The fat myth continues ...
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The fat myth continues ...
Posted by The Soulful Doctor, 26th Oct 2013.
A recent article in the BBC News[i] comments on the pledge by food manufacturers to cut saturated fat levels. A public health expert has rightly called it a "drop in the ocean" in the fight against obesity.
Professor Ashton, President of the Faculty of Public Health[ii], says the approach lacks credibility and that food manufacturers need to also address the levels of sugar and salt used in foods where they lower the fat content.
Whilst there are healthy and unhealthy types of fats (e.g. Trans-fats, hydrogenated vegetable and seed oils), it is a myth that fat in the diet is the main culprit in the obesity crisis or indeed that it is responsible for heart disease. Instead we need to look at carbohydrates and sugar.
The obesity explosion coincides with the recommendation to eat a low fat, high carb diet.
William Davis[iii] in his book, ‘Wheat Belly’ comments that the American Heart Association and the American Diabetic Association are advising people to eat the foods that are giving them the conditions they are supposedly trying to treat!! Eating complex whole grains, carbohydrates, etc, is what is doing the damage, not fat. An American cardiologist has also spoken on this subject and states that saturated fat is not the cause of heart disease and that this is known scientifically – yet we keep getting bombarded with these false messages.
This is further supported in another book called, ‘The Grain Brain’ by Dr David Perlmutter[iv] , an American neurologist, who also explains the dangers of eating a diet high in carbs/sugar and wheat. He recommends a high fat, low carb diet – completely contra to what has been recommended before. He explains how we need healthy saturated fats (like those found in coconut oil, olive oil, eggs, etc), for the healthy functioning of our brains and bodies. In addition he explains how carbs and sugars are detrimental to our health, along with the negative effects of gluten.
The list of medical conditions he has seen improve or resolve by the removal of gluten from the diet is astounding.
Everything from:
- complex neurological and muscular conditions to seizures
- chronic headaches
- migraines
- depression
- bipolar
- schizophrenia
- ADHD
- memory loss
and on and on the list goes.
Combine this with the list from Dr Davis' book (includes irritable bowel, inflammatory bowel, skin conditions, obesity and more), and it is hard to believe that anyone who is interested in living a healthy life and has read these two books could be tempted to consume anything that had gluten in it again!
Cutting out wheat-based foods and gluten for many people results in weight loss, feeling more vital, more energy and improved wellbeing overall.
Whilst I didn't have any condition, I chose to cut out gluten from my diet and have reaped the rewards ever since. At first I would get caught out from time to time as it sneaks into all sorts of foods you wouldn't expect it in, and I disliked asking in restaurants for gluten free food as I had always been so dismissive of what I called 'picky eaters' myself! But the more I feel the benefits of a gluten free diet and my improved wellbeing, supported by medical research that shows how this substance is literally poisoning us all, the easier it has been, such that it is no longer an issue for me to ask for it.
AS FOR SUGAR ...
Well, that too is another substance that is slowly poisoning us all and affecting our health and wellbeing. Dr Robert Lustig[v] exposes the addictive and harmful properties of sugar and notes that:
It is sugar that is the main culprit in the obesity crisis.
So cutting out fat and replacing it with sugar is definitely not going to help! We don't realise how addicted we are to sugar, perhaps, until we try to stop it!!!
Whilst I had been eating less and less sugar, I was still eating it here and there or having it in so-called healthy forms (like lots of fruit). A few weeks ago I stopped eating sugar. For the first few days I had a low grade headache as my body adjusted to not having its fix of stimulant. I felt my level of tiredness more as I was not continuing to block it out by eating sugar to keep me going. However, thereafter I rapidly began to feel the benefits of not eating it.
I was much more consistent in how I felt from day to day, without slumps and highs and the cravings disappeared. Having been someone who always 'enjoyed' having a naughty treat of something, this seemed like a miracle, as I was no longer drawn to eat those kinds of foods/sweets/sugary foods etc. The longer I continue on it, the better I feel. The fruits of not eating it far outweigh the so-called momentary pleasure or enjoyment of the taste in the mouth, that is nothing but deceptive of the true harm it causes the body.
So whilst the saying goes that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, perhaps in this case the proof of the pudding is in NOT eating the pudding and feeling how great one feels without it!
The thing is, not so long ago as I ate my second helping of dessert, I would have easily dismissed that and it's only by putting it into practice myself that I can now feel how true it really is.
Reproduced with permission from the author, The Soulful Doctor, Dr Eunice J Minford, MBChB, MB, FRCS Ed.
References:
Filed under
Obesity, Sugar, Food industry, Gluten free, Weight-loss
