Cut out sugar, eat more fat and be leaner and healthier.

Adapting to a sugar-free diet that has far fewer carbohydrates than today’s “normal” diets that increase obesity means having to substitute something else for sugars. That ‘something’ is healthy fats.

It may seem quite counterintuitive to eat fat to prevent obesity and lose weight because it goes against the dietary advice issued by health agencies and governments. That advice is to make carbohydrates 50 percent of our diet and limit the amount of saturated fat we eat.

This advice is now under scrutiny and may turn out to be the ‘direct cause’ of the obesity epidemic.

Wherever you go, in supermarkets, kiosks, cafes and restaurants, we find them: sugar-laden foods and drinks. There are tempting chocolate bars; there are soda cans; there are cakes and scones seemingly everywhere.

Even staple foods like bread, pasta, and potatoes hide their sugar content. This is because these foods are ‘complex’ carbohydrates, easily broken down to become the monosaccharide sugar glucose in the blood. If it is not active, the body converts this high-energy sugar into fatty tissue under the skin.

Also, because many of us eat prepared ‘processed’ foods, we fill up on another monosaccharide sugar called fructose. This particular sugar is much worse than glucose for health because it is not used for energy. Instead, it goes directly to the liver, where it is turned into dangerous ‘visceral’ fat around internal organs.

Worse yet, fructose is now known to be just as bad as excess alcohol for damaging the liver. Increased liver damage among populations seems to be attributed to excessive fructose consumption. Fructose is added to processed foods for flavor and other purposes too numerous to mention.

In fact, in countries like the UK, net alcohol consumption has declined over the past two decades, but liver damage is increasing.

The good news is that with the ‘low carb and healthy fat’ diet we can now start the fight against obesity. Healthy fats are now the new secret weapon against sugar cravings.

There are many respected studies that show that fats are very healthy for us.

The dietary shift from carbohydrates to fat is what most people find difficult to understand and implement. This is because eating nuts or tubs of yogurt throughout the day will not help you lose weight because these foods are high in calories.

The ‘low carb and healthy fat’ diet is designed to keep carb intake low for those wanting to lose weight. This is established at a maximum of 50 grams of carbohydrates per day for sedentary people, and up to 120 grams for active people.

If losing weight isn’t a concern, but eating healthier is, eating 120 grams of carbs a day will be fine.

Here’s an example of a ‘low carb and healthy fat’ meal, so you can get an idea of ​​the types of foods in this new diet plan:

• protein: Poultry, fish, meat (beef, pork, lamb, venison, etc.): 100-150 grams per meal.
• vegetables: as many varieties and as many as needed.
• eggs: up to three each day. The size of the egg is irrelevant.
• fats: a large handful of walnuts (unfortunately, not peanuts, unless they are unsalted), or 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil; 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil; 30-50 grams of cheese; 3 tablespoons full-fat yogurt; 3 tablespoons of cream.
• fruit: only berries like blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries. 80 grams per day. (Apple and pear pulp contain fructose.)
• carbs: none if you want to lose weight. However, if you are fairly active, a fist-sized serving of dense, cooked vegetables per day is acceptable. Options are: sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, lentils, quinoa, or buckwheat.

By the way, this diet plan allows you to have a ‘Full English’ fry up! A couple of eggs fried in butter or coconut oil, two or three slices of bacon, a sausage made with at least 80 percent meat, tomatoes, and a flat mushroom make a perfect meal to start your day.

That sounds like a good way to start the fight against obesity.