Posted on March 27, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

From what I read and see in magazines everyone is obsessed with diets “that make you lose weight”, especially those which help you lose weight as quickly as possible! Very few of these diets take a healthy approachto nutrition. For starters weight loss and fat loss are two separate and completely different things, the majority of these diets focus on not only stripping you of fat, but muscle, minerals in the bone, muscle glycogen and water, leaving you what we call skinny fat (this dosen’t look great in a bikini and your insides won’t be very healthy either), whereas healthy eating programs are designed to strip BODY FAT without compromising your muscle mass or markers of health. Have a read of this article about diets, carbohydrates and inflammation……the information the diet companies don’t tell you about when they are raving about their latest quick fix diet!

 

The most serious issue is that these stupid shake and smoothie diets are terrible for your health! For example one particular big company that I can think of allows you to eat whatever you want as long as it fits into your “allowance” for the day. The approach that it’s okay to eat chocolate, crisps, flapjack bars is okay as long as you don’t exceed your daily limit is idiotic, dangerous and terrifying. I have even been told stories about how individuals didn’t have any evening meal because they didn’t have any “units” of food left! Ridiculous! What is important is about where you are getting your essential nutrients from not about how you can cheat the system and eat your daily calories in sugar and fat in the form of chocolate and cereal bars!

The truth about carbohydrates has been trapped in a maze of poorly conducted research, terrible guidelines set by government authorities, companies private agendas and information so corrupted by Chinese whispers that nobody actually knows where the original information even came from.

If your trying to improve your body composition and health here are the FACTS about diet, carbohydrates and inflammation:

• Carbohydrates are some of the most nutrient dense foods in the world packed with antioxidants, think fruit, vegetables, beans, legumes and some whole grains, so yes you do NEED them in your diet however not all carbohydrates are equal!
• Refined Carbohydrates are pro inflammatory, If these carbohydrates are not burned for energy they are converted into saturated fat, this type of saturated fat is called palmitic acid and not only does it lead to inflammation in the body but also heart disease.

What is inflammation???

Essentially inflammation is a totally healthy response to injury, infection etc. It’s a way our body defends itself by sending immune cells and key nutrients to the effected area. They get there by increased blood flow to the area, which creates the redness, warmth, swelling etc. The foods we eat and consume can cause inflammation if they the wrong sort. However when inflammation as a response is never shut off, as with some people’s diets, a whole host of health problems arises, including heart disease, arthritis, weight gain, pain, reduced function of organs etc… its not good!

What are the worst pro inflammatory foods?

• Sugar
• White bread
• Trans-fats
• Alcohol
• Omega-6 fatty acids
• Gluten
• Processed corn
• peanuts
• any food containing a chemical

The best and simple solution to avoiding inflammation is don’t eat processed foods, eat from the land. Now please bear in mind im not saying a glass of wine every now and again is going to be the downfall of you, but bear in mind that a glass of wine, a take-away pizza followed by toast for breakfast on a weekly basis will certainly stop you achieving your goals.

As always, the moral of the story is eat clean and lean, and nothing processed….yes, it’s that simple!