Fat makes you fat? If it's not fat, what is it?

For years, we have been bombarded with the message that fat is the enemy of health. As a result, many people avoided fat, believing that this was the path to well-being and weight loss.

When I ask my clients what they think is a healthy diet, they usually talk about plant- and fruit-based diets and a diet that avoids fat.

While these responses indicate an effort to follow conventional health advice, they also highlight a fundamental problem: the advice they are following is not working!

Typically people who adhere to low-fat diets often exhibit symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, constant hunger, gallbladder problems, hormonal imbalances and even menstrual irregularities in young women. Additionally, women on low-fat diets often report dry, brittle hair, hair loss, dry skin, and premature graying. Paradoxically, many of these people are also struggling to lose weight!

The myth that fat is harmful:

The medical community, the food industry, and the media have managed to villainize fats, blaming them for everything from clogged arteries to cancer. Fats are also to blame for the obesity crisis. But is fat really to blame?

Contrary to widespread belief, fat is not the enemy. Despite the proliferation of fat-free foods, obesity rates continue to rise. The problem is not the fat itself, but the misguided attempt to eliminate it from our diets.

And here I explain why:

Low-fat diets make you feel constantly hungry:

Fat sends a signal to your brain to stop eating, which means that without enough fat, you never feel fully satisfied and often end up overeating. This type of binge eating is common among those following low-fat diets and can lead to weight gain. Including healthy fats in your diet helps regulate your appetite, so you don't have to eat as much to feel full.

Low-fat diets have a high amount of carbohydrates:

High-carb diets lead to hypoglycemia, slowing your metabolism and leaving you feeling sluggish. Eating carbohydrate-rich foods triggers the release of insulin, signaling your body to store fat. Plus, without stable blood sugar levels, your energy levels drop, making it harder to exercise. Including good fats at each meal helps maintain stable blood sugar levels and maximize metabolism, providing a steady supply of energy throughout the day.

Low-fat diets tend to be low in protein:

People on low-fat diets typically avoid animal proteins due to their saturated fat content. However, animal proteins are the only complete sources of protein found in nature. Insufficient protein intake can lead to weakness, fatigue, brittle hair and nails, slow wound healing, chronic infections, and problems handling sugar.

Poor muscle tone is another sign of protein deficiency, making weight loss or muscle gain nearly impossible.

Amino acids from proteins are used to make neurotransmitters that help control appetite, reduce cravings, and balance mood swings.

But after all, why do people gain weight?

Insulin is the main hormone responsible for weight gain. Produced by the pancreas, insulin removes sugar from the blood and stores it as fat. Contrary to the belief that weight gain is all about calorie consumption, it is impossible to gain weight without insulin. Type 1 diabetics, who lack insulin, can consume large amounts of calories and still not gain weight. Weight gain is fundamentally about insulin, not calories or fat consumption.

So how does it work?

When you consume excess carbohydrates, your body produces more insulin. Over time, this leads to insulin resistance, where insulin becomes less effective, particularly in muscle cells, leading to more fat storage. Insulin production is the body's way of saying it has too much sugar.

Fats and proteins have no impact on insulin production (except in extreme situations), and the body does not need insulin to assimilate them. Carbohydrate metabolism, on the other hand, is directly related to insulin. This is because the body has only two mechanisms for dealing with high blood sugar: exercise and insulin production.

Insulin is also inflammatory, contributing to conditions such as arthritis and high blood pressure. In other words, these conditions are much more related to excessive sugar consumption than anything else.

And what causes people to chronically have too much insulin? Basically, people are not eating a balanced diet. And what is a balanced diet?

Understanding the function of macronutrients:

A balanced diet consists of the presence of three macronutrients: fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Each serves a unique purpose:

• Fats produce hormones, regulate inflammation, and serve as a backup energy source.

• Proteins build the body's structure and can also be a backup energy source.

  
  

• Carbohydrates provide fuel for activities, that is, the main function of carbohydrates is to provide energy.

The right balance depends on your body size, health condition, and activity level. For example, for a sedentary person, carbohydrate consumption will be much lower than for a marathon runner. However, most people consume far more carbohydrates than necessary.

So what to do?

• Don't be afraid to eat real food:

Our media-induced fear of fat has created a market of over 15,000 low-fat products! These products don't do what they promise, and what's more, they don't even taste good. Have you ever tried a fat-free product that was tastier than the original? The truth is, when they remove fat, they have to add something, and that "something" is usually more sugar, sodium, artificial flavors, binding agents, and other chemicals.

Don't be afraid to eat real food: the closer to nature, the better for you. Choose foods in their natural state: eggs with yolk, whole milk and yogurt, meat with fat, whole animal with fat and skin.

Try your best to avoid processed and prepackaged foods, especially those low in fat.

• Replace processed vegetable oils with traditional fats:

For many years, we were advised by the media to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats, such as those found in vegetable oils. However, this recommendation has caused more harm than good. Extracting vegetable oils involves the use of toxic chemicals and high temperatures, destroying virtually all nutritional value and making the oil rancid before it even reaches your kitchen.

Even worse, many vegetable oils present in processed foods are partially hydrogenated, a process that alters the natural structure of fatty acids, transforming them into trans fats. Not only are these trans fats difficult to digest, but they are also linked to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease.

Dr. John Lee, MD, from California, states: “Trans fatty acids interfere with our metabolic processes and are harmful to our bodies. They affect our cell membranes, hormone synthesis, the immune system, the ability to deal with inflammation and heal, among many other vital systems. Unconsciously, we are poisoning ourselves.”

The best fats to consume are those that our previous generations used, such as: butter, lard, tallow, olive oil, and coconut and palm oils — fats that are rarely promoted in the media!

• Practice physical activity:

  
  

How much you move is related to the ratio of fat and muscle. Because muscle cells absorb more sugar than fat cells, whenever you gain muscle, you are improving your condition, even without necessarily losing weight.

If you want to be effective at absorbing sugar and therefore losing weight, you need to strengthen your muscles!

The more muscle you have, the less restrictive you will have to be on your carb intake, because your muscles essentially eat more carbs than fat.

Building muscle helps you burn more sugar and improve overall health. Strength training, such as slow weight lifting or bodyweight exercises, increases muscle efficiency and strength.

• Seek professional help:

Seeking professional help for weight loss not only increases your chances of success, but also ensures that the process is safe, healthy, and tailored to your specific needs. It's an investment in your long-term health and well-being. Sustainable weight loss is not just about temporary diets, but about long-term lifestyle changes. Professionals can help you develop healthy habits that you can maintain throughout your life.

My approach:

The goal should be to achieve optimal health, strength and fitness, which generally leads to natural weight loss. Furthermore, an ideal weight varies between individuals, influenced by numerous factors, so aiming for a specific number is unrealistic.

My approach to weight loss is simple: focus on health, not weight. I always emphasize to my clients the importance of not counting calories, but eating a balanced and healthy diet and focusing on the quality of the products.

If you provide your body with the nutrients it needs, you will feel more satiated and will naturally eat only what you need, without excess and unnecessary foods.

For more information: https://www.mariellipahim.com/regenerative-nutrition-consulting

Or contact me via WhatsApp: +33 07 49 25 28 82.