Tag Archives: E.E. Blaak

QOTD: E.E. Blaak on Optimal Diet

Grain-based high-carb Neolithic food

Grain-based high-carb Neolithic food

Overall, energy restriction is the primary factor producing weight loss, and it is increasingly understood that distinct macronutrients may vary in energy yield and effects on satiety, also based on individuals’ phenotype and genotype. Although an overall healthy diet, either Mediterranean or a low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet may be effective in diabetes and cardiovascular prevention, insight is increasing that dietary prevention or treatment may require more personalized approaches to become most effective.

     —E.E. Blaak, in a review of effects of dietary carbohydrate in body weight control, glucose homeostasis and cardiovascular risk

In plain English, Blaak is saying:

  • weight loss depends on calorie restriction
  • proteins, fats, and carbs provide different amounts of energy and have different effects on hunger
  • your response to proteins, fats, and carbs depends on your genes and how you look
  • the healthiest diet for you probably isn’t the best for everyone else

Steve Parker, M.D.