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This is something that has been known in the diabetes circles for a long time.

http://www.joslin.org/info/how_does_fiber_affect_blood_glucose_levels.html

It's one of the basic tenants in diabetic diets and in weight training. When my (now ex) wife had some serious medical problems I had to look into some different diet programs. What Lustig is advocating is what is spelled out in the Schwartzbien Principle.
http://www.everydiet.org/diet/schwarzbein-principle

I can only say that I followed the diet and lost 60 lbs (while she remained fat until she started doing coke and I don't know whatever else but that's a different story). This shit works and it's backed by research other than Lustigs.

People aren't "hardwired" to eat more today any more than they were 50 years ago. It's a personal choice, and people like to sugar coat the truth or say "it's not your fault," but if you're obese, its YOUR fault and YOU need to get your diet under control. Instead of making excuses (or letting others do it for them) these people need to act.

maybe not, but that doesn't mean the level of hunger hasn't increased. you addressed the body, but what about what goes into the body? that has dramatically changed over 50-100 years.

i believe the data is clear that natural foods - fruit, vegetables, meats (preferably lean), nuts, olive oil, fish, etc... are much more healthful than twinkies, sugared sodas and pop tarts. or fruit loops and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. or lots of bread and mac and cheese.

one spanish study showed that those who ate primarily chicken, fish, fruits, veggies, nuts and olive oil saw and 83% reduction in the incidence of diabetes. you can bet your bottom dollar they were leaner and healthier looking, too.

not to mention that the food we eat can drive hunger... especially in genetically predisposed people.

food is truly a drug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system

excessive omega 6 fatty acids are very bad for you (pro inflammatory). what do we consume? excessive omega 6 fatty acids. epa (omega 3 fatty acid) reduces inflammation and what do we eat little of? fish.

add in some excess insulin and the delta 5 desaturase enzyme, and your body has a powder keg of inflammation brewing.

the amount of disease isn't stunning, rather, the incredible ability of the body to put up with such a horrible, poisonous diet is amazing.

for those who want to feel better, have more energy, lose excess body fat and significantly improve their blood liipid profiles and reduce their chance of getting chronic disease... follow the dietary recommendation by Harvard Medical School's Joslin Diabetes Center.

http://www.joslin.org/1083_2162.asp

Manuel Uribe has lost over 500 lbs in 3 years on a very similar diet. He reduced his caloric intake 95% and lost his never ending hunger problem. He's no longer depressed and, in fact, is quite a happy guy in spite of being nearly 800 lbs (down from 1234 lbs).

don't look now, but his blood profile is almost assuredly better than yours... his diet has made him incredibly healthy all around.

don't be afraid of the word "diet." this "diet" reduces your hunger and makes you feel fantastic with incredible energy. i wouldn't go back to my old way of eating if you paid me. i eat good food, i have flexibility and i love my diet.

I don't have easy answers. I certainly don't like watching friends and family die, and would like to see a proper cure instead of various poisons in the form of radiation and drugs that take their toll on the person as much as the disease.

an excellent first step is to incorporate an anti-inflammatory diet similar to the one recommended by Harvard Medical Center's Joslin Diabetes Research Center:

http://www.joslin.org/1083_2162.asp

http://professionaled.joslin.org/Files/Nutrition_Guideline_Graded.pdf

you can consider this diet to be an advanced mediterranean diet similar to the one that showed an 83% reduction in diabetes (results several times better than any drug or combination thereof).

genes are very powerful, but diet can be used to change their expression. think of it as minimizing your chance of a chronic disease or, if your genes still dictate that you'll get a chronic disease, think of it as a delayer and minimizer.

I don't have easy answers. I certainly don't like watching friends and family die, and would like to see a proper cure instead of various poisons in the form of radiation and drugs that take their toll on the person as much as the disease.

an excellent first step is to incorporate an anti-inflammatory diet similar to the one recommended by Harvard Medical Center's Joslin Diabetes Research Center:

http://www.joslin.org/1083_2162.asp

http://professionaled.joslin.org/Files/Nutrition_Guideline_Graded.pdf

you can consider this diet to be an advanced mediterranean diet similar to the one that showed an 83% reduction in diabetes (results several times better than any drug or combination thereof).

genes are very powerful, but diet can be used to change their expression. think of it as minimizing your chance of a chronic disease or, if your genes still dictate that you'll get a chronic disease, think of it as a delayer and minimizer.

Perhaps a more effective diet or lifestyle can be devised to make knowledge workers more effective.

its already been done. in fact, it was done well over 10 years ago. more recently, though, the harvard medical center's joslin diabetes center picked up on the research and changed their dietary recommendations to match this diet.

http://www.joslin.org/Files/Nutrition_ClinGuide.pdf

a mediterranean diet similar to joslin's recommended diet recently showed an 83% reduction in the incidence of type II diabetes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7426326.stm

the premise of this diet is to eat to keep your insulin response within a reasonable zone and to keep your omega 6 and long chain omega 3 fatty acids in balance so that your body stops producing excess cellular inflammation.

i've been doing it for 14 months and i can say the best 14 months of my life have been the last 14 months of my life. i'm in my 40s and i full well expect to be faster within 12 months than i was when i ran cross country at 17 and stronger than when i lifted weights when i was 20. after hating running my whole life, i now enjoy running to push my body to its limits (check out pose and chi running). i'm already leaner in my 40s than i've ever been in my life - and my 6 pack abs are actually filling in over time. this is true even though i'm focused on gaining lean muscle mass well above leaning out. my immune system fucntions much better (17+ months and counting without calling in due a cold and my bad allergies disappeared).

some famous athletes that have been on the somewhat commercial version of the diet now recommended by joslin diabetes center include dara torres (missed olympic gold by 1/100 of a second at the age of 41), valentina vezzali (won fencing gold in beijin as a 38 year old - simply amazing because reaction times are critical) and the world's leading olympic medal winner up until phelps recently passed her - jenny thompson.

another famous person on the somewhat commercialized version of this diet is manuel uribe - he's lost almost 450 lbs in 2.75 year after weighing 1235 lbs. his blood pressure, resting pulse rate and triglyceride values are likely better than yours.

anyway, its that good. food is a drug, though, and most people are so addicted that they won't try something new for even a couple days.

if you invest the time, it will pay off in ways you can't now imagine.

and our broken medical system is a huge part of it.

the biggest part of the problem is that people don't want to take personal responsibility. in this case, they don't want to take personal responsibility for their health. if you want to be healthy and not have to stick others with your medical bills, then how about eating healthier?

following the joslin diabetes center's nutritional guidelines is a great way to live healthier, control hunger and to minimize health car expenditures for yourself and others who will have to pay for your care.

http://www.joslin.org/Files/Nutrition_ClinGuide.pdf

a similar diet showed an 83% reduction in diabetic incidences - so don't think diet is unimportant.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7426326.stm

i realize that almost everyone here will continue to choose pop tarts over fruits and veggies and expect someone else to foot their medical bill.
yes, the health care industry is totally screwed up. much of the blame lies in the skyrocketing demand for care. much of the problem is due to a poor diet. perhaps 5 of 6 diabetics have their disease because they choose pop tarts, chips and vegetable oil over fruits, veggies and olive oil.

that's a personal choice.

will this information move anyone to improve their diet? probably not. personal responsibility sucks, so let's blame someone else.

the truth is no health care system will support a country as sick as the united states (and we are getting sicker by the day, people). the private system won't work and neither with a public system. as a nation, we have to take responsibility so we don't eat to be sick.

having eaten both the SAD diet (standard american diet) and a diet very similar to the joslin diabetes center's recommended diet, i can assure you i much prefer the latter by a factor of at least 10-1. i'll take fresh strawberries over pop tarts any day of the week. if you take personal responsibility, you will be handsomely rewarded.

i think we all can get behind supporting the needy - those that make the right choices and still end up with a disease due to poor genetics or misfortune. the study above indicates that number of people is the small minority, though.

But the cooked rice is almost pure carbohydrate in an easily-digested form that is quickly-available fuel for your muscles and brain.

while this is true in a sense, the "rest of the story" is much more important.

rice is almost always a high glycemic load food due to its high glycemic index and the large amounts people tend to eat per serving.

the carbs from rice quickly break down into blood glucose, but too much blood glucose will kill you (ask a type i diabetic). so your body responds by rapidly producing insulin which is designed to lower blood glucose levels by topping off glucose stores in the muscles and liver (i think that's the right organ) and the rest gets converted into fat. In addition excess insulin in the blood locks down current fat stores so they can't be used to increase blood glucose.

since your brain is a glucose hog, it doesn't take too long for blood glucose levels to drop to a level that makes the brain foggy, grumpy and hungry.

this is the main reason for the post thanksgiving "coma" routine. if you ever wondered why so many calories sapped so much of your energy, now you know why.

i minimized foods like rice, bread, etc. and started eating primarily fruits with a few veggies and my energy not only sored, it is now consistent throughout the day. i feel better in my 40s than i did in my teens. i lost 25 lbs of fat and added 70 lbs to my bench press. I lost my life long allergy problem and i haven't called in sick due to a cold in 13 months - probably close to double my previous best. i used to hate running, now i like it.

the harvard medical doctors over at the joslin diabetes center recommend minimizing rice in order to reduce one's risk of diabetes and heart disease:

http://www.joslin.org/1083_2162.asp

in one study, a diet similar to the one joslin recommends showed an 83% reduction in the incidence of diabetes:

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL2979390020080530

the old mantra that foods like rice are "quick energy" are dangerous in that they are only partially true.

the statement should read something like "rice is quick energy that will ultimately lead to elevated insulin levels, a glucose starved brain, hunger and an increased risk of obesity and chronic disease in people who don't have a genetically blunted insulin response."

do you have a genetically blunted insulin response? looking in the mirror is a good gauge. if you can eat high glycemic load meals and maintain low body fat levels, you are genetically blessed*. most people can't, hence the obesity epidemic and health care cost crisis.

* this blessing typically doesn't last a lifetime, though. as we age, we tend to produce more insulin. this is why people tend to get fat at 40 when they eat less than they did at 18 and were thin.

the mantra "calories in, calories out" is equally misleading. it assumes that one's hormonal response to the foods we eat are negligible. this couldn't be further from the truth.

hormones play a vital role in whether your body stores fat, how you feel, your energy level and your satiety.

to illustrate this point, manuel uribe used to feel hungry and deprived on 30k calories a day. he now eats a diet, which is very similar to the one recommended by joslin diabetes center, and he's only eating about 2k calories a day (a 93% reduction in caloric intake and likely less than you!). he went from 1230 lbs to just over 800 lbs in about 2 years. he feels great, is upbeat and isn't hungry - all because he eats to balance his hormonal responses. his resting heart beat is 55, his blood pressure is normal and his lipid profiles are fantastic - and he can't even walk yet.

you can follow manuel uribe's progress on the discovery channel.

Although I run 5K at least 4-5 times per week and try to do at least a couple of hours of weight lifting per week, I still think that self righteous "eat less, exercise more" preachers are a bunch of jerks.

the problem with eat less / exercise more is that it doesn't work for the vast majority of people (look around, people).

the reason is that it is a way over simplified view of diet - it assumes that one's hormonal regulatory system plays ZERO role in what the body does with calories and how those calories make one feel.

hormones play a HUGE role in hunger, muscle development, fat retention, energy levels, blood sugar levels, etc.

food plays a HUGE role in hormonal modulation.

while joslin diabetes center wasn't the first to recommend this diet (13 years late, to be exact), i will point you in their direction lest anyone get upset and think that i'm
spamming for the commercial company of the PhD lipid researcher that developed this hormonally balanced diet.

http://www.joslin.org/1083_2162.asp

to get an idea of the power of diet, manuel uribe, formerly the heaviest human on earth at 1230 lbs (you think you have hunger / weight gain issues!), went from starving on 30,000+ calories a day to satiated on about 2,000 calories a day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6612719.stm

after about 2 years, he's down to just over 800 lbs and has no doubt he will eventually hit his target weight of about 250 lbs. even more amazing, his blood pressure is excellent, his blood lipid profiles are excellent and his resting pulse rate is 55. you can follow Manuel's progress on the discovery channel.

a very similar diet was also shown to reduce the incidence of diabetes 83% (Mediterranean diet minus most grains):

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL2979390020080530

if you follow the joslin diabetes recommendations, you will be more satiated, you will have more energy, you will feel better, you will dramatically reduce cellular inflammation (hence, the reduction in diabetes, heart disease, dimentia, cancer, etc...) and life will be as it should be - pretty darn good.

you are *exactly* correct. the body is much more complex than "calories in / calories out." this ought to be intuitive as people who eat few calories are often fatter than others who eat more calories. it is time to stop assuming that hormones play no role in how calories are utilized within the body. not only do they play a role, they play an incredibly powerful role that is almost impossible to over ride.

the good news is that the dietary answer for almost all genetic profiles is out there. the bad news is that most people prefer the drug addicting, self medicating nature of a "tasty" high glycemic load diet and won't give it up, even it makes them fat, makes them feel like crap, ruins their physical and mental health and eventually kills them. if you disagree with this assessment, go out and learn how to implement the joslin diabetes center recommendations for a couple of months and see what kind of profound changes occur in your life. if you don't, you've done your part to provide anecdotal evidence that my assessment is true.

as for athletes and those wanting to optimize their physical and mental performance, christian vande velde (tour de france, 5th place) and lisa bentley (american olympic time trial winner) are both on diets very similar to joslin diabetes center's current dietary recommendations. so was jenny thompson and dara torres - two of the most prolific swimmers in modern day history. jenny has 8 gold medals and dara set the american 50m free swim record as a 41 year old mother.

There's also a solid statistical correlation between smoking and heart disease. One source for such data is the multi-generation Framingham Study. For example, see this from 2006 or this from 2005. You don't like the Framingham Study? Try ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities). See this and then read abstracts from some of the many articles that cite it. Here's a nice one from 2006.

Now, it's also clear that using nicotine replacement therapy as a way to quit smoking is good for your life expectancy. what's not so well studied is what happens to people who've never smoked and who start to use nicotine. In other words, in the published literature, the dangers of nicotine may be masked by the benefits of smoking cessation. This remains to be seen.

The evidence against nicotine is that it causes arterial damage. The statistical correlations from Framingham & ARIC are between smoking and coronary heart disease (not to mention cancer,but I'm focusing on CHD). The guy I worked for was all about studying arterial damage to predict odds of heart attack and stroke. You see, the damaged artery tends to become sclerotic and develop plaques. Vulnerable plaques can break off, enter the blood stream, and then get stuck in a small blood vessel, blocking it and starving some region of tissue for blood. If that tissue is in the heart, you have a miocardial infarction. If it's in the brain, you have one form of stroke. Nicotine also raises blood pressure, increasing the risk of the other form of stroke (the two kinds of stroke are blockage and bleed).

In other words, there is good reason to believe that nicotine has some harmful effects. The real question is in which cases its benefits outweigh its harm.