TOFI: Thin on the outside, Fat on the inside
Dr. Robert Lustig has a number of informative videos online about the health implications associated with processed foods, added sugars, fast foods, and the role big corporations have to play in it all while we're all growing fat on the inside. (See below for videos.)
We live in a time of history where cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and obesity are at all time highs. Dr. Lustig explains why in very easy to understand statements while also digging into the technical biochemistry. The short story is: A calorie is not a calorie.
We've all become accustomed to the phrases "calories in, calories out" and "exercise is the key to weight loss", but the bitter truth is that we're living day-to-day with the odds stacked against us, nutritionally and metabolically. Even when we think we're eating healthily, the truth is, we're getting a lot more than we paid for or asked for at the grocery store or at our favorite fast food joint.
Just look inside your pantry or your refrigerator. There's a good chance that the processed foods you're buying have a ton of added sugars, one of the big culprits in the big health crisis of our day.
Added sugars, commonly fructose and sucrose, are in almost 80% of all processed foods we eat these days, which is shocking considering they are metabolized by our liver in a similarly negative way as alcohol (ethanol), which we would think twice about consuming at literally almost every meal time and with every snack.
As humans, we don't need all the sugars we're getting, yet we're over-consuming them every single day to our detriment, often unknowingly. The effects are widespread throughout our body from diabetes, increasing visceral fat and weight gain, and leptin/insulin disorders.
Remember, just because you're thin doesn't mean everything about your internal health and well-being is in order. Stay educated and avoid becoming TOFI: Thin on the outside, fat on the inside. That is where many of our modern day health issues disguise themself, only to be revealed decades later in our lifetime in the form of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other preventable diseases.
The simple solution still stands: Eat a low-fat, whole food, plant-based-diet - lots of plant foods in their whole, unprocessed form, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and small amounts of healthy fats. No animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs and no processed foods or sweets.
Happy, wholesome eating!
Watch the Videos
Part 1: Sugar: The Bitter Truth
Part 2: Fat Chance: Fructose 2.0
Part 3: Is a Calorie a Calorie? Processed Food, Experiment Gone Wrong