Low carb high fat, Yes or No?

Posted By irvinechiro / Date Posted: 2015-06-02

LCHF diet

In this post I want to delve into a subject that is highly controversial as well as highly important. The saying used to be don’t discuss religion or politics. Well I would like to add Nutrition into that, because every time I get into a discussion about food it ends up in an argument. The reason for this I believe is status quo. People don’t like to change. I still remember the first time I was introduced to the Paleo Diet. I was chatting to a friend I studied with and he was having bacon and eggs for brekky, I was having my usual muesli. I said to him ‘How much bacon do you eat mate, that is full of saturated fats’, so he said to me ‘yeah and your Muesli is full of carbs, here read this book’, and he handed me “the Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf. This book among many more since that day have changed the way I look at nutrition and health tremendously.

If you haven’t heard of low carb high fat diet (LCHF), you may have heard of the Mediterranean diet, the Paleo diet or the Atkins diet. All of which recommend decreasing carbohydrate intake and increasing fat intake. Leading Sports Physician Peter Brukner has embarked on his own journey of LCHF diet, which saw him improve his health and along the way lose a heap of unwanted body fat. We see many top athletes adopting these principles to improve both their health and their athletic performance, including many of the Australian Cricket Team and all of the Wests Tigers Rugby League Team.

So what is all the hype about and is this the way to go for your nutrition?

I say Yes and here is why. About 30 years ago the Western world made a huge mistake. It decided that fat was bad and we should all be eating ‘low fat’. So all of a sudden we all stopped eating fatty foods, we trimmed the fat off meats and tucked into the carbohydrates such as rice, pasta and potatoes. The problem with this is that it’s not the fat that’s killing us it’s the refined carbohydrates.

They aren’t just killing us, they are making our countries go broke. The American Diabetes Association released research on March 6, 2013 estimating the total costs of diagnosed diabetes have risen to $245 billion in 2012 from $174 billion in 2007, when the cost was last examined.

This figure represents a 41 percent increase over a five year period.

What’s the big issue?

Well the body responds to carbohydrates by releasing insulin which in simple terms causes any excess carbs to convert to fat. Constantly bombarding our bodies with carbohydrates makes us insulin resistant and this can lead to Diabetes.

Wait, are you saying that carbs make me fat, not fat? Yes.

When I started utilising the Paleo style of eating in early 2011, I lost some weight, my HDL (good) cholesterol went through the roof and my health improved greatly. Best of all my arthritic knees stopped aching everyday because I had removed the constant inflammation caused by the grains and dairy I had been consuming. 

Is this change going to be right for everyone? 

No, but all I can say is try it yourself for a couple of months like hordes of people around the world have done and see how you feel. If you have any pre-existing medical conditions be sure to consult your local medical professional for advice before hand.




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