find it difficult to eat breakfast anymore. I’ll still periodically have breakfast foods, but at lunch or dinner.
I could probably skip breakfast , but I go out and clean the barn and feed animals before I eat. I work until I am actually hungry, instead of waking up, eating, then doing the chores.
I am, admittedly, addicted to food, and if it is there, I will eat, but I have NO problem passing up the bad carbs. Since I am the family cook, and they have no intermittent fasting tendencies, I have not done so……
BobM wrote: «I know, breakfast is “the most important meal of the day”…»
That’s the common assumption, but it may be incorrect.
Anyone planning to implement daily IF by skipping a meal needs to investigate which meal.
Bill Lagakos looked at the issue last May:
http://caloriesproper.com/skipping-meals-intermittent-fasting-grazing-etc/
His inclination is that the meal to skip is dinner.
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You can also calculate how much oil is consumed for nothing.
I read somewhere that 11 calories are needed to produce 1 calorie of “food”
In one barrel of oil there is 1 400 000 calories.
https://www.unitjuggler.com/convert-energy-from-boe-to-kcal.html
Then :
400 x 11 x 365 x 300 000 000 / 1 400 000 = 344,14 millions barrel of oil burned for nothing.
The USA consume ~ 20 million barrels of oil a day, that gives 17,2 days of consumption
The US might reduce its CO2 emission by 5% if people stop eating wheat products.
“…few people actually gain this much in ten years.”
I FEEL like I did, with constantly trying to LOSE it, lol!
This is my family’s WB anniversary. In the past year the 3 of us have lost over 100 lbs!! Close to 60 for hubby, 30 for me, and at least 30 for my son.
But, as Dr. Davis says, it is not(necessarily) about the weightloss.