Myths about dieting

Myths about dieting considers the reasons why this practice is the biggest con of the century; none of them work. What's more we deep down know it; but we keep trying repeatedly, hoping against all odds that this time we will be able to shed those ugly layers and be beautiful again.

And yet again the new diet fails, leaving us even more depressed than before.

Myths about dieting

Myth 1: I can lose weight by dieting

Diet is a dirty four-letter word. Only 5% of people actually permanently lose weight and many put on^[1]. The great majority have been conned yet again.

At the bottom of this page you will learn how to permanently get those pounds off that are sucking the life out of us and raising blood glucose; and causing pain and disability. To get on top of obesity one has to grasp these four fundamental principles; otherwise don't bother starting.

• Glycemic Load.
• The foods that give satiety.
• Subsequent meal effect.
• Is it sustainable?
  

Myth 2: Drastically reducing fats is the way to get thin

There is a certain logic to the observation that if one is fat then the best way to lose it is to cut out butter, meat and even seed oils; avocados and olives too.

In short drastically reduce all the fatty foods in your diet.

So what's wrong with cutting out most of the fats in your diet?

1. it's the sugars not the fats

Firstly there's a failure to recognise that it is large amounts of glucose, not fat entering the liver that leads to steatohepatitis and raised cholesterol. The sugars are turned into triglycerides which cannot be processed fast enough.

2. Fats supply satiety

And secondly fats supply satiety; they make us feel full. Remove them and we are constantly famished and miserable; and find ourselves reaching for colas and snacks later.

It appears logical that if oils have twice as many calories as carbs then sticking to low-fat foods make a lot of sense; alas, actually it's quite wrong.

We assume that if a tub or container is labelled "low fat" that it must have fewer calories; but no, they usually simply add more highly glycaemic sugars instead.

Finally we cannot be healthy without adequate supplies of the essential fatty acids; they are fundamental to life. Starve yourself of them and you are more likely to get one of the truly awful neurodegenerative diseases.

Every nerve has a fatty coating. Have you heard of the "demyelinating" diseases?

By all means cut out the unhealthy oils from your food; in the particular the trans fatty acids in many processed foods and the overwhelming amount of omega-6 lipids in commercially baked treats.

• Linoleic acid in sunflower and soybean oils promotes inflammation

Myth 3: It's all about calories

There is a powerful and convincing belief out there that losing weight is simply keeping the calories consumed below those your body is utilising; that is the logical way to go. It sounds neat but as we all know it simply doesn't work.

Can you enjoy these cheesy whole grain grits every day and not put on an ounce? With added cream it's high in calories.

Calorie-counting absolutely ruins how we feel about food, our meals and makes us utterly depressed; and has little virtue when it comes to successful dieting.

There are many reasons why counting calories is simply a disaster; far too many to mention.

But here's just one; researchers have found that the very act of counting calories raises the levels of a hormone in the brain that is associated with stress. It is called cortisol.

In short counting calories makes you feel angry and stressed; and hungry.

But it is true that to lose weight you do have to burn more calories than you consume; however consciously restricting them, fads and all the crazy things people try simply do not work. Is it not amazing that almost a half of US adults are on diet at any point in time, but two-thirds of them will within a year gain back more pounds than they lost?

Absolutely forget weighing your food, counting calories and in fact dieting altogether; none of them deliver on their promises and they will make you feel miserable.

Myth 4: Processed foods are the way to go

This is never mention quite so bluntly or in as many words but there is a plethora of low calorie foods being pushed as the way to lose weight. If you believe myth 3 then you are likely to fall for it.

Most of these foods are highly processed. Despite their low calorie count researchers found they will make you fat.

The reason is that those eating processed foods actually end up consuming far more calories; because they are constantly famished they sneakily and subconsciously simply make up elsewhere. They fail miserably because they do not satisfy us; it's all about satiety. 

And that was 8 years ago; today it's probably nearer 70%

Myth 5: The low carb ketogenic diets are the future

There is no doubt that putting a person into ketosis by reducing carbs to under 20 grams per day will rapidly knock off the pounds; and adding fat and protein from animals will provide satiety.

So what's wrong with the ketogenic diets; several things.

1. We all know people who have lost the pounds the keto way but within a year have regained them; it's not sustainable. Can you give up bread for ever? Must you in order to lose weight?
2. No question of it, a lot of animal protein is associated with a higher rate of metastatic tumours.
3. There is strong research that whole carbs and legumes are associated with greater wellbeing.

For a season the ketogenic diets may be away for the obese to lose a lot of weight; but staying on one of them indefinitely is certainly not a wellness way of living.

Myth 6: T-2D can't be cured

It's generally accepted that once you suffer from type-2 diabetes that you are on Metformin or insulin for life.

But actually that's not true. Scientists have shown that the great majority of diabetics can be brought completely into remission without the use of drugs.

Using food as medicine and by taking short walks after starchy meals it can be achieved.

I will show you a better way

This is not one of the myths about dieting. There is a way to get the pounds off that is sustainable, not particularly difficult and will not lead to other possible complications; like the pancreatic tumours associated with too much meat.

Some things will have to change, and most likely drastically. The tongue must be trained to enjoy or at least tolerate two things.

1. Food that has a large fibrous content; highly refined meals have to go for ever.
2. Eating neutral or sour instead of sweet.
   

Chocolate cake, colas and cookies represent the old way, the industrial diet foods that are killing us; each them only on high and holy days, and perhaps not even then.

Refined grains like cake flour, white rice and pasta too have to go; for ever.

• Meal planning and carb-counting
  

Where to start

This is very dependent on where you are, how motivated you are and how clinically important it is. If you are dying from fatty liver, or suffering from type-2 diabetes then you simply have to dive in the deep end.

For the remainder of us the slow loss of weight, perhaps one or two pounds a week is far more sustainable and beneficial.

• Cut out colas, including those with non-nutritive sweeteners, for ever, would make a fantastic start.
• Add in a short ten minute walk after any starchy meal.
  

And where to after the doh ray me?

These are not myths about dieting; add in legumes is the way that the science is pointing to. Choose any one of these highly nutritious foods, and perhaps several, and start eating them every single day.

How to cook lentils would be a great start. You can prepare a delicious meal in just half an hour; but peas, green beans or this hummus recipe are excellent sustainable way to add in more fibre and protein.

The pressure cooker is a great help for those wanting to eat split peas or dried beans; it reduces the time by two-thirds.

Legumes add nutritious protein and more fibre; but contribute greatly to the "subsequent meal effect." They bring satiety for the rest of the day and even tomorrow; you won't be famished and constantly thinking about snacks.

We follow the Blue Zone longevity principles so we grow and eat many green legumes like broad beans. Unless they are young and fresh they are perfectly ghastly; they have far less anti-nutrients, a highly controversial subject but one worth considering.

You simply have to grow them if you are planning on broad beans. They have one other great benefit; they are the only common source of dopamine, the happy hormone.

Bread

Bread was for us personally the most difficult but, as is often the case, turned out to be a vast blessing and a whole new culinary experience. The commercial loaf is almost without exception made with refined flour and has to go for ever.

Start a search for a sourdough loaf made with unrefined flour, or better still start baking it yourself. With the aid of a bread-machine you can bake it with less than ten minutes work. It is far more wholesome and filling; enjoying just one slice at a meal will provide the satiety we all need.

Pasta and rice

Pasta and rice are two favourites that we have chosen to avoid. Nevertheless made from the whole grain there is nothing intrinsically wrong with either of them; in fact they are excellent starches. You will need to find other sources to help you along the way to locate and prepare these nutritious foods. 

new potatoes

Interestingly even diabetics can often enjoy new potatoes without an extra squirt of insulin. It's been one of the many steps in our new way of living. We never eats spuds from cold-storage now.

Start walking

Starches are broken down and absorbed in the gut as glucose. Humans have a particularly long and efficient small intestine which is why we have such difficulty with obesity. Our alimentary canal was designed for whole grains that release their sugars slowly into the blood stream. White flour and sugar are an anathema; you simply cannot be slim and well if you are have large amounts in your diet.

Taking just a short, brisk walk of only ten minutes will turn much of these sugars into glycogen instead of flooding your liver with glucose.

A whole new lifestyle

It's the lifestyle of the last fifty years that has brought us into such a poor state. Look at old movies and you will quickly notice how slim most people were.

It was the well-meaning but disastrous McGovern Committee of 1976 that brought us to this very low state of well that we find ourselves. Advising Americans to move away from fats and two eat more carbs is what has caused the pandemic of obesity and diabetes.

Just twenty years on a diet low in the good fats and high in refined carbs caused a still-continuing disaster; there is currently no end in sight. Since 2010 when this graph ends, the seismic change in human wellness continues it's disastrous path.

All is explained by Dr Campbell's twenty year diabetes rule; 20 teaspoons of sugar per day for two decades and you're a gonna. Add to that copious cups of cake flour and you can probably halve the time.

Break out of all the myths about dieting; just get back to the way your great-grandparents ate.

• They were not anxious about the fat that brings satiety.
• They ate unprocessed foods, plenty of legumes and little highly-refined flour.
  
• They were far more active.
  

One step at at time

One step at a time you can do it. Free yourself from all the myths about dieting. The alternative is too ghastly to contemplate; pain, disability and an early demise.

If people can give up smoking and drugs, then you can certainly free yourself from sugar and cake flour; do it.

Anti-diet

Is it time to take an anti-diet stance? Not because you're sick and tired, literally, of all these shenanigans and have simply accepted that obesity is your lot but simply because there is another better way; one that will enable you to make peace with food and regain your love of eating.

The first single step is to accept once and for all that you will never go on another diet; they are an illusion that never deliver on their promises.

It is indeed astonishing what lengths people will go to in order to avoid giving up sugars and refined starches.

Myths about dieting

So our advice is completely obliterate that dirty four-letter from your thinking; totally and utterly. It will fail and it will make you stressed and ruin completely your love of food and eating.

This whole site is about our journey to better wellness. It has been the most rewarding change in our lives. It has meant inter alia that consultations with doctors are rare and in the middle of eighth decade we have no chronic diseases and take no medication.

Like the Blue Zone people when ten times as many people reach active, zestful old age we grow and eat much of our own food.

Getting back to our starting point we recommend the following.

1. Add more unrefined fibrous, fatty food to your diet.
2. Pull the sweet tooth; natural unrefined honey incidentally has surprisingly a low GI.
   
3. Start walking after every starchy meal; enjoy a low carb supper.

Forget all those very misleading myths about dieting; get back to the food eaten before McGovern and his disastrous select committee on nutrition and human needs.

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