Dear Member,
If you’ve taken my Fat Loss Challenge, congratulations! You’re on your way but if you follow your government’s “food pyramid,” you may be disappointed on April 15th when we tally results.(If you haven’t, click here to enroll – It’s free.)
This governmental approach has been a disaster. Today, you’ll get the first installment on the inside story behind the two food pyramids – and why they’ll steer you in the wrong direction.
To maximize your weight loss, I’ll show you why you should ignore the advice of the pyramids and follow an opposite strategy that will improve your chances of long-term success.
Lose Fat by Avoiding this Advice
The first food pyramid arrived in 1992. Its core message: Fat is bad; carbs are good. This was based on incomplete science that seemed to implicate fat in heart disease. Adding fuel to the fire were corporate food giants who lobbied government officials to recommend carbs because they are the highest profit foods.
But here’s the problem: Fats are essential to good health. Omega-3 fatty acids are so critical, a deficiency can lead to depression, lack of concentration and a host of chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer.
And loading up on carbs only encourages your body to produce more fat because fat gain is regulated by your body’s response to insulin. As your body releases insulin to deal with carbohydrate, it signals the making and storing of more fat. If your diet is too carb heavy, you eventually become resistant to the effects of insulin. At that point, obesity and diabetes is right around the corner.
Even more flawed is the food pyramid’s underlying notion that fat is a primary cause of disease, especially heart disease. As I show in The Doctor’s Heart Cure, natural fats (as opposed to man-made trans fats) affect your cholesterol in a balanced way. They cause your LDL (bad cholesterol) to go up, but they also give your HDL (good cholesterol) a boost. The net change is even.
But if you follow the food pyramid and substitute carbs for fat, your HDL will drop. And a loss of HDL is never good. High HDL is the most reliable way to prevent heart disease. In fact, an HDL of 80 produces a greater reduction in heart disease risk than any drop in LDL – no matter how dramatic.
Aside from a loss of HDL, excess carbs will spike your triglycerides (blood fat). This in itself is a powerful risk factor for heart disease – especially for women.
To guarantee weight loss, know your fats. Saturated fats are not the bad guys the original food pyramid made them out to be. For hundreds of thousands of years ago, our ancestors consumed huge quantities of saturated fats. Hunters surviving today still do – and our modern type of heart disease is virtually unheard of.
4 Steps to Fat Loss
1. Stop eating trans-fats. A common source is fried food. Whether it’s fried chicken you pick up at the grocery store, French fries from the fast food joint around the corner or a box of cookies from the convenience store, trans-fats will pack on the pounds – and put you at risk for heart disease.
2. Control your starches. Use our glycemic index and make sure you know the rating of foods you choose. Keep it below 40 for maximum weight loss. (If you don’t have a glycemic index yet, get one HERE)
3. Try nuts if you feel like snacking. All nuts except cashews have a glycemic index of zero and even cashews have a very low index of 22. They’re pure protein and the right kind of fat, which makes you feel full right away. A handful of walnuts can wipe out a hunger pang – or a craving for sweets – in a matter of minutes.
4. Throw out all low-fat foods in your pantry or fridge! They’re loaded with the wrong kind of carbs and many have artificial sweeteners.
In your next Doctor’s House Call, I’ll tell you about the newest food pyramid. I’ll show you what they changed, what got worse – and how to fix it. And of course, some more fat loss tips…
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD