Less grain equals less gain!
As many of you know I am not a great fan of high protein, no carbohydrate diets. (Unbalanced, constipating, unsustainable long term, and not great for your kidneys.) However there seems to be a great deal of absentminded grain grazing going on!
The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to consume complex carbs at breakfast, such as a bowl of oats, either cooked into porridge or soaked into a Bircher muesli, and then cut out all grains for the rest of the day. Salad and protein for lunch, and vegetables and protein for dinner. Snacks being fresh fruit, or non-fat yoghurt (not the sugary coloured stuff masquerading as yoghurt! See Newsletter no 52). A low carbohydrate diet such as this, combined with early morning exercise is the key to losing fat.
Let’s just clear up the confusion about carbs however. After all fruits, vegetables, and legumes are also carbohydrate foods. However what makes up broccoli for example by weight, is water and fibre and not much
absorbable carbohydrate. Broccoli contains about 5 per cent carbohydrate in contrast to pasta which contains approximately 70 per cent (even the wholemeal variety!!!)
Grains are 50 – 80% carbohydrate. Biochemistry tells us that all carbs consumed (apart from fibre) turn into sugar in the blood (glucose), and our bodies will always burn glucose in preference to fat. By consuming excessive carbs daily, the body has no chance to burn body fat. Indeed, it will even turn the excess glucose into fat! A double weight gaining whammy!
So let’s have a low-carb month. No pasta, rice, bread, biscuits, cakes, crispbreads. Keep your complex carbs for breakfast then say goodbye to them until the next morning. I guarantee you will feel more energised, be less bloated and even be more clear headed. And the best incentive is that at the end of the month you shall contain significantly less fat cells!