High Fat - Low Carb

For decades we have been told that high carb - low fat dietas are the way to eat correctly AND lose weight.  However for decades, patients who have been advised to dieta that way (NOT by me), have complained that the diet wasn't working for them.  The doctors' usual thought process was - "Well you must be doing something wrong."

I have been going on about this for years and have written many posts on how high carb diets do not work and how fat is NOT DANGEROUS.

So, here's another one!

One of the major health problems of our time is insulin resistance.  A whopping two thirds of the population in the UK is insulin resistant.  Insulin resistance is strongly linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The reason why this is all connected is very simple:

When a person eats carbs they are broken down by the body into glucose.  Glucose is used for energy, but in order for the body to use glucose for energy, the glucose has to pass from the blood into the cells and in order to do that insulin must be secreted by the pancreas.

Insulin could be compared to a key - it fits perfectly into the cell wall allowing the glucose to access the cells, and therefore produce energy.  However, if a person is insulin resistant then the key doesn't fit properly.  Therefore the pancreas has to produce extra insulin.  The problem is that insulin is actually a weight-promoting hormone that increases fat storage.  So, if a person is insulin resistant then it makes sense that they will have difficulties losing weight if their pancreas is having to over produce insulin.

This is where high fat diets come into the picture.

Fat, especially saturated fats, have had a lot of bad press for decades.  According to most dietary advice, you should steer clear of foods high in fats - especially saturated ones, or you will die from heart disease.

One thing they don't tell you is that fat is actually essential to the body.  There are even vitamins that can only be absorbed by the body in the presence of fat.

A small study was carried out recently in the UK by Dr. Trudi Deakin, Dietitian:

Roughly 80 patients were given the choice of attending two educational sessions on diets, one on a Wednesday, and the other on a Friday.

The volunteers who attended the Wednesday session were taught high fat - low carb approach to dieting.

The group that attended the Friday session were given the standard talk about high carb - low fat diet options.

The groups were then weighed when they attended the talks and then again after 6 weeks of dieting.  According to Dr. Deakin, the results were emphatic:

The Wednesday group had reduced their carb intake from 48% of their daily calories to 14%.  As a result they had increased their fat intake from 32% to 59% of their daily calories.

After 6 weeks they had lost an average of 2.8kg and their average waist circumference had dropped by 3.1cm.

In comparison, the Friday group on the standard dietary advice (high carb - low fat) had lost an average of 1.6kg and only 1.3cm from their waists.

However, it gets even better!  After 2 months, the Wednesday group (high fat - low carb) had lost an average of 5kg and dropped 9.5cm from their waists.

Meanwhile, the Friday group (high carb - low fat) only lost 1kg and 0.1cm from their waists.

Eating a high carb diet leads to cravings and feeling hungry more often, which makes dieting a lot harder to control.

"There is not a single piece of clinical evidence that demonstrates saturated fat increases a person's risk of heart disease or stroke," Dr. Deakin said,

"The traditional view point is that saturated fat increases LDL levels (bad cholesterol).  But actually research has shown it is actually excess consumption of carbohydrate that increases bad cholesterol.

"When you eat carbohydrates it is initially used for energy, then any excess is stored as glycogen in the muscle and liver.

"But the rest is converted into fat which sits around your internal organs."

An example of healthy fats are nuts, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, oily fish, meat, etc...

A high fat - low carb diet can be delicious, just make sure it is also packed full of healthy vegetables!

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com