This low-fat idea was based on bad science. Our government told us in the 1970’s to go on a low-fat diet and to eat 8-11 servings of rice, bread, and pasta a day. And unfortunately we listened. This was the beginning of our obesity and diabetes epidemic. The food industry happily created a flood of fat-free foods.
But the science has proven that eating fat doesn’t make you fat – SUGAR does. And it is sugar NOT fat that raises your cholesterol despite what people and most doctors still believe.
A 20-ounce soda is fat-free but that doesn’t make it a health food. If cookies were fat-free, then you can eat the whole bag, right?
But the fat is replaced with flour and sugar, and the result we now have is one in two adults with diabesity – that’s pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, and almost one in four teenagers with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.
We did a 10-day sugar-free detox with our online community and 600 people lost more than 4,000 pounds in 10 days!!
So why does eating fat free make you fat and diabetic?
In a recent Harvard study, Dr. David Ludwig found that in two groups eating EXACTLY the same calories, the group that had the low-fat diet (which means higher in sugars and starches) burned 300 calories LESS per day. Their metabolism was slower than the group eating the higher fat and higher protein diet.
If you ate the higher fat, higher protein diet (of exactly the same calories) it is the equivalent of running for ONE hour a day. In other words, if you just swap out sugars and starches for good quality fats and protein it will be like you added an hour of free exercise a day to your life without any change in calorie intake!
Bottom Line: The key point here is that all calories are NOT the same. Swap out sugar and starch for good fats such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, and grass-fed animal products or wild fish. Be a “qualitarian.” Focus on quality, on real food and the rest takes care of itself.
Being Overweight Is Not Your Fault
The food industry would have us believe that controlling our weight is about personal responsibility. Tell that to a 200 pound five-year-old with diabetes and liver failure. Our taste buds have been hijacked by the food and diet industry. We are programmed to like sweet, salt, and fat tastes.
And those slick combinations of sugar, fat and salt in junk and processed food have hijacked our taste buds, our brain chemistry, and our metabolism. These foods are biologically addictive. We are held hostage by the food industry and we blame ourselves.
This is food terrorism! The biggest threat to our lives is not Al Qaeda but Coca-Cola (and the other food industry giants)!
How does food addiction happen?
New research shows that industrial food full of processed sugars, fats, salt, and chemicals are powerfully addictive.
And sugar is the worst culprit.
One animal study found that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.
When rats were given the choice between mainline cocaine right into their veins or sweetened water (in fact, they used an artificial sweetener), they found that sugar was eight times more addictive than cocaine. Even the rats already addicted to cocaine switched over to diet drinks!
And what’s even more interesting is that while cocaine and heroin activate only one spot for pleasure in the brain, sugar lights up the brain like a pinball machine!
If these foods are addictive and drive overeating, then the whole idea of moderation just doesn’t work. Hey, just have that one line of cocaine or that one hit of heroin.
We can’t stop eating, but we can stop eating junk and sugar!
So we have to take back our taste buds, take back our brain chemistry, and take back our bodies from the food and diet industry.
How do we do that?
Bottom Line: By eating real food – chicken, fish, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, and a little whole grains will reset your taste buds and your brain chemistry automatically.
Exercise Your Way to Weight Loss
The food industry and diet industry push exercise. Even Michelle Obama’s childhood obesity initiative focuses on exercise in its name, “Let’s Move”. But it should be really called “Let’s Eat Real Food.”
Here’s why. Sugar sweetened drinks make up about 15 percent of our calorie intake every day.
But you have to walk 4.5 miles to burn off one 20-ounce soda, which contains 15 teaspoons of sugar.
You have to run four miles a day for one week to burn off one supersize meal. If you have one supersize meal everyday you would have to run a marathon every day!
You can’t exercise your way out of bad diet – except if your run a marathon every day.
Drinking 32 ounces of Gatorade after a workout is a dumb idea, unless you run around like Kobe Bryant on the basketball court for 48 minutes. There are better ways to replenish your energy and electrolytes than colored sugar water with a few minerals sprinkled in.
To paraphrase my friend Bill Clinton, “It’s the food stupid!”
Bottom Line: Exercise is critical to long-term health and weight loss, but you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet.
Thankfully science is shedding light on the ideas that keep us fat and sick. Unfortunately, scientists don’t have billion dollar marketing budgets. But we as a community of thinking people wanting real information can speak out, can spread the word and turn the tide of obesity and chronic disease together. Share this article with your community and friends.
Get started today! Get your copy of The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook today. When you purchase this book from this link you will gain access to these exclusive Dr. Hyman bonuses:
- 1-Week Gluten-Free Meal Plan – Maps out a full week of breakfasts, lunches and dinners PLUS all new recipes for these.
- Access to Dr. Hymans Kitchen Videos – Including cooking demos, Fridge and Pantry makeover, supermarket shopping tips and more. Over 60 minutes of footage.
- You will be invited to a live online presentation hosted by Dr. Hyman on March 27th, 2013.
Click here to learn more.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
