Dangers of Overeating

(The reasons we absolutely do not endorse or encourage “loading”)

Stuffing yourself can confuse your digestive enzymes, and greatly tax your digestive organs. When the body is forced to put more efforts into breaking down your food, there is going to be a back-up of toxins. These toxins may never leave. In worst case scenarios, a long life of overeating can result in colon disease, candidiasis and of course, obesity, heart disease, and a frightening mess of other digestive and weight problems.

Overeating burdens the body and is the prelude to illness. It also causes you to age prematurely. Sincere effort is required to control overeating and achieve satisfaction by eating just enough food to nourish you. The joy and satisfaction of eating does not have to be sacrificed to overcome overeating. Much to the contrary, improved health and a purer appreciation for food can be achieved.

Overeating wreaks havoc on the digestive system. Toxins are spread throughout the body and cause more serious degenerative diseases.

“Overeating, a popular pastime in the wealthy nations, is thought to be the major cause of premature aging. Fifty years of research have shown that when a nourishing diet is eaten sparingly, aging is retarded. In fact, consumption of too much rich and denatured food is responsible for most of our civilized diseases, such as obesity, cancer, and diabetes. Overeating by vegetarians also occurs regularly, and while it may not always result in weight gain, it invariably causes weakness, digestive upset and accelerated aging.” - Healing With Whole Foods, by Paul Pitchford

Listening to your body is the best way to know when you are full. The present day food culture has dictated to eat large portions and feel full to the point of discomfort. Learning to feel fullness and satisfaction before your stomach becomes tight and heavy is the true starting point. Eating slower allows the body to register what has been eaten and puts the taste buds and the stomach on one accord.

Processed foods and drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup can cause you to overeat. Corn syrup slows down the secretion of the hormone Leptin, whose job it is to signal to you when you are full and give you the impulse to stop eating. Corn syrup is in so many products that are consumed in excess, such as sodas, flavored juice drinks, yogurt, jams, BBQ sauce, chocolate syrup, many snack foods and is even in some so-called health food products. Excluding corn syrup and foods containing corn syrup from your diet is a major step forward in helping to control overeating. Be sure to read food labels to avoid corn syrup and look for healthier alternatives or create your own homemade versions.

Processed foods are also devoid of nutrients.  The body is unable to find satisfaction and continues to give you the impulse to eat and provide it with the nutrients it needs. Eating fresh foods with high nutrient levels provides the body with true satisfaction and nutrient support.

A diet that provides a balance of minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and good fats can bring such satisfaction. You won’t need to eat as much because your body will give you the feeling of being nourished.

It is also helpful to eat meals that have just two or three ingredients. When we have so many different types of food at one meal, it causes overeating.

“Each food has a unique flavor which the appetite control center of the hypothalamus recognizes. Before it feels satisfied, the hypothalamus seeks a certain amount of every flavor it has sampled. Thus it is very difficult not to over eat a meal of many ingredients.”- Healing With Whole Foods, by Paul Pitchford

Dietary satisfaction can be found in a balanced diet full of many flavors and nutrients that boost our energy and stamina while strengthening and calming our nerves. Simple yet positive lifestyle adjustments, like increased water intake and exclusion of processed, foods, can help prevent overeating and help to safeguard our health.

Fructose can also interfere with the health of those who are on a restricted calorie diet.  A University of Minnesota study found that even the rats that were otherwise fed a reduced-calorie diet had raised triglyceride levels when fructose was introduced.  This means that even if you otherwise eat a balanced diet, fructose can mess with your overall health.  Fructose is not good for you in its pure form, outside of fruit.

So you can see that fructose is just as bad as the much-maligned high fructose corn syrup. Actually, HFCS (High-fructose corn syrup) is nothing but a combination of fructose and glucose – fructose needs to be unmasked as just another commercial refined sugar. It’s also important to remember that like all sugars that we put in the body, fructose is connected to raising acidity, an overabundance of intestinal flora that leads to bloating, gas and other adverse effects.  You should sweeten naturally or don’t sweeten at all.

Man has tampered with sugar by refining it. Refined sugar is bereft of essential vitamins and micronutrients such as, B-1, B-2, biotin, niacin, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and others. The body is now forced to burn this fuel without the help of the vitamins and micronutrients and this causes a strain on the body, as it has to depend on its own store of vitamins and micronutrients, which get depleted. Thus, long-term intake of refined or ‘naked’ sugar causes stress on the body by sapping it of its internal resources of nutrients and sub-clinical deficiencies occur. Refined sugar also lacks water and fiber

When a refined sugar enters our system, the blood sugar will rise and the body stores this sugar in the muscle cells and brain cells. It is converted into FAT. That is why refined sugar intake is associated with obesity. In addition the body over reacts to refined sugar causing your blood sugar to drop too quickly. Then you feel bad, with symptoms such as headache, irritability, fatigue, and abdominal pains, muddled thinking, even blurred vision, depression and other symptoms suggestive of low blood sugar. This is the root cause for sugar craving or sugar addiction.

Is fat loading necessary for successful weight loss? 

Again, according to modern medicine, the answer is clearly no.  In fact, people with a history of heart disease or very high lipids or other medical conditions are specifically advised to skip fat loading.  The reason is that scientific proof shows that fatty meals do put an immediate strain on the heart.  The risk of heart attack is higher after a fatty meal. Our clients are not advised to do the “Load” days, and consistently lose the same 7-10 pounds in the first week WITHOUT gaining weight during the unnecessary loading. 

Short-term effects of overeating include bloating, flatulence, blood sugar fluctuations, headaches and cravings. Filling your stomach with large amounts of food overwhelms your digestive tract, causing bloating and flatulence. Your body may also respond by producing more insulin, according to the volume of food you have consumed. Insulin is released not only to help digest the carbohydrates you eat, but also for protein and fat. After the food has digested and the insulin has been released, you body can rebound from the high insulin level and cause your blood sugar to drop. The excess insulin circulating in your bloodstream can cause renewed hunger, creating a cycle of fluctuating blood sugar levels. This can eventually lead to diabetes.