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Cut sugar, eat more fat and lose weight and be healthier.
Adjusting to a sugar-free diet that has far fewer carbohydrates than “normal” diets that increase obesity means having to substitute something else for sugars. That ‘something’ is healthy fats.
Eating fat to prevent obesity and lose weight may seem quite counterintuitive because it goes against dietary advice issued by health agencies and governments. That advice is to make carbohydrates to 50 percent of our diets and limit the amount of saturated fat we eat.
This advice is now under scrutiny and may become the ‘direct cause’ of the obesity epidemic.
Wherever you go, in supermarkets, newsstands, cafes and restaurants, we find them: sugar-laden food and drink. There are tempting chocolate bars; there are cans of soft drinks; There are cakes and scones seemingly everywhere.
Even staple foods like bread, pasta, and potatoes hide their sugar content. This is because these foods are “complex” carbohydrates, which are easily broken down to become the monosaccharide sugar glucose in the blood. If you are not active, the body converts this high-energy sugar into fatty tissue under the skin.
Also, because many of us eat “processed” convenience foods, we load up on another monosaccharide sugar called fructose. This particular sugar is much worse than glucose for health because it is not consumed for energy. Instead, it goes directly to the liver, where it turns into “visceral” fat around the internal organs.
Worse still, fructose is now understood to be as bad as too much alcohol for damaging the liver. The increase in liver damage among populations appears to be attributed to excessive fructose intake. Fructose is added to processed foods for flavor and other purposes too numerous to mention.
In fact, in countries like the UK, net alcohol consumption has decreased over the past two decades, but liver damage is increasing.
The good news is that with the ‘low carb and healthy fat’ diet we can now begin the fight against obesity. Healthy fats are now the new secret weapon against sugar cravings.
There are many respected studies that show that fats are very healthy for us.
The change in diet from carbohydrates to fat is what most people find difficult to understand and implement. This is because eating nuts or tubs of yogurt throughout the day will not help you lose weight because these foods are high in calories.
The ‘low carb, healthy fat’ diet is designed to keep carbohydrate intake low for those who want to lose weight. This is set at a maximum of 50 grams of carbohydrate per day for sedentary people and up to 120 grams for active people.
If weight loss is not a problem, but eating healthier is, then consuming 120 grams of carbohydrates a day is fine.
Here’s an example of a ‘low carb and healthy fat’ meal, so you can get an idea of the types of foods in this new diet plan:
- Protein: poultry, fish, meat (beef, pork, lamb, venison, etc.): 100-150 grams per meal.
- Vegetables: as many varieties and as many as necessary.
- Eggs: up to three per day. The size of the egg is irrelevant.
- Fats: a large handful of walnuts (unfortunately not peanuts, unless they have no salt), or 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil; 1 tablespoon of butter or coconut oil; 30-50 grams of cheese; 3 tablespoons of nonfat yogurt; 3 tablespoons of cream.
- Fruits– Berries only such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries. 80 grams per day. (Apple and pear pulp contain fructose).
- Carbohydrates: none if you want to lose weight. However, if you are fairly active, a fist-sized serving of dense cooked veggies a day is acceptable. Options are: sweet potato, carrot, beet, parsnip, lentils, quinoa, or buckwheat.
By the way, this diet plan lets you fry in full English! A couple of fried eggs in butter or coconut oil, two or three slices of bacon, a sausage made from at least 80 percent meat, tomatoes, and a flat mushroom are a perfect meal to start the day.
Sounds like a great way to start the fight against obesity.
