It’s solely pure to fret, proper?
And I suppose I can solely converse for myself right here, however there’s not often a day that goes by that I’m not apprehensive about SOMETHING, whether or not it’s my children or one thing in my enterprise or the canine not consuming her dinner.
And a giant factor I see my purchasers worrying about, particularly after they’re new to my program, is the truth that for the primary time of their lives, they’re being inspired to eat MORE. And never solely that, I’m telling them to eat meals that for many of their life, they’ve been instructed to steer clear of—eggs, meat, cheese, butter.
So they begin worrying that this new manner of consuming can’t presumably be HEALTHY.
They begin worrying about issues like energy, and fats, and ldl cholesterol—satisfied they’ll by no means reduce weight & get wholesome in the event that they don’t.
And I perceive why it occurs. As a result of we’ve all been indoctrinated by a long time of unhealthy recommendation, and sadly it’s left us all a bit bit scarred and petrified of the flawed issues.
And that’s why at the moment, I wished to take a deep dive into actual analysis—to actually dig into precisely why these fears are off-base, what’s truly holding you again in the case of well being, and easy methods to break away with details, not myths.
So buckle up, as a result of this can be a deep one. However I promise it gained’t be boring.
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My title is Ruth Soukup and I’m the founding father of Thinlicious and the creator of the Skinny Tailored System, in addition to the New York Instances bestselling writer of seven books.
And if that is your first time studying, right here’s what you need to learn about me: I’m a 46-year-old girl—ALMOST 47—who struggled with my weight and well being for ten lengthy years, failing at food plan after food plan, till I lastly determined to take a radically totally different method.
As a substitute of beginning yet one more food plan, I began researching. And I rapidly realized that just about all the things we’ve ever been instructed about well being and weight reduction, about what makes us reduce weight and what makes us fats, is completely flawed. We’ve been lied to for the final 70 years. And it’s had a devastating impact on our well being.
So I modified the way in which I ate. I finished specializing in energy and began worrying about HORMONES. And I misplaced 49 kilos with out weight-reduction plan or Ozempic or making myself depressing, and now I’ve saved that weight off for years.
However that journey modified me. Frankly, I’m nonetheless a bit pissed that I struggled for SO lengthy once I didn’t must, and my aim now could be to assist as many different ladies as attainable discover out the reality. I’m obsessive about serving to ladies over 40—such as you—ditch the crap holding you again and discover actual freedom via reworking your well being.
And that’s what this weblog is all about: a well being revolution that’s not about fast fixes or medicine, however actual, lasting change.
So now you understand what you’re getting your self into, and you’ve got a bit extra context for why I care a lot about this matter!
And let me simply let you know—at the moment, we’re going BIG. We’re taking a deep dive into one of many greatest hangups that so many ladies have in the case of consuming in a manner that may truly FIX your hormones and heal your physique.
It’s one thing I hear about on a regular basis from the purchasers in my TAS program, and I suppose I simply wish to set the file straight, as soon as and for all.
As a result of we’ve all been so brainwashed by all of the bullshit that we will’t truly consider that ignoring energy, consuming extra fats, and never panicking over ldl cholesterol IS the way in which to reduce weight and get wholesome for all times.
It simply doesn’t appear attainable, particularly if you’ve spent your complete life watching your energy, skipping butter, and avoiding eggs and crimson meat, as a result of that’s what all of the specialists, together with possibly even your physician, have satisfied you is the one approach to reduce weight and get wholesome.
And I get it—I purchased those self same lies for many years.
However they’re lies, and at the moment I wish to show it to you. That’s why we’re taking a deep dive into what over 50 years of analysis truly says, after which slicing via the noise with straight-up proof.
And simply in case you STILL don’t consider me and wish to go even deeper, I’m going to ensure to hyperlink all of my sources within the present notes so to learn all of them for your self if you wish to.
We’re going to sort out these sizzling matters one after the other, in three massive chunks—energy, fats, ldl cholesterol—in order that by the tip of this weblog submit, you perceive precisely what’s been mentioned and what you’ve been instructed, why it’s flawed and what the precise analysis says, and what you may truly do about it.
As a result of frankly you’re sensible, you’re prepared, and also you deserve the unfiltered reality, not some watered-down well being fairy story.
Energy—Why You’ve Been Tricked Into Counting
Okay, let’s begin with the factor you’ve most likely been interested by nearly every single day because you had been an adolescent: CALORIES.
And truthfully, is there something we’ve been conditioned to emphasize over extra?
We’ve been instructed time and again to rely them, to trace them, to chop them, and above all, to “keep a calorie deficit” as a result of it’s all simply simple arithmetic, proper? It’s simply “energy in and energy out.” In keeping with all of the specialists, energy are alleged to be the magic bullet for shedding weight and staying wholesome.
And so each food plan you’ve ever been on has seemed the very same manner. You purpose for that excellent little quantity, whether or not it’s 1,200 or 1,500, or a sure variety of factors, believing for those who can simply keep beneath that line, the kilos will lastly soften off.
Weight Watchers even tried to persuade us that “Zero Level Meals” had been the reply we’ve all been ready for. It was nonetheless nearly energy.
It’s one of many oldest myths within the well being recreation, and it’s been letting you down for manner too lengthy. And for those who’ve ever been on a food plan and FAILED, you most likely already know, deep down, that there’s one thing flawed with this paradigm.
So how did we get right here?
Nicely, as Gary Taubes explains in his guide, Why We Get Fats, this complete calorie obsession kicked off someday after World Struggle II, when the “energy in, energy out” concept began taking on. It was primarily based on the legislation of thermodynamics, which says that power is neither created nor destroyed, however can solely change from one type to a different.
And on the floor, it sounds so logical, proper? It was straightforward to get on board with an concept that appeared so simple, so frequent sense, so scientific.
So by the Fifties, this concept of needing to rely energy was just about all over the place, after which it bought completely locked into place within the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties when the USDA tips instructed us all to “eat much less, transfer extra.”
And that’s proper concerning the time that Massive Meals noticed their probability to create an entire new class of meals, and man oh man, did they ever bounce on it—pushing low-cal snacks, food plan sodas, something to persuade you your physique’s only a math equation: burn greater than you eat, and also you’ll be advantageous.
What’s worse, although, is that medical doctors purchased into it too. And so they’re nonetheless telling you to chop again, even if you’re ravenous your self and the size gained’t budge.
However right here’s the factor nobody is telling you—not your physician, or the food plan trade, or all these meals firms making an attempt to persuade you to purchase their poisonous low-calorie processed crap.
“Energy in, Energy Out” is a lie. That’s not how our physique works.
The legislation of thermodynamics doesn’t apply to our physique, as a result of our physique isn’t a easy system. It’s an extremely COMPLEX system, an intricate community of processes that every one work collectively to maintain us alive and functioning.
And the system that RULES all of those processes in our physique, the system that determines whether or not we retailer fats or burn it, the system that offers us power or tells us we’re hungry is our ENDOCRINE system, which is only a fancy phrase for HORMONES.
Our HORMONES are what run the present.
And all of our hormones are interconnected, all of them work collectively, which implies that if one is out of whack, they’ll all be tousled.
And the hormone that’s the greatest downside for nearly all of us is INSULIN.
As a result of all these low-calorie meals we’ve been consuming are nonetheless loaded with sugar and poisonous processed elements and synthetic chemical sweeteners, which has mainly brought on an epidemic of insulin resistance on this nation.
Dr. Benjamin Bikman lays this all out in a TON of element in his wonderful guide, which I extremely advocate, Why We Get Sick.
However the backside line is that insulin resistance is operating the present for 90% of us, locking in fats and maintaining your physique from burning it. When your insulin is excessive, your physique CANNOT burn fats. Interval. Finish of story. It doesn’t matter how few energy you eat.
And on the flip facet, if you preserve your insulin low and take your hormones out of disaster mode, you may mainly eat as many energy as you need or want, as long as you retain consuming the appropriate sorts of meals. Your physique gained’t retailer the additional as fats, as a result of your hormones are telling you to burn it for power.
Gary Taubes dug into this even additional in one other one in all his books, Good Energy, Unhealthy Energy, the place he unpacks 50 years of analysis that present how calorie restriction fails time and again, whereas getting insulin beneath management truly works.
A 2018 JAMA research examined it—500 individuals, cut up between low-sugar and low-fat diets. The low-sugar group lower insulin ranges and misplaced extra weight, no calorie counting wanted.
A 2020 Metabolism trial confirmed the identical factor—low-sugar DOUBLED weight reduction in comparison with calorie-counting in simply 12 weeks.
And never solely that, a 2019 Vitamin & Metabolism research discovered that slicing energy jacked up starvation hormones by 30%, whereas consuming a low-sugar food plan saved them regular.
What it actually all comes right down to is that the factor you want to be apprehensive about most ISN’T energy or how MUCH meals you’re consuming, it’s whether or not the TYPE of meals you’re consuming is maintaining your insulin excessive.
Proper now you’re slicing energy, feeling hungry on a regular basis, and nonetheless not dropping—as a result of energy aren’t what’s driving this. They’re mainly a distraction, they usually’re stealing your power.
So what are you able to do about it? STOP counting—begin consuming REAL meals that retains your insulin low. Actually, it’s fairly easy, a minimum of in concept. Keep on with WHOLE meals which are low in sugar. Meat, greens, wholesome fats. Keep away from poisonous processed rubbish. However eat as a lot as you need.
You’re not failing since you’re weak; you’re caught as a result of the calorie fantasy is a BIG FAT LIE—one of many greatest ones we’ve ever been instructed.
So it’s time to let this one go, my buddy. The analysis backs you up, and your physique will thanks.
Fats—Why It’s Not the Villain You Assume
Alright, transferring on—let’s discuss one thing else you’ve most likely spent an excessive amount of time stressing out over, particularly for those who’re a baby of the ‘80s and ‘90s like me.
FAT.
I don’t learn about you, however I can distinctly keep in mind spending my highschool years satisfied that fats was the largest villain within the well being world. I truly saved a pocket-size fats gram guidebook on me always!
All whereas chowing down on so-called wholesome fat-free snacks like Snackwell cookies and Purple Vines and the worst of all—these Olestra potato chips that had been supposedly made with fat-free fats that really simply wreaked havoc in your intestinal tract. Keep in mind these?
In any case, most of us have been conditioned to keep away from fats prefer it’s the plague—butter, meat, oils—as a result of we’re satisfied it’s why we’re carrying further weight or placing our coronary heart in danger.
And though you could have given up on the Snackwell cookies and Olestra chips, you’re most likely nonetheless mechanically reaching for “low-fat” all the things—yogurt, dressings, skim milk—considering that’s the sensible approach to keep lean and wholesome.
It’s one of many sneakiest lies we’ve been bought, and it’s been holding you again for manner too lengthy.
So the place did this line of BS come from?
Nicely, it began again within the Fifties with Ancel Keys and his “fats kills” concept—a shaky research that pinned coronary heart illness on saturated fats.
We NOW know that this research—and others prefer it—had been truly funded by the sugar trade, who had been apprehensive by different analysis that was clearly exhibiting sugar as the issue.
In order that they rigged the system of their favor, and this new concept that fats is unhealthy took off like wildfire. By the Nineteen Seventies, it was completely locked in—medical colleges began educating it, the USDA rolled out low-fat tips in 1977, and as soon as once more Massive Meals noticed their golden ticket.
They began pushing vegetable oils, margarine, “heart-healthy” low-fat snacks—something to persuade you that butter and steak had been out to get you.
Medical doctors in fact bought on board too, as a result of that’s how they had been being educated. However the actually unhappy half is that recommendation has caught round, whilst the entire thing began to unravel and the reality began to emerge.
However right here’s the true story: science says fats is NOT your enemy. It’s your buddy.
A 2010 American Journal of Scientific Vitamin meta-analysis checked out 21 research with 347,000 individuals and located completely NO hyperlink between saturated fats and coronary heart illness.
Harvard’s 2015 evaluate discovered that fats truly lowers insulin, cuts irritation, and revs up your metabolism, whereas low-fat diets mess all that up.
A 2021 Lancet research put high-fat diets up in opposition to low-fat, and guess what occurred? Excessive-fat gained fingers down, dropping weight and triglycerides by 20%.
And a 2019 Vitamin & Metabolism trial confirmed that fat-based diets lower irritation markers by 25%, whereas low-fat pushed them up 10%.
The reality is that wholesome fats—the non-ultra-processed variety that comes from animals and olives and coconuts and avocados—is NOT clogging your arteries or piling on kilos. Fairly the alternative, the truth is. It’s truly maintaining your insulin low, regulating your hormones, therapeutic your intestine, and serving to your physique BURN fats slightly than retailer it.
Yep, you heard that proper: fats makes you burn fats, not retailer it.
The truth is, a 2020 Metabolism research discovered high-fat diets boosted fats burn by 15% over low-fat.
And a 2018 Journal of Lipid Analysis confirmed that saturated fats truly cuts leaky intestine markers by 18%.
So whilst you’re avoiding fats and grabbing all that “mild” junk as a substitute, it’s leaving you drained, bloated, and caught. I do know that is exhausting to consider, however extra wholesome fats is what you want to break away.
So what are you able to do? Nicely, this one’s straightforward. Cease avoiding it! Begin consuming an entire lot extra wholesome fats, whereas avoiding the processed junk and seed oils as a lot as you may.
You’re not risking your well being; you’re reclaiming it—and as soon as once more the analysis proves it each step of the way in which.
Ldl cholesterol—Why You’ve Been Frightened of the Unsuitable Factor
Okay, final however not least, let’s sort out the large elephant within the room that everybody freaks out about every time we discuss consuming extra fats: CHOLESTEROL.
And truthfully, has there ever been an even bigger unhealthy man within the well being world?
We’ve been taught to concern it, together with something which may elevate it, like eggs, crimson meat, and saturated fats, for so long as most of us can keep in mind.
The conditioning is so deep, it impacts our meals selections with out us even realizing it.
I imply, give it some thought—what number of occasions have you ever opted for an egg white omelet or chosen rooster as a substitute of steak since you thought it was the more healthy alternative?
It’s one of many sneakiest well being scams of the final century, and it’s carried out an actual quantity on us.
So how did this mess even begin?
Nicely, as soon as once more, we have to return a number of a long time, as a result of this one kicked off within the Sixties with the Framingham Coronary heart Examine, which linked blood ldl cholesterol to coronary heart danger.
Fairly quickly, medical colleges, the American Coronary heart Affiliation—all the large photographs—jumped on board.
“Decrease ldl cholesterol, save lives” turned their mantra.
And like with fats and energy, Massive Meals and Massive Pharma noticed nothing however greenback indicators.
The meals trade pushed processed vegetable oils and margarine as “heart-healthy” swaps for butter and animal fat, whereas drug firms rolled out statins and bought medical doctors prescribing them like sweet.
We had been instructed to ditch eggs and steak and cargo up on complete grains and “heart-healthy” cereals as a substitute.
It was a full-on propaganda assault, and most folk are nonetheless shopping for it, though it’s wrecked our well being in methods we’re solely now beginning to see.
Individuals are fatter and sicker than ever, and our well being nosedive traces up completely with this “low ldl cholesterol” push.
However as soon as once more, it’s all a giant fats lie, and the analysis backs all the things I’m about to let you know.
First off, let’s get tremendous clear concerning the fundamentals: consuming meals excessive in ldl cholesterol—like eggs, steak, and saturated fats—doesn’t truly elevate your ldl cholesterol. Even the Framingham research confirmed that!
They actually tracked individuals for 30 years in that research and located ldl cholesterol from meals barely strikes your blood ranges—lower than 2%.
As a substitute, nearly ALL of the ldl cholesterol in your physique—greater than 80%—is produced in your liver. And that’s as a result of it’s NOT some evil poison that we’ve been led to concern—it’s truly a vital constructing block your physique must perform.
Right here’s the deal: ldl cholesterol isn’t simply sitting there clogging issues up. It’s busy constructing your cell partitions, making hormones like estrogen and testosterone, and even serving to your mind work proper.
Even LDL—the so-called “unhealthy” ldl cholesterol—isn’t doing unhealthy issues. It carries fats round your physique, clears injury, and retains your nerves firing. With out it, you’d be in hassle.
However the assessments most medical doctors run don’t let you know that, which is a HUGE a part of the issue. They offer you whole ldl cholesterol, HDL, and LDL numbers, however skip LDL particle dimension—which is what truly issues for danger.
So your physician fingers you a half-baked take a look at, says your LDL’s too excessive, and pushes statins.
And also you associate with it since you’re scared. In any case, all the things you’ve heard screams that ldl cholesterol’s unhealthy information, and in case your ldl cholesterol is excessive you would drop useless of a coronary heart assault at any second.
So let’s discuss what the science ACTUALLY says.
Initially, you’re not about to die in case your ldl cholesterol is excessive. Even when your LDL quantity is larger than your physician thinks it must be. The truth is, a 2021 Lancet Wholesome Longevity research tracked 1.8 million individuals over TWO DECADES, and located definitively that folk with larger LDL DIDN’T die sooner. Many truly lived LONGER.
So take a breath.
Particularly as a result of plenty of different analysis backs this up, with newer research exhibiting that seniors with larger ldl cholesterol usually outlive these with decrease ranges, particularly previous 60.
Why? As a result of ldl cholesterol helps your immune system, fights off pathogens, and retains your mind sharp—stuff you want extra of as you age.
Now, let’s discuss statins—as a result of that is the place it will get messy. For most individuals, statins are manner worse than ldl cholesterol ever could possibly be. A 2021 research on the Society of Nuclear Drugs assembly discovered people with delicate cognitive points on lipophilic statins—like atorvastatin—had DOUBLE the danger of dementia.
Why? These statins cross into your mind, mess with ldl cholesterol there, and tank metabolism in areas hit first by Alzheimer’s. Plus, they’re overprescribed—greater than 80% of oldsters don’t really need them, per a 2022 Annals of Inner Drugs report.
Not solely that, they jack up your danger of diabetes by greater than 46%, trigger muscle ache, and BLOCK CoQ10, which is your coronary heart’s gas. That’s proper, the drug your physician is telling you that you want to be taking to decrease your ldl cholesterol so to defend your coronary heart is definitely HURTING your coronary heart.
All whereas Massive Pharma’s laughing all the way in which to the financial institution. Statins are at present essentially the most extensively prescribed drug on the market, and medical doctors preserve pushing them regardless of no actual profit for many. It’s a rip-off, plain and easy.
Backside line right here, ldl cholesterol isn’t the large scary monster you assume it’s.
Right here’s extra proof: a 2019 Journal of the American Coronary heart Affiliation evaluate discovered no hyperlink between dietary ldl cholesterol and coronary heart danger, however did discover {that a} low sugar food plan cuts irritation and improves general well being.
This shouldn’t truly be a shock, as a result of we’ve recognized it for a very long time. Again in 1863, Dr. William Banting’s Letter on Corpulence confirmed low-carb, high-fat diets lower coronary heart points. No statins required.
Extra just lately, a 2020 JAMA research discovered that high-sugar diets tripled triglycerides, however eggs didn’t budge them.
Ldl cholesterol generally is a complicated matter, however what it actually comes right down to is that your physique wants ldl cholesterol—it’s not the enemy. It builds cells, hormones, and mind energy, per a 2018 Journal of Lipid Analysis.
The one actual menace in the case of ldl cholesterol is when your LDL is made up of small, dense particles slightly than giant buoyant ones. The 2021 Metabolism research confirmed that.
So what are you able to do when your physician tells you your ldl cholesterol is simply too excessive? Nicely, it’s a must to begin ensuring the take a look at outcomes she or he is taking a look at are literally telling the entire story.
The conventional take a look at medical doctors run don’t.
So push again and ask for a CAC scan; it’s 90% correct for artery plaque. If it’s clear, you’re advantageous.
Or get an NMR Lipoprofile to test your particle dimension. In case your LDL particles are giant, you’re advantageous.
Then preserve consuming a food plan of complete meals loaded with nutrient-dense crimson meat, eggs, and wholesome fats. As a result of insulin’s the true menace, not ldl cholesterol.
Usually my TAS purchasers do usually see ldl cholesterol bumps early on, however these numbers are likely to degree out as irritation drops. And the analysis says you’re secure, so now hopefully you may lastly cease worrying about it!
Ultimate Ideas—You’ve Acquired the Energy Now
I do know this was a meaty submit and I threw a LOT of data and information at you unexpectedly, nevertheless it’s SO essential to know the reality, which is that you simply’ve mainly been fed an enormous pile of lies about energy, fats, and ldl cholesterol—a long time of it—and it’s saved you spinning as a substitute of thriving.
You’re not loopy for worrying—Massive Meals, Massive Pharma, and old-school medical doctors pounded this into you—nevertheless it’s time to let it go.
The analysis is evident as day—insulin and irritation, not energy, fats, or ldl cholesterol, are what’s driving your weight, your power, your well being. Your hormones are the motive force.
Understanding this and making use of it to my very own life is how I misplaced 49 kilos and have saved it off for years, whereas consuming like a queen.
It’s additionally how I’ve now helped 1000’s of ladies over 40 do the identical with my Skinny Tailored System—aka, my TAS program.
And truthfully, TAS is superior, it truly is. As a result of though these items is straightforward in concept, in observe it may really feel exhausting to implement. My program not solely provides you a transparent path to success, with all the sensible instruments you want, nevertheless it provides you the help and the science-backed schooling to really implement it in your life for good.
And for those who’re prepared for a greater approach to dwell—a way of life that won’t solely enable you lose the load, however truly HEAL your physique, then there’s no higher manner to try this than by becoming a member of TAS.
To search out out extra and get signed up, simply go HERE.
On the finish of the day, this isn’t nearly weight—it’s your life on the road.
You’re too drained to your children, too foggy to your objectives—these outdated lies stole that from you. Actual meals brings it again: power, readability, confidence.
You’re not failing since you’re weak—you’ve been misled, and now you’ve bought the reality.
What you do with this data is as much as you.
Be happy to share it with a buddy who’s caught in the identical mess.
See right here for all supply hyperlinks for supporting information for this submit.