If you have not tried it yourself, you’re sure to know someone who has – a weight-loss diet that cuts out all carbohydrates, leans heavily on protein and is friendly to fat.
Go Grains, a national communication program, recently commissioned nutritionist Rosemary Stanton to review the scientific literature on achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
She found there was no scientific or nutritional evidence to prove that carbohydrates were any more fattening than any other nutrient, nor to support the belief that low-carbohydrate diets achieve long-term weight loss. Such diets are popular because they work fast, but most of the loss is fluid and it quickly comes back when a normal diet is resumed.
The secret is in the type of carbohydrate. Whole grains – those with the fibre-rich outside husk, or bran, as well as the kernel – are digested slowly and do not send blood sugar levels shooting up; they have low GI, or glycemic index, hence their benefit in controlling and preventing diabetes. Good (multigrain, wholegrain, rye) bread, pasta, rice, pulses, vegetables and dairy also provide “good†carbohydrates, those in soft drinks, alcohol and confectionery are the ones to avoid.
Wholegrains actually help weight loss because they do such a good job of filling you up – you get more food for the same number of kilojoules than from a meal high in protein and fat. After a breakfast of muesli thick with oats, triticale, rye, wheat, millet and some pumpkin seeds, fruit and yoghurt, you’re likely to find it’s 2pm before you are hungry again and snacking is easily under control.
Weight issues aside, whole grains provide protein, dietary fibre, several B vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and phytochemicals, micro nutrients that protect against disease.
Bread made with white flour will has about 40% less fat than bread made with wholemeal flour, but it also has 70% less fibre, about 60% less folate and 80% less vitamin E.
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