With Christmas right around the corner, you’ve probably attended at least one Christmas party or get-together by now. Whether you spend them having fun conversations or navigating awkward questions, there’s one common thing these gatherings revolve around: food and booze. If you’re worried about that dreaded holiday weight gain, then all you have to do is this: eat more fat, and stay away from sugar! Let’s look into this fat vs sugar battle in more detail.
Fat vs Sugar: Why Avoid Sugar
Because of a study created in the 1950s, fat has been seen as the villain of all food. Since then, people have been warned to stay away from fat or risk having a heart attack or stroke. This is why a “healthy” diet usually consists of veggies, minimal protein, and the bulk of it is in the form of grain-based carbohydrates like bread, pasta, or rice.
Recently, low-carb diets are on the rise because of multiple evidence showing that carbs are actually what causes obesity. This is due to sugar being converted into glucose in our bloodstream and decreasing insulin sensitivity. A high level of glucose in our bloodstream prompts our pancreas to churn out insulin, which is the hormone that regulates blood sugar level.
This is where things get tricky. Insulin actually encourages fat storage, telling your fat cells to keep in excess glucose and fatty acids. This can be especially harmful if you have a sedentary lifestyle because the more carbs you eat (and not burn off), the more fat you store in your body. Thus, you gain weight.
Some people think that eating a “healthier” sort of grain-based carb like brown rice instead of white rice will do the trick. Bad news: it’s still the same thing. Even sugar-heavy fruits like watermelon can cause insulin spikes and should be regulated. With over 50% of Americans suffering from prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes, this should be made common knowledge in order to stop the epidemic.
Alcohol is the Same
Another thing that’s prevalent in all parties is booze. People generally think that there’s no harm in drinking a couple of beers in a party. Having a beer or a cocktail is fine, really. But the holiday season is packed with such parties that you’d find yourself having a beer or a cocktail every day for a week. But did you know that there are several types of alcoholic beverages that are high in carbs?
A regular beer contains around 12 grams of carbs. A tequila sunrise has 24 grams of carbs per 200ml can. A daiquiri has a whopping 34 grams of carbs with the same volume. What makes these worse is how alcohol is packed with empty calories. So if you have a glass with every meal, you’d be adding 7 kcals/gram without getting any nutrients.
Fat vs Sugar: Why is Fat Better
Healthy fat from fish, nut oil and butter, seeds, and avocados, don’t cause this problem. The importance lies in the kind of fat you consume, of course. Unhealthy fat from deep fried fries or chips isn’t recommended. But if you compose 70% of your diet with healthy fat and minimize your carb intake to 5%, you could actually lose fat faster.
According to a conference hosted by the Ohio State University Food Innovation Center, out of the three macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat), fat has the least effect on insulin and blood glucose levels over time. This shows that high-fat low-carb diets such as the Ketogenic Diet is the key to helping reverse Type 2 diabetes and, in effect, even obesity.
You can read our previous post about the Ketogenic Diet and how it differs from other popular diet plans. This will give you a better idea of why it’s the ideal plan as a diet for weight loss.
Transition to a Better Diet with Cleanse
If you’ve indulged on loads of alcohol and dessert before knowing the truth behind fat vs sugar, it’s okay. You can still correct this via a good detox cleanse. If you’ve decided to kick carbs and start losing body fat without having to starve, try our Keto Cleanse. This detox cleanse system will help you transition into the Keto lifestyle smoothly with minimal symptoms. This will also optimize your body for maximum nutrient absorption and boost its fat-burning capabilities!
You don’t have to feel deprived while taking care of your health this holiday season. Start our Keto Cleanse and get all the supplements and guidance you need for a healthy and fit winter!