Hey. I saw it too.
Yeah that program on last week that everyone is now going on about (CLICK THE PIC TO CATCH UP) (Available til march 2014)
What happened?
2 twins (who were also doctors) took part in a simple experiment.
- One ate loads of meat, cheese, eggs, etc – and no sugar or very little carbs
- One ate loads of carbs, including lots of sugary stuff and not much protein or fat
They measured some things like handling of sugar, some mental tests and some exercise testing too…… I was even smiling because the sports nutritionist (Nigel Mitchell) – featured doing the bike scenes – taught me for some Sport Nutrition lectures in my degree at Sheffield Hallam University!
Anyway you should just watch it (CLICK TO WATCH )– but here is what I will mention.
- Low carb tends to beat low fat gfor weight loss – both in loads of studies I have seen……….and in real life. (Many people come to me in ‘low-fat mode’ and simply upping fats and reducing sugar and sometimes starchy carbs has the best effect)
- In fact, the ‘muscle lost’ from the fat-diet twin was probably glycogen (and with some carbs would probably lose said body fat percentage with some carbs for a day!)
- Starch and sugar get lumped as ‘the same’ (as they are carbs). This is not the case. Potatoes will give nutrients, will be digested slowly…………sugar has no nutrients(Empty calories) and will cause havoc in the body when consumed regularly in the long term.
- The doctor that had the sugar – at the end he actually handled sugar better than the fat-diet twin. THE OPPOSITEOF WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT. ………..You know what I think? I think that the ‘sugar-diet twins’ body adapted to high sugar and so in the short term is able to handle sugar BETTER………..BUT(!) If this study was to continue for say, 6-12 months………..I think it would be clear that high sugar is bad for you.
A problem
The problem here is that now many more people will be eating donuts and sugar and saying that some science program said it was ok.
(And yeah – I am loving Breaking Bad that I got for Xmas – Thanks Jen!)
So you have people saying it’s ok to have loads of sugar = not good.
While I like horizon programmes – they seem to complicate people further. JUST LIKE WHEN I WROTE HERE LAST YEAR ABOUT THE FASTING CRAZE (CLICK)
(People think that if you fast for a few days then you can eat crap)
So now you have people eating less (fasting) and then bingeing on sugar. Does that sound like what most unsuccessful ‘dieters’ do?
A final note…..
We all want a treat – I get it. I really do. I eat some sugar. I also train hard and that will help anyone if they train properly.
You have to find a way to manage it – “A treat is not a treat if had every day”. Sugar is a treat. The more body fat you have – the less treats you should have if your goal is to get leaner and feel better.
Peace out Y’all!!!!! (Jesse Pinkman Accent)
John