June 8, 2025

Decoding Hunger: Dr. John Poothulill's Revolutionary Approach to Weight Management

Send us a text Dr. John Poothullil revolutionizes our understanding of weight management and diabetes prevention by challenging conventional wisdom with science-backed insights from his decades of medical practice. As an award-winning author and nationally syndicated health expert, Dr. Poothulill observed patterns that led him to question why patients continued developing complications despite medication and traditional treatments. The concept of "authentic weight" stands at the center of hi...

Send us a text

Dr. John Poothullil revolutionizes our understanding of weight management and diabetes prevention by challenging conventional wisdom with science-backed insights from his decades of medical practice. As an award-winning author and nationally syndicated health expert, Dr. Poothulill observed patterns that led him to question why patients continued developing complications despite medication and traditional treatments.

The concept of "authentic weight" stands at the center of his approach – the personalized ideal weight established in your mid-twenties that reflects your unique genetic makeup, ethnicity, and metabolic profile. This individualized perspective rejects standardized BMI charts that fail to account for crucial biological differences. When maintained within 5-10% throughout life, this authentic weight serves as a cornerstone of long-term health.

What makes Dr. Poothulill's insights particularly fascinating is his exploration of how modern eating habits disconnect us from our body's natural regulatory mechanisms. Children instinctively eat when hungry and stop when satisfied, but adults override these signals due to social conditioning, marketing influences, and distracted eating. By reconnecting with natural hunger cues and chewing food thoroughly, we allow our taste receptors to identify nutrients and signal the brain about what and how much we need.

Perhaps most provocatively, Dr. Poothulill identifies grain-based carbohydrates as a primary driver of obesity and diabetes epidemics worldwide. Following the agricultural revolution, refined grains became our cheapest, most accessible food source, yet our bodies lack specific taste receptors for complex carbohydrates – which is why we rarely enjoy plain rice or bread without adding fats, salt, or sauces. This disconnect leads to overconsumption without satisfaction.

Ready to transform your relationship with food? Discover Dr. Poothulill's books "Diabetes: The Real Cause and the Right Cure" and "Beat the Unwanted Weight Gain" on Amazon, and visit his website at drjohnonhealth.com to learn more about his revolutionary approach to weight management and disease prevention.

Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600

00:00 - Introduction to Dr. John Puthleo

08:49 - Finding Your Authentic Weight

21:30 - Why We Regain Lost Weight

30:54 - Listening To Body's Hunger Signals

39:38 - Breaking Old Eating Patterns

44:18 - Problems With Grain-Based Carbohydrates

49:50 - Exercise Myth and Blood Sugar

WEBVTT

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Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball, if you believe you can achieve.

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Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire and a few guests that teach, motivate and inspire.

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Today, I am joined by award-winning author and nationally syndicated health expert, dr John Puthleo.

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John's going to be talking about things like how to beat weight gain, diabetes and all about his books and everything that he's up to.

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So let's get it started, dr Puthle.

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Thank you so much for joining me today.

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Thank you for having me and I thank the audience who will be listening and viewing.

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Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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Well, I come from India.

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I did my medical training in India.

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I went to Scotland to do an internship.

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I came to the United States in 1970, did residency and fellowship in the American Board of Pediatrics, canadian Board of Pediatrics, american Board of Allergy and Immunology.

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During my practice, I noticed my patients gaining weight, some of them developing diabetes and even, in spite of treatment, many of them having complications of diabetes, such as kidney damage, damage to their eyesight, heart attacks, dementia, alzheimer's.

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So I was curious why are they having these complications in spite of taking insulin and keeping their blood sugar normal sugar normal?

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So this is why this is what I started my journey on how to finding out what is natural regulatory mechanisms of food intake, how overweight happens and the complications such as diabetes.

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How do they happen and what to do about it to treat it as well as to prevent it.

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How do they happen and what to do about it to treat it as well as to prevent it.

00:02:28.262 --> 00:02:39.468
Okay, well, I know you also talk about seven ways to lose weight and not regain the weight, so can you talk about those seven ways?

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Yes, the thing is, many people lose weight using a prescribed dietary program or restricted calorie intake and they succeed.

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But then what happens?

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How do you not address how to prevent the weight from coming back?

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That is what motivated me to help people who are losing weight or who have lost weight reach their optimum weight, but then they start regaining.

00:03:21.967 --> 00:03:26.735
So let's go back and say why do we lose weight?

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How do we lose weight?

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If you take in less calories compared to what you're spending, then the body draws the stored energy that is stored as fat for metabolic actions to produce energy.

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That is fine.

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Metabolic actions to produce energy that is fine.

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But in order to maintain your natural body functions, the body needs over 100 different nutrients.

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So how do you provide the body all the nutrients at the right time in the right amount?

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If you don't, you start regaining the weight back because you go back to the old way of eating.

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So the first thing is to find out.

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I will take one by one and you can ask after each one.

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I will stop and then you can ask for the clarification if you need to.

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The first one is what exactly is what I call your authentic weight?

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Because if you look at the weight chart or the BMI table.

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It is based on white ethnic background in the United States.

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Go back to the history.

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How did the weight chart come about?

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It is a recording of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, who compiled the voluntarily reported height and weight of insurance-seeking people to determine what weight and what height was contributing to early illness, death or longevity.

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That is how the weight and height table came about.

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It was not actually measured.

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It was reported weight and height.

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Nobody verified it.

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It was reported weight and height, nobody verified it.

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Then they found out they applied that to every person in the world because we learned in our medical school in India 60 years ago the same thing.

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So that has been the standard all over the world.

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So people are classified regardless of their genetic makeup, their ethnic background, their food habits.

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The same way but that is in last year, 2024, the American Medical Association suggested that the same BMI chart and the weight table will not be applicable to individual without considering their genetic makeup, their food habits, their illnesses and all those things.

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So the first chapter is how to find your own, what I call authentic weight.

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Any questions?

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No, well said.

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Okay.

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So the what I mean by by that is ordinarily each ethnic group come from a different background, different genetic disposition, different type of cuisine and some people if you have excess food for generations you will have a larger storage capacity.

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In other words, you can be the same height, but one person can weigh 150 pounds.

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Another person can weigh 200 pounds same height.

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So which one is right?

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That depends on how much fat storage capacity you inherited.

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Inherited, because as long as the fat is outside the blood, it does not cause you any medical problems, but if it stays in the blood, then it blocks the arteries, producing heart attack, stroke, kidney problems and all that.

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So that is where you have to determine what is your own authentic weight.

00:07:45.194 --> 00:07:54.334
So the next question is how do you identify or determine what is your authentic weight?

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In most cases, you reach your authentic weight in the mid-20s.

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Why mid-twenties?

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Why mid-twenties?

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Because that is when you have reached your maximum height and your bone density is the maximum.

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Remember, your weight is a compound measurement of your muscle weight, your bone weight, your fat weight, your water weight, all of or organ weight.

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All of these are included in your total weight.

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So the maximum height is and the bone density.

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They are reached by mid-20s.

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So if your blood test shows normal fasting blood sugar, normal triglyceride, normal cholesterol, that weight is your authentic weight.

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So as long as you keep close to it not more than 5 to 7, maximum 10% deviation as you get older, you are going to be fine okay yep, you're good, keep on going okay.

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so that is what you have to keep tab on.

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That is your authentic weight, that is what you want to keep for the rest of your life and you are going to be fine.

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But if you deviate from that, then the question is why?

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That is the second chapter.

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If you don't put in more calories than you are spending, then you are going to store it in the body as fat.

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So what we have to look at is what is making you overeat?

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That's the second chapter.

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Unless you identify your own reasons, the reason that you eat excess, you cannot collect it.

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Yes, you can lose weight by reducing the amount of calories you take in, but in order to maintain it, you have to match it.

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And in order to match it, you need to know what nutrients, how much or what food group, how much each time you sit down to eat.

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Let me ask you this question Can you tell me when you are going to feel hungry next?

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Can you?

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No, okay.

00:10:36.341 --> 00:10:40.832
How does the brain know when to create the sensation of hunger?

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See, your body is using nutrients 24-7, every minute.

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Yet you are not hungry all the time.

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It comes from time to time.

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How does the brain know, right?

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Absolutely.

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It's amazing how the brain can tell you when you're hungry.

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Right?

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So the best example is look at a toddler, a child, two to six years of age.

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Grandma makes so many things to feed the child.

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The child will come and eat only when he or she is hungry, not because grandma made it, but because the child is hungry.

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What do adults do If somebody offers food?

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It doesn't matter whether you are hungry or not, you will eat it, just to taste it or to please the host.

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Secondly, the child will pick and choose what he or she wants.

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Grandma made 10 things.

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The child may take three or four.

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The next time, grandma make more of the three or four the child enjoyed, but the child may not even touch it.

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You've done something else.

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So what do we do if somebody makes it?

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Oh, I have to taste it because the host took so much trouble.

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Or it is an all-you-can-eat buffet.

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I need to try everything to get my money's worth, right, absolutely Okay.

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The third thing is when the child is satisfied.

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The child could care less how much is left on the plate, whereas an adult, once you put it on the plate, you don't want to waste it.

00:12:32.091 --> 00:12:38.461
You would rather put it on your waist rather than put it in the wastebasket, right?

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Especially if it's something good, especially if it's something good Right.

00:12:44.984 --> 00:13:00.129
So one time I was counseling 10 white American adults about their weight loss and I asked them the same question what makes you clean up the plate?

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Oh, that is how our parents taught us.

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I said why?

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Because there were starving children in India and Africa and China.

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So you have to finish what you are eating, don't waste the food.

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So I said.

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Now I grew up in India, some days I didn't feel hungry.

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Now I know why.

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I said they asked why?

00:13:22.558 --> 00:13:26.364
Because you were all eating for me.

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So that does not make sense.

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You have to.

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You don't have to eat clean your plate just because somebody else is hungry.

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But so the best way is put smaller quantities, enjoy them and then, if you want, if you need more, you go and take some more.

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So that is what I in the second chapter.

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Any questions?

00:14:04.436 --> 00:14:15.600
Yeah, and, and you can kind of, you know, know, talk about this as you go along, but, uh, why you, why you're discussing this, discuss, you know, misleading food labels and how can you decode them?

00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:19.024
You know, like, if you're trying to eat healthy or you're trying to avoid certain things.

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Okay, that's the third chapter.

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Pay attention to your signals of hunger and satiation.

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So when somebody offers the food, the first question is am I hungry or am I eating because I'm conditioned, because I know this food is tasty because of my previous encounter with this food.

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I enjoyed it.

00:14:48.253 --> 00:14:52.966
So I am sure to enjoy it right now, whether I'm hungry or not.

00:14:52.966 --> 00:15:10.068
So the first question is am I really hungry or am I eating because I want to enjoy the taste of food, what's called the conditioned aspect?

00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:16.666
You know you drink alcohol because you get conditioned to it, you are habituated to it.

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You put too much salt because that is what you have enjoyed it before.

00:15:21.532 --> 00:15:26.702
So it is strictly for enjoyment, which is what is called the dopamine effect.

00:15:26.702 --> 00:15:38.692
That is there in the body to help you locate or take food that is immediately needed for function.

00:15:38.692 --> 00:15:42.182
So the first question is am I truly hungry?

00:15:43.767 --> 00:15:47.035
If you are hungry, then you start.

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How do you know whether you are truly hungry or not?

00:15:51.429 --> 00:15:59.330
The first thing is when you put that food in the mouth, that first bite tastes so good.

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If you are not hungry, the intensity of enjoyment will not be as much as you will have when you are hungry.

00:16:10.332 --> 00:16:12.240
After a few minutes have when you are hungry.

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After a few minutes, your enjoyment, the intensity of enjoyment, starts going down.

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That is the time you have to reconsider, reevaluate.

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Do I still need it?

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If you are not sure, take a sip of water and then try it again, why?

00:16:34.668 --> 00:16:47.715
Let me ask you this question Before when can you predict when you are going to be thirsty the next time?

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Well, I would say, you know, if you were out on a hot summer day and you were out in the yard, I mean, you might not be able to predict the actual time, but you know you're going to be thirsty.

00:17:03.515 --> 00:17:06.387
So I would say maybe sometimes.

00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:14.550
Right, but then when you are thirsty, can you predetermine how much water will it take to quench your thirst?

00:17:15.271 --> 00:17:15.893
You cannot.

00:17:16.554 --> 00:17:23.670
Cannot, and each time when you are thirsty, the quantity that takes to quench your thirst will be different.

00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:24.672
Right.

00:17:25.833 --> 00:17:27.115
Yes, okay.

00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:32.531
Now if I blindfold you and give you something to drink?

00:17:32.531 --> 00:17:44.339
Now if I blindfold you and give you something to drink you will know immediately whether it is water, wine, beer, coffee, tea, right yes.

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How do you know that?

00:17:46.561 --> 00:17:54.250
Well, I would say, if you've drank these things before, you would know what they are, but maybe, if you have not, you might not know what it is.

00:17:54.852 --> 00:17:58.155
But when you identify them, how do you identify them?

00:17:58.155 --> 00:18:06.761
By your taste buds?

00:18:06.761 --> 00:18:07.702
Exactly that's what I'm looking for.

00:18:07.702 --> 00:18:12.128
What I'm suggesting is you know, by the time you finish drinking, your thirst is quenched.

00:18:12.128 --> 00:18:16.115
But the world is that water, that water is still in your stomach, right?

00:18:16.115 --> 00:18:20.582
It has not been absorbed into the body yet.

00:18:20.582 --> 00:18:21.383
Is that correct?

00:18:22.044 --> 00:18:22.664
That's correct.

00:18:23.445 --> 00:18:25.607
So how does the brain know you had enough?

00:18:25.607 --> 00:18:27.611
Because the quantity is different.

00:18:27.611 --> 00:18:36.251
If it is based on fullness of the stomach, you should drink the same quantity of water before your thirst is quenched.

00:18:36.251 --> 00:18:45.188
Because of the variation in the volume, it has to be something other than the volume capacity of the stomach.

00:18:45.188 --> 00:18:49.349
How does the brain know you have enough water?

00:18:49.349 --> 00:18:53.173
You consumed enough to quench your thirst at that time.

00:18:53.173 --> 00:18:55.079
Any idea.

00:18:58.046 --> 00:19:04.920
I don't know, but I will say that God is amazing and he made an amazing thing when he created the body.

00:19:06.722 --> 00:19:10.910
Well, yes, that is true, but how does it function?

00:19:10.910 --> 00:19:12.593
That is what we need to know.

00:19:12.593 --> 00:19:20.301
The mechanism is there, but how do we apply the mechanism?

00:19:20.301 --> 00:19:29.194
What I am suggesting is those taste buds that identify between different types of drinks that you take.

00:19:29.194 --> 00:19:33.671
That is what God gave us to identification.

00:19:33.671 --> 00:19:36.489
But God also added something else.

00:19:36.489 --> 00:19:39.183
That is those taste buds.

00:19:39.183 --> 00:19:42.913
They can meter how much is going down.

00:19:42.913 --> 00:19:48.751
You see, the brain already knows what your water deficit is, the quantity.

00:19:48.751 --> 00:19:55.792
When the metering tells the brain this much has gone down, the brain says, okay, that's it.

00:19:55.792 --> 00:19:58.145
Does that make sense?

00:20:00.381 --> 00:20:01.403
Yes, that makes sense.

00:20:02.066 --> 00:20:02.307
Okay.

00:20:02.307 --> 00:20:12.923
That is why we are satisfied different volumes of water at different times, even before that water is absorbed into the body.

00:20:12.923 --> 00:20:30.627
What I'm suggesting in this book is that we have a similar mechanism for solid foods also In order to identify the type of solid nutrients.

00:20:30.627 --> 00:20:34.835
Remember, body needs over 100 different nutrients.

00:20:34.835 --> 00:20:40.718
You cannot get all of them from one food group or from one meal.

00:20:40.718 --> 00:20:44.390
That is why we get hungry at different times of the day.

00:20:44.390 --> 00:20:50.971
How many times you eat, it doesn't matter, as long as you eat in response to hunger.

00:20:50.971 --> 00:20:57.051
But the type of food you eat should be based on what the body needs.

00:20:57.051 --> 00:20:59.467
And how does the body know that?

00:20:59.467 --> 00:21:10.452
That is when you chew the food it releases nutrients that the taste buds and mouth receptors can identify and report to the brain.

00:21:10.452 --> 00:21:18.102
Identify and report to the brain.

00:21:18.102 --> 00:21:21.973
Now, each time, is there any food in nature that adult humans can get nutrients from without chewing?

00:21:24.365 --> 00:21:25.228
I would say drinking.

00:21:26.121 --> 00:21:31.411
Yeah well, drinking will not give you all the nutrients you need, so you have to chew.

00:21:31.411 --> 00:21:41.409
Why did nature pack every nutrient human body needs in containers that require chewing?

00:21:41.409 --> 00:21:57.772
Because chewing causes release of nutrients at a rate where the receptors can pick up and report to the brain how much is going down, not only what nutrient is going down.

00:21:57.772 --> 00:22:07.474
What is happening is, in the modern age, the foods that we eat require practically no chewing.

00:22:07.474 --> 00:22:09.222
How much can you chew rice?

00:22:09.222 --> 00:22:14.730
How much can you chew pasta, bread, cake, cupcake?

00:22:14.730 --> 00:22:18.201
So what happens when you stop chewing?

00:22:18.201 --> 00:22:24.935
You swallow, so eating foods that require less and less.

00:22:24.935 --> 00:22:28.782
And nowadays some people blend the food, puree the food.

00:22:28.782 --> 00:22:30.445
How much do you chew?

00:22:30.445 --> 00:22:31.847
You don't.

00:22:31.847 --> 00:22:37.582
So you just keep going down as if you're vacuuming it into the stomach.

00:22:37.582 --> 00:22:48.067
That is why you end up overeating, because you are not paying attention to the signals of hunger and satiation.

00:22:48.067 --> 00:22:51.457
That is the third.

00:22:51.457 --> 00:22:52.480
Any questions?

00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:56.433
That is the third, any questions?

00:22:57.564 --> 00:23:02.661
Nope, no questions, okay, okay.

00:23:02.661 --> 00:23:20.357
The next is you have to identify what is your old way of eating that led you to gain weight and have complications that led you to gain weight and have complications.

00:23:20.357 --> 00:23:36.722
So the simple thing is if you go to do grocery shopping when you are hungry, you are likely to buy more things because everything looks appealing, and if the shop provides free samples, you are going to eat it at that time because you want.

00:23:36.722 --> 00:23:37.385
You're hungry.

00:23:37.385 --> 00:23:51.142
So you have to go back and look at what made you buy more food, prepare more food, eat more food.

00:23:51.142 --> 00:23:51.963
Eat more food.

00:23:51.963 --> 00:23:59.446
It may be family settings, it may be the environment, it may be the habit of celebrations.

00:23:59.446 --> 00:24:02.673
Oh, if it is an anniversary, yes, you have to do it.

00:24:02.673 --> 00:24:07.344
If it is a birthday, you have to participate.

00:24:07.344 --> 00:24:09.265
So if it is a religious ceremony, you have to do this.

00:24:09.265 --> 00:24:12.167
So, if it is a religious ceremony, you have to do this.

00:24:12.167 --> 00:24:21.977
So there are customs, there are behavior patterns based on society, your ethnicity, your background, your celebrations.

00:24:21.977 --> 00:24:29.236
You don't need a reason just to get together, have a good time.

00:24:29.236 --> 00:24:29.640
And what do you do?

00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:38.759
Food is the central theme, do?

00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:40.103
Food is the central theme, and that is what is happening.

00:24:40.103 --> 00:24:41.906
That causes excess intake and weight gain.

00:24:41.906 --> 00:24:46.241
So you have to analyze each one when you go shopping.

00:24:46.742 --> 00:24:50.209
Don't go shopping on an empty stomach or when you're hungry.

00:24:50.209 --> 00:24:53.675
Make a list of exactly what you need.

00:24:53.675 --> 00:25:01.087
Don't buy on impulse or by visual, because the vendors, the people who want to sell.

00:25:01.087 --> 00:25:12.173
They make it so attractive in the box or in the display case and you're tempted to buy it, whether you need it or not.

00:25:12.173 --> 00:25:25.984
You are tempted to buy it whether you need it or not, and then they do something else that you don't know, that is, they make the taste of the food so enjoyable by adding more salt, more sugar, more fat.

00:25:25.984 --> 00:25:29.464
You take one bite and you are hooked.

00:25:29.464 --> 00:25:30.808
You have to have it.

00:25:30.808 --> 00:25:35.951
There are some advertisements that you cannot take this just by one.

00:25:35.951 --> 00:25:38.247
You have to keep on eating.

00:25:38.247 --> 00:25:48.311
And once you develop that habit, then you are stuck and you associate eating with certain activities.

00:25:48.311 --> 00:25:51.630
Watching a ball game you have to have your popcorn.

00:25:51.630 --> 00:25:53.503
Watching a movie you have to have your popcorn.

00:25:53.503 --> 00:25:57.230
Watching a movie, you have to have your popcorn, or something else you eat.

00:25:58.512 --> 00:26:18.309
The problem here is human brain can concentrate only one thing at a time, for example, if you are listening and concentrating to what I am saying, and and if somebody else starts talking, you have to choose, or you cannot do a math at the same time.

00:26:18.309 --> 00:26:21.405
When you are talking to somebody else, you have to choose one or the other.

00:26:21.405 --> 00:26:32.006
So if you are watching something and if you are eating, the visual signals take precedence over the taste signals, so you won't even know what you are eating.

00:26:32.006 --> 00:26:34.192
You won't even know how much you are eating.

00:26:34.192 --> 00:26:36.579
Signals take precedence over the taste signals, so you won't even know what you're eating.

00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:38.663
You won't even know how much you're eating.

00:26:38.663 --> 00:26:40.770
You will know only when your plate is empty.

00:26:40.770 --> 00:26:47.065
Secondly, when you go for an all-you-can-eat buffet, there are a hundred items.

00:26:47.065 --> 00:26:51.349
How many would you choose, mr Jackson?

00:26:53.740 --> 00:26:58.011
As many of the items as I like and that I enjoy.

00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.865
Okay, how many Give me a number?

00:27:02.865 --> 00:27:05.970
How many Just out of curiosity?

00:27:06.250 --> 00:27:06.991
I would say three.

00:27:08.074 --> 00:27:08.334
Three?

00:27:08.334 --> 00:27:11.765
Yes, most people would say between three and six.

00:27:11.765 --> 00:27:14.192
Based on what?

00:27:17.901 --> 00:27:29.191
For me, it would be based on what I enjoy Like if I have, like if they have chicken steak and, let's say, mashed potatoes, well, I really like those, so I'm going to choose those.

00:27:29.814 --> 00:27:29.994
Right.

00:27:29.994 --> 00:27:33.550
So let's say we go for lunch.

00:27:33.550 --> 00:27:41.674
You took those three items based on your previous experience and expectation of what they will give you the enjoyment.

00:27:41.674 --> 00:27:49.506
Suppose we go back to the same buffet for supper, will you take exactly the same three things?

00:27:52.511 --> 00:27:56.372
Maybe not, I might try some different things.

00:27:56.813 --> 00:27:59.005
Most people would say they would take something different.

00:27:59.005 --> 00:28:03.686
Why, if you enjoyed it for lunch, why can't you enjoy it for supper?

00:28:06.523 --> 00:28:14.445
Well, I guess I can say I can eat fried chicken and fish all the time, so if they got that, I might choose the same thing.

00:28:15.760 --> 00:28:20.207
You might do it for a day or two, but on the third day you will get tired of that.

00:28:20.207 --> 00:28:21.730
Why?

00:28:21.730 --> 00:28:32.146
Because the nutrients you got from the chicken or the three things that you ate for lunch, they are still in the body.

00:28:32.146 --> 00:28:40.032
But the brain gets information from different organs and sites in the body that other nutrients are needed.

00:28:40.032 --> 00:28:52.882
And because of your previous experience, the subconscious mind knows which food will provide the nutrients needed at this time for supper.

00:28:52.882 --> 00:29:03.192
So it sends a message to the conscious part of the brain oh, the other one looks more appealing for supper compared to lunch.

00:29:03.192 --> 00:29:06.185
The other one looks better than chicken and you choose those.

00:29:06.185 --> 00:29:18.424
So this is how you listen to your own brain and make a decision, rather than what you are used to, what you are conditioned with.

00:29:18.424 --> 00:29:37.395
So that is how you break your old eating habits and go on to a new one to help your body bring in the nutrients that your body needs, so that you will not overeat something.

00:29:37.395 --> 00:29:40.005
Does that make sense?

00:29:41.189 --> 00:29:42.113
Yes, sir, it does.

00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:43.660
Okay.

00:29:43.660 --> 00:29:55.432
So the next one is reduce the consumption of grain-based carbohydrates.

00:29:55.432 --> 00:30:00.727
Okay, let me give you the reasoning behind that.

00:30:00.727 --> 00:30:08.923
The agricultural revolution happened about 60 years ago.

00:30:08.923 --> 00:30:15.502
15 to 20 years after that, we started having the obesity epidemic.

00:30:15.502 --> 00:30:20.941
10 years after that, we started the diabetic epidemic.

00:30:20.941 --> 00:30:30.740
Now we are in the cancer epidemic and the next is going to be dementia and Alzheimer's.

00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:37.663
The incidence of these are increasing as the time I mentioned.

00:30:37.663 --> 00:30:39.895
The question is why.

00:30:39.895 --> 00:30:53.000
Every government in the world subsidized grain farming so that they can feed the maximum number of people in each country.

00:30:53.000 --> 00:31:00.557
The result is grain-based foods became the cheapest food available.

00:31:00.557 --> 00:31:15.944
So all the marketing companies food marketing companies they could make cheaper versions of food plates using grains and grain flours.

00:31:15.944 --> 00:31:36.185
The Industrial Revolution made milling and refining much more simple, so there were different types of flour from different grains that chefs all over the world now use to make very attractive dishes.

00:31:36.185 --> 00:31:49.825
Now let me ask you this question If I give you plain boiled rice, can you enjoy it by itself?

00:31:52.151 --> 00:31:54.364
I can, but I like butter in mine.

00:31:55.028 --> 00:31:55.269
Correct.

00:31:55.269 --> 00:32:08.945
So what you're enjoying is the butter or what you add to the rice the sauce or something else than the rice.

00:32:08.945 --> 00:32:11.698
Why can't we enjoy rice?

00:32:11.698 --> 00:32:15.233
You know why?

00:32:15.635 --> 00:32:16.499
I think you can.

00:32:16.499 --> 00:32:22.295
I just think you know people are used to having it with gravy or you know something like that.

00:32:23.198 --> 00:32:23.459
Right.

00:32:23.459 --> 00:32:27.157
Very few people can enjoy rice by itself.

00:32:27.157 --> 00:32:31.134
It may take one or two tablespoons, but after that there's no taste.

00:32:31.134 --> 00:32:37.424
The reason is each the grains contain complex carbohydrate.

00:32:37.424 --> 00:32:46.085
Each molecule of a complex carbohydrate can have up to 200,000 molecules of glucose.

00:32:46.085 --> 00:32:48.862
To 200,000 molecules of glucose.

00:32:48.862 --> 00:32:57.803
It is pure glucose, attached one to the other and we don't have a taste receptor to receive the complex carbohydrate.

00:32:57.803 --> 00:33:34.365
We have a receptor to detect simple sugars, glucose, fructose, maltose, lactose, such as cane sugar, fruit sugar, then that kind of honey fructose, that kind of sugars, but not the compressed carbohydrate, unless it is digested in the mouth and then it releases two maltose, which is two glucose molecules together and that the taste buds, the sweet sensing taste buds, can detect.

00:33:34.365 --> 00:33:41.205
So when you don't enjoy it, it gives you the feeling of bulk.

00:33:41.205 --> 00:33:53.417
The fullness the mouth feel and the enjoyment comes from what you add to the rice and you just keep eating because there is no chewing involved, so you just keep swallowing.

00:33:53.417 --> 00:33:56.971
You tend to eat more than what you need.

00:33:56.971 --> 00:34:11.434
In my way of thinking, grains were never meant for humans, otherwise we would have had beaks to pick them up and the ability to digest the chaff.

00:34:11.434 --> 00:34:37.820
We don't, but with the milling and refining made it possible for people to eat enormous quantities of grain-based foods, and the marketing companies make it more attractive by adding more salt.

00:34:37.820 --> 00:34:45.137
Can you enjoy bread made without any salt?

00:34:45.137 --> 00:34:46.440
Try that.

00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:59.121
That is the reason why you eat more of grain-based carbohydrate In the old days before the agricultural revolution.

00:35:00.849 --> 00:35:07.003
The best example is the Native Americans who were brought to the reservations in the year 1900.

00:35:07.003 --> 00:35:17.242
They had complete physical examination and they did not have practically any type 2 diabetes.

00:35:17.242 --> 00:35:42.750
They did not have very much cancer and they had very few people with heart disease, even though the number of people 80 to 100, were higher than the white population residing in the same area per 100,000 people.

00:35:42.750 --> 00:35:55.329
If you take 100,000 white people and 100,000 Native Americans, the Native Americans had more older age group but less incidence of these chronic conditions.

00:35:55.329 --> 00:35:56.070
Why?

00:35:57.592 --> 00:36:11.692
If you look at their eating habits, they moved from one food source to another food source to another.

00:36:11.692 --> 00:36:32.547
They ate everything fish, meat, fruits, grains, fruits, nuts, berries, yams, birds but they did not eat one thing, that is, they did not stay in one place to cultivate any grains or eat grain-based foods.

00:36:32.547 --> 00:36:54.085
However, when they came to the reservation, what they got most was grain-based foods, and now their incidence of type 2 diabetes is double that of white Americans living in the around the reservations, and the incidence of cancer is also higher.

00:36:54.085 --> 00:37:11.867
So this is where I'm coming from that reduce the intake of grain-based carbohydrates and you can reduce incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes and even cancer.

00:37:11.867 --> 00:37:29.983
Before the agricultural revolution, the percentage of complex carbohydrate that gave food energy for daily living was less than 35% of total daily energy intake.

00:37:29.983 --> 00:37:34.800
Now in the developed countries it is 50%.

00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:39.322
In developing countries it is 60 to 70%.

00:37:39.322 --> 00:37:47.840
This is the reason we are having the increasing incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:51.096
Any questions?

00:37:52.510 --> 00:37:53.273
That makes sense.

00:37:54.677 --> 00:37:55.139
Very good.

00:37:55.139 --> 00:38:00.282
So the question is why are we eating?

00:38:00.282 --> 00:38:11.364
We have to remember we are eating to maintain our health and to feel great.

00:38:11.364 --> 00:38:15.179
Feeling great has two components.

00:38:15.179 --> 00:38:36.860
One is you want to enjoy what you eat when you eat, because enjoyment of food is one of the few, or one of the only pressure, I should say, that you can enjoy to the fullest multiple times a day, from the time you are born until you die.

00:38:36.860 --> 00:38:42.822
Is there anything else you can enjoy so many times a day to the fullest extent?

00:38:42.822 --> 00:38:45.356
Can you think of anything else?

00:38:48.152 --> 00:38:50.713
I can't think of nothing off the top of my head.

00:38:51.335 --> 00:38:51.617
Right.

00:38:51.617 --> 00:39:08.097
So that is what how nature made us, or God made us, to be able to take in and enjoy what we have, what we are given at the time, but in moderation.

00:39:08.097 --> 00:39:10.472
How do you decide the moderation?

00:39:10.472 --> 00:39:28.806
That is where, if you put a baby within hour of birth, if you put the baby on the mother's chest, the baby will reach the breast and start sucking the nipple without any training.

00:39:28.806 --> 00:39:30.295
How does that happen?

00:39:30.295 --> 00:39:36.641
And the baby decides when to drink, how much to drink and when to stop.

00:39:36.641 --> 00:39:40.981
So we have that faculty from the day we are born.

00:39:40.981 --> 00:39:44.478
Why do we change it?

00:39:44.478 --> 00:39:46.978
Why do we eat more than we need?

00:39:46.978 --> 00:39:50.219
Do you know when it starts going bad?

00:39:52.851 --> 00:39:58.679
Probably when we get you know to, maybe like five, six years old, I would guess.

00:39:59.309 --> 00:40:01.197
Exactly, you hit it right.

00:40:01.197 --> 00:40:03.777
You know why, at six years old.

00:40:06.452 --> 00:40:15.476
Well, probably because we're exposed to more foods and different things that's good for us, and different things that's not so good for us.

00:40:16.931 --> 00:40:18.956
How does the child know that?

00:40:18.956 --> 00:40:20.420
You know why?

00:40:20.420 --> 00:40:24.380
Because they start listening to their parents.

00:40:24.380 --> 00:40:30.893
Their parents tell you okay, you better eat that, that's good for you.

00:40:30.893 --> 00:40:32.853
If you want to get tall, eat this.

00:40:32.853 --> 00:40:34.639
If you want to get strong, eat this.

00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:38.994
We don't have time to stop on the way we are traveling.

00:40:38.994 --> 00:40:39.677
Eat this.

00:40:39.677 --> 00:40:42.255
And the school?

00:40:42.255 --> 00:40:44.592
Oh, we have to go for a game.

00:40:44.592 --> 00:40:46.679
You have to bulk up, you have to get strong.

00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:47.449
You have to get strong.

00:40:47.449 --> 00:40:50.519
You need to play football, you need more muscles.

00:40:51.210 --> 00:41:04.539
The child disconnects the natural control mechanism and eat based on what the parents tell, what the school wants, what the sports, the coach wants.

00:41:04.539 --> 00:41:13.079
You disconnect the natural control mechanisms and start eating with a different objective.

00:41:13.079 --> 00:41:15.931
So you need to reset.

00:41:15.931 --> 00:41:29.775
If you are already older, you're starting to have too much weight, too much fat in your blood, too much triglycerides, your blood sugar is going up, your cholesterol is going up.

00:41:29.775 --> 00:41:33.500
You need a reset and say why am I eating?

00:41:33.500 --> 00:41:37.681
I'm eating for my health and to feel great.

00:41:38.510 --> 00:41:40.856
Feeling great starts with each meal.

00:41:40.856 --> 00:41:48.840
Take your time, enjoy it and when the intensity of enjoyment is reduced, stop eating.

00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:56.822
You can always go back and eat again when you are hungry, but then this requirement will be different.

00:41:56.822 --> 00:42:12.871
Your brain will calculate, recalculate and say which food you need at this time compared to the previous one time, compared to the previous one.

00:42:12.871 --> 00:42:13.914
Never eat until you feel full in your stomach.

00:42:13.914 --> 00:42:15.275
Just like you will not drink until your stomach is full.

00:42:15.275 --> 00:42:17.981
You stop drinking when your thirst is quenched.

00:42:17.981 --> 00:42:28.085
Similarly, you stop eating and the intensity of enjoyment goes down, not when you feel full in your stomach.

00:42:28.085 --> 00:42:32.501
If you eat until your stomach is full, you have eaten too much.

00:42:32.501 --> 00:42:52.010
So eat for good health and not feel great, and not to fill up your stomach or to get your money's worth or to please your host or any other reason, only because you enjoy the food.

00:42:52.010 --> 00:42:56.438
And when the degree of enjoyment is reduced, you stop eating.

00:42:57.800 --> 00:43:05.177
Any questions nope, I don't have any questions, but we have about 10 minutes left.

00:43:07.581 --> 00:43:08.963
Okay, that's about the right time.

00:43:08.963 --> 00:43:09.804
Now.

00:43:09.804 --> 00:43:11.206
The seventh step.

00:43:11.206 --> 00:43:16.867
We already discussed six steps.

00:43:16.867 --> 00:43:19.813
The seventh is what is the value of exercise?

00:43:19.813 --> 00:43:27.048
Every time you go to a doctor and say, oh, doc, I'm gaining weight, he said, oh, diet and exercise.

00:43:27.048 --> 00:43:33.152
Okay, what is?

00:43:33.152 --> 00:43:36.690

Decoding Hunger: Dr. John Poothulill's Revolutionary Approach to Weight Management

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Decoding Hunger: Dr. John Poothulill's Revolutionary Approach to Weight Management