New research claims that official guidelines warning us against eating saturated fat were not backed up by scientific evidence. Now, experts are increasingly asserting that a high fat diet can even help us lose weight. Healthista’s Bodyologist blogger Helen Foster, co-author of new book The High Fat Diet, with leading London trainer Zana Morris, explains
Today, research published in the journal Open Heart claims that official guidelines warning us against eating saturated fat should not have been introduced because they were not backed up by scientific evidence. I am going to go a step further and explain to you how a high fat diet can help you lose weight and keep it off.
How fat helps you lose weight
The idea that fat makes us fat comes from one simple fact – that a gram of fat contains nine calories, compared to the four grams in carbohydrates and protein. However, we’re rapidly learning that it’s not just calories that count when it comes to losing weight. It’s what happens when the food actually enters your system – and this is where high fat eating acts a bit differently from diets of the past.
it’s not just calories that count when it comes to losing weight
First, eating a high-fat, low-carb diet (as The High Fat Diet is) impacts on the hormone insulin. This controls fat storage and triggers hunger pangs and sugar cravings that make you crave more food. Stabilise insulin, as you do on the plan and you lose weight quite quickly –but you also stop hunger pangs. To me that’s the amazing thing. The portions might look smaller than you’re used to but after a day you suddenly realise that the grumbly tummy feeling you normally get when you’re trying to lose weight just vanishes.
The metabolic advantage
Now let’s look at exactly how you lose weight. When you take carbohydrates out of the diet you also take away the body’s normal source of fuel – glucose. Do that and it has to get energy from somewhere else and it’s solution is burning fat from your fat stores. The interesting thing here though is that if you’re eating high levels of fat it burns this fat at a faster rate than should theoretically be possible. Scientists don’t know why this occurs, but they call it the metabolic advantage. And it makes for a lovely surprise when you get on the scales at the end of the plan. Zana says an average weight loss is 6-8lb, but we’re getting tweets from people who’ve lost as much as a stone.
if you’re eating high levels of fat it burns this fat at a faster rate than should theoretically be possible
So what can you eat?
Well for the ten days you spend on the High Fat Blitz you have to give up all carbs, alcohol, fruit and other vegetables. This surprises some people who think ‘high fat’ means it’s an all-out chips and chocolate party – if only life were that fantastic! Instead, you focus your meals around carefully planned ratios of proteins like meat, fish, cheese or eggs and fat from added avocado, walnuts, Macadamia nuts, cream cheese, cream and butter. You can also have small portions of green or white vegetables.
Many people have said ‘oh, so it’s Atkins then’ – no, while the premise between The High Fat Diet and Atikins is similar, this plan controls your protein portions more carefully which Zana feels gives a faster result.
Here’s a typical days food (you’ll normally only want two meals though):
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with butter and cream cheese
Lunch: Chicken with avocado on a bed of spinach and pine nuts
Dinner: Pork chops with a creamy mushroom sauce and broccoli
Do you have to exercise?
Yes, but again this is a bit different from normal. Instead of trying to burn endless cardio calories you do a high intensity burst of strength training for just 12 minutes. This is specifically designed to protect, and ideally build, the muscle mass most diets deplete making it easier to keep the weight off
I can eat pizza, pasta, chocolate and drink wine and maintain all the weight I lost on the plan
What happens when it’s all over? This is what’s confusing people who haven’t read the book. They seem to think you can never eat a carb again. That’s not true – personally I can eat pizza, pasta, chocolate and drink wine and maintain all the weight I lost on the plan – so long as I don’t do it more than 3
-4 times a week. But, to be honest, I can live with that as I’m finally off that damn diet rollercoaster where my mood each day was determined by what the scales said. If the price is swapping rice with my chilli for mushrooms once a week I can live with that.
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The High Fat Diet by Zana Morris and Helen Foster is available now.
Healthista’s Bodyologist Helen Foster blogs daily on all things health, fitness and diet related. Read more from the Bodyologist here. Follow Helen on WordPress and Twitter.
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