High carbohydrate, low fat diets: A time for change?
Is your “healthy” diet:
- Really all that good for you?
- Doing you more harm than good?
- Slowly killing you?
- Based off the greatest error in the history of medicine?
Is it time for change?
Earlier in 2015 Nutrition Australia produced an updated version of the “Food Pyramid” which was seen as a big step towards reversing the trend of our heavily processed carbohydrate rich diet.
The new model moved fruits & vegetables to their rightful place as stand-alone holders at the base of the pyramid, wholemeal grains were shifted up a tier and the “sometimes foods” such as confectionary and burgers were removed completely, along with margarine’s and added sugar.
But is this really enough to reverse the worrying trend of population obesity leading to chronic disease that is devastating westernised society?
Professor Tim Noakes, an “A rated” South African professor & co-founder of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa strongly disagrees with the inclusion of Carbohydrates at all in a “healthy” diet.
Professor Noakes published in a recent 2015 peer reviewed meta-analysis discussion piece 5 key arguments as to why the current “low fat” dietary recommendations “Represent the single greatest error in the history of medicine”.
With bold statements such as that you would hope there would be strong scientific evidence backing it up… There is no shortage of peer reviewed evidence that makes for compelling reading.
The 5 key points outlined were:
- Absence of scientific proof in original food guideline implementation
- Explosive increase in Obesity & Type II diabetes since their introduction
- Scientific explanation into why Obesity & Type II diabetes would increase under a high carbohydrate low fat diet
- A low carbohydrate, high fat diet reverses all known risk factors for cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes
- Recent multi-million dollar studies have disproven the effect of a low fat diet in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease
So without going into scientific mumbo jumbo what does this mean for the everyday individual when we hit the shopping aisles and are preparing foods for ourselves and our family?
Here are 3 very simple tips to make the healthiest choices regarding your food intake:
1. Fresh is best!
- Eat more foods that don’t require you to open a packet. Fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts and seeds are a great start, and give you plenty of options!
2. Carbohydrates aren’t the devil, but make sure they have a secondary benefit.
- It is unfair to tar all carbohydrates with the same brush, unprocessed carbs such as whole fruits and vegetables provide a secondary benefit as great sources of fibre essential for good health. Carbohydrates also play an important role in the performance of athletes.
3. Knowledge is power! Know what you are eating, plan ahead in advance.
- Most of the time the simplest and easiest option is not always the healthiest. Know what you are eating and when, make sure it is good for you and you are on your way to fantastic health and vitality!
For more information regarding reduced carbohydrate diets, and to see if they could work for you, please call 9783 9990 or email info@tsic.com.au
