Wednesday, May 17, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Fit For
Sisters
Andrew Luscutoff
Columnist
Cracking the
diet code
The human diet and
nutritional science is a fas-
cinating topic of discussion.
The topics range from epi-
genetics, to evolution, to
physiology — even a great
deal of psychology.
No matter what the topic,
there is a lot to digest, no
pun intended.
With nutrition being
such a dynamic topic, it is
no wonder why many myths
and anecdotes propagate.
While there is certainly
a virtue in pushing science
to advance, it’s reached by
extrapolating these myths
into trials and studies;
sometimes the myths them-
selves disregard sound prin-
ciples and cherry-pick their
evidence, disregarding the
entire picture.
It is when this happens
that a myth needs to be
exposed for what it is— or
adopted as confirmed.
The most important
thing to consider regarding
diet is how well someone
can follow it. In trials where
subjects were all given dif-
ferent dietary protocols,
the best predictor of their
results always was how long
they were able to stay on
track, and that’s regardless
of high-carb/low-fat, vegan,
paleo, etc.
The next important thing
to consider about a suc-
cessful dietary protocol
is confirmation bias. This
is essentially if a person
believes it to be true, then
the more likely it’ll work for
that person. They’re seek-
ing out evidence that their
notion or beliefs are real-
ity. The human mind is very
tricky in this sense, which
is a commonality across all
beliefs. A reality is truly a
creation of the mind.
With this being said,
another perhaps even-stron-
ger predictor of the success
of a diet is just the aware-
ness of having to think
about rules, guidelines,
and additional thought that
goes into what someone is
putting into their mouth.
Think about it in this way:
If someone determines to
be gluten-free, those small
bites of cookies that appear
on every lunchroom table
suddenly become off limits.
With these restrictions,
the small bites, which were
once enjoyed, now become
calories in the weight-loss
bank account. This goes for
general healthy eating hab-
its as well. Once someone
thinks about putting more
veggies in their diet, or
reducing sugars, they dis-
place the calorie count to
the green.
Hunger seems to be
another misunderstood
aspect of diet. Hunger is a
dynamic system of psycho-
logical, mechanical, and
chemical signals, which
often can be misinterpreted.
When is someone more hun-
gry — during rest, or during
activity? Physiologically
during rest, a person has no
need to take in more energy;
they can easily supply their
rest with no input with
stored energy. However a
person who is active, work-
ing, doing chores, etc. has
a much greater need for
energy and should thus feel
more hungry.
Yet, the hunger signals
are strongest when some-
one is at rest vs. active.
This tells us that hunger is
more dynamic than just an
energy-need model. Hunger
can be an effect of mental
conditioning. If a person is
used to eating right when
they wake up or at the noon
lunch hour their body will
send signals at this time,
increasing hunger. Often,
if the mind is directed on
another task, it will ignore
the call of hunger.
It’s another sign that
hunger is partly a psycho-
logical effect rather than
solely physiological.
Understanding these
aspects can have an impact
on one’s dietary protocol
and enhance the approach
taken. It is important to
choose a diet that is easy
to follow, buy into, and
increase awareness to what
someone is eating.
For more information,
meet at Sisters Athletic Club
on May 18 at 5 p.m. for a
free dietary myths presenta-
tion. The session is open to
the general public.
Dietary Myths
Presentation
— When —
Thursday, May 18
at 5 p.m.
— Where —
Sisters Athletic Club
1001 E. Desperado Trail
541-549-6878
— Cost —
Free. Open to
the general public.
25
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