TCC Science of Fat Loss Part 3.1 (Addendum 1)

Important points to make before we continue (additional to part 3)

It’s Not Just About The “Calories”!!!

One of the most important things to remember when discussing how fat is stored and how fat is released is that the regulation of your fat cell isn’t just under substrate control.

It’s not just controlled by the amount of fat or carbs or protein that is present. Or, in other words, it’s not just the calories. There are more than a few factors that regulate your fat cell. So what regulates the accumulation and mobilisation? As stated a few times now, the enzymes that regulate the fat cell are influenced by the hormonal status. Your hormonal status can be influenced by your nutritional status, but it isn’t solely governed by it.

Let me say that again

Your Hormonal Status Can Be Influenced By Your Nutritional Status, But It Is NOT Solely Governed By It

Alternatively, when you look at the conditions that everything happens in, and the hormonal regulation of your fat cells, you will see it’s not just a simple matter of “eliminating insulin”. Which as I’ve said before, unless you plan on making yourself a Type I diabetic, is a physiological impossibility.

There is NO ONE THING that is the only factor that controls your fat cell. That’s part of the reason why everyone who bangs on about the calories is partly right. And everyone who bangs on about insulin, is also kind of right. But none of them are completely right. And it’s their own narrow mindedness that blinds them from looking at the whole equation in context.

And again, just because I say the “calories” don’t matter, doesn’t mean that the amount of substrate present isn’t a factor either. You simply cannot EVER think you can influence one of these factors and get away with everything else. The most obvious is when people go low carb and then think they can eat all of the fat they want without consequence. It just doesn’t work that way.

Whenever you ask yourself a question, always think of the context it is happening in. Look at not only the substrates that are available at the time, but also the hormonal environment it is happening in and also the substrates effect on that hormonal environment. If you do this correctly, you will be able to answer whether or not fasted cardio is a good idea, or if insulin getting released from amino acid intake has the same effect on fat storage than an insulin response from carbohydrates.

The upcoming posts will look at the many hormones that actually do influence your fat cell flux. Which are storage hormones, which are hormones that promote release. You will see that only a few of them are actually substrate control. In other words, your “calories in” only affect some of them, not all of them.

Up Next – Part 3.2 Addendum 2

Calories Don't CountBen Minos has Bachelor degrees in both Physiotherapy and Exercise Science (Human Movements). He has worked as a Personal Trainer for 20 years and a Physiotherapist for close to 15. Ben has authored a book on nutrition titled Calories Don’t Count, available through iBooksAmazon and most online retailers. He has also authored many articles for Ironman Bodybuilding Magazine and also co authored Australia’s first Kettlebell instructor certification course. He has competed in Natural Bodybuilding over a number of years, as well as prepared numerous clients for the stage.