# Obesity and Weight Gain

Category: Conditions

Also known as: obesity, weight gain, weight loss, fat storage

Obesity and weight gain are fundamentally endocrine problems, not simple matters of caloric excess or insufficient exercise. Ray Peat argued that the standard dietetic advice—a high-starch, high-unsaturated-fat diet—blocks the ability to burn calories and shifts physiology…

11 passages · 3 authors · 2012–2025 · Most-cited: [Danny Roddy](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/danny-roddy/index.md)

Canonical page: https://bioenergeticoracle.com/concepts/obesity-and-weight-gain

## Synthesis

**Obesity and weight gain** are fundamentally *endocrine problems*, not simple matters of caloric excess or insufficient exercise. [Source 5, 6] Ray Peat argued that the standard dietetic advice—a high-starch, high-unsaturated-fat diet—blocks the ability to burn calories and shifts physiology toward **fat storage** rather than energy use. [Source 10] He identified **unsaturated fats** and **starches** as the primary dietary causes of obesity, explaining that unsaturated fats suppress heat production and have a catabolic effect on muscle, while starches stimulate the enzymatic pathways that synthesize fat instead of accelerating sugar oxidation. [Source 9] The cultural focus on weight itself is misplaced; Peat observed that when metabolism improves, a person can gain lean muscle mass while shrinking in circumference, so that pants become looser even though the scale shows the same weight. [Source 1]

The central hormonal mediator of pathological weight gain is **cortisol**. Chronically restricting carbohydrates upregulates the enzyme that produces cortisol, and elevated cortisol is now recognized as the primary driver of insulin resistance and central obesity. [Source 5] Georgi Dinkov has emphasized that weight gain on a higher-sugar diet after a period of chronic stress is not caused by the sugar itself, but by the pre-existing cortisol dysregulation; people with a low metabolic rate from prolonged fasting and over-exercising can gain weight even on a thousand-calorie diet when they reintroduce carbohydrates. [Source 5] Danny Roddy notes that when body temperature is extremely low—such as 93 degrees Fahrenheit—thyroid function is profoundly suppressed, and the person is on a slow trajectory toward weight gain because cells cannot perspire correctly and new fat is easily synthesized and stored. [Source 2] Studies show that naturally lean individuals who stay lean with age actually eat more and move less, but maintain a much higher basal metabolic rate and higher levels of **T3**, reinforcing the classification of obesity as an endocrine disorder. [Source 6]

The goal should be *body recomposition*, not simply weight loss. Dinkov has written that losing pounds through grueling exercise and dieting typically lowers the metabolic rate, so that when the regimen stops, the person regains weight and often ends up heavier than before—a phenomenon demonstrated by contestants on The Biggest Loser. [Source 4] Peat stressed that if someone is putting down fat rather than muscle, making their pants tighter, they are likely eating too much fat or total calories. [Source 1] He also pointed to inadequate intake of **calcium** and **sodium** as factors that can cause someone to store fat instead of producing energy, recommending around 2,000 milligrams of calcium per day as a safe standard. [Source 9] Emma Sgourakis, in conversation with Roddy, added that people often make dietary changes too quickly when they learn sugar may not be harmful, and that slow, gradual adjustments are essential; consistency over a year or more may be required to see solid, lasting results. [Source 3, 8]

A counterintuitive finding in this framework is the *obesity paradox*. Roddy has observed that many obese individuals appear healthier than extremely lean, catabolic young people whose bodies are chewing through tissue, and that laying down fat can be protective because it sequesters toxins away from vital organs and prevents them from being oxidized by cells. [Source 7, 8] Dinkov has cited studies confirming that approximately 40 percent of obese and even morbidly obese people are metabolically healthy, with normal cholesterol, blood pressure, and inflammatory biomarkers, and that morbid obesity confers a three- to four-fold higher chance of surviving emergency cancer surgery or intensive care. [Source 11] Peat himself noted that the problem is not weight per se, but the underlying diet that blocks calorie burning and forces the body into a storage mode. [Source 10]

## People also ask

### How do unsaturated fats and starches cause obesity according to Peat?

Peat argued that unsaturated fats suppress heat production and have a catabolic effect on muscle, while starches stimulate enzymatic pathways that synthesize fat instead of accelerating sugar oxidation.

### Why might someone gain weight when reintroducing sugar after a period of stress?

Georgi Dinkov explained that this weight gain is not caused by the sugar itself, but by pre-existing cortisol dysregulation from chronic stress, which drives insulin resistance and central obesity.

### What is the obesity paradox described in this framework?

Danny Roddy observed that many obese individuals appear healthier than extremely lean, catabolic people, because laying down fat can sequester toxins away from vital organs and prevent them from being oxidized by cells.

## Related concepts

- [Adrenaline](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/adrenaline/index.md)
- [Insulin resistance](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/insulin-resistance/index.md)
- [Albumin](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/albumin/index.md)
- [Anemia](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/anemia/index.md)
- [Butter](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/butter/index.md)
- [Caffeine](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/caffeine/index.md)

## Cited passages

Passage numbers match the `[Source N]` markers in the synthesis above.

### Source 1 — Ray Peat Interview on Iron Toxicity, Estrogen, PUFA, Thyroid, and Stress Hormones

Ray Peat · Interview · Sep 15, 2025 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UmFIaFm2Mc

> **Josh Rubin:** That makes sense to me. That's a pretty interesting thought there. I like it. Now, I have a lot of questions on weight loss. Now, I know this for every individual is different. There's just so many variables because we don't know. People read your articles and they go crazy with dairy. They think that everyone should be pumping sugar in their body. So there's a lot of different variables going in here. But I have a lot of questions about people beginning to follow a lot of your philosophies based off their perception of what they read. And they've noticed that their energy goes up and so forth, but they actually gain weight. Can you maybe elaborate on maybe some of the scenarios that can actually create this and maybe what they can do to actually halt this?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Well, gaining weight probably isn't the issue. It's gaining inches and bulging. When you're doing everything just right, very likely you will rebuild muscles that were damaged by stress and poor nutrition. And as those muscles quickly grow, you should be doing things like feeling your calf muscle, seeing how big it is. You can even use calipers on the contracted muscle and see it grow as you're eating right. But the circumference of your thighs, hips, and belly should be decreasing, even though your weight is increasing. When I experimented first with DHEA, I wasn't expecting anything. I was just wondering what it felt like to take a few milligrams of it. And I noticed after a week or two in the mirror that my waist seemed to be reappearing after having been just sort of a straight-sided appearance for previous years. It made me wonder. My pants were getting looser, and so I thought I must be losing weight. So I checked, but I was exactly the same weight, having shrunk around the waist. And what happened was that I was simply growing more lean tissue and burning up some of the fat so that I had more muscles, but was smaller around the waist.

### Source 2 — A Gentle Introduction to Dr. Ray Peat, w/@dannyroddy

Danny Roddy · Interview · Aug 25, 2022 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEUwUP69pGc

> **Russell Walter:** yeah and it's also just funny to think like when the average person goes on a health kick like they basically turn to like high PUFA foods like foods that will slow down their metabolism um so as you're well aware right we've got this problem with obesity um and the most common explanation for it is like well people are eating too much and they're exercising too little now i know that you're um like you're a health coach and you're probably often dealing with people who perhaps are overweight i don't know if that's always going to be the case but um you could tell them to eat less and exercise more but that's going to increase their cortisol which could end up slowing down their metabolism um you know what what would someone who's perhaps a little overweight um basically what do you think how do you explain the obesity epidemic
>
> **Danny Roddy:** to be honest i don't really think of myself as a i know i have that on my patreon like a health coach i kind of think of myself as a person on the internet with an opinion yeah so i don't really think of myself as having any any type of label or anything but um yeah you know i talked to lots of people that are interested in losing weight and My thought is that if the pulse and temperature are low, like I talked to somebody with a 93 Fahrenheit temperature, I don't know what that is in Celsius, but that is extremely low. Like if a 37 degree Celsius or 98.6 is normal, that's so far under 98.6. And that would suggest that their thyroid function was extremely suppressed. Anyways, if that's occurring, I think a person is just going to be on a slow trajectory towards weight gain. Cells won't be able to perspire correctly and new fat will be easily synthesized and stored. Then there's photos I really like, old people that were hypothyroid and they look just like normal obese people. They take some thyroid hormone, so that's usually a combination of T3 and T4, and they look like different people. I think if you go to my Twitter right now on August 18th, it's probably one of the last things I posted, but they look like they've lost 100 pounds. It's not from eating less and exercising more. It's from taking two grains of thyroid hormone. I'm kind of a reluctant filmer of myself. I have been making videos for many years and I could point to each video and be like, I'm taking thyroid hormone in this one, I'm not taking thyroid hormone in this one. It appears to me that my whole face will change when I'm taking thyroid and a bunch of characteristic stuff will happen when I'm not taking it. Anyways, I think thyroid and obesity have a very tight relationship and the thyroid suppressive culture and nutrition. being irradiated by cell phone towers and now 5G towers and stuff, none of that's helping. It's all causing chronic stress.

### Source 3 — #98: Ray Peat Inspired Nutrition in 2023? | Dietary Satisfaction | Appetite, Sugar, and Weight Gain with Emma Sgourakis

Danny Roddy · Interview · Feb 25, 2023 · https://open.spotify.com/episode/3IqEVnAXgRR4fXonTu0F46

> **Danny Roddy:** Agreed. So a topic that has come up, I'm sure many, many, many, many times in the last 10, 11, 12 years, weight gain. So say somebody goes on the pro metabolic diet, whatever the hell that is. Whatever that is. And they which includes like cod liver oil, copper supplementation. And they start gaining weight. And so they're like, oh, obviously, this is unacceptable to them. How would you how would you approach that situation?
>
> **Emma Sgourakis:** How would I approach it if they've been trying all those other things and frustrated that they're not working?
>
> **Danny Roddy:** Well, let me shorten it a little bit. So what if somebody just started, they were eating relatively well, okay? They were eating like whole foods and they start eating carbohydrate and they gained weight. How would you approach that?

### Source 4 — Does sugar cause insulin resistance and make you fat? Ray Peat Criticisms Part 2 with Georgi Dinkov

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Jun 8, 2021 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRcXtTjfb-M

> **Strong Sistas:** Okay, okay, all right. Okay. Who wants to be obese, though? And I think we should always return to what the optimal condition would be, which is I do think that people should be working out and should have muscle mass on them. I think that's a big issue. And I think it's always important to remember that muscle is the most metabolically active tissue. so the more muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism is
>
> **Georgi Dinkov:** exactly so we should be aiming at body recomposition changing the body's composition not simply losing weight which seems to that distinction seems to be lost on the vast majority of both nutritionists and doctors to doctors losing pounds is great no matter how it is achieved um there's a great quote from uh i think it was an endocrinologist from harvard who used to say so look If you look like a pear when you were obese and then you lose weight through dieting and exercise, you're not going to be skinny. You'll just be a smaller pear. So what really needs to happen is for you to actually change the body composition. All he's saying is that you're going to still maintain the same unhealthy distribution of fat, which is around the midsection. There'll be just less of it, right? But as soon as your dieting or exhaustive exercise regimen stops, you will pack the pounds right back on. In fact, the show The Biggest Loser demonstrated that... every single one of them that's that lost their weight through grueling exercise and dieting and actually they turn out to behind the scenes we're even giving them uh beta agonists like basically the drugs used for allergy because they're known to increase fatty acid oxidation they're they're used as doping in sports right and then Every single one of these people, after they stopped the competition, not only did we gain their weight, they actually ended up at a higher point than they were before. Why? Because they lowered the metabolic rate while they were doing the grueling exercise and dieting. And now basically with the lower metabolic rate, even with less calories, they ended up weighing more. I can send you the link. There was an interview with several of them who said that that was the biggest mistake of their life. They said, biggest loser was me joining that stupid show and killing, destroying my health.

### Source 5 — Does sugar cause insulin resistance and make you fat? Ray Peat Criticisms Part 2 with Georgi Dinkov

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Jun 8, 2021 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRcXtTjfb-M

> **Georgi Dinkov:** which speaks very strongly to the fact that uh to the hypothesis supports the hypothesis that weight gain is an endocrine problem it's not a lack of exercise or it's not necessarily simply you know packing on more calories i mean i know people who have been stressing themselves for years and when they stop because their metabolic rate were so low due to the fasting and chronic over exercising that they started gaining weight on a thousand calorie diet as soon as they stopped the low carb so it's not the carbs i mean you can't so ideally what should be happening is like so if you're on a thousand calorie diet right and you're switching over just changing the macronutrients you shouldn't be gaining weight but if you're starting to gain weight it's it's not possible because you're eating the same amount of calories something else is going on and that something is cortisol uh it has now been confirmed with uh people with type 2 diabetes just simple obesity which usually precedes the type 2 diabetes people with cushing syndrome they've always been known to have all every single one of them to have insulin resistance and be prone to developing type 2 diabetes etc etc so just a few simple human trials with a cortisol blocker demonstrate that all of these can be wiped away, especially the weight loss problem, which is now 40% of Americans are obese. So you can actually get rid of it without any change to their dietary habits. I mean, I guess it's a wet dream of a pharmaceutical company, but I'm bringing up to illustrate that if you have a weight problem, it is an endocrine problem. It's not that much a problem with like, oh, I'm eating too many calories, right? It's actually something else is going on.

### Source 6 — Metabolic Mastery - Danny Roddy & Georgi Dinkov

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Oct 17, 2022 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjJv9n5lkgA

> **Georgi Dinkov:** yeah so in in that line of thought that another recent study came out which showed that okay so why are some people naturally lean and others are gaining weight as they age right because some people even through advancing age they stay naturally lean and it turns out you know of course the doctors initially said oh because they probably ate less and they move more turns out it's the exact opposite They actually ate more and moved less. And the one other distinguishing characteristics that they found is that they had a much higher basal metabolic rate and a much higher levels of T3. So this to me immediately should reclassify obesity or in general being overweight as an endocrine problem. um and and to which just as the study that danny mentioned that somebody said a doctor said well this is basically the cushing phenotype right you're not exactly to the to the point where you basically you're like the lemon with sticks model which is what the cushion people are extremely thin limbs and then basically look like a lemon like the central body obesity right but they're getting there right and some extremely people basically in the extreme forms of obesity you actually are starting to see people that look uh you know in the stimulus from a person with cushing syndrome um so so basically what what does that mean what should we do well just as danny said you shouldn't be restricting anything really you shouldn't be restricting um the diet the calories but especially carbs because if you do that you will raise cortisol even more. So if cortisol is the pathogenesis here, then nothing that promotes cortisol should be attempted, or at least should not be done on a chronic basis. Guess what? Skipping meals will do it. Restricting carbs will do it. Eating too much protein will do it. So then what should we do? OK, well, raise the metabolic rate. If the T3 in obese and overweight people is low, then we should be raising it, right?

### Source 7 — A Gentle Introduction to Dr. Ray Peat, w/@dannyroddy

Danny Roddy · Interview · Aug 25, 2022 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEUwUP69pGc

> **Russell Walter:** i think that's super interesting um the thing is i feel like intuitively you can kind of tell this it sounds weird but like there's there's like a certain overweight person where they i don't know like they like you know the stereotype like the jolly chubby dude like the only caveat that i wanted to add would be don't aren't a lot of toxins stored in fat i don't know is that correct like a lot of bad things are stored in body fat is that correct
>
> **Danny Roddy:** i i've heard that forever i as far as i know that is true but it's probably better than them being in the blood so it's uh that's kind of what i was getting at with if you're if you're storing or you're laying down fat it doesn't have a chance to be oxidized by cells and it can't damage them and so it sounds very counterintuitive i know but um it's it's maybe taking the temperature and pulse or something would be a way over the course of a day would be an easier way to denote health than just looking at a person and all and also like a person's philosophy usually you have to talk to them and um like we've all we've all met the person that can't maybe looks good or like oh so for example in San Francisco I knew lots of like ballet ballet dancers who were models you know and they look like they were chiseled out of stone you know but but a lot of them could not tolerate any descent from their point of view you know a lot of them had depression All the girls I talked to unanimously had freezing cold hands, freezing cold feet. And a joke among them was when they retired at, I don't know, 30 or so, they just blow out instantly and gained tons of weight because their whole career was basically like starvation. And so... that that was one of my big things that started to get me to think differently about health and then of course talking to hundreds of people that has helped as well

### Source 8 — #98: Ray Peat Inspired Nutrition in 2023? | Dietary Satisfaction | Appetite, Sugar, and Weight Gain with Emma Sgourakis

Danny Roddy · Interview · Feb 25, 2023 · https://open.spotify.com/episode/3IqEVnAXgRR4fXonTu0F46

> **Emma Sgourakis:** Ray always said, you know, I think probably the most important thing I ever heard him say was context is everything. You know, like right there it tells us it's dealing with that individual, one individual at a time. It's why, I mean, there's no one book that could ever cover, you know, this is going to fix your health issues, you know, the weight loss plan. It's just so different for everyone and the journey they've been on to that point, what they've accumulated, what damage they've done, there's just so many factors. And it's probably more important they come to a level of understanding about their own bodies and their own background first and you help them become aware of that. And then to see the things that have probably contributed to their issues, that it wasn't just some random occurrence and poor me. And not to say it's their fault by any means, but, you know, it's just the end result of choices, whether they were conscious or not. So, yeah, the psychology part of it, I think, is a big thing. And then maybe there's that level of relief that comes with them going, oh, okay, so it does make sense why my body is functioning the way it has been. And perhaps it's functioning perfectly given the situation. Perhaps it needed to hold fat stores to keep certain toxins away from my vital organs. Perhaps, you know, maybe it's actually working perfectly, so I've got to now treat it differently to see if it responds differently. Do you think that's the case?
>
> **Danny Roddy:** Yeah. Yeah. Very well said. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know about you, but I talked to lots of young guys and the young lean guys tend to have like digestive problems. You get the young guys. I get the young girls. The leanness is like, I think I've almost. thought that that is like the worst state to be in. Like the body is so catabolic that it's chewing through the tissue so quickly. And I could think of 20 obese people that I thought were healthier than like the leanest young guy that I had talked to. So that kind of gets into, I think Georgi in one of our podcasts talked about the obesity paradox. Like the body laying down fat is actually desirable to getting extremely lean. And so I know it's in a cultural interpretation that's not going to be accepted, but...

### Source 9 — Source Nutritional Show: Brain And Tissue ll

Ray Peat · Interview · May 12, 2012 · http://l-i-g-h-t.com/files/source-nutritional-show-brain-and-tissue-2.mp4

> **Ray Peat:** The healthy people tend to keep their estrogen low most of the time, and when they are in the low estrogen time is when they can be very sensitive to a big dose of either testosterone or progesterone.
>
> **Karen:** Now, as people age and they tend to get a little weight accumulation, if they're taking an adequate dose of progesterone, why does that happen?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Why does what happen?
>
> **Karen:** Why did they continue to gain weight? I know some people are using thyroid and progesterone continue to gain weight.
>
> **Ray Peat:** Depends on what they're eating, I suppose. If you don't eat the right things to support heat production and good energy production, a lot of it will get stored as fat and some people just eat too much fat or too much starch. The unsaturated fats and starches in general are probably the main causes of obesity. The unsaturated fats turn off the processes that raise heat production and have a catabolic effect on your protein muscles and such and starches stimulate the processes that synthesize fat rather than just accelerating the burning of the sugar.

### Source 10 — Politics And Science: Diabetes 2000-2001

Ray Peat · Interview · Jul 26, 2013

> **Ray Peat:** And so the best way to gain weight probably is to eat a high starch diet and a high unsaturated fat diet, exactly the things that have been recommended by dietitians for the last 30 years. Yeah, and then they're wondering
>
> **John Barkhausen:** about why everybody's gaining weight, and they're just not getting enough exercise. Turns out our kids are just plain lazy. So they say, I think they say weight is a risk factor for diabetes, don't they? It's like they're blaming the weight for causing the disease.
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yeah, but the problem is that the diet blocks the ability to burn calories and shifts the physiology to the storage of calories rather than the use of them. Right. That makes sense.
>
> **John Barkhausen:** So if we're all running on cortisol and adrenaline at night, does that mean we shouldn't sleep at night?

### Source 11 — Does sugar cause insulin resistance and make you fat? Ray Peat Criticisms Part 2 with Georgi Dinkov

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Jun 8, 2021 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRcXtTjfb-M

> **Georgi Dinkov:** We address some of those such as advanced glycation bioproducts, right? Or the sugar raises inflammation. Again, I don't know of any proposed mechanism through which sugar does that. Most of the things that are being blamed on sugar have subsequently be found out to be due to polyunsaturated fats. So really, I mean, there's a number of different reasons why sugar is the preferred fuel. And then, but you know, if it makes you gain weight, there is another issue there, probably related to high cortisol. and finally even if you gain weight that does not necessarily mean you're becoming unhealthier recent study demonstrated that uh confirm actually for the i don't know at least 100th time the so-called obesity paradox that people who are obese and even morbidly obese have drastically lowered death rate from serious diseases now if you get into a gunfight and you're obese and you get shot you go to the hospital you have a higher chance than a lean muscular person surviving the intensive care unit um uh you know even even if you get rid of with bullets if you have cancer and you go to the hospital and you have to endure some kind of a surgery like if they didn't know about a cancer and it was suddenly discovered or it ruptured and it's an emergency surgery you have a three to four times higher chance of surviving the surgery if you're morbidly obese not simply overweight morbidly obese and then the the list goes on and on and on oh infectious disease if you're morbidly obese and in the hospital you actually have a higher chance of surviving covet now you have a higher risk of getting covet but it's you have a higher chance of surviving it if you end if you ever end up in the icu and finally a recent study demonstrated that 40 of obese and morbidly obese people are actually metabolically healthy their cholesterol is fine their blood pressure is fine They're inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

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