It was reported yesterday that we're eating less but getting fatter. Researchers are blaming our sedentary lifestyles but those who watched "The Men Who Made Us Thin" on BBC2 earlier in the year will know that when the exercise and weight theory was discovered, they got it wrong!
Whilst we're not the most active country, what we eat is also a big contributory factor in our weight. It seems that a lack of exercise is being blamed because it's the easiest thing to blame. In actual fact, we as individuals are at fault. We control what we eat and how healthy our lifestyles are. However, the advice from the government may not be helping us to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
If the exercise theory was wrong and it is in fact slim people who do exercise rather than exercise helping with weight loss then it doesn't really matter how much exercise you do. There are dangers of recommending exercise to overweight people as the pressure it puts their joints under can cause a lot of damage. People should only start exercising after speaking to a qualified professional e.g. personal trainer. Ideally if they are wanting to lose weight, the personal trainer should have some experience of working with overweight people so they can give the best advice. This should then be combined with the advice of qualified nutritionist or dietitian.
The current Eatwell plate looks like this
You can see how much of our diet the government recommend is made up of carbohydrates and foods high in fat/sugar. Protein makes up a small portion of the plate and there is no distinction between how much fruit or veg we should have.
There is far too much carbohydrate on the plate especially of the white sugary kind and there is no direction on whether to eat low fat or full fat dairy products. Full fat are not only lower in sugar but also more filling and have less effect on blood sugar. Whilst fruit contains vitamins, it does also contain fructose which is natural sugar. Far too many people eat a lot of fruit and very little veg which also can cause blood sugars to rise. This is often the case for children too.
As far as I'm concerned, there should be no place for the purple segment. Yes, we all need a treat once in a while but certainly not the amount or frequency suggested by the plate. Sugary foods cause the body to release more insulin to deal with the rise in blood sugar which encourages the body to lay down fat stores especially around the middle.
We need to re-consider our dietary advice as it clearly isn't working if we are eating less and getting fatter. My suggestion would be to look at what happens when people eat a low carbohydrate diet with no processed food and see how much people lose then. We don't need to Calorie count or get obsessive about weight, we need to make people healthy.
Of course, another flaw with the article is that people often under or over estimate food intake. Those who underweight are more likely to over report whereas those who are overweight are most likely to over report and therefore food intake is not accurate. It also doesn't always account for what is eaten outside the home which can equate to an awful lots of food for many people!
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2486892/Couch-potato-lifestyle-means-Britons-obese-Europe.html
For more information, visit
www.wisechoicenutrition.co.uk or email
info@wisechoicenutrition.co.uk
