Update

Underneath the Sheets: Carbohydrate Intolerance

The simple home test is not for everyone. 

Dr. Philip Maffetone

By the early 1980s, seeking to help my patients understand which foods increased body fat and weight, the issue was more clear. Why was excess body fat becoming prevalent even in normal weight individuals, those on low-fat diets, or who exercised regularly? I was able to answer this by developing a simple food challenge people could easily perform at home.

While many found rapid health benefits, it was not for the weak of heart…pancreas or brain. Just explaining it brought the onset of shakes, sweats, and fearful facial expressions, sometimes with tears. Even after exposing my own struggles with carbohydrate addiction, some called me Grinch, scrooge, party pooper, or worse. Please don’t kill the messenger. 

Today, billions of people worldwide have a serious condition that impairs the brain and body. Carbohydrate intolerance, CI, sometimes called insulin resistance, is the inability to metabolize refined carbohydrates, including sugar. Almost all common carbohydrate foods are highly refined, including those labeled whole grain, with many well-hidden in foods.

The prime sign of CI is excess body fat called overfat—about 80% of the world is affected. It’s prevalence is now well accepted in society and healthcare, despite the serious downstream conditions. Early on, CI can reduce physical and mental energy, increase hunger, raise blood pressure, impair brain health, and disrupt hormones, along with physical injuries and accompanying chronic inflammation. End-stage conditions include chronic disease, from cardiovascular and diabetes to various cancers and Alzheimer’s, and others, including infections (evidenced during the covid pandemic).

Excess body fat can sometimes be deceptive—about 30% of those with normal weight or not obese can still be overfat. This typically occurs as accumulated belly fat.

The good news is that CI can be prevented and corrected by avoiding foods containing refined carbohydrates. The food challenge I developed is the Two-Week Test, which allowed people to quickly experience the associated wonderful physical and mental benefits.

Then and now, a cold-turkey approach works best.

The clinical results of the Two-Week Test in my patients showed that in those with excess body fat 87% reduced weight and waist measurements, and 92% after three weeks. This is far beyond what today’s anti-obesity medications offer. 

About 82% also reported significant changes with increased energy, elimination of hunger, improved sleep, better mental focus, and reduced depression. In those with elevated blood pressure, about 80% normalized, and if previously on medication most were able to reduce the dosage or eliminate it.

Athletes responded similarly. Additional improvements were evident in their MAF Tests (running faster at the same heartrate), reductions of physical injuries, and within six months, improved competitive performances. (A breakthrough study by Tim Noakes and colleagues soon to be published support these results as we discuss with Paul Laursen in our recent podcast.) 

The Two-Week Test helps people understand if they have CI. After two weeks it’s indicated by the loss of body fat and weight, and many other symptoms noted above.

But for most people, excess body fat alone indicates CI.

Accurately determining the overfat condition is easy. While best evaluated by a DEXA scan, but impractical for regular use, just measure the waist. Normally, the waist at the level of the umbilicus (bellybutton) should be less than half your height. While most already know when they have excess body fat, an ongoing waist measure evaluates body fat changes better than scale weight. 

Why do many people, even healthcare practitioners and governmental policy makers, still steer away from such powerful recommendations? It’s the stranglehold by big junk food companies in virtually every area of society. Addicted customers have also been on board for decades. (See Decision-making in health and fitness.)

If this sounds like Big Tobacco, it is the same successful business model. And consumers keep the same beliefs close to heart: I can quit anytime or we’re all going to die. While both true, carbs come with the common myth, everything in moderation. Does this include cigarettes? Cocaine? Some scientists and clinicians are now speaking a truth: Sugar is the new tobacco. (see my cartoon). 

What’s worse, refined carbohydrates, which make junk foods so bad, are now the world’s primary cuisine.

Never mind that CI is associated with lower quality of life. And that it’s an early indicator of future disease, now the most common cause of death globally while significantly straining the economy from healthcare costs no nation is equipped to handle. Refined carbohydrates make us less human.

You can still use the Two-Week Test to jumpstart your metabolism and experience the rapid relief of carbohydrate restriction. Here’s the link.  

For information on body fat percentage, go here. 

If you know that a ketogenic eating approach works well for you, here’s a very low carb or Keto Two-Week Test. 

Here’s a vegetarian (and vegan) Two-Week Test .

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