Why Low Fat Diets Don’t Work

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are the three main food groups and are all essential for your body to function optimally. Among the three, fats are the most vilified because many believe that eating fat will make them fat.

No-grain diet proponent Dr. Joseph Mercola tells you, “Eating fat will NOT make you fat.” Now, eating too much grains and sugar – that is what’s virtually guaranteed to make you gain weight.

Your cells need to burn fuel in the form of sugar or fat, using up all of the available sugar first before it can use fat. Imagine yourself eating a large plate of spaghetti with olive oil and meatballs. Your body burns off all of the pasta (which turns into sugar) and the fat (olive oil) goes into your fat storage.

The more carbs and sugar you eat, the more you train your cells to become more used to burning sugar for fuel, and after sometime, they will begin to crave it and prefer it to fat, Dr. Mercola explains.

The problem is, your body cannot handle all of the sugar you consume as you continue gobbling up bread, baked goods, crackers, cookies and countless other carbs. You’ll keep on gaining weight as your cells keep you alive by turning the excess sugar into fat. Eventually, even your ability to store fat will reach its limit.

This the reason why obese people almost always end up with diabetes – because there’s no place left to store the excess sugar as fat, it remains in the bloodstream, driving insulin levels up and causing leptin (the hormone responsible for regulating appetite) resistance.

Go No-Grain to Burn More Fat Instead of Sugar

You can help your body burn more fat by eliminating or at least severely restricting your intake of grains and sugars, and eating more healthy fats. This is where Mercola’s no-grain diet comes in.

A grain-free diet composed of natural foods will be naturally high in fat. If you’re eating healthy, you will always consume a lot of fat. No fat and low fat diets DON’T work because you’re forcing your body to act against you by restricting an essential macromolecule.

Consuming fats adds satiety to your meal – that feeling of having had enough to eat. If you eat fat-free and low fat foods, you tend to eat more carbohydrates – and pack on the pounds – because you just don't feel like you’ve had enough to eat, even when the volume of food you’ve consumed has been more than enough.

Fat soluble nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12 are best absorbed by your body in the form of saturated fats. When a food is stripped of fat, many of the fat-soluble compounds – including nutrients –are also removed.

When it comes to fats, it’s the type of fat you eat that matters, not the amount. The no-grain diet will introduce healthy fats like virgin coconut oil, animal-based fats (grass-fed meat, omega-3 fats, and raw dairy products), and nuts and seeds, and help you avoid dangerous and highly refined sources like vegetable oils and trans fats.

The fear of fats is a prescription for disaster. Fats are not the real enemy; grains and sugars are.

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