Even with all the media focus on diet and weight, it’s not often that two significant stories appear in the same week. This week both the New York Times and the Today Show highlighted different findings that fine-tune our understanding. And both of them, in the end, point to key Eat Sanely messages.
The Times report summarized studies looking closely at low-carb vs. low-fat diets. While the findings are complex, the bottom line is that the low-carb diets, which did not skimp on fat, proved better. This doesn’t mean that all the successful dieters ate no carbs, though. In the end, the main take-away point is that refined carbohydrates, as in sugarey and processed foods, impair weight the most. Complex carbohydrates, as in vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains, remain healthy food choices, along with high quality proteins and fats.
The Today Show (9/2/12) highlighted not so much what to eat, but the fact that you can “rewire” your brain to want good foods instead of junk. In sum, the more you eat “real” food—as in those proteins, fats, and vegetables—the more you’ll want them. Conversely, the less you eat sweetened and processed foods, the less you’ll crave them. Brain science proves what anybody who’s cut down on junk will tell you—the less you eat, the less you want, and vice versa. It takes some time and repetition, however—and that where your efforts come in.
So, those key Eat Sanely messages, have always included: 1.) eat real food, and 2.) practice, practice, practice, until choosing real foods becomes a habit, your new normal.
