Research by Dr. Richard Johnson, now published in his book “The Fat Switch,” has led to a groundbreaking approach to preventing and reversing obesity. He found that hibernating animals regulate their body weight with distinct periods of gaining and losing fat, which has been an enormously useful adaption advantage. This ability to gain “hibernation fat” – which create all the same symptoms as metabolic syndrome – appears to be regulated by a switch in the mitochondria that is turned on and off by a common food that no longer provides survival advantage to humans living in contemporary society, namely fructose.
What his research shows is that metabolic syndrome is actually a normal condition that animals undergo to store fat. It also shows that fructose consumption increases uric acid production, which causally (directly) contributes to obesity and insulin resistance. So, in a nutshell, fructose-containing sugars cause obesity not due to calories, but by turning on your fat switch, triggering your body to very effectively store fat.
Effective treatment of obesity therefore requires turning off your fat switch – by avoiding fructose, which is the trigger – and improving the function of your cells’ mitochondria.
According to Dr. Johnson:
“Those of us who are obese eat more because of a faulty ‘switch,’ and exercise less because of a low energy state. If you can learn how to control the specific ‘switch’ located in the powerhouse of each of your cells – the mitochondria – you hold the key to fighting obesity.”
I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book, which has been described as the “Holy Grail” for those struggling with their weight. Dietary sugar is a significant “tripper of your fat switch,” so let’s now examine the relationship of sugar to your heart and blood vessels.
