A small study published this year in Cell Metabolism may just be the evidence you need to hear to change the way you diet in 2020.
The study looked at two small groups of people over 4 weeks.
If you’ve read my blog “Why You Should Take Nutrition Headlines With A Huge Pinch Of Salt”, you’ll know that the small sample size of just 20 people is not ideal for reliable data.
However the results were really significant.
One group started on an “ultra processed” diet with refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated seed oils in the foods provided.
The other group started on a real food diet with minimal processed foods.
Both diets allowed the subjects to eat as much food as they wanted and then after two weeks they switched diets.
What researchers found was that even though both diets offered foods with similar amounts of calories, fats, proteins, sugars and fibre, while eating the ultra processed diet people ate about 500 calories more per day…
And put on almost half a kilo a week!
What’s more, while the participants ate the real food diet they actually lost about 0.5kg per week.
So yes, eating more calories does equal weight gain – but it’s the reasons why we overeat that are more important.
If we don’t address these reasons we’ll be counting calories forever… and I never recommend counting calories to my clients for 3 reasons.
#1 Thinking of diet as just a numbers game does not ensure optimal nutrition for energy, immune system function and hormonal health. Erm, how many donuts can you fit into your macros?
#2 Life while counting calories sucks! No animals in nature are overweight. If we learn to eat as naturally as possibly we don’t need to diet at all.
#3 Counting calories is zero help when willpower inevitably fails us… or we’re emotionally overwhelmed and seeking comfort… or we’re tired and stressed out and our hormones are literally screaming at us for energy rich foods to pick us back up again.
But now the science is starting to show that by following a real food, as nature intended diet, we’re helping ourselves to succeed but naturally suppressing hunger and preventing overeating.
Not only do we get the nutrition and goodness of eating unprocessed foods but the whole dieting game just got a whole lot easier.
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Kelly Moriarty is an online health & nutrition coach and founder of The Green Body Plan.
After 5 years as a veterinarian Kelly was unhealthy, stressed out and generally dissatisfied.
She now helps professional women make the same changes she did to beat burn out, lose weight, recover their energy and take back control of their health naturally.
References:
Cell Metabolism| VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1, P67-77.E3, JULY 02, 2019 “Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake”Kevin D. Hall 5 et al
kellyannmoriarty.com 