Lets be crystal clear from the off here – the ONLY way you’re going to get fat is if you’re eating consistently in a calorie surplus – meaning you’re eating more calories than you’re using each day.
It’s not eating bananas, it’s not insulin damage, its not foods high on the glycemic index, it’s not sugar – it’s not even junk food – it’s calories. Simple as that. Many studies have compared diets of different macronutrient levels, feeding people various levels of carbs, fats and proteins…
All the meta-analysis and review papers have concluded that, in the end, it is the total number of calories that matter:
(Freedman, King et al 2001; Powell, Tucker, et al. 1994; Alford, Blankenship, et al. 1990; Hu, Mills, et al. 2012; Bravata, Sanders, et al. 2003; Sacks, Bray, et al. 2009; Krebs, Elley, et al. 2012; Foster, Wyatt, et al. 2003; Shai, Schwarzfuchs, et al. 2008; Hill, Drougas et al. 1993; Gollay, Allaz, et al. 1996; Astrup, Meinert Larson, et al. 2004.
Science DOES NOT lie.
If fat loss is your goal – when it comes to daily calories it makes sense to fill your diet with food groups that are the least calorie dense so you can eat in abundance and feel full without topping out on your daily target.
The lowest calorie density foods?
CARBS: fruits, vegetables. legumes, whole grains – plant based whole foods.
Once you start eating clean you will find it almost IMPOSSIBLE to exceed your daily calorie goals. Just ask the guys (and girls) on our bulking programs who are trying to put on weight – the hardest task they face is getting into a calorie surplus while eating clean. And they’re eating like horses.
Add to the fact that whole food plant based grub is jammed with fibre, easy to digest, packed with vitamins, minerals and believe it or not PROTEIN!!!… it’s not hard to see why eating this way is optimal for clean muscle building, weight loss or to jack your health.
CUTTING CARBS (It’s dangerous)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Cutting out carbohydrates from your diet could put you at increased risk of a deficiency in certain nutrients, leading to health problems, unless you’re able to make up for the nutritional shortfall with healthy substitutes.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Replacing carbohydrates with fats and higher fat sources of protein will increase your intake of saturated fat and trans fats, which can raise the amount of cholesterol in your blood. As highlighted in the world’s largest ever study on nutrition in humans, The China Study; one of the strongest predictors of Western disease is blood cholesterol. ⠀⠀⠀⠀
The following is not my ‘opinion’ – it was published by Harvard Medical School in October 2009 and updated on July 10th 2018:
“It’s easy to eat your way to an alarmingly high cholesterol level. The reverse is true, too – changing what foods you eat can lower your cholesterol and improve the armada of fats floating through your bloodstream. Doing this requires a two-pronged strategy: Add foods that lower LDL, the harmful cholesterol-carrying particle that contributes to artery-clogging atherosclerosis. At the same time, cut back on foods that boost LDL.”
Foods that lower LDL: Oats, whole grains, beans, eggplant, nuts, leafy greens… ahem, yep, you guessed it. Carbs.
Foods that boost LDL: Saturated fats. Typical sources of saturated fat include all animal products, such as red meat, whole-fat dairy products, and eggs, and also a few vegetable oils, such as palm oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. So mostly fats then? Ahem. Yep.
A largely plant based “dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods” substantially lowers LDL, triglycerides, and blood pressure. The key dietary components are plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains instead of highly refined ones, and protein mostly from plants. You read that right – a diet HIGH IN CARBS is the key to health and longevity as a human.⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Lowering carbs just because it’s become popular in recent diet fads and trends is extremely dangerous. When you’re low on glucose, the body breaks down stored fat to convert it into energy. This process causes a build-up of ketones in the blood, resulting in ketosis. Ketosis as a result of a low-carb diet can be linked, at least in the short term, to headaches, weakness, nausea, dehydration, dizziness and irritability.⠀⠀⠀⠀
The long term health prospects are even darker.
In 2018 a new study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, held in Munich, Germany, by Prof. Maciej Banach, of the Medical University of Lodz in Poland. Prof. Lodz and his colleagues examined the links between low-carb diets and the risk of death from any cause among 24,825 individuals who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 1999–2010.
Overall, the survey found that those who consumed the least amount of carbs were 32% more likely to die prematurely from any cause.
Also, low carb consumers were 51% more likely to die from coronary heart disease, 50% more likely to die from cerebrovascular disease, and 35% more likely to die of cancer.
Low-carb diets might be useful in the short-term to lose weight, lower blood pressure, and improve blood glucose control (mostly due to the fact that they promote reduced calorie intake), but this study suggests that in the long-term they are linked with an increased risk of death from any cause, and deaths due to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and and increased risk of cancer. Sounds like a REALLY bad idea.
The healthiest and longest living populations on the planet all have one thing in common – a DIET HIGH IN CARBOHYDRATES.⠀⠀
For a long disease free life, try boosting your intake of foods that people living in Blue Zones have in their diet. A concept developed by National Geographic Fellow and author Dan Buettner, Blue Zones are areas across the globe where people tend to live the longest and have remarkably low rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Although the blue zones are found in five very geographically and culturally different parts of the world, there are characteristics common to all of them that are portable to any location and can be used to make healthy lifestyle changes. They include making low-intensity physical activity part of your daily routine, building good relationships with friends and family, eating a diet lighter on meat and excess calories and heavier on plants, and finding a purpose for and sense of meaning in your life.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Although food choices vary from region to region, Blue Zone diets are primarily plant-based, with as much as 95% of daily food intake coming from vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes – KILLER CARBS? errr – quite the opposite as science would have it.
People in Blue Zones typically avoid meat and dairy, as well as sugary foods (not fruit) and beverages and processed foods.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Also in the China Study – those eating 100% whole food plant based diets with 70% or more of those calories coming from carbs, were eating way in excess of 2000 calories and remaining thin and lean. The low carb rhetoric comes from diet washing culture and a misinformed confusion between the different types of carbs that exist. Man made ‘V’ nature made.
SO what’s a good carb versus a bad carb?
Refined grains such as white bread, pizza crust, pretzels, hamburger buns and mega muffins are bad carbohydrates. During the refining process, these grains are stripped of B-vitamins, fiber and certain minerals.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Other examples of bad carbs include chips, cookies, sodas, bagels, cake, pastries, pancakes, soda, high fructose corn syrup and baked goods. These foods are low in nutrient density as they have little or no nutritional value and supply a large amount of calories (and fat).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
JUNK CARBS ARE:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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❌High in calories for a small portion ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌High in refined sugars – Studies show refined sugars like high fructose corn syrup make up more than 20% of the calories we eat each day. Refined sugars are linked to disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. White sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and added sugars are examples⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌High in refined grains – Wheat flour stripped of nutrient value made to look white in color⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌Zero to minimal Fiber⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌Sodium – High ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌Fats – High ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌Cholesterol – High ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❌Trans fats – High
GOOD CARBS ARE:
The healthiest sources of carbohydrates – unprocessed or minimally processed whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans – promote good health by delivering vitamins, minerals, fiber, and a host of important phytonutrients.
So the health benefits of good carbs are very clear.
But again for weight loss they are optimal food choices for humans.
Consider that our brains control our dietary drive. A complicated system of chemoreceptors in the nerve lining the digestive tract carefully monitor the calorie and nutrient density of every mouthful and send information to the hypothalamus in the brain, which controls dietary drive.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If you consume sufficient nutrients and fibre, you will become biochemically filled (nutrients) and mechanically filled (fiber), and your desire to consume more calories will be blunted.
Again – when you look for the foods highest in nutrient density and fibre – whole food carbs come top of the list. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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One key factor that determines whether you will be over-weight is your failure to consume sufficient fiber and nutrients. This has all been noted in several scientific studies: Lawton CL, Burley VJ, Wales JK, Blundell JE. Dietary fat and appetite control. 1993; Blundell JE, Halford JC. Regulation of nutrient supply: the brain and appetite control. 1994; Stamler J, Dolecek TA, Relation of food and nutrient intakes to body mass intervention trial. 1997. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Don’t paint ALL CARBS with the same misinformed brush.
Understand that whole food carbohydrates are premium fuel for a human being. For health, increased energy, optimal athletic performance and for weight loss. Mother nature provided all we need.
CARBS DO NOT MAKE YOU FAT.
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KEEP IT REAL✌????????⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Bec x
*Find out the EXACT percentage of CARBS you need in your daily macros to reach your body goals on a plant based diet.
>> CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND OUT <<