You may have watched last week’s BBC Horizon programme Fat vs Sugar, which saw two identical twin doctors comparing two very different diets – one high in fat and the other high in sugar. Expert opinion is split as to what has caused the 21st century obesity epidemic with American doctors blaming sugar and British doctors blaming fat.
The findings in the programme, which were unsurprising to those already in the know but perhaps shocked a few yo-yo dieters out there, showed that eating a diet high in fat produced the best weight and fat loss results. However, the high-sugar diet proved better when energy was required for a fast uphill cycle sprint.
What this means to my clients is that day-to-day we could benefit from reducing our carbohydrate intake (especially if your goal is fat loss), but when exercising we could benefit from consuming carbohydrate to give us more energy and potentially increase performance.
The show went on to study the eating behaviours of rats. The scientist found that rats had a natural stop mechanism when eating pure sugar OR pure fat, however, when sugar AND fat were combined the rats gorged on the food, which just happened to be cheesecake. And we are not too dissimilar from rats you know!
You may not have really thought about it but, did you know that this combination of fat AND sugar doesn’t exist naturally – natural foods are either high in healthy fats OR high in natural sugars – and only processed foods deliver this combination?
What this means to my clients is that day-to-day we will all benefit from eating a diet high in unprocessed foods. Eating a diet of natural goodness e.g. fish, lean meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds and wholegrains not only provides numerous health benefits but it could also prevent overeating and thus reduce the likelihood of weight & fat gain.
Your task for this week is try to reduce your intake of processed foods that are high in fat & sugar – things like biscuits, cake, chocolate, crisps etc. If you currently eat these foods every day then try to cut down to just 3 portions of these foods this week. There are plenty of alternatives to these foods – try a small handful of nuts which are high in healthy fats or rice cakes which are low in fat but high in carbohydrate to give you energy before exercise.