Health Alert 101
Could you use a little help staying trim and lean? My first rule if you are trying to lose body fat is – Ignore the low-fat advice.
Do you still believe low fat is your weight loss answer? Another study reveals that this is simply not true. The University of Cincinnati study concluded that patients on a very low carbohydrate diet lost significantly more weight than those on a low fat/ low calorie diet in a six month period. Even more importantly, the low carbohydrate group also lost more body fat than the low fat group.1
As I’ve been saying, total fat in the diet is not what is making you fat. Refined carbohydrates are the culprit.
In this letter, you’ll learn why the low fat approach undermines your weight loss goals and increases your risk of heart disease. I’ll also give you tips on a much easier and healthier way to eat to lose body fat.
* Low-fat Makes Losing Body Fat Very Difficult *
Low fat diets are unavoidably high carbohydrate diets. Carbs cause blood sugar levels to rise dramatically. When you eat excessive amounts of carbs the resultant high blood sugar stimulates an overproduction of insulin. This high insulin has 2 effects on body fat. One, it signals your body to divert whatever food you consume into body fat. Two, it prevent your body from burning stored body fat for energy.2 Over time, this combination makes you fat and tired.
If that wasn’t bad enough, your high insulin level triggers your hypothalamus to send out hunger signals. This causes you to eat more and crave carbohydrates keeping this viscous cycle going. If you eat fat but keep your carbohydrate intake low, you will keep the fat burning pathways open, allowing you to lose body fat.
The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Step 1 diet encourages you to eat six to eleven servings of grains per day. This is unconscionable. The switch to processed foods based on grains is the principle problem with the modern diet. The AHA advice makes this problem worse.
Ironically, the AHA’s diet results in an increased risk of heart disease. A number of studies have shown a direct correlation between elevated insulin and heart disease. According to a study reported in the British Medical Journal the higher your blood sugar and insulin levels the higher your risk of dying from heart disease. This held true regardless of whether the patient had diabetes.
* Low Carb Your Way to a Leaner Body *
Quality protein should be the focal point of every meal. You should eliminate processed starches such as pasta, bread, cereals and pastries. Eat low glycemic vegetables such as tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant, mushrooms, and green beans to name a few. Eat low glycemic fruit like strawberries, blueberries, peaches, cherries, plums and raspberries
If you want to enjoy a small portion of starches there are a couple things you can do to lower the glycemic index of your meal. Adding a couple teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice to your meal will lower the insulin response by slowing the rate at which the meal leaves your stomach. Including more vegetables with your meal will also lower the overall glycemic index of that meal.
Al Sears, MD
1. Brehm BJ, Seely RJ, Daniels, SR, D’Alessio DA. A randomized trial comparing a very low carbohydrate diet and a calorie restricted low fat diet on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy women. Journal of Clinical Endocrine Metabolism 2003; 88: 1617-1623.
2. Morgenthaler J., Simms M. The Low-Carb Anti-Aging Diet: Slow Aging and Lose Weight. Smart Publications, 2000: 15.
3. British Medical Journal, January 6, 2001: volume 322; 15-18.