The Truth about Fats
by Christophe Schwoertzig (with the contribution of his friend, firöstur Olaf Sigurjónsson)
- Eating fat does not make you fat. Its your body’s response to excess carbohydrates in you diet that makes you fat. Your body has a limited capacity to store excess carbohydrates, but it can easily convert those excess carbohydrates into excess body fat. (You fatten the cattle by feeding them with grain (corn) – pasta and bread.).
- Weight loss has little to do with will power. You need information, not will power. If you change what you eat, you don’t have to be overly concerned about how much you eat.
- Food can be good or bad. The ratio of macronutrients – protein, carbohydrate, and fat – in the meals you eat is the key to permanent weight loss and optimal health.
- The biochemical effect of food has been constant for the last forty million years. The response to food has been genetically conserved throughout the years. And is unlikely to change in near future.
- There is a big difference between weight loss and fat loss. Obesity is not simply weight gain. It’s the accumulation of excess body fat.
- The fact is that every time you eat the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) it generates complex hormonal responses in your body. These responses ultimately determine how much body fat you will store. In terms of weight loss, knowing how to control these responses is the real power of nutrition.
- Despite eating less fat, people are fatter than ever. Why? Because fat does not make you fat, insulin does. There are two ways to increase insulin – eat too much food at any one meal or eat too many carbohydrates. Some do both simultaneously.
- Eating fat doesn’t make you fat, as long it’s the right type of fat. Monounsaturated fat has no effect on insulin. On the other hand, saturated fat can increase insulin level by causing the condition known as insulin resistance. The favorable diet is rich in monounsaturated fat and is designed to generate the production of good eicosanoids, both of which will moderate insulin levels. However if you’re eating too many carbohydrates, adding any type of fat is a real prescription for rapid fat gain.
- Athletes perform better on high fat diet than on a high carbohydrate diet. Eating a high carbohydrate diet is a guarantee that athletes will never reach their full genetic performance potential. The hormonal consequences elevated insulin and the resulting overproduction of bad eicosanoids impact negatively on athletic performance and training.
- Exercise alone will rarely overcome the negative effects of a high carbohydrate diet. The food you eat is your main ticket to get and stay in a healthy shape and increase your quality of life.
- For cardiovascular people, a high carbohydrate diet may be hazardous to their health. Almost by definition, cardiovascular people suffer from elevated insulin levels. A high carbohydrate diet, especially for those patients with a genetically elevated insulin response to carbohydrates can only increase insulin levels and elevated insulin is the greatest predictor of the likelihood of a heart attack.
- Food may be the most powerful drug you will ever take. Hormones are hundreds of times stronger than drugs. Every time you eat, you start a hormonal cascade. Either you control it or for the next four to six hours it controls you.
- The quality of your life is controlled by the favorite diet. Less excess body fat, greater mental productivity, better physical performance, and a decreased likelihood of chronic diseases are the essence of a better quality of life. These are also the results of the favorite diet.
