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Category Archives: Bad Science

The Heart Foundations Tick Future

8th October 2014 1:54 am / 4 Comments / Chris

Yesterday, nutrition networks on social media were flooded with posts linking to a survey put out by the Heart Foundation of Australia asking people for their thoughts on their “TICK” program. Doing my duty, I filled in this survey and told them exactly what I thought of their tick, but since completing the survey, my mind has been wandering back to this survey and what it is really all about.

The conclusion I have drawn is this… The Heart Foundation have come under SO much flack lately, not only with their outdated nutrition advice, but for their “TICK” appearing on SO many unhealthy products that they are in damage control mode. I believe that the HF have known for some time that their TICK has little meaning to people anymore, and that they need to find a way get rid of it. It’s no wonder the TICK has no real impact when companies can pay BUCKETLOADS of money to have the logo placed on products like Milo breakfast cereal, party pies, margarines and other oil spreads, sugar-filled “light” yoghurt tubs, fruit & vegetable juice bottles… and the list goes on!

So, what do they do? They ask the public to fill in a cleverly created survey to make people think their voices are being heard. All this survey achieves, is it gives them ideas on how to gently put the tick out of its misery. I am just picturing future press releases and media campaigns that go something like…..

“We asked you and you told us. There is too much nutrition confusion out there on the internet and our simple TICK program doesn’t explain which foods are healthy as it used to, so we have decided to phase out our Heart Healthy Tick .”

You now feel like you played a part in ridding Australia of this tick.

Problem is, The Heart Foundation relies heavily on income from their Tick program to fund itself. If they ditch the tick, where will they make up the loss of revenue?

My belief is that this whole “survey” thing is just a perfectly planned PR exercise to (a) get rid of the tick which was terminally ill in the first place, and (b) bring in a new system so charge big processed food companies even more money to display the new system/logo/icon on….. something like this maybe?

Introducing the new : DODECAGON HEALTH SEAL

The All New Heart Foundation Dodecagon Health Seal

“You asked for it, and we listened. You wanted a more simple system to understand healthy food so we bring you the DODECAGON HEALTH SEAL. Why the Dodecagon? It is a 12 sided shape, and each side represents one of the the 12 stringent criteria that has to be met for a product to display this seal of health”.

Though what it would really mean is….

“The TICK program was so old and out of date that fewer and fewer companies were wanting to pay us lots and lots of money to put it on their highly refined and processed food packages. So we took the Tick to the marketing vet and had it put down and now have this all new and improved DODECAGON HEALTH SEAL program. This new system has nothing at all to do with 12 approval criteria, but actually represents the number of ZERO’s we hope to find on the end of the income/profit figures each year from this program. It will still be based on old and outdated nutritional advice, and will still be targeted at massive food companies with millions of dollars to throw at us instead of actual nutritional health, but you will believe it’s a much healthier program because its new!”

This is my prediction. The Heart Foundation can’t get rid of a health-approval program entirely because it can’t afford to lose all that income. Something will have to take its place, but it won’t matter what it is, it will still be based on poor nutritional advice, and will still be found approving foods which should never be labeled as “healthy”.

Want to know how to eat healthy and heart smart? Just eat real food!

Posted in: #Edify Food, Bad Science, Low Carb/High Fat, Processed Food, Saturated Fat, Weight Loss

Government Nutrition Advice – No Wonder People Are Confused

4th June 2014 6:52 am / 5 Comments / Chris

Low Carb vs Low FatWhen governments are behind nutrition advice like this, it’s no wonder people are confused about what to eat!!!

This morning, a friend of mine sent me a link to a website called the Better Health Channel which has been funded and set up by the Victorian (Australia) state government. The link my friend sent me was directly to an article on their site about Weight Loss and Carbohydrates and in particular, their one-sided and unbalanced views on the Low Carb lifestyle.

I read the article this morning and I was gob-smacked. Not just once, but around a dozen times, I found myself shaking my head and uttering bewildered expletives to no one in particular.

So… Seeing as The Better Health Channel doesn’t feel the need to give balanced information to the good folk of Victoria (and thanks to the Internet, anyone with Google), I decided I would rebut many of their claims about the supposed dangers of Low Carb living, and the out-dated and misguided Low Fat dogma they are pushing.

They say…….

Carbohydrates are essential for a well-balanced diet and healthy body. They provide the only fuel source for many vital organs, including the brain, central nervous system and kidneys. The digestive system breaks down carbohydrates into glucose and the pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin to help the glucose move from the blood into the cells.

So… Here we are told that organs such as the brain, and the central nervous system can ONLY functions on carbs. Not quite correct.

When the body is in a state of Ketosis these organs switch over and start to burn ketones for its fuel. Ketones are substances that are created by your liver when your body is in ketosis. Ketosis is achieved from being on a very low carb diet (typically under 30 grams a day). Studies have shown that the brain and central nervous system not only CAN function without carbs, it often THRIVES when burning ketones instead of carbs.

I also find it interesting how they are making out that increased levels of insulin in the body to handle the increased glucose from a high carb diet is a good thing…. Nooooo it isn’t! But I’ll cover that later in this post.

Low-carbohydrate (low-carb) diets are becoming popular again for weight loss. Yet, despite their claims, research suggests very low-carbohydrate diets tend not to lead to long-term weight loss and may lead to other serious health problems.

I love how they make the call “research suggests” yet there is never any quoted research. In fact, research actually suggests the opposite. Study after study show that a diet high in saturated fat and low in carbohydrates is the most beneficial to most people’s health. Here’s a few studies for you.

  • The Framingham Heart Study (1948 – Today… it’s still going). Shows time and time again that the more saturated fat a person eats, the lower their serum cholesterol levels are.
  • Association of Serum Cholesterol with Mortality Study (1992). This study showed that high cholesterol levels actually decreased the risk of mortality.
  • Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Stroke Study (1995). This found that there was no association between cholesterol levels and strokes.
  • Effect of a Low Carb, High Fat Diet on Body Weight and Cholesterol Study (2002). This showed that those on a High Fat diet sustained weight loss a had a significant reduction in cholesterol.

And the studies just keep piling up in favour of a Low Carb, High Fat diet. I took these study examples from a great book by Australian LCHF Author Christine Cronau called The Fat Revolution, and her book lists MANY more.

Personally… I have been living the LCHF Lifestyle for over 12 months now. I have lost (at the time of writing) nearly 45kg and have had my blood test results go from “Chris, we need to sit down and talk”, to “Your levels are amazing, I can’t believe you eat like you do”. Sure, 12 months isn’t “Long Term” sustained weight loss but considering the longest I would’ve ever stayed on a “diet” in the past was about a month, and I’d never managed to keep any of the lost weight off, this is a lifetime for me.

The basic principle underlying the recommendation to eat fewer carbohydrates is the concern that carbohydrates cause weight gain. This is misleading, because weight gain comes from an excess in overall kilojoules (or calories), which can come from carbohydrate, fat or protein sources.

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to combine a diet high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and low-fat dairy products with daily exercise.

So here we get the guilt trip…. the “It’s your fault you fat bastard. You can’t put the fork down because you are weak” lines. That is basically, in a nice way, what they are saying here… What a load of complete rubbish. They are contradicting themselves by these very statements.

Just remember this…. “Fat makes you full…. not fat. Carbs make you fat!”

On one hand, they say you need to eat fewer calories overall, yet in the same breath they advise people to eat foods that MAKE YOU HUNGRY MORE OFTEN! Other than the vegetables, all the other foods they suggest make you hungry faster, causing you eat more often. You know how when you have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, or a low-fat chicken rice stir fry, or a low-fat pasta dish, and an hour after you’ve eaten it, you are STARVING again? That’s because you are filling up on foods full of carbs and low on fat.

Remember “Fat makes you full…. not fat. Carbs make you fat!“.

Very low-carbohydrate diets are unlikely to meet your daily nutritional needs. Advocates of these diets advise people to consume kilojoules mainly from protein and fat sources, and often recommend eating less than 100 g of carbohydrate per day.

Many health professionals do not support these diets as they can have a high fat content (particularly saturated fat) and tend to restrict important food sources of nutrients.

This statement is just pure ignorance and shows a complete unwillingness to actually discover the truth about what they are writing about. Have a look at the Edify LCHF Food Pyramid and tell me that all those vegetables would cause a person to be lacking in important nutrients.

Very low-carb diets tend to contain few fruits and vegetables and may be:

high in saturated fat
nutritionally inadequate because they are low in thiamine, folate, vitamins A, E and B6, calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium
low in fibre
missing important antioxidants and phytochemicals.

Low Carb diets are low in fruit? Absolutely!! Especially when you are in a weight loss phase. Most fruits are full of sugar. Sure, it is natural sugar, but it is still sugar. The kinds of fruit Low Carbers tend to eat are fruits like berries which are quite low in sugars/carbs.

Low Carb diets are low in vegetables? Ummm… Not quite. As shown on the Edify Food Pyramid, you can eat Asparagus, Avocado, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Button Squash, Cabbage, Capsicum, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumbers, Eggplant, English Spinach, Green Beans, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Onions, Tomato and Zucchini just to name a few… and you are able to eat LOTS of them. These vegetables are all low carb, and are full of lots of the required nutrients and fibre needed.

Low Carb diets are high in saturated fat? Yep sure are! But that is actually a good thing. Above, I mentioned some of the studies that show saturated fat is healthy for you, but I would recommend watching this presentation by cardiac surgeon Dr Donald W Miller called Enjoy Eating Saturated Fats, They’re Good For You. This is the first video we ever watched when we first started looking at LCHF and it blew our minds. Dr Miller certainly isn’t much of a public speaker, but what he says is incredible.

Low Carb diets are low in nutrients, trace elements and fibre? This would only be true if you were eating the kind of low carb diet they are describing on their site, where it seems you mostly eat meat. Look at all of the vegetables listed above and tell me you would be lacking in anything eating LCHF?

Typical foods eaten on a low-carbohydrate diet include beef, chicken, bacon, fish, eggs and non-starchy vegetables, as well as fats such as oils, butter and mayonnaise. Foods that are restricted include fruit, bread, grains, starchy vegetables and dairy products other than cheese, cream or butter.

This is one of the few paragraphs I agree with The Better Health Channel on. Now have a look at the list of allowed foods above, and tell me that they are not DELICIOUS!!! Who wouldn’t want to eat a diet that regularly include all these things. Lets not forget my personal favourite. Roast pork with crunchy crackling!!!

To be healthy, your daily diet should include at least:

six serves of bread or cereals – for example, one slice of bread; half a cup of porridge; half a cup of cooked pasta or rice
two serves of fruit – for example, one apple, orange or banana; one cup of canned fruit or four dried apricot halves
five serves (women) and six serves (men) of vegetables – for example, one cup of salad vegetables; half a cup of cooked dried beans or legumes; one potato or parsnip; half a cup of other cooked vegetables (broccoli, spinach, carrots)
three serves of dairy food – for example, one cup of low-fat milk; two slices (40 g) of cheese or one small tub (200 g) of yoghurt.

Now…. back at the start of this post, the Better Health Channel claimed that good health and weight loss was all about calories consumed… Okay, now look at the amount of high carbohydrate foods they are saying a person needs to eat every day to be healthy. Breads and cereals SIX times a day! Plus fruit (full of natural sugar) twice a day! Plus low-fat dairy three times a day! Think of how many calories are being consumed by eating all this food EVERY DAY!

It is very common for people living the Low Carb lifestyle to eat only 1 or 2 meals a day. Not because they are starving themselves, but because they just aren’t hungry. When you eat meals with lots of fat, you get full very quickly, and stay full for longer. The nature of a low carb diet means you are rarely hungry, and therefore you tend to eat less. It’s not rocket science!

In the short-term, low-carbohydrate diets may cause you to lose weight because they restrict kilojoules or energy. The body begins to use body stores of glucose and glycogen (from the liver and muscles) to replace the carbohydrates it is not getting from food. Around 3 g of water is needed to release 1g of glycogen, so the rapid initial weight loss on a low-carbohydrate diet is mostly water, not body fat.

Please excuse my technical phrasing here, but…. WHAT A LOAD OF BOLLOCKS!

So… in my first 3 months of being LCHF, I lost over 25kg. Are they trying to tell me that I had 25kg (which equates to 25 litres… one of the few things I remember from high school science) of water sloshing around in my body? Highly unlikely!

As carbohydrate stores are used up, the body begins to rely on other sources of fuel such as fat. This can lead to the development of ketones in the body, which can make the body acidic. This can lead to metabolic changes, which may be dangerous for some people, such as those with diabetes.

I was waiting for this gem to appear, and I wasn’t let down. It’s a commonly made mistake where people (doctors and nutrition “experts” especially) confuse “Ketoacidosis” with “Ketosis”. Ketoacidosis is a very serious condition which mostly affects diabetics. Ketosis is a very natural, normally very health state that your body can be in to provide it fuel for energy. For more detailed info on this, check out Dr Peter Attia’s blog post on it at The Eating Academy.

Some people may also experience problems with a low-carbohydrate diet, including:

nausea, dizziness, constipation, lethargy, dehydration, bad breath, loss of appetite.

This is a very misleading statement. Yes, some of the above symptoms can occur, but they generally only occur during the early stages of going Low Carb. It is often referred to as the Keto-Flu. It is simply your body adapting to this completely new fuel system. Remember that your body has been battered and abused by the recommended high carb diet for years, so it is only natural that the body will go through some pretty big changes switching over to this new way of fueling it. Read more about it on Dr Andreas Eenfeldt (The Diet Doctor’s) F.A.Q page.

Constipation can occur as well, as it did for me for a few months early on, but as your body adjusts, it generally sorts itself out. What I discovered is that constipation often comes from a deficiency in magnesium. Initially I took some magnesium supplements which helped a lot, and now I make sure I eat lots of allowed vegetables which are high in magnesium.

But the one that kills me…. “Loss of appetite” and they say it like it is a bad thing! They are actually referring to the fact that people are hungry less often when low carbing. This isn’t because their body is screwed up and “experiencing problems”, but simply because they are eating lots of fat which fills them up for longer.

Potential long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets

The long-term safety of a diet very low in carbohydrates but high in saturated fat is still uncertain, and the potential effects on a person’s health are not known. Some experts believe it’s a recipe for a heart attack. Follow-up studies are needed over years to determine the safety of very low-carbohydrate diets.

Here is the fence-sitting part of every anti-low-carb argument. “The science isn’t in yet” fall-back. Well, the funny thing is, there appears to be more science proving that saturated fat is in fact healthy, and has no impact on heart disease/heart attacks/high blood pressure/strokes etc than there is science saying fat is bad for you. Yet here they are, still promoting a low-fat diet full of carbs. It blows my mind that decades and decades of modern nutritional advice has been based on such weak science in the first place, and yet the overwhelming amount of studies proving the opposite keep coming out, and they refuse to recognise it.

If you want a great video which shows how weak the science is the “experts” used to base the Low Fat, High Carb diet guidelines on, watch The Food Revolution by Dr Andreas Eenfeldt.

Possible long-term effects may include:

This should be interesting……

Weight gain – when a normal diet is resumed, some muscle tissue is rebuilt, water is restored and weight quickly returns.

What a huge call…. There is no need to quote a study on this because common sense, and looking out your window, you can tell you that there an obesity problem. People are being told to eat less and less fat, and more and more “healthy” carbs… and yet still obesity is increasing. It’s not working people!!! Yet they want to try and say that a long-term effect of low carbing is gaining weight? Why not look at your OWN advice and see it is making people fat rather than try to divert that blame elsewhere.

Bowel problems – restricted intake of antioxidants and fibre from fruits and vegetables can increase a person’s risk of constipation and of developing bowel or colon cancers.

More ignorance on the vegetables thing. This is covered above… move along, nothing to see here!

Dieting problems – such as the ‘yoyo’ effect where people lose and re-gain weight many times over a long period of time, rather than sustaining weight loss. A recent study has shown that weight loss on a low-carbohydrate diet was not different to a low-fat diet after a 12-month period.

This is an incredible statement. Firstly, there is a reason the “diet industry” exists. It is because people are getting fat trying to stick to the Low Fat, High Carb guidelines. It fails them. They get fat. They need to go on a “diet” to lose the weight, only to back to the Low Fat, High Carb eating that made them put the weight on in the first place….. REPEAT. (Did you know that the diet company Jenny Craig is owned by Nestle?…. nice complete profit circle there guys!!!)

Yoyo dieting is actually a result of eating low-fat and high carb, and more importantly the very incorrect “Everything in Moderation” dogma. LCHF and other low carb systems are not a diet. They are a lifestyle. Low Carbers learn early on that it is not just for now, but it is for life. When you understand the concept that you need to change your eating lifestyle for life, the instances of failing are drastically reduced.

High cholesterol, abdominal obesity and obesity-related disorders – diets that are high in protein and fats are associated with a number of conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. This can occur if the diet is very high in fat, particularly from high-fat meats such as salami, sausages and bacon.

Most doctors and experts now realise that just your cholesterol level on its own is rarely a problem so long as your other blood markers are good (LDL’s, Triglycerides etc) which LCHF does a wonderful job managing both in the short and long-term. It has already been established that cholesterol levels don’t cause heart disease.

Diabetes? Rubbish. It is the high carb diet that causes diabetes in the first place (carbs are turned into sugar in the blood…. enough said!!!). LCHF regularly improves diabetic conditions, and can sometimes even reverse Type II diabetes entirely.

Cancer? Interesting concept, except for the fact that studies are coming out showing that a Low Carb, Ketogenic diet provides the perfect environment to starve cancer, not promote its growth. Check out this video by Dr Dominic, D’Agostino called Starving Cancer.

Kidney problems – can occur in people with impaired kidney function or diabetes.

… and as we always say, if you have pre-existing medical conditions, always consult your doctor…. and if they are completely against a low carb lifestyle, or have never heard of it all together, maybe it is time to find a new doctor. Low Carb living can on the most part help with most conditions, especially diabetes but you should always check.

Osteoporosis and related conditions – are due to loss of calcium from the bones.

Are they just making this stuff up? Study after study shows that a diet low in carbs and high in fat doesn’t leach calcium from the bones, and often it has improved bone density and strength. Here is one such study but you can find lots more.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and low-fat dairy products, and moderate in fat and kilojoules, is the best way to lose weight and keep it off.

And how is that advice working out for the population? Obesity is on the rise, diabetes is a MASSIVE problem and so many other metabolic diseases are increasing exponentially, yet they still tell us to follow these guidelines. Check out Dr William Davis’ book called Wheat Belly or his recent video called Wheat: The UNhealthy Whole Grain for more details on how bad wheat and grains are for humans.

Vegetarians and people who consume predominantly plant-based diets are generally slimmer and have much lower rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer, compared to people who eat meat-based diets. This supports current thinking that diets high in unrefined carbohydrates help to prevent overweight and obesity.

Really? Have a good look at most vegetarians you know. Sure, they might be “slimmer” but does that mean healthy? Most vegetarians, and even to an even greater extent vegans I know or have met, generally look pale and gaunt and quite UN-healthy. Most vegetarians predominantly eat a high carb, low-fat diet, and because they don’t include meat, they generally miss out on vital nutrients. So they either just go without, or take a laboratory created supplement as part of their long-term eating lifestyle. I would love to see the statistics they base this statement on because it just seems like an uneducated guess.

Ultimately, to avoid weight gain, energy intake should not be more than energy output over a period of time. Avoiding large portion sizes and limiting intake of saturated fats and added sugars will help keep energy intake in check. Regular exercise is also critical for long-term weight loss success.

Here is more of the good old misinformation and outdated nutrition thinking. They are trying to tell us “Eat Less and Do More”, and that “all calories are the same”. Both of these are wrong. Time and time again, low carb diets lead to more weight loss than low-fat diets, even when the calories being consumed are the same. If all calories are the same, how can people lose weight eating 2000 high fat calories, yet will put weight on when eating 2000 high carb calories?

Check out this fantastic article by Kris Gunnars from Authority Nutrition on 6 Reasons Why a Calorie it NOT a Calorie.

Exercise for weight loss? No. Exercise is the cheapest, bluntest and most ineffective weight loss tool you can have in your shed.  I continually hear stories (my own included) about people on LCHF and losing lots of weight without increasing their exercise. I have lost nearly 45kg, and most of this was done during winter on the farm where I spent most of the time indoors, in front of the fire. Why do you think that Dr Andreas Eenfeldt puts Exercise WAY down at #13 (our of a total of 15) in his How To Lose Weight list?

Is exercise important? Absolutely. The benefits of exercise are amazing for a whole range of reasons. Body strength, overall fitness, bone and muscle condition, anti-depressant, helps you to sleep… and the list goes on. Except for weight loss. It has minimal impact on weight loss when you are eating right. Here is an article from Time Magazine about Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.

Select carbohydrates, proteins and fats carefully

No argument here. Select a low amount of carbs. Select a moderate amount of protein. Select a high amount of fat. Happy Days!

If you do choose to follow a low-carbohydrate diet, do not avoid carbohydrates completely – you need some in your diet to metabolise fat.

You need carbohydrate to metabolise fat? Again, where are the studies supporting this? Carbohydrates don’t metabolise fat. Carbohydrates create a sugar spikes in your blood which makes the pancreas secrete more insulin. Insulins main job is to grab the sugars in the blood and store it as fat. That isn’t metabolism. That is how you put on weight!

Also…. have they noticed that is it LOW carb, not NO carb? Carbs are included, just in low amounts. Where do they get their information from?.. SHEESH!

Choose carbohydrate-rich foods that are unrefined or unprocessed, including whole grains and fruit, rather than the more refined and energy-dense forms such as cakes, sweets and soft drinks. Have a variety of vegetables daily.

Whole grains and Fruits? No thanks. When I’m choosing which carbs I include, I’ll listen to the likes of Dr William Davis on grains, and Dr Robert Lustig on fruit/sugar who back up their claims. Carbs I do consume come from things like dairy (via lactose which is a sugar), veggies like pumpkin, peas and beans etc.

Select a variety of protein-rich foods that are also low in saturated fat, for example:

lean cuts of red meat, fish (including fatty fish), lean chicken and pork.

*SIGH* again with the saturated fat. Lean meats are ridiculous. Firstly, you are paying MORE for them, and getting less because the fat has been removed. Go to your butcher and ask for your meat with the fat in tact, and ask for chicken with the skin still on… Firstly it’ll taste great, and secondly, the looks the butcher will give you will be hilarious!

You could also select protein-rich foods that are plant-based, for example: nuts, legumes such as beans and pulses. soy products, including tofu.

Choose fats from plant sources (such as olives, olive oil, canola oil, peanuts, peanut oil, soy or soy oil) rather than from animal sources (butter or meat fat).

Legumes on the whole are a contentious issue. We choose to avoid most of them, but we do include the lower carb legume veggies such as green beans and peas. Legumes are quite high in carbs overall so choose them wisely.

SOY SOY SOY!!!! This stuff is in EVERYTHING!!! Tofu, Soy Milk, Pizza Bases, Corn Chips, Pancakes, Salad Dressings, Mayonnaise… The list is endless. ALWAYS look at the labels on anything you buy and do not buy it if it has any soy ingredients in it. Check out Dr Joeseph Mercola’s article on The Health Dangers of Soy. Oh and another thing. It is estimate that 97% of the soy grown on earth is a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) and due to lazy labeling laws here in Australia, there is only one way to guarantee you are not eating GMOs. Just don’t eat soy!

Olive Oil is fine to use, especially as a salad dressing, but avoid all these vegetable/seed oils like the plague (Canola, Sunflower, Safflower, Soyabean etc). They are right up there with wheat as being the leading cause of inflammation in the human circulatory system which is what actually leads to heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, alzheimers, dementia and so much more. One of the many problems with these oils is that they contain a MASSIVE amount of Omega 6 fat. Yes, our bodies need Omega 6 fats but not in such high amounts. Traditionally we got our requirements of Omega 6 from eating actual seeds, and actual nuts. Not concentrated, violently pressed nuts and seeds for their oil. Read these 6 Reasons why Vegetable Oils are Toxic by Authority Nutrition.

 

So there you have it. This is my long-winded take, paragraph by paragraph take on this ludicrous post by The Better Health Channel. I’ve linked to the full article at the top of this page if you want to check the authenticity of their post.

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think about it all.

 

Posted in: #Edify Food, Bad Science, Carbohydrates, GMO, Low Carb/High Fat, Processed Food, Saturated Fat, Weight Loss

LCHF The Wrong Way

10th October 2013 2:14 am / 17 Comments / Chris

LCHF Diet Yoyo
Before I really get into it, this post is going to broach some issues that some people may get offended by, or may find confronting. I don’t plan on apologising in advance, and I don’t plan on mincing my words or softening them. This is how I feel about the subject. Take it as you will.

Since changing to the Low Carb/High Fat lifestyle, and getting involved in other LCHF communities and discussions, I have noticed a growing trend… well, it’s not so much a trend as an unfortunate habitual mental attitude in regards to going Low Carb/High Fat…. which I feel can easily cause this amazing way of eating to become just another “Yo-yo Diet” for some.

In a nut shell, I am talking about the large number of people choosing to go LCHF as a “weight loss tool” and not a “lifestyle change”. I constantly hear complaints about people on LCHF struggling with their cravings knowing that there are sugary carb snacks in the pantry for the kids, or complaints that their weight loss has been very slow after a few weeks and are considering trying yet another diet to “shift the weight”.

LCHF is not a diet. LCHF is a way of life!

Here are two simple things I know about LCHF.

1. You don’t go LCHF for a Goal Weight or a Time-Frame.
2. LCHF is for the entire family, not just you.

Now by saying all this, let me expand on these points…

You don’t go LCHF for a Goal Weight or a Time-Frame.

As I’ve stated, LCHF is not a diet. It is not a way of eating with the goal to “shed that 10kg you want to lose before cousin Jethro’s wedding”. I get really frustrated when I see comments on Facebook groups or on Low Carb blog sites complaining that they have been eating Low Carb and High Fat for 3 weeks and haven’t seen any decent weight loss results. After some discussion back and forth, it is VERY obvious that these people are going into LCHF with the same mental attitude as every other diet they have ever tried.

Now, I am not blaming these people for approaching LCHF with this attitude. I can understand the habit of approaching LCHF like this because of the ongoing history of bad diets, fad diets, nutritional lies and constant weight yo-yoing that is all too common with the weight loss industry.

What I am trying to do is, open peoples eyes to these habitual mistakes so they can start changing the way they think about food and diet and that the change is one for life, not just for now. The only way to change bad habits is to realise you have them in the first place.

LCHF is for the entire family, not just you.

This issue is quite heavily linked to the first point because it all comes down to the attitudes and bad habits people bring to LCHF from years of bad information and yo-yo dieting.

Often, people switch to LCHF just for themselves, feeling it is “yet another diet” for me to “lose weight”. Problem is, it’s not just you that needs to switch to Low Carb High Fat but your entire household. Trying to eat healthy in a house where your husband or wife is still eating breads, potatoes, pasta, rice etc, or where the kids still have sugary treats in the pantry is a recipe for disaster.

When you realise the finer details of LCHF, and start to understand the poisonous nature of sugars and grains, there really isn’t any other option than to want everyone you love in your household to want to be healthy.

What is the point of you eating lots of saturated fat and cutting out the carbs because you know how damaging carbs and sugars are to you, yet allow the rest of the family to consume this toxic buffet? Seriously… DETOX YOUR PANTRY! Get rid of it all. If it’s unhealthy for you, it is just as unhealthy for your partner and your kids.

So, having said all of that…

Put simply, if you go into LCHF just to lose weight, LCHF will fail you. Sure, if your body needs to, you’ll lose weight, but the moment you get to your goal weight and stop eating Low Carb and High Fat, you’ll go back to all of the bad foods and the bad habits that has continually put the weight on in the first place.

Why is Low Carb/High Fat for life?

  • The human body doesn’t need high carbohydrate foods… at all!
  • Sugar and Grains (all grains) are toxic to the human body.
  • A diet high in Saturated Fat and low in Carbs lowers your risk of; Heart Disease, Diabetes, Obesity, Alzheimers, Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) and so much more.
  • A diet high in Carbs INCREASES your risk of the above.

Why would you want to STOP eating LCHF once you get healthy and lose your excess weight?

Conclusion

LCHF is not a diet, it is a way of eating for life…. for your entire family!

Posted in: #Edify Food, Bad Science, Low Carb/High Fat

The Future for Nutrition Organisations : Prediction

4th September 2013 2:34 am / 3 Comments / Chris

heart_foundation_butter_tickThe more I look into this Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) eating lifestyle, the more I get frustrated and angry with all of these “Health” and “Nutrition” organisations who STILL continue to promote a high carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet for good health. I kept wondering when they are going to *GET IT* and to realise that their advice is plainly wrong and I wonder when might they do an about face on all the bad information they have been promoting for years.

Then the other day it dawned on me. These organisations CAN’T admit they were wrong. They CAN’T admit that the information they have been telling us to live healthy is actually what is causing all the heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and the rest.

Imagine what would happen if they came out and told us they were wrong. Their credibility would be shot to hell, and no-one would listen to another WORD they have to say. And more importantly (to them and their balance sheets at least) their all powerful “Mark of Approval” logos and images would be worthless.

It also dawned on me that we cannot rely upon the current health organisations, or the big food companies, or our governments to give us the right information. They simply are too financially invested in this poor health advice to ever change.

My prediction is this…

“These kinds of Health and Nutrition Organisations will soon simply fade into insignificance and cease to exist altogether, and they will be replaced by other groups and organisations who have the right health and nutritional information to promote”

Change MUST come from us. It has to come from the grass roots level. Someone told me. I told you. You tell your friends. They tell their friends…. and eventually, these organisations, along with their ridiculous stamps of approval will no longer be important. They will be a joke and their message will become antiquated and pointless.

The Health and Nutrition industries biggest enemy is a well informed public

 

Posted in: #Edify Food, Bad Science, Low Carb/High Fat, Saturated Fat

Lab grown meat, a whole new can of worms

6th August 2013 12:21 am / Leave a Comment / Chris
Frankenburger = Dangerous

Frankenburger = Dangerous

I woke up this morning to a flush of posts about this new “Laboratory Grown Burger” which is claimed to be the obvious future to meat production. A company has created a burger patty from lab grown strips of meat grown from cow stem cells.

Read about it here.

I’ve had it said to me that this is a great idea because firstly, its metabollically identical to meat from an animal, and that it also can finally end the killing of animals for food. But I see it as MUCH bigger issues than those.

Science aside, its the other impacts of this that scares the crap out of me. If you allow this to be produced, one company will patent the technology, and will control the food. Instead of thousands of independently owned and operated farms producing the meat, you have one company “creating” the food for the world. THAT is dangerous. No one should control the food. It is no different to Monsanto controlling the seeds because they own the patents to their GM versions.

Secondly, the arguments that this will solve environmental issues by reducing livestock and their damage on the environment is fundamentally wrong. Have a look at the TED talk by a fellow named Allan Savoury to find out the real cause of desertification, and how it can be fixed… you might be quite surprised.

There is also the issue of extinction of current livestock species. You “create” the meat, there is no need for these animals to exist any more. They will simply cease to exist any longer. And what if it all goes to shit, and they realise this isn’t right, or healthy, or heaven forbid profitable… when the animals are gone, there is no going back.

Now, we are told that these “creations” are identical at a molecular level to animal meat. All well and good when it stays that way. Human history has proved our inability to do handle power and success, and worse still, our flawed belief that we know everything, and we are always right. What happens when the corporation which “provides” us with our food (ie, ration distribution basically) discover that they can *slightly tweak* the created meat to include what they believe is some additional health benefit? They get it passed by the FDA because the FDA doesn’t actually do ANY of its own testing but requires the companies seeking approval to submit their own research (WTF!!!) and it gets passed, and humankind eat it. What if someone so powerful gets the notion that the world is overpopulated and in certain areas (who decides these areas? The powerful few!), a sterility gene is added to that areas food creation and voila…. human population managed.

There are just WAY to many issues with this aside from the science of “lets fabricate it so animals don’t have to die” here.

Posted in: #Edify Food, Bad Science, GMO

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