NewAfricanWoman Issue 35 - Flipbook - Page 79
1
Breakfast
is the most
important
meal of the
day
Breakfast is important, but your body will
tell you when you need it. I train in the
mornings and tend not to eat late at night.
This means that most of the time, I am quite
hungry early in the morning. This may not
be the case for you, but don’t force-feed
yourself quinoa porridge and berries at 7am
because someone else said so. In fact studies
have shown that fat loss, metabolic risk
markers, insulin resistance and even brain
function can be improved by intermittent
fasting. Intermittent fasting is technically
what happens when the morning madness
makes you forget to eat. It is an eating
pattern where you revolve between periods
of eating and fasting. To get these benefits,
you shouldn’t think that because you haven’t
eaten for hours, you can go ahead and chow
down bounty and crisps. The trick is, when
you do need to eat, have a good, nutritious
and balanced meal.
4
2
Smaller,
more
frequent
meals will
make you
slim
This is quite tricky. It is not exactly true,
and neither is it false. Are you confused?
Well, it depends on what you are eating. A
recent study showed that people who often
ate smaller meals with starchy carbohydrate,
burn less fat than those who ate three larger
meals with little or no starch. If you are
constantly grazing, particularly on sugar,
your body will treat food as its energy
source all day and it won’t get a chance
to burn fat for energy. This is not to say
that eating small frequent meals is out. It
is helpful for people who are really active,
people making lifestyle changes or people
who just like eating and snacking often. You
have to do what you love, right? If fat loss is
your goal, just make sure at least two of your
five or six meals are really low in calories,
but high in quality fibre from vegetables to
give your body a chance to draw on its fat
stores for energy.
Sugar swaps
are always
healthy
options and
help you
lose fat
I’m trying to lose fat, so I’ll have a Diet Coke,
right? Not quite. Diabetics and dieters use artificial sweeteners to cut sugar intake. Ironically,
studies have shown that artificial sweeteners
can cause more weight gain than their caloric
counterparts. A recent international weekly
journal of science study even showed that
artificial sweeteners may raise your risk of
diabetes by disrupting your intestinal microflora and can alter certain metabolic pathways
associated with metabolic disease, induce gut
dysbiosis (which is microbial imbalance) and
glucose intolerance. A study published in Yale
Journal of Biology and Medicine showed a
correlation between increased use of artificial
sweeteners in food and drinks and a corresponding rise in obesity.
The list of health risks associated with artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame and
saccharin, continues to expand. If you must
use a sweetener, opt for stevia. It is a natural
sweetener and a little goes a very long way. It
even has some health benefits.
3
Highly processed fats like margarine and
vegetable oils are some of the most health
destroying foods out there. I don’t know
how we got brainwashed into thinking these
were better than natural oils like coconut
and even proper native palm oil (not the
processed kind). They mess up your Omega 3
to Omega 6 ratios and put you at risk of heart
disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and
many other illnesses. The two main factors
that should determine the best oils to cook
with are smoking point – the temperature
at which the oil begins to smoke – and
oxidisation – when oil gets degraded and
rancid with heat. According to research, ghee
and avocado oil are best for high heat cooking
and join coconut oil, butter and palm oil for
medium heat cooking. Olive oil is okay for
salad dressings and cold dips. As for corn oil,
vegetable oil, and most seed oils, delete them
from you shopping list.
5
Studies have shown that
artificial sweeteners
cause more weight
gain than their caloric
counterparts.
Vegetable
oil is
healthy
Fat makes
you fat
Sometime in the mid-1950s, a misguided
hypothesis emerged that low (and even no)
fat diets are the best way to stay slim and
avoid heart disease. This hypothesis lingers
to this day. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola,
osteopathic physician, alternative medicine
proponent and wellness webpreneur, most
people benefit from a diet where up to
85% of their daily calories come from
protein and healthful fats. That seems like
a lot of fat, but fat is very calorie dense
and will still be the smallest amount on
your plate. Fats from natural sources like
plants and animals provide the building
blocks for your cell membranes and a
variety of hormones and hormone-like
substances. You can’t absorb many vitamins
and minerals without fat and if your
body doesn’t function properly, it will be
a breeding ground for inflammation and
disease and guess what else – fat. Grass-fed
meats, avocados, coconut, coconut oils, nuts
and seed are great sources of healthful fats.
F E B / M A R 2 0 16 N AW /
79