The big fat surprise! For a healthy diet, you need to start eating fat
The big fat surprise! For a healthy diet, you need to start eating fat. Photo | Photosearch
What you need to know:
Now, you don’t need to be a nutritionist to realise that this way of eating isn’t healthy, but why does such a regime work?
Eating fat doesn’t necessarily make you fat. There, I’ve said it. And it doesn’t even really increase your risk of heart disease and diabetes. “But isn’t that the holy grail of nutrition?” I hear you ask. “Surely that’s why we’ve all been told that we should be eating less fat?”
Let me back up a bit and tell you the story of the Atkins diet: a diet relatively high in protein and fat, but low in carbs. People were eating sausages and eggs cooked in lashings of butter and, lo and behold, they lost weight!
Now, you don’t need to be a nutritionist to realise that this way of eating isn’t healthy, but why does such a regime work? Well, when you eat a large proportion of your meal as protein, the glucose spikes associated with eating carbohydrates are lower, and thus less fat is stored.
Put another way, eating carbs (which eventually break down into sugar) causes your body to release insulin, the hormone that reduces the amount of glucose in your blood and stores it as fat. So more carbs mean more glucose, which in turn means more insulin and greater fat storage. As you can clearly see, it’s not fat that makes you fat; rather it’s carbohydrates.
While sugary foods, those made with white flour (white bread, cakes, biscuits, mandazis) and potatoes (yes crisps too) aren’t good for you, not all carbs are bad news. In fact, without starchy carbohydrates like ugali, rice, pasta, and wholemeal bread in our diets, we are likely to feel hungry. But without adequate protein, too much of these can have you piling on the pounds. That means eating chicken with your rice and veggies, or beans with your ugali is a good thing.
Protein also makes you feel full. That’s why even though you can easily finish two plates of chips or a box of chocolates (both carbs), it’s very difficult to eat more than one steak (pure protein).
The next question most of my patients normally ask is “If protein is so great, why can’t I just live on it?” Unfortunately for dieters, eating too much protein can cause the body to produce ketones, toxic molecules that the kidneys have to work hard to eliminate. Too much protein can also make you constipated, if you don’t eat enough roughage (from starch and veggies). So, like most things in life, moderation really is the key.
(The same thing applies to fat: moderate amounts of good fats from fish, unroasted nuts and seeds, olives, and avocadoes, which can help you lose weight and keep your heart healthy, while avoiding the bad fats (the kind from deep-fried foods or baked goods like biscuits).
