Healthy Eating - Carbs verses Fats

What has more sugar…

…a glass of apple juice or a glass of Coke?

Read on for the answer.

For now, here are 6 good reasons for taking care of your own health.

No. 1 Others won’t have to.

No. 2 You’ll be able to look after others!

No. 3 Your body will feel amazing on the inside.

No. 4 Your body will look great on the outside.

No. 5 You will feel energised.

No. 6 You are preventing a whole host of future health issues (pressure off your doctor and hospitals).

So what do I need to do to be healthy? Consider these 5 points:

EAT WELL – SLEEP WELL – RELAX OFTEN – EXERCISE OFTEN – BE BODY PRESENT

My ‘Restore Your Body Programme’

aims to give you a balance of all these and my goal for you is simple…

…that you reach and maintain a flexible, vibrant and youthful body…at any age.

I have many blogs on exercise, body awareness and relaxation, but for this and the following couple of blogs, let’s take a more detailed look at what is probably the most important aspect of the whole programme:

HEALTHY EATING

This blog elaborates on something I have written about many times before…
…THE OVER CONSUMPTION OF CARBOHYDRATES (carbs)

Nutrition is not my speciality…I am a movement teacher. BUT, it is my passion and I do research everyday. If you get this part of the programme right, your fitness will reach a whole new level.

What are carbs?

Together with protein and fat, carbs are one of the 3 macro-nutrients. It comes in 2 forms, sugar (think candies) and complex (think starchy grains). Sugars have a higher glycemic index than starches so affect your blood glucose levels quicker.

Funny thing is we don’t need carbs to survive! So why are they so popular?

Carbs are convenient so require little or no preparation: e.g. instant porridge, a quick sandwich, a bowl of pasta, a bar of chocolate.
Many decades of mis-lead facts (poor science) about fats being unhealthy and carbs being healthy.
Another myth that fats lead to being fat. Well, I suppose it is the same word! Actually it’s carbs that lead to weight gain. More about eating for weight loss in next blog).
Carbs are satisfying and addictive, so you keep going back for more.
You probably grew up eating carbs so are feeding into what’s familiar.

The problem with all this…carb rich foods spike then drop your blood sugar and energy.

And even more seriously, foods high in sugar are a lead cause of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic health diseases.

So, if you want to be healthy and energised…reduce your carbs.

It has taken awhile to implement a low carb, high fat diet, but it certainly works for me!

Are you stuck in a carb trap?

If you wake up and start your day with carbohydrate, you are setting yourself up to need more of the same all day long. The cycle goes something like this. I know because I was in it for a few decades!

From the previous days carbs and a lifetime habit, you probably start your day with a high carb breakfast:

A few examples include: toast and jam or muesli jammed with dried fruit, or any cereal or cereal bar, fruit, even porridge (sorry oats are a grain too). Perhaps sloshed down with a glass of orange juice. (Click here for Danny’s grain free muesli).

Your energy soon runs out and you grab a sugary snack at 11am. Perhaps a cheeky biscuit with your morning tea.

Then a sandwich for lunch.

Thick wholemeal bread or a sesame bagel (by the way, the fillings are fine by themselves…just place them on a bed of rocket)!

To a pasta dish, risotto or a baked potato for dinner.

Then maybe a glass or 2 of wine and a few crackers with cheese.

Carb followed by carb leading to the need for more carb! A vicious cycle that must be broken.

Remember my goal for you…that you reach, then maintain a healthy, flexible, vibrant and youthful body. You will not reach this with the above diet…no matter how hard/often you train.

So what do I eat instead?

You can release yourself from the carb trap by gradually replacing carbs with healthy fats. A low carb, high fat diet soon brings:

Tonnes of energy
A drastic reduction of sweet cravings
A leaner body
And a health boost to your future self

Without trying too hard, you will naturally start to burn fat as your primary fuel and enjoy a smooth stream of body energy. Want to know more about burning fat as fuel? Check out this 2 minute video about ketosis.

Whether breakfast, lunch or dinner, start to include the following with your meals:

Avocados, olives and olive oil, nuts, seeds, cacao, coconut products, eggs, and for meat eaters, organic grass fed dairy/meats and wild salmon. Also, use healthy oils such as avocado oil, coconut oil or (sustainable) palm oil.

Non of this is a diet (at least 85% of diets fail). Rather, it’s a gradual, but permanent dietary shift towards good health. A shift that will give you short and long term benefits.

What are bad fats?

As a note, not all fats are the same. Forget what you have read about cholesterol rich foods and saturated fat being bad for you heart. They’re not the problem and in fact supportive for good health. It’s trans fats that you want to avoid.

Replace your carbs with the above healthy fats and not these unhealthy trans fats:

Margarine, baked foods such as pastries, pies, store bought cookies and cakes, microwave popcorn, anything fried when eating in a restaurant/take-away.

Also avoid all the industry seed oils (canola {rape seed}, sunflower, soy, peanut. Instead use avocado oil or coconut oil as these have a higher smoke point so wont produce toxic by-products at higher heat.

In fact, as long as you’re not vegetarian, tallow and lard are safest for cooking and what we would have all used 100 years ago.

To read more about this, click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Back to the apple juice verses Coke question

Here is some facts from a great, truth based (as opposed to opinion based) website – Authority Nutrition (blog link below)

In a glass of Coca Cola there are 140 calories and 40 grams of sugar (10 teaspoons)

The same amount of apple juice has 165 calories and 39 grams of sugar (9.8 teaspoons)

I am going to repeat that, 9.8 teaspoons of sugar in a glass of apple juice! And this is concentrated sugar in the form fructose; the type of sugar that can only be processed by your liver. It’s like alcohol without the buzz.

The next problem is that your liver can only store so much sugar and the rest gets converted into fat.

So, the answer…well, they are both as bad as each other. And remember, alcohol, especially beer is also high in sugar. Sorry, lattes too (milk sugar, syrups etc).

A whole apple now and then is fine because you are eating the skin and fibre along with the natural amount of juice.

My advice on this is simple, juice (and fizzy drinks) need to make there way onto your zero list. Get off it and keep off it and tell your friends.

Here is a short list of foods high in sugar. Cut these out or in some cases down:

Fruit juice (you can make your own vegetable juice with a slow grinding juicer)
Fruit drinks
Smoothies (homemade is ok)
Energy drinks – These destroy your energy and your body
Fizzy Drinks – Diet ones too. These are just as addictive….drop them now!
Alcohol
Dried fruit – A few dried berries is ok now and then but watch out for dried mango/pineapple
Most cereals – Read the label and check the carb content on the side of the packet…its shocking
Health bars (never healthy…even the raw ones are mostly just dried fruit). Many contain margarine
Many crisps – Potatoes are a high carb food with bad oils. Plus sugar and flavour enhances are often added
Ready meals – These are high in salt, sugar and preservatives
Salad dressings – Easy to make you own
Most yogurts – Organic natural yogurt is ok in moderation.
Pasta sauces – Easy to make your own
Cakes
Puddings
Ice cream
Skimmed/semi skimmed milk
Chocolate bars
Children’s candies

Other foods high in complex carbohydrate to cut down:

All forms of bread
Pasta
Rice
Pizza
Crips
Potatoes and corn
Crackers
Pastries/scones
Pies

And it goes without saying to avoid all direct forms of granulated and liquid sugar:

White/brown sugar
Treacle
Honey
Molasses
Rice syrup
Agave
Also, avoid all sugar substitutes apart from stevia and luo han guo.

High carb foods include crackers, cider and spaghetti

High healthy fats include avocados, coconut oil and nuts

It’s time to Change

If you have one of those bodies that has learned to expect a diet rich in carbs, you just need to teach it to expect something new.

This may not be an overnight change. It takes time for your taste buds to adjust, your belief systems to shift and your body to kill off the bad gut bacteria that crave sugar.

However, if you start today and think long term, your sweet cravings will gradually disappear. Do it slowly but make it permanent.

Danny’s favourite low carb, high fat breakfasts

Eggs with greens, e.g. wilted spinach or rocket (arugula)
Plain Yogurt (mix with one drop of sweet leaf stevia). Then add a few nuts, seeds and a sprinkling of berries.
One of my chocolate cake or cookie recipes (free web-book here)
Power shake with 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 avocado, a handful of frozen berries, water or coconut water, a scoop of plain whey powder and a few drops of stevia.
Above homemade, grain free granola.

Danny’s favourite low carb, high fat lunches

Steamed vegetables, drizzled with olive oil topped with wild salmon/stir fried tempeh (fermented soya).
Bed of dark green salad leaves, drizzled with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Add a couple of poached eggs.
Power shake!
Any homemade soup that has lots of vegetables.
Spiralized courgetti spaghetti with homemade pesto and slices of avocado.
Dry fried halloumi in romaine lettuce cups with a tahini dressing
Large bowl of salad with some organic unpasturised cheese.
High protein grain such as quinoa with salad, pesto and grated cheese.

Danny’s favourite low carb, high fat dinners

Oven roast vegetables on dressed salad with avocado.
Any veg or meat soup – recipes with cashews are amazing (if using stock buy organic)
Steamed veg with a potion of organic meat/tempeh. Make a tahini and tamari dressing
Stir fried asian veg with fish. Make a soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and toasted sesame oil dressing.
A mix of veg and meat that you had put in the slow cooker earlier that day.
Sweet potato chips (fries) on a bed of dressed salad with homemade sugar free ketch-up – (email me for my recipe).
Nothing, fast till breakfast!

What about Dessert?!

How I still enjoy sweet tasting cakes and cookies

I have lots of healthy cake/cookie recipes on this site that I eat most days.

Organise a cupboard or shelf in your kitchen where you keep all your nuts, seeds, coconut products, cacao and the following sweeteners.

Sweet-leaf Stevia (great in liquids such as homemade smoothies, tea, coffee, raw chocolate). Why not take a bottle around with you! (Link below).
Luo Han Guo (great in cakes and cookies)
Raw Yacon Syrup (amazing in/on homemade ice-cream, cakes, cookies, yogurt. Hardly even registers on the glycemic index.
Local Raw Honey (a teaspoon now and then to help with summer allergies)
Coconut Palm sugar

Summary

Over the course of this year, move towards a low carb diet. It’s not really a diet, more a permanent way of life that supports your day to day energy and long term health.

Replace your carbs with extra salad, veg, raw veg and healthy fats

Never buy anything that says low fat.

Get off all juice, fizzy drinks and energy drinks

Avoid trans fats

Reduce alcohol

Start to feel the difference in your energy, your workouts and your physique!

Lastly…always enjoy what you eat, eat slowly, taste every bite, strike a balance between taste and health.

Take care, enjoy your amazing body.

Danny

External Links

Authority Nutrition about the dangers of drinking juice

Natural News link about trans fats