Skipping a daily snack could change your fate in more ways than one

Today, let’s talk about an easy, powerful way to transform your everyday health.

Because get this: New research shows that simply cutting your daily calorie intake by about 300 calories—that’s just a couple of cookies—could change your body composition and cardio-metabolic risk profile for the better within only two years. Which, in turn, could significantly reduce your risk of heart disease.

Okay, so maybe that’s not news to us. And let’s not pretend that all calories are created equal. Still, this is mainstream science I can finally get behind. Because as you’ll see, it’s proof that even the smallest steps can take you a very long way…

Small losses, big gains

These results come from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE). The trial featured more than 200 subjects up to 50 years old, all normal weight or slightly overweight, and healthy.

The goal for the intervention was to reduce calorie intake by 25 percent. But actual intakes fell short of this mark, with average calorie reductions coming in closer to 12 percent over two years, yielding an average weight loss of 16.5 pounds.

So even a relatively small change was enough to warrant weight loss. And that wasn’t the only positive outcome…

Calorie cutters also saw significant improvements in cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity, metabolic syndrome scores, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Meanwhile, there were no such changes in subjects who stuck with their normal diets.

And here’s the best part: Subjects saw these cardio-metabolic improvements despite the fact that they weren’t hitting their targets for either daily calorie intake or weight loss. Which means that drastic change isn’t necessary to win the fight against diabetes.

Once again, small, consistent changes make a powerful difference.

Stopping the incessant snacking culture

None of this is to downplay the metabolic and cardio-protective benefits of calorie restriction as a whole—which extend way beyond weight loss. Or the fact that there’s more to weight loss than the simple “calories in, calories out” philosophy.

But the fact is, everyone could benefit from snacking less. And giving up those little indiscretions—the piece of candy here and there at the office, or the bag of chips before dinner—will go a long way toward improving your heart’s health.

Because as this study showed, even modest calorie restrictions led to dramatic drops in triglycerides, as well as the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL—in other words, less of the “bad” cholesterol, and more of the “good” kind.

Bottom line? Previous research has linked even small weight gains—a mere twelve pounds—in young and middle aged adults with drastic increases in diabetes, heart disease, obesity-related cancer, and early death.

So if shaving just 300 calories off your daily intake means you could change your fate, why wouldn’t you?

P.S. Want more details on how to keep diabetes at bay through small dietary changes? My Metabolic Repair Protocol offers a drug-free plan for preventing and reversing Type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Click here to learn more, or to sign up for this online learning tool today!

Source:

“Cut Just 300 Calories a Day to Benefit Heart, Even in the Healthy.” Medscape Medical News, 07/15/2019. (medscape.com/viewarticle/915609)