Sweet Truths and Big Fat Lies

The Truth About Sugar and Fat

High carb low fat, or low carb high fat. What is the truth about sweet sugar laden foods and fat. Which has the biggest impact of your health sugar or fat consumption? Carbohydrates and sweet sugar or good fats what works to control weight and provide you with nutrients?

What Diet Or Way of Eating Is Best?

Wow, are you as confused as I am when it comes to food? Why are there so many different diets and eating fads around? Why are we obsessed with weight loss and not focused on nutrition? Are the health messages actually working or have we got an epidemic on our hands?

Despite the low-fat diet and heart-healthy food messages obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancers are rising. We have been pushed into a way of eating that has too much sweet sugar and not enough fat.

We champion medicine because survival rates have improved, conditions are better managed with medications but new cases are diagnosed every day, many at younger ages, and to me, this is alarming and deeply concerning.

Food For Health and Weight Control

I have a philosophy which simply put states “no amount of exercise or supplements can make up for an inadequate diet and poor lifestyle choices”.

The problem arises though when we don’t understand what makes up a good diet and how to live for the best of health.

Do an internet search on diet and you will find numerous sites advising to lose weight and be healthy you have to eat less and exercise more. But eat less what? Hmmm.

This is where it gets controversial ……. They tell you the way to lose weight is to consume less fat. Really? Give it a try, put yourself on low fat or fat-free diet and see what happens.

You become tired, irritable, moody, depressed, obsessed by food, constantly hungry, swinging between sugar highs and sugar lows. You may lose weight but your life becomes like torture and is that really how you want to live?

Slim, maybe fitter but miserable and not necessarily healthy or well nourished.

Low Fat High Sugar Diets

When you remove fat from your diet what naturally happens is you consume more carbohydrates and sugar. This raises your blood sugar levels, increases insulin production and sugar gets converted to body fat. So you actually gain weight!

Sugar creates inflammation, allows more bacteria to breed leading to infection and reduces your ability to fight disease and deal with toxins. Hence why we get more tooth decay and gum disease.

Why You Need Fat

Your body needs fat to function. Your brain is two-thirds fat. Deprive your brain of fat and you are potentially setting yourself up for dementia, memory loss and Alzheimer’s.

In my opinion and experience when it comes to being healthy and losing weight we need to ignore the scales and focus on how we feel, our energy levels, moods, the way our body responds.

Eating and nutrition are not always about weight loss it is about maximising your metabolism and improving your biochemistry.

And in that case it would be wise to avoid sweet sugar and eat more fat.

How To Lose Weight and Be Healthy

If you want to lose weight and be healthy here are my recommendations:

• No sugar
• Reduce grains especially refined carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes
• Consume good fats – omega 3, animal fats, olive oil, avocado and oily fish
• Avoid polyunsaturated omega 6 fat as too much of this leads to inflammation
• Eat fat to lose fat and avoid sugar for optimal health.