| Eat less fat. Eat more fat. Carbs are bad. | | | | The Dieting Myth |
| Carbs are good. | | | | |
| | | | Just like high quality fuel is better for |
| Nutrition advice changes so often, no wonder | | | | your car than the cheap stuff, some calories |
| so many people are confused. | | | | are better for our metabolism than others. |
| | | | That idea flies in the face of conventional |
| But when it comes it calories, the advice to | | | | diet wisdom, but it's true-and science backs |
| consume fewer of them seems set in stone. | | | | it up. |
| After all, "a calorie is a calorie"-Right? | | | | |
| | | | For example, recent studies show that |
| Wrong. | | | | high-carb diets can boost insulin and blood |
| | | | sugar levels. The result? Weight gain (not to |
| For years, we've been told that if we "eat | | | | mention high cholesterol and triglycerides). |
| less and exercise more," we'll lose weight. | | | | On the other hand, people who eat a healthy |
| That recommendation is based on the belief | | | | low-carb diet that's rich in vegetables, |
| that we need burn more calories than we take | | | | whole grains, beans, and lean animal |
| in. But this doesn't tell the whole story. | | | | protein-but consume more calories than |
| | | | low-fat dieters-actually lose more weight! |
| As it turns out, it isn't the amount of | | | | |
| calories you consume that really affects your | | | | As you can see, the kinds of calories you |
| weight and your health. It's the type of | | | | consume can have a big impact on weight gain, |
| calorie. | | | | because different foods are metabolized in |
| | | | different ways. Food "talks" to your genes, |
| It's true-the calories you eat are actually | | | | giving your metabolism specific |
| absorbed at different rates. And the | | | | instructions-whether to lose weight or gain |
| different amounts of fiber, carbohydrates, | | | | weight, speed up or slow down the aging |
| protein, fat, and nutrients in these calories | | | | process, increase or decrease your |
| can have very different effects on your | | | | cholesterol level, and produce molecules that |
| metabolism. There's no difference between a | | | | increase or decrease your appetite. |
| thousand calories of kidney beans and a | | | | |
| thousand calories of a low-fat muffin-until | | | | No wonder you can feel like you're doing |
| they're metabolized. | | | | everything right and still not lose weight! |
| | | | |
| As you can see, food isn't just a source of | | | | The Whole Truth |
| energy-it's a source of operating | | | | |
| instructions for your body. | | | | If you want to lose weight and be healthy, |
| | | | you have to send your body the right |
| Calories 101 | | | | messages. That means living in harmony with |
| | | | your genes. |
| So what is a calorie anyway? Simply put, a | | | | |
| calorie is just a unit of energy. When we eat | | | | This means different things for different |
| food, chemical processes that make up our | | | | people. Depending on our genes, some of us |
| metabolism break this food down and turn it | | | | may need more carbs, protein, or fat than |
| into energy. Burning this energy lets us do | | | | others. |
| what we need and want to do-from breathing to | | | | |
| running a marathon. | | | | But there's one basic principle that works of |
| | | | everyone: Base your diet on whole, |
| It's like your car: You have to put fuel in | | | | unprocessed foods. Foods that are in their |
| it to make it run. For people, food is our | | | | natural state talk to your genes the most |
| fuel. Calories are what help us "run." | | | | effectively-and were designed by nature to |
| | | | keep you at a healthy weight. |