Proof Carbs Are Your Friends!
This week has been heavily revolved around carbs and coincidently on tv this week was the talk about carbs and how some are causing us illness and early death. Although some what of this show said was correct, “we don’t eat enough fibrous carbs and we eat too many starchy carbs” is true. Fibrous carbs are important to maintaining a healthy and contain essential nutrients we need, but lets talk about the obesity crises first. According to the NHS in 2017 there were 617 thousand admissions into hospital where obesity was a factor, an increase of 18% from 2015/16. 24.9% of British adults are obese and a massive 62% are overweight, obesity rates in the uk has trebled in the past 30 years. As you can see this is a huge crisis that needs to be addressed and carbs seem to take the brunt of the blame.
However, lets jump across the ocean and take a look at our asian friends, their diet mainly consists of carbs. A diet loaded with rice and noodles, bread, millets and other whole-grains, this is what the base of their diet pyramid consist of. If we move up a level, next they load their plates with lots of fibrous carbs to, leafy greens, fruits, colourful vegetable, nuts and seeds. Move up another level you have fish and or dairy. These are 3 things they consume on a daily basis. On a weekly level they will consume poultry, eggs and sweets. I should point out that Asia's obesity rate is around 10% whilst the uk’s is 24.9%. Asias overweight rate is 30% at its highest and the uk’s is 62%, their diet mainly consist of carbs yet have less than half the weight trouble we are seeing. And nice try but no this doesn't mean you to eat Chinese take away every night. Japan, Singapore and South Korea all come higher than us in the life expectancy rate to, so claiming carbs cause’s disease and obesity is BULLS**T!!!
The cause of obesity is the western diet, foods filled with hydrogenated oil, trans fats, added sugars, chemicals, perevevnatives etc etc. Food is pumped with all this to lengthen shelf life and boost taste. None of this stuff is natural and our bodies aren’t suppose to be digesting them, its basically like poisoning our bodies. Various articles suggest that although asian countries are on the increase of cancer percentages they still have 50% less cases than the united states. The reason I point this out is because the tv show pointed out some carbs can cause of cancer. Where actually its all the unnatural ingredients that are added to food (some carbs) which can contribute to disease.
Throw on top of that, our nation is much less active than asian countries, majority are much more active and walk most places. Where as we will drive around the corner as its quicker and more convenient.
So how can we shift our excess weight, boost our own life expectancy and decrease risk of disease? Its simple, eat less processed food and move more, that is literally it. By decreasing the amount of processed food you eat you are reducing the amount of chemicals and preservatives you consume, along with less calories. More natural foods in your diet will give you energy to move more and fill you up which will make you lose weight. Moving more helps you burn more calories and become fitter. A daily walk has been proven to boost your immune system, reduce your risk of heart disease and help you manage a healthy weight.
So despite majority of people telling you to cut carbs out, you don’t need to. You don’t have to even cut out processed food but you do need to heavily reduce it, if you want to be healthy and lose weight. Start buying food with a shorter shelf life, fill your trolly with natural foods, move more and limit processed food to 20% of your diet. Then boom your down a clothes size and you’ll be feeling fitter and healthier than you were before.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and thank you so much for reading :)
If you have any other questions you can contact me through my facebook page The Lemon Frog Fitness Company, my Instagram @lemon_frog_fitness or email louis@lemonfrogfitness.org.