I enjoyed this blog post, as I always welcome reading new theories. Boy do I wish I was at the AHS ! I agree with him that there is little difference between refined vs. unrefined carbohydrates. I have always maintained the idea that it is not the speed at which glucose becomes elevated, but the total amount of glucose (and insulin) over time that matters (I suspect the graphs of the two scenarios would have different shapes, but the area under the curve would be about the same).
However, he states that the role of insulin is to "coordinate the metabolic shift between burning primarily fat, to burning primarily carbohydrate". He talks a lot about energy expenditure, and makes the common assumption that all fatty acids that are released from the fat cell are burned for energy, as if there must be an energy "request" by the body for the fat to leave the cell. I've been digging around in the research and haven't found any evidence that fatty acids are always burned. What if they aren't always burned? Wouldn't that be interesting? I have my own theory, as follows:
Above a certain insulin level in the blood, fat is stored the fat cell. Below a certain insulin level, fat is released from the fat cell. The flow of fat changes direction throughout the day like ocean tides, depending on the rise and fall of insulin. Free fatty acids in circulation, whether from dietary intake or released from fat cells, are available to burn for energy if they are needed . If they are not needed, then they are routed to the large intestine to be released in the stool. Hence, fat loss is independent of energy expenditure.
The level of insulin, and therefore whether the doors of the fat cell swing inward or outward, is primarily a result of the amount of glucose in the blood. His claim that carbohydrate "has nothing to do with removing the supposed suppressive effect of insulin on fat release from fat cells", and that it all comes down to calories ingested vs. calories burned, does not have me convinced. There are so many different subjects in his post - the cause of obesity, the role of insulin, leptin and satiety, palatability /food reward and overeating, that I find it hard to tease them all apart and find solid support for his conclusions.
Anyway, if my theory is correct, then fat loss would not depend on an increase in energy expenditure - it would simply depend on lowering insulin levels enough to get the fat out of the cells and then let the body sort it out from there. My own experience of fat loss on a very high fat, moderate protein, very low carb paleo diet while being fairly sedentary, supports my theory.
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