This one is false. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred source of fuel, and we are designed to eat and digest them. Where the problems happen is that most of the carbohydrates in the supermarket are highly processed and have lots of bad things added to them, like hydrogenated fats, sugar, salt, e numbers and stabilisers. These carbohydrates will most likely make you fat, as they are hard for the body to process and contain fat and sugar, so have lots of calories even in a small amount. Unrefined carbohydrates, however, are very very good for us, providing not just fuel but also micro nutrients, vitamins, fibre and roughage. These are things like vegetables, fruit, and grains that have not been processed. Denying the body carbs, and having only protein can lead to weight loss, but there can be problems with the kidneys, a real lack of practical things to eat and also you will be missing out on many vitamins and minerals that are essential to a healthy body and mind. Also, if you eat too much of anything, be it steak or potatoes, it will make you fat, whether it’s carbohydrate or not. Remember that your size and weight are a simple equation, energy in vs energy out. If input is more than output you will be fat!! The key is to be as natural as possible, avoid anything with flour (processed carbohydrate) and sugar (processed carbohydrate), have a good balance of food groups, eat small amounts often and exercise then success will be yours. There is lots of further information on this on our nutrition fact sheet on the knowledge page. Good luck, and remember that if you are struggling a bit on your own, a personal trainer from Diets Don’t Work could really help kick start you, all block bookings of 6 or more personal training sessions include nutritional profiling and help, as well as structured tailor made exercise programmes.

When a new personal trainer client signs on for a block booking of personal training, the first thing we do is get them to keep an honest and accurate food diary, which we then take away and analyse. More often than not, although the food going in is not too bad many of our clients fall down on sugary drinks. Whether it’s coke or sprite, sugary tea, some types of orange squash, there is a lot more energy going in from these sources than you would think. The interesting thing is that although we get clients who say that these drinks give them an energy boost when they get tired at work, it is the drinks themselves that are creating a cycle of excessively high and then low blood sugar levels. Like a cigarette, the drink will initially give a boost, but all of this sugar is used up quickly, creating a successive blood sugar trough. This leads to low energy and cravings for something sweet. So the sugary drink is actually creating the sugar low and not curing it.

The following is taken from an article by Kelly Brownell in the Los Angeles Times, and doesn’t just make sense for the U.S, but for anywhere in the western world where obesity is rising.

“If America is looking for a way to raise revenue and cut health care costs, there is an obvious solution:slap a tax on fizzy drinks. Congress has discussed this idea, but shied away from taking action after coming under industry pressure. That was a mistake. By levying a cent per ounce national tax on sugared soft drinks, the US could raise about $150 billion over the next ten years, while also saving an estimated $50 billion in medical bills. That money could go a long way in addressing the country’s mounting health care bill. There’s no doubt that soda pop is one of the main culprits behind the obesity epidemic in the US. Each year, the average American drinks 50 gallons of coke and other sweet drinks, which are assiduously marketed to children through celebrity endorsements and product placement. Portion sizes have steadily grown: the typical 8-ounce bottle of the 1950s had morphed into a 20 ounce behemoth containing the equivalent of 17 teaspoons of sugar. The industry complains that a soda tax would hurt the poor, but that’s a specious argument. As with tobacco, the poor stand to benefit the most, both health-wise and financially by reducing their consumption. It’s time to crack down on pop.”

So if you are looking for some personal training in London, or just  want a good head start and some free advice, there it is. By cutting out sweet drinks and increasing exercise, you have lots more leeway on the eating side of things, and can eat a lot more good things while having treats from time to time.

For more nutritional tips and advice on all things fitness and health, have a look at our knowledge page.

Having been given our fact sheets and nutritional advice, one of our personal training clients with Stephen in Richmond asked the question “What is fibre?”. It seems like a simple one, it’s bandied about constantly in the media as something good, but what is it. The true definition of fibre is, according to the oxford dictionary is

“dietary material containing substances such as cellulose, that are resistant to the action of digestive enzymes.”

In personal trainer college we were taught that fibre is insoluble woody or plant like structures that cannot be (or are difficult to) digested by mammals. So therefore fibre has no nutritional value and contains no vitamins or minerals. Immediately we can see that this is a good thing; something we eat but that contains no usable calories, hooray! But there are other good things that fibre does for us.

Whilst sitting at the cinema last night I recalled a personal trainer in Windsor the other day telling me that popcorn was a so-called superfood. Surely this was not the case, and it was no better than the huge bag of chocolate raisins that I also bought? However recent studies have shown that it is in fact beneficial. Popcorn and breakfast cereals, frequently derided as junk food, may contain “surprisingly large” servings of healthy antioxidants, according to chemical researchers. Any nutritional value of snack foods was previously thought to rest on their high fibre content – a virtue regularly trumpeted by manufacturers on food packaging.

But a study presented recently to the American Chemical Society (ACS) suggests the benefit of grain-based foods lies in the significant presence of antioxidants known as polyphenols. Antioxidants are thought to protect cells from damage and mop up free radical molecules, which may lead to illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. Although the beneficial role of antioxidants has, in the past, been questioned by other medical research teams, the latest report will provide comfort for popcorn-munching couch potatoes.

“Early researchers thought the fibre was the active ingredient for these benefits in whole grains, the reason why they may reduce the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease,” Dr Joe Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, who led the study, told the ACS.

“But recently, polyphenols emerged as potentially more important. Breakfast cereals, pasta, crackers, and salty snacks constitute more than 66% of whole-grain intake in the US diet. This is the first study to examine total phenol antioxidants in breakfast cereals and snacks.” Polyphenols are one of the main reasons why fruits and vegetables, chocolate, wine, coffee and tea are thought to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.  Cold whole-grain cereals have significantly more antioxidants than processed grain foods, the study found. Among the salty snacks examined by the team, popcorn contained the most antioxidants.

As with all nutritional advice here at Diets Don’t Work we recommend a moderate approach with the 80/20 rule, so that you try to follow the principles of the wholefood diet for 80% of the time, while focusing on a high output through cardio-vascular exercise and resistance training means that you can still live a little,and have treats while maintaining or even losing weight. Have a look on our “The Knowledge” page for further nutritional tips, and remember that all block bookings of personal training include nutritional help and assessment.