Get Rid of Carbohydrates and Sugar, and Substitute Fat

Some of the high carb diets that have been advanced are 

based on the premise that because sugar is burned first by the cells, it must be what our body's preferred fuel is. That has been the logic that has probably added more to obesity in the United States and the world than anything. The thinking now is that the body actually burns those fuels that are most toxic in order to get them out of the system. So by providing the body with more carbs and sugars we are in effect feeding it poison.

If a person has normal blood sugar it is only about a teaspoon floating around in the bloodstream. When you think about it that's not very much sugar, especially when you imagine how much is added to the system when we eat a high-carb meal of pasta, bread and then that sugary dessert. Since the body will go to great lengths to see that sugar balance is kept in order, it starts using it as fuel, not because it wants to but because it has to dispose of it.

It's not that glucose has no use at all; a small part of the brain, about 15% needs glucose. This is a necessary fuel as well for the eyes, red blood cells and renal cortex. And those needs can easily be met by the glucose from proteins that the liver produces. In other words, sugar and carbohydrates that will be turned into sugar are not only not required, but get in the way of proper body function.

So if we don't want the body to be burning glucose, what really is the preferred fuel? None other than that food that we have been told to avoid: fat. We do know the fuel that the majority of the brain cells use for functioning properly is ketones, and they are produced from fat by the liver. The highest fat percentage of any organ in the body is actually the brain, which consists of 60% fat.

Another way we may look at the role that fat plays in our diet is that it is our preferred way of storing our body's fuel. Our long-term fuel is stored in the form of fat. This includes the fats that we eat and that which is converted by the liver. When we really need energy in an emergency it releases fatty acid. It's not converted into glucose, and this should tell us that the body prefers fat instead of glucose.

Is what has caused confusion among many people is just what the term fat is. It comes in many forms, from the unmistakably terrible Trans fats to omega-3 fats we find in several foods such as salmon. Saturated fats in the past have been blamed for a multitude of health problems, and that includes the link to heart disease. They are now finding that dietary saturated fats are not the problem that once was thought, but using them in the context of the low-carb diet actually makes them less a risk on the heart. What is certain is that all fats are definitely not created equal, and by eliminating all fat in our diet because some is bad is definitely a way toward poor health.