How to Burn Fat–Dr. Berg Explains

Let's talk about the basics of how to burn fat .

It's very important , and this is not about cutting calories .

This is about your hormones .

If you understand the hormones that burn fat and how to trigger them versus the hormones that store fat and how to avoid triggering those , you can be very successful .

I mean , it blows me away when someone goes to the doctor .

They go to an endocrinologist , and they assess their hormones .

And they might say that you have low testosterone , so we're gonna give you testosterone .

But what about the diet ?

That is rarely talked about .

But today , I'm gonna talk about natural things to either increase or decrease your hormones related to one thing , fat burning .

Out of all the hormones related to fat burning is this hormone called insulin .

It's made by the pancreas .

It does a lot of things .

But one of the main things it does is it helps you store fat .

Let's take a look at this book right here called medical physiology .

In the absence of insulin , all of the effects of insulin causing storage of fat are reversed .

So if we wanna increase fat burning , we must lower insulin .

You cannot burn fat if insulin is too high .

You can be doing all these other things to increase all the fat burning hormones .

But if this fat making hormone called insulin is elevated , it nullifies all of the other hormones that help you lose weight .

This is why this information is very important because let's say , for example , you go to the gym or you're exercising .

Right ?

And then you have this pre workout protein bar that's loaded with sugar .

You basically nullified your ability to burn fat .

Or let's say you're working out and you drink your Gatorade filled with glucose .

You just nullified that workout .

The other really interesting thing about insulin is all it takes is a little bit of carb to block a lot of weight loss for a period of time .

So let's say , for example , I don't know , every other day , you drink a little bit of wine or maybe you a piece of bread , just a little bit of carbohydrate .

Your ability to burn fat just went way down .

Now it could take 24 hours or longer to burn fat .

You can't just sorta do it a little bit .

You have to just be all in and do it for a period of time to see the results .

When we talk about what triggers insulin , we have carbohydrates .

Okay ?

What are carbohydrates ?

You have starches , you have fiber and sugars .

Fiber is the only one that will not elevate insulin .

So you don't have to worry about foods very , very high in fiber , like green vegetables , like salad .

They have so much fiber , so little starch that it's not gonna elevate insulin hardly at all .

But typically , you wanna aim for less than 50 grams of carbs per day , not per meal , per day .

But if you really wanna speed it up , I would bring it down to , like , 20 or even less than 20 carbs per day .

The other thing that elevates insulin is eating in general .

It's better to eat less frequent .

So this is called intermittent fasting .

It's not just the carbs .

It's not just the frequency of eating that causes the elevation of insulin .

It is also the seed oils .

They basically trigger insulin resistance .

They create a lot of inflammation , a lot of cellular damage .

And out of all the things that parallel the trend of obesity , it's the seed oils that parallel obesity the most , which is interesting .

Be careful at restaurants .

It's in salad dressing .

The other thing that elevates insulin is MSG , monosodium glutamate .

There's a debate with monosodium glutamate .

I mean , there's if you look this up , it'll say , oh , yeah .

No .

It doesn't elevate insulin .

It won't cause weight gain .

Have you ever been to , a fast food restaurant where they just load you up with MSG or even like a Chinese restaurant , what you're gonna notice is that about an hour later , you are hungry , and it's a lot of hidden sodium , which is gonna make you thirsty .

And if we trick the brain into thinking it's getting some protein when it's really not , you know , within probably an hour and a half , you're gonna , like , start craving something .

The next hormone is estrogen .

Estrogen can make you fat too .

If you've ever heard about estrogen dominance , that's like a woman that has excess weight in the lower part of her body .

And you can elevate estrogen by giving someone birth control pills , hormone replacement therapy , things like that .

Alright .

The 3rd hormone to talk about is Cortisol .

Very important .

I'm gonna show you this book right here .

This is called Encyclopedia of Medical Illustrations Endocrine System .

Okay .

Let's take a look at this right here .

You see this guy right here ?

See that belly ?

It's coming from the adrenals .

So the adrenal glands are pumping out the stress hormone called Cortisol , and it's pushing the fat in the midsection .

Let's take a look at this one right here , too .

Boom .

This is too much cortisol .

You can see the belly .

So the body is going to grab protein from the leg and the Glutimus Maximus , which is your butt muscle , and convert that into sugar and then fat right in the belly .

When you go through stress or you take prednisone , which is a synthetic version of Cortisol , you can gain a lot of weight .

Not just in your belly , but in your face too .

Like they call it a moon face .

So cortisol directs the fat more in the midsection , more than any other place around the gut as a survival mechanism .

You also sometimes will get a buffalo hump in the back of your upper back .

And this Cortisol will also nullify the fat burning hormones .

Okay .

Which I'm gonna talk about next .

Like testosterone .

And also , and this is very important , insulin will nullify all of your fat burning hormones .

How do we lower insulin ?

And this is , like , the most important action .

Number 1 , to lower insulin , you must lower your carbohydrate below 50 grams .

I would lower it below 20 grams per day .

I would do intermittent fasting .

Okay .

Eat less frequently .

I would also take apple cider vinegar in your water .

I would consume berberine .

It kind of , mimics the medication Metformin , which has to do with controlling insulin resistance , but without the side effects .

Okay ?

Cinnamon is another really good herb as well .

Alright .

And then estrogen .

It's just about avoiding estrogen , avoiding things that mimic estrogen .

That would be like , certain chemicals in the environment .

So you wanna do more organic .

And then Cortisol .

How do we lower Cortisol ?

Stress reduction .

Physical work around the house to get your attention off stress .

Go for long walks .

Take vitamin b one .

All of those are very important , but there's one more , vitamin d .

Vitamin d will help you lower cortisol .

Alright .

Let's switch over to the fat burning hormones .

Okay .

There are 2 main hormones that kinda work together .

Growth hormone , which is also an antiaging hormone , and another hormone called IGF number 1 , insulin like growth factor number 1 .

It's a similar function to growth hormone .

Probably the best , ultimate workout would be sprinting with growth hormone and IGF number 1 , intense exercise , good sleeping , moderate protein , and intermittent fasting .

The next hormone is testosterone .

Here's a hormone that a lot of men are taking , and you can increase it by making sure that you either consume foods high in , Zinc or make sure you're eating enough cholesterol .

Cholesterol is the building block of testosterone and other hormones .

So if you're on a statin or if you're on a low saturated fat diet , you could be starting off your testosterone .

The next fat burning hormone , Glucagon .

Glucagon will be nullified when you increase insulin .

Glucagon is triggered by a moderate amount of protein and intense exercise , very similar to growth hormone in IGF number 1 .

Alright .

The next one is adrenaline .

Adrenaline is increased with exercise .

Adrenaline is also a neurotransmitter .

And then you have the thyroid hormones , t 3 .

That's the active form of the thyroid hormone .

The way that you increase thyroid hormone is to remove the things that are blocking the thyroid hormone , like a fatty liver , like a problem with your kidney , like an iodine deficiency , or a selenium deficiency , or an estrogen dominant situation .

Because if you have too much estrogen , that can block your thyroid .

But the thing you need to know about exercise is that exercise really only contributes to about 15% of your overall weight loss .

However , it can really greatly lower your stress and help you sleep to really make this whole program work .

So even though it contributes 15% , if you don't exercise , my viewpoint is it's gonna take a lot longer to get where you need to go .

Based on this information , you now know how to burn fat , and you know the relative importance between the fat burning hormones and the fat making hormones , especially insulin and Cortisol .

Those are the dominating hormones that will nullify the rest .

Now since we're on the topic of weight loss , there's one more associated condition that's very important to get a full understanding on , and that is insulin resistance .

I put the video up on that right here .

Check it out .