The Biggest Loser

I’m wondering when the day will come when we stop jumping on the latest diet or ‘food elimination’ band wagon?  I’m genuinely wondering.  History tells us that diet and weight loss companies, being the money making machines they are, will continue to try and get us to change what we eat for no other reason than to line their pockets.  Are they in this to help people improve their general health and wellbeing? 

They say they are but really, unless they are actually telling people NOT to diet and find ways to incorporate a healthy balance of all foods into our lives, they’re selling a complete lie.  And a lie that doesn’t work by the way, which of course we all realistically know.  Why?  Because diets don’t work – the hard core research tells us so over and over and over again.  But, we keep falling for it and the case in point at the moment is sugar.  Everywhere I turn celebrities, Mum’s groups and trainers are talking about the ‘evils’ of sugar.  It’s bad.  It’s making us fat.  It’s poison. 

But how is this different to any other fad diet or push that we have seen in the past and now know with absolute certainty was a total crock.  Remember when eggs were bad?  Don’t eat them.  No good for your heart.  Filled with cholestorol.  Or how about bananas?  Hideous food.  Too energy dense and should be avoided.  Around the same time as the banana ban of course, bread and potatoes were thrown out the window.  Don’t even think about eating carbohydrates like that.  Avocadoes?  Once upon a time considered WAY too high in fat to eat.  Don’t put them in your salad or on your toast.  Fat. Fat. Fat.  Bad.  Bad.  Bad.

What do we now know about all these foods, some of which are entirely whole and natural?  Eggs are now loved by dieticians, we have learned that wholegrain rich breads are actually good for our health, bananas are filled with all sorts of goodness, and avocadoes, well avocadoes are now a Superfood.  We were all fed a steady stream of these sorts of diets and entire food or even food group elimination are the current strong push with sugar at the moment being the big bad demon.  Put down that jelly snake!  It’s sugar!

Well I thought I would turn to an expert to get the real low down on sugar and via my way to her we even have Dr Cindy Pan saying – “Consuming large amounts of pure sugar is not consistent with a healthy, balanced and nutritious diet. However, including small amounts of sugar is fine in moderation…A balanced approach that allows for variety is much more beneficial, as well as being far more palatable, enjoyable and less socially restrictive than an “everything-free” diet which, ironically, may result in you having a sense of no freedom at all.”

I contacted the wonderful accredited practicing dietician and nutrionist and eating disorder expert Jo Gibson from Eat Love Live for her thoughts on sugar.  In asking Jo if the banning or drastic reduction of sugar is really any different from previous fads we have seen she had this to say: “Sugar is a naturally occurring carbohydrate in foods which is important to provide us as energy.  Avoiding all sugar may lead to short term weight loss as it limits the amount of food to choose from…(but) it often means that foods from important food groups such as fruit, which is made of sugar and high levels of  water, are being eliminated leading to inadequate nutrient intake.  Cutting out all sugar would mean cutting out all fruits and vegetables, limiting our intake of vitamins, mineral and fibre.”

So there you have it.  Cutting out sugar from our diet involves dramatically reducing our intake of not only fruit, but even some vegetables in which sugar naturally occurs.  How can this be good for us?  Put simply, it’s not, but this is literally where the ‘elimination’ of sugar has progressed for many.  It’s not just seen to be good enough to give up lollies or chocolate, ALL sugars are being pushed as unacceptable and in need of curbing from our diet. 

A case in point is one of The Biggest Loser trainers, Tiffani Hall,who I recently heard interviewed on radio saying she did not eat oranges because of their sugar content.  That, to my mind, for a food that is natural, delicious and packed full of vitamins and fibre is utterly ridiculous and a sign that this latest dietary fad is just that – a fad – deserving to be binned along with every other diet that tries to tell us we must restrict what we eat. 

Thoughts Beautiful You?  Have you been hearing all the recent hype about sugar?  How do you manage to balance sugar intake into your everyday diet?

Tagged as: Balance, Cindy Pan, Diets, Eat Love Live, Food, Health, Jo Gibson, Sugar, The Biggest Loser, Tiffani Hall, Weight Loss Companies, Wellbeing

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