Hidden Sugars

As fat loss is the number one goal this time of year we wanted to concentrate on clearing up a few misconceptions when it comes to nutrition.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to losing fat is assuming certain foods are ‘healthy’ this may actually be the case but this doesn’t necessarily mean its good for fat loss.

Lets tackle the fruit issue, first off fruit obviously has its health benefits for example it’s packed full of anti-oxidants and vitamins, it also contains a lot of fibre when consumed whole. The problem with fruit when it comes to fat loss is that certain types contain a lot of sugar (fructose) and this can be detrimental to our chances of achieving a good result. We recommend you stick to berries and as a good rule of thumb a handful a day is fine. Avoid fruit juice completely; when fruit is blended together you lose out on the fibre content essential for healthy digestion. Therefore you are left with a tasty glass of sugar water.

Foods that contain starch and grains are another silent enemy. A lot of people believe that they contain lots of fibre and ‘slow release’ energy, but in truth as soon as the digestion process starts in the mouth the starch meets our saliva and immediately starts to convert to glucose. Elevated glucose levels within the blood have been proven to increase hormones especially insulin which leads to fat storage.

Sugars within certain types of dairy can really impact on fat loss attempts. Certain types of yoghurt can contain lots of sugar and additives, this becomes an even bigger problem when often combined with fruit, it is better to go for plain pro-biotic yoghurt as this contains minimal sugar and is helpful to our digestive systems.

Your main focus for fat loss should be to stick to whole fruits preferably berries to supplement your meals, avoid starches and grains and only go for natural plain pro biotic yoghurt. Combine this with the good proteins, fats and vegetables your getting from your main meals and you will get great fat loss results.