Cut Out Sugar and Eat Saturated Fats to Fight Obesity
Quit sugar, eat MORE fat and become slimmer and healthier.
It has been reckoned that in the UK (2016) almost six out of ten women and two-thirds of men are overweight. Dietary guidelines are to eat lots of carbohydrates, consume little so-called 'heart disease-causing' saturated fats like butter and whole milk, to eat 'low-fat' foods, and to make sure five fruits and vegetables are eaten every day.
It is clear that most of this dietary advice is not working. The part about fruit and vegetables is fine because those foods are sources of healthy dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals.
The obesity epidemic is out of control. Yet many people do their best to 'eat less' and to 'exercise more'. But we continue to get fatter and heavier. The only thing that the dietary guidelines seem to be doing is to fuel a 'billion-pound diet industry'. The population is turning into one of "sugar-craving, disappointed yo-yo dieters".
Thankfully, this health disaster may now be at a turning point. South African and U.S. scientists have shown that the ignorantly promoted 'low-fat, more carbohydrate' diet recommended by food experts has been extremely ineffective. It even looks like these recommendations could be directly to blame for the obesity crisis.
The new thinking is that, regardless of weight, we should be eating MORE fat, not less, and severely restricting if not cutting out altogether sugars. Typical among these sugars are common sucrose (table sugar) and the very unhealthy fructose.
Leading UK cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, has set out the case for a radical change of thinking to bring in a low-carbohydrate diet that is high in natural saturated fats. This could actually be the key to ending the obesity epidemic and reducing the escalation of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
A 'low-carbohydrate, healthy fat' diet could be the way out of sugar addiction and the key to losing weight and staying slim forever.
This new approach is about re-thinking what we eat, starting with stopping eating sugar-rich foods. Unfortunately, most people eat the equivalent of 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. The trouble is that sweet things are very addictive - they are like opiates.
The sugary, carbohydrate-rich diets we have depended on for years, together with all the fancy snacks available, have left many of us 'hooked' on sugar. But it is not only sweet treats that get us hooked. It is also the 'complex carbohydrates' such as starch - which break down into simple sugars - that maintain our cravings.
All processed foods contain sugar. If you 'read the labels' you may be startled to discover just how much sugar is added to packaged, canned and bottled products.
The healthiest and probably the easiest way to lose weight and help fight the obesity crisis is to take up a diet that is 'low in sugary carbohydrates and high in healthy fats'.
As mentioned in Part 1, this way of eating is against the dietary advice from government health departments and dietitians. However, the 'high natural fat, low sugar' diet is a medically accepted regimen that is attracting the backing of health experts worldwide.
In fact, this new diet has a very large social media following. It has many respected medical experts stating that it is the 'only' healthy way to lose weight, fight obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
For example, the U.S. dietitian Dr Gary Taubes argues that tackling obesity is not about eating less, but 'what' is consumed. He is emphatic that a low carbohydrate, high fat diet is the answer.
Actually, a similar diet based on limited sugary carbohydrates was popularized by the British undertaker William Banting in the nineteenth century. He himself was obese, and the change of diet worked wonders for him. The Banting diet spread throughout Europe, and in Scandinavia banta remains the main verb for 'to be on a diet'.
The new but similar 'low carbohydrate, high fat' diet is not a short-term 'miracle fat and weight loss' programme. It is a long-term way to eat healthily.
In some cases, obese people have reported losing up to a stone in weight in four weeks. Amazingly, they did not count calories, and hardly ever felt hungry. The suppression of hunger is thought to be due to the way that the body processes foods in different ways.
For instance, with a diet that predominantly consists of starchy and sugary carbohydrates, these are converted into glucose that the body uses as its primary energy source. Any excess sugar becomes fat and is stored for future use.
However, if carbohydrates are severely restricted in the diet, the body then has to use fuel other than glucose for energy. This is usually from stored fat in the body and from any fats in food eaten. In fact, there is little physiological requirement for carbohydrates, and non whatsoever for sugars.
Experts say that the key part of a 'low carbohydrate, high fat' diet is to limit total carbohydrates to a maximum of 50 grams each day. That will free the body from sugar addiction and help with weight loss in a natural way.
The trouble is that cutting right down on carbohydrates is not easy. However, when healthy fats are eaten, cravings are reduced because the stomach feels full.
Active people who are on their feet most of the day can actually eat up to 120 grams of carbohydrates a day and still benefit because they burn off the extra glucose. Unfortunately for those with a sweet tooth, these figures for carbohydrate intake apply only to those from whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, pulses, and nuts. These foods contain carbohydrates that are full of nutrients that metabolize slowly.
Sweet foods with sucrose and fructose, or those made of starch like potatoes, are forbidden. The best thing however is that the number of calories in food do not count in 'low carbohydrate, high fat' diets. Who likes counting them anyway? The balance of nutrients and healthy fats prevents craving.
Sugar addicts will not find the switch over easy. They are advised to concentrate on portion control for proteins and fats, and gradually reduce the intake of starchy vegetables such as potatoes and parsnips.
Adapting to a sugar-free diet that has far fewer carbohydrates than today's obesity-boosting 'normal' diets means having to substitute sugars with something else. That 'something' is healthy fats.
It might seem to be rather counter-intuitive to eat fats in order to prevent obesity and lose weight because it goes against dietary advice issued by health bodies and governments. That advice is to make carbohydrates 50 per cent of our diets and to limit the amount of saturated fats that we eat.
This advice is now under scrutiny, and may turn out to be the 'direct cause' of the obesity epidemic.
Everywhere you go - in supermarkets, at newsstands, in cafés and restaurants - we encounter them: sugar-loaded food and drink. There are tempting chocolate bars; there are cans of fizzy drinks; there are cakes and buns seemingly everywhere.
Even staple foods such as bread, pasta, and potatoes hide their sugar content. That is because these foods are 'complex' carbohydrates, which readily break 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 convenience 'processed' foods, we become loaded with another monosaccharide sugar called fructose. This particular sugar is much worse than glucose for health because it does not get used up as energy. Instead, it goes straight to the liver where it is converted into dangerous 'visceral' fat around internal organs.
Even worse, fructose is now understood to be just as bad as excess alcohol is in damaging the liver. The rise in liver damage among populations appears to be attributed to excessive fructose intake. Fructose is added to processed foods for flavouring and other purposes too numerous to mention.
Indeed, in countries such as the UK, net alcohol consumption has actually fallen over the past two decades - yet liver damage is rising.
The good news is that with the 'low carbohydrate, healthy fat' diet we can now begin the fight back against obesity. Healthy fats are now the new secret weapon against sugar cravings.
There are many respected studies showing that fats are indeed very healthy for us.
The dietary change from carbohydrates to fats is what most people find difficult to understand as well as to implement. This is because snacking on nuts or tubs of yogurt all day will not help to lose weight because these foods contain many calories.
The 'low carbohydrate, healthy fat' diet is designed to keep carbohydrate intake low for those wanting to lose weight. This is set at a maximum of 50 grams a day of carbohydrates for sedentary people, and up to 120 grams for active people.
If weight loss is not of concern but eating healthier is, consuming 120 grams of carbohydrates each day will be fine.
Here is an example of a 'low carbohydrate, healthy fat' meal, so that you can get an idea of the kinds 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 much as is needed.
Eggs: up to three each day. Egg size is irrelevant.
Fats: a large handful of nuts (not peanuts unfortunately, unless unsalted), or 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tablespoon of butter or coconut oil; 30-50 grams of cheese; 3 tablespoons of full fat yogurt; 3 tablespoons of cream.
Fruits: only berries such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries. 80 grams per day. (Apple and pear pulp contains fructose.)
Carbohydrates: none if you want to lose weight. However, if you are fairly active, a fist-size portion of cooked, dense vegetables per day is acceptable. Options are: sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, lentils, quinoa, or buckwheat.
By the way, this diet plan allows you have a 'Full English' fry-up! A couple of eggs fried in butter or coconut oil, two or three slices of bacon, one sausage made of at least 80 per-cent meat, tomatoes, and a flat mushroom, make a perfect meal to start the day.
That sounds like a good way to begin the fight back against obesity.
Obesity is a staggering problem, yet health authorities seem powerless to do anything about it.
Guidelines on nutrition are issued by trusted health experts. Some make sense, like the 'Eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day' guideline. Fruit and vegetables are sources of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.
Some guidelines however, can be misleading. For example, when in 1987 the UK government asked medical experts to come up with a safe alcohol consumption limit, nobody could because no studies had been done.
An arbitrary safe figure of 21 units per week for men and 14 for women was arrived at, but these were simply plucked out of thin air.
In 2016, a panel of experts downgraded this figure to 14 units per week for both sexes. Some panel members were found to represent the Temperance Society and anti-alcohol lobbies. The drinks industry was never consulted.
Do you smell a rat?
Are there any guidelines for damaging fructose consumption? There are none. Fructose is as bad for the liver as alcohol, if not worse.
What if everyone who eats processed foods (most of us) have damaged livers because of excessive fructose intake? If so, then what if alcohol consumption just simply compounds the problem?
Without fructose, maybe alcohol consumption actually makes no difference? It never did in days gone by.
Alcohol consumption in the UK has fallen over the last two decades, yet liver damage is in on the increase. A high fructose diet seems to be the culprit.
Expect no fructose guidelines to emerge soon because the food industry will not allow. Profits are more important.
Sensible Nutrition Guidelines
There are three nutritional guidelines which ought to help prevent the obesity crisis worsening:
1. Restrict non-fibrous carbohydrate intake.
Good carbohydrate foods contain dietary fibre. These are vegetables like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, etc. They fill the stomach and contain essential minerals and vitamins. The dietary fibre is converted to short-chain fatty acids which help the body to burn fat.
Potatoes are a source of vitamin C and minerals, but should be eaten sparingly because the starch they contain raises blood pressure.
However, cooking and then chilling potatoes for use in salads produces resistant starch. That reduces the blood sugar-raising effect.
2. Restrict Fructose Consumption
Cease fructose intake. Read the labels. Fructose is present in processed foods and is harmful to health.
Eat no more than 25 grams of fructose a day.
All refined carbohydrates turn to sugar and may cause insulin resistance, which is behind chronic illnesses such as obesity.
3. Replace Unsaturated Fats with Healthy Saturated Fats
Instead of relying on non-dietary fiber carbohydrates like sucrose and fructose - healthy saturated fats present in coconut oil, olive oil, butter from grass-fed cows, raw nuts, organic-pastured eggs, avocados, etc, are sources of long-lasting energy.
Even pastured meat fat like lard is fine.
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