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How does the Six Meals a Day Diet work?
To understand how the six meals a day diet keeps the calories off, we must
first have a look at how the body stores fat. Back in early human times, food
was hard to find. We humans thus evolved to store fat to burn for energy in
the event that food was impossible to come by. Stored fat, t hen, saved many
of our ancestors from starvation. Unfortunately, our bodies work much the same
way today. We continue to store excess calories just in case we need them later.
The trouble is, we usually don’t need them later, and this stored fat
is left just sitting there on our bodies, looking ugly.
Once you consider the fat storage issue, it becomes easy to see why so many
diets fail. People reduce their calorie intake and increase the amount of time
between meals. Initially, they may see results. Over the long run, though, the
metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories for energy) slows down,
and the body begins to store fat again. Thus, many dieters find themselves actually
gaining weight over time. To further complicate matters, when the body fails
to find enough calories to burn for energy, it begins burning muscle for energy
instead. So, not only does the body gain fat, it also loses existing muscle,
leading to an overall unhealthy look.
Here’s how it works: When you eat, the body uses what it needs for fuel immediately
and stores the rest of the food for later. The storage process differs for carbohydrates,
proteins and fats.
The body breaks carbohydrates down into glucose. Your body uses the carbs it
needs for fuel and sends excess carbs to your muscles and liver, where they
are stored as glycogen (glycogen is simply the scientific name for stored glucose).
However, depending on your carb consumption on the previous day, your glycogen
levels may already be high, so the body decides to store the excess carbs as
fat instead.
Meanwhile, when the body ingests protein, it breaks it down into amino acids,
which travel the body repairing and maintaining body tissue. Again the body
stores any excess as fat.
The body breaks the fat in the food it ingests into fatty acids. Once again,
the body will use what it needs now and store away the surplus. The bottom line:
any extra calories you consume will wind up stored as fat, probably within eight
hours of the meal.
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