Surely eating fat makes us fat? – This has been a misconception that has been around for over half a decade. Yes it is true that an increase in fat stores leads to us gaining weight, but it is not simply eating too much fat that leads to this. Once we start to understand what makes us store fat in our bodies, you start to realise why a diet high in fat, low in carbohydrates and little to no sugar is ideal.
In human beings, fat is the primary energy storage mechanism. One gram of fat yields twice as many calories as both carbohydrate or protein, so is the most efficient way of storing energy. Where we can go wrong (Women in particular!!) is assuming that it is eating fat that led to increases in fat stores and thinking that a high fat diet would result in weight gain. We also wonder why as we age we hold onto fat around the middle? People often assume it comes with being middle aged but it doesn't. It's all to do with insulin resistance, how we manage stress (I believe stress plays a huge part of it keeping cortisol levels low helps keep weight off the middle!) and of course diet. This is where high fat, low carb and no sugar can really be beneficial.
The human body has an incredible ability to burn fat for energy. In fact the body preferentially burns fat most of the time, and only really requires sugar for explosive activities and for a few select organs such as the brain. So if we are so good at burning fat, why do we tend to store so much of it?
The problem arises when we bring carbohydrates (SUGAR!) into the equation. From the moment we ingest sugar, we release hormones such as insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin is an incredibly important hormone, but one of its effects is to signal the fuel systems in the body to cease burning fat and instead wholly rely on sugar. If that wasn’t bad enough, it then goes to all the fat cells in the body and tells them to increase the storing of fat! So how does a ‘high fat low carb focused’ diet help?
If you eat fat rich foods , the body burns the fat you eat and doesn’t tend to store it. If you however add some carbs to the meal, the whole dynamic changes and the body burns only the carbs you eat and diverts all the fat you eat to storage and you are far more likely to gain weight!
And that is not all…! Unlike the high fat diet, if you eat sugar, the body gets used to burning it and becomes very inefficient at burning fat. The brain also becomes addicted, and begins to crave it as soon as it hasn’t had it for a while. The more you eat the more your body wants. This leads to a situation where your body constantly wants sugar because it has forgotten how to burn fat and has developed a bit of an ADDICTION. Not good.
The result is a vicious circle where the more sugar you ingest, the more fat you store, the more sugar you want so the more sugar you eat etc etc! So really the only result is weight gain.
Some of you may be thinking that maybe you could just eat a diet of all sugar and no fat as then there would be no fat to store. Sadly this is not the case. The body can actually turn sugar into fat, so you would simply burn the sugar you need and store the rest as fat. It’s also crucial as I’ve said before for us to eat fat, so you wouldn’t want to avoid it at all. We want fat for our skin, hair, nails, our brains, our hormones, our organs. It’s vital!!
So hopefully you now understand why fat is not to be avoided and is not the enemy and why the high fat low carb no sugar focused diet can be protective and truly aid in weight loss. Do you need any more reasons to join my sugar free challenge?! Let me know how you go if you embark on a high fat, low carb plant focused diet. As I always say concentrate on nutrients and colours, focus your plate on real wholefoods, good quality protein, lots of greens, fibre and FAT.
