As you'll know from previous blogposts, I used the Covid lockdowns to get my life in order. And one of the things I did was lose a significant amount of weight (over four stones to date and falling).
And, in setting out to make a significant change to my diet, I decided to follow the science and not the fads or trends. It's no great secret that the only safe and sensible way to lose weight is to eat less and to do more exercise. I could do more physical activity. However the 'eat less' thing was more of an issue.
Calories, as you know, are units of energy. You put food and drink into your body and the calories they contain power everything you do - your brain, your muscles, your organs and processes like digestion. The adult male needs around 2500 a day and a female needs around 2000 (average figures). So, if I set myself a daily limit of 1500 I couldn't fail to lose weight because my body would have to go to its 'reserve tank' to find the extra 1000 calories. That reserve tank, of course, was the extra body fat my body had stored thanks to my over-eating (Nature hates waste).
I therefore needed to know which foods carried the most calories. You won't be surprised to hear that it was the so-called 'bad carbs'.
But what are bad carbs? And why are they bad?
You may already know this stuff. I didn't. In fact, I was surprised at how much I didn't know.
So, I thought I'd share what I learned.
Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches and fibres found in fruits, wholegrains, vegetables and dairy products. In their natural unrefined form they provide roughage and contain a wide range of nutrients, vitamins and minerals that encourage the production of friendly gut bacteria. The fibre in carbs helps to ‘bulk out’ a meal so that you feel fuller for longer, which reduces food cravings.
Natural carbs are essential to good health and they are slowly metabolised into blood sugars (glucose) that supply us with a continuous source of energy to burn throughout the day.
Note the word SLOWLY. We'll come back to that.
However, for every Jedi there’s a Sith. And some carbs have been forced to go over to the Dark Side.
So-called 'bad carbs’ don't occur naturally. We've made them bad. They're mostly found in products like granulated sugar, white bread, pasta, pastry, beer, wine - all the things you don’t find growing on trees. They start life as good carbs but then they get processed and ‘refined’, which basically means stripping away most of the fibre and nutrients - all of the stuff that’s good for you and your gut. As the result these refined carbs get metabolised super quickly into glucose resulting in a glycaemic high - or ‘sugar rush’ - which we humans find very pleasurable.
All of which is why the 'things that don't grow on trees' are all the things we like the most.
A sugar rush is such a good feeling that we quickly learn to crave it. Which is exactly why manufacturers and retailers use them – bad carbs sell more products than good carbs.
However, a glycaemic high doesn’t last very long. Your blood can only carry so much dissolved sugar and, once it reaches saturation point, the sugar remains as tiny solids that can damage your blood vessels, especially your millions of tiny capillaries. This increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and eye and nerve damage. So, while you might enjoy a sugar rush, your body certainly doesn’t. A glucose glut triggers the release of extra amounts of the hormone insulin from your pancreas which converts the sugars into fatty acids that can be stored in your adipose tissue. The same thing happens if you eat way past the 2000-2500 calories your body needs daily. Every time you over-eat, your waistband gets that little bit tighter.
Bad carbs are your Nemesis.
But not just for your physical health. They affect your mental health too.
The health of your gastrointestinal microbiome - the essential bugs that live in your guts - is decided by your diet, and multiple studies have found evidence that a diet high in refined bad carbs discourages the right kind of bacteria from living there. As reported in the British Medical Journal in 2020, high consumption of processed carbohydrates can increase the risk of depression and anxiety through repeated and rapid increases and decreases in blood glucose. People who follow traditional Mediterranean, Scandinavian or Japanese diets rich in fruit, vegetables, sea food and unprocessed carbs have very healthy gut bacteria. This reduces their risk of depression by 25% to 35% when compared to people who follow Western diets. Or, at least, 21st century Western diets.
Your gut is also where most of your body's dopamine - the chemical that makes us feel happy - is made. So if your gut is unhealthy you will feel bad, physically and mentally. And you'll reach for the bottle of merlot or a bar of Dairy Milk (or, in my case a proper Cornish pasty whenever I get maudlin or homesick) thinking it will cheer you up.
It will. But not for long. And so the issue perpetuates.
‘But wait!’ I hear you cry. ‘I thought fat was the problem.’
So did we all.
We’ve known for decades that refined sugar is bad for us but the sugar industry is very rich and very powerful and also has the advantage of good PR. We associate sugar with words like sweet, treacly, syrupy, candied. Fat, on the other hand, has almost no positive associations.
It is both a foodstuff and an outcome.
Therefore, fat easily became the scapegoat for our muffin tops, jelly bellies and thunder thighs. For decades we were told to avoid fatty foods, which seemed to make sense ... but we kept on getting fatter.
That’s because we didn’t always realise that, because low fat foods don’t taste as good as their full fat alternatives, the manufacturers were loading them up with extra sugars and starches to compensate. For example, a pot of fruit yoghurt (full fat) contains around the same number of calories as a low fat pot. But the low fat version provides a sugar rush that makes you crave more of the same or, at least, tricks you into thinking it's a healthier option.
What a deliciously rotten trick. But we're onto them now.
Bad carbs maintain their hold on us by triggering our brains’ reward system. During a sugar rush, the aforementioned neurotransmitter dopamine is released which makes us feel happy (drugs like cocaine and nicotine do the same thing). However, the effect doesn’t last. Any glycaemic high is quickly followed by a crash as blood sugar and dopamine levels return to normal.
That’s why, an hour after eating a substantial bad carb-heavy meal, you feel hungry again. You’re not actually hungry at all. It’s your brain’s pleasure centres screaming, ‘Give me more dopamine NOW!’ To make the situation even worse, the more bad carbs we eat, the more the brain gets used to the frequency of stimulation and, like a really needy puppy or reality TV star, it needs more and more attention in order to be happy.
It’s not quite an addiction but it’s as near as dammit.
So what’s the answer?
There really is no magic bullet I’m afraid. If you seriously want to lose weight, you need to reduce your bad carb intake. This allows the brain’s receptors to sharpen up again so it takes less glucose to generate that dopamine ‘fix’.
However, the good news is that the brain responds far more quickly to reductions in glucose than it does to reductions in most other addictive substances. You’ll get through the worst of it in a matter of days rather than weeks.
But surely those pesky fats aren't completely off the hook are they?
No they’re not. Our bodies do need some fats to function properly but too many saturated fats – such as you find in red meats, coconut oil and dairy products – can raise your cholesterol levels. And an excess of cholesterol can build up in the blood and lead to narrowed or blocked blood vessels. Oh and so-called trans-fats (sometimes described as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated) are man-made and do you no good at all.
However, monounsaturated fats (found in olives, nuts, seeds, avocados etc.) and polyunsaturated fats (sunflower oil, fish, chicken, turkey, soy etc.) are much less harmful and even have some health benefits.
So cutting down on fats – especially saturated fats – is a very good thing.
One reason I was so keen to get some weight off is that I have Type 2 Diabetes. Or, rather, I gave myself Diabetes with my crappy diet and by being very overweight. It's entirely my fault. So I was determined to fix it. And I have.
I've put my diabetes into remission. I still have it and it will never go away but, to all intents and purposes, it's like I don't have it any more. But it will come back if I'm not sensible.
I was fascinated to recently read that a large scale study done across a number of GP surgeries showed that 50% of Diabetes patients could control their illness with a low carb diet without needing medication. That's extraordinary. And a huge saving for the NHS too. Levels of diabetes in adults has grown to become something akin to an epidemic. In the UK the number of diabetics has DOUBLED since 1996.
So there you go. What I hadn't realised, until I did the research, was that my cravings for certain foods were nothing to do with any 'love' I had for them. It was just my brain craving dopamine. I've now reset my brain's receptors and I don't crave anything any more.
I love bread and beer but I now eat maybe one slice of bread a day and I don't drink at home at all unless it's in a social context i.e. friends visiting. I genuinely don't miss either and I don't feel like I've sacrificed anything. This means that I can really enjoy a pint or two with friends at the pub, or an occasional bar of chocolate, or a delicious crusty bread roll without any guilt because they are now treats rather than staples. If anything, I enjoy them more because of their rarity and I'm all the healthier for it.
I quickly came to realise that successful dieting isn't about banning all your favourite foods. That just makes you resentful and increases your cravings. The secret is controlling your favourite foods - not letting them be in control. The same thing applies to any addiction - the way to beat them is to break their grip on you. That way, no food or drink needs to be banned - you can moderate them instead. You're in charge.
The result of this is that I've lost lots of weight and I've put my diabetes into remission. I haven't compromised on flavour and I eat delicious meals every day. Most importantly, I feel happy and well and I like what I see when I check the scales and measure my waistline.
It's been quite a revelation. But worth every minute.
All of which is why I'm posting articles like this and occasional recipes on my blog - if I can help you to have the same success that I've had, then I'll be an even happier man.
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