On Thu, 21 Feb 2002, Jim Swayze wrote:

> Let me answer this by first getting out of the way what is probably already
> very obvious.  I don't share the credentials of many on this list.  I don't
> have a degree in nutrition, I write no magazine articles, I have no clients
> or patients who rely upon my expert opinion.

Same here.

> Now, here goes.  It might require a major modification to dominant dietary
> theory, but yes I do believe the body passes or somehow magically rids
> itself of unneeded fat.  Is there any other explanation for why it is that
> I'm consuming FIVE TIMES more fat (and who knows how many more calories)
> than before I started the paleo diet yet have now lost twenty pounds?

Well, unless you are actually weighing and measuring things, it
is notoriously difficult to know how many calories you are
actually eating.  There have been studies, for example, of Atkins
dieters who claim that they are eating "more than ever" but who
were in fact eating less -- it just seemed like more.  This, in
fact, appears to be one of the key benefits of lowcarb diets,
they have an appetite-reducing effect for many people.

And keep in mind that most people who eat a lot of carbs also eat
a lot of fat too.  Fat-impregnated carbs are common fare: donuts,
french fries, ice cream, etc.  By taking out the grains, dairy,
and legumes, you've removed most or all of these fat-impregnated
carbs.

> I'm
> obviously not holding on to the greatly increased amount of fat and
> calories I'm consuming, yet I am losing weight with little to no effort.
> Again, I don't want to oversimply a potentially very complex subject, but
> where is the fat going?

Well, I don't know, but I do know that when people eat a lot of
carbs, a great deal of it is converted to fat anyway, *before it
is stored*.  If unneeded fat were eliminated from the body, it
seems that this fat would go too.

> I believe that Ray and some very few others have already told us the
> primary function of the body's retention of fat.  If you don't need the
> protection from foreign proteins in foods we shouldn't be eating, the body
> meets its energy needs and passes the unneeded fat.

But the implication of this is that if you avoid the foreign
proteins you can't gain body fat, and I can personally testify
that this is false.  On the other hand, there appear to be real
metabolic differences between people, and this may well be one of
them.

Todd Moody
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