Why calorie counting is a waste of time
If you’ve ever decided to lose weight or even just take an increased interest in your health, the chances are good that one of the first instructions you’ve been given is to watch your calorie intake. The second may have been to switch to the low-fat versions of your favourite food and remove ingredients like butter and cream altogether. The third was probably to exercise more and at a higher intensity to try and counter what you ate. This kind of advice has been around for the last couple of decades yet the worldwide population just keeps getting fatter and sicker. A new book by Professor Tim Spector, a leading genetics expert at King’s College London has examined why that is and turned a large number of our common conceptions about what it takes to be slim and healthy on their head. Professor Spector has found that it’s not so much the calories in what we eat but the impact it has on our gut, more specifically our gut bacteria.
The notion of a healthy gut isn’t a new one but research is now revealing just how pivotal a role it plays in everything from our weight to our mood. Professor Spector has found that gut microbes are not only essential to how we digest food they also control how we absorb calories and help provide essential enzymes and vitamins to our body, keeping it healthy and happy. With the rise of the modern, ‘packaged and convenient’ diet, the trillions of bacteria residing in our stomachs is taking a hit and retaliating it seems with a whole host of health conditions. So how can we best take care of our gut health? The research points to the following advice:
- Eliminate junk food – Minimising or eliminating altogether fast food and foods devoid of the majority of their natural benefits is one of the best things you can do to start restoring your gut health. Junk food has been found to actually kill off the beneficial bacteria in your gut leading to a host of health issues. While the occasional indulgence isn’t going to cause enormous problems, regular consumption will make it very difficult to restore and build your beneficial bacteria.
- Forget calorie counting – Count whole foods and additives, not calories. Studies carried out on identical twins over a 20-year period found no difference whatsoever in weight between the twin who had dieted regularly and the one that hadn’t.
- Include exercise in your day – While exercise is beneficial on a multitude of levels, it’s also great for your gut as it lowers inflammation and stimulates the immune system.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners – Initially touted as the “healthy” option to sugar, more and more research indicates the dire impact artificial sweetener has on our bodies, including on our guts. While efforts should be made to decrease the amount of any type of sweetener you eat, actually using small amounts of “proper” sugar or natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup is recommended as the healthier option.
- Stick to dark chocolate – In a move sure to be celebrated by chocaholics, dark chocolate has been found to actually increase your beneficial gut bacteria. The emphasis needs to be on the “dark” part though as milk and even mildly dark varieties don’t have the same impact. Look for a minimum of 70 per cent cocoa with the higher varieties even better for you.