When was the last time you ate a bowl of pasta without worrying that you'd pay a price the next time you stepped on a scale? Or ate a hamburger with a bun, or steak with a potato -- without being filled with guilt over eating those allegedly evil carbs?
The fact is, fear of carbs is rampant. Almost every woman -- and plenty of men, too, have experienced it. We've learned to fear carbs because we've been told for more than 25 years that foods filled with carbohydrates make us gain weight. That means you're afraid of eating toast with your eggs in the morning. You're afraid of a little cheese sandwich. You're afraid of baked potatoes. You're afraid of pizza. Every time you eat one of those delicious basics of a happy, pleasure-filled life, you're convinced that you are now going to pile on the pounds. Fast.
Since we published "The CarbLovers Diet," we've encountered an awful lot of skepticism that carbs are actually good for us -- and can help us lose weight and keep it off. But what you must know is that there is new research -- groundbreaking and solid new research -- that reveals our old, beloved, carb-filled foods will NOT make us fat. Instead, they will actually help us to get slim.
You're probably wondering, "so what's changed?" Maybe you're feeling whipsawed once again by the diet experts. So let us tell you how we first learned about the new "carb-think" and why it inspired us not only to write about it in Health magazine but also to create "The CarbLovers Diet."
Two years ago, a Health editor mentioned some new research on carbohydrates that she heard at a scientific conference in Philadelphia. The nutrition experts there seemed very excited about it. So we looked at the research and what we read reversed a lifetime of assumptions we had about what makes people lose weight and keep it off.
The most astonishing studies were conducted by scientists at The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for Human Nutrition, in Denver, along with a team of international researchers. They uncovered new evidence that revealed eating the right carbs is the best way to get and stay thin. These exciting new studies showed that certain carb-rich foods act as metabolism boosters and appetite suppressants in your body. The bottom line is that instead of making you fat and bloated, carbs can actually do this:
- shrink fat cells, especially in your belly
- boost fat burning
- preserve muscle mass
- curb cravings
- keep you feeling full longer than other foods
- control blood sugar
- lower cholesterol and triglycerides
Around the same time, other research centers were coming to similar conclusions. Perhaps the most surprising piece of research was a large-scale look into the eating patterns that determine whether people will be fat or skinny over the course of a lifetime. This multicenter study of 4,451 people found something stunning. It concluded that the slimmest people ate the most carbs (in the form of whole grains, fruits and vegetables), and the chubbiest people ate the fewest carbs. The researchers even found that your odds of getting and staying slim are best when carbs comprise up to 64 percent of your calorie intake, or 361 grams a day. That's the equivalent of several baked potatoes (a food you've probably avoided for decades).
Although "The CarbLovers Diet" is a diet plan that will show you how to live a life full of wonderful, soul-satisfying carbs, being a CarbLover does not mean you get to stuff yourself with bagels and cookies all day. This plan increases your total intake of carbs and boosts the percentage of a type of carb called "Resistant Starch" in your diet. Resistant Starch is a kind of carbohydrate getting lots of attention in scientific circles these days. Yes, it has a strange name, but it's called that for a very good reason: it resists digestion.
This is a great boon for weight-loss (and your overall health) because Resistant Starch doesn't get absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine like other foods -- but it does create a chain reaction in your body, literally shrinking fat cells, preserving muscle, stoking your metabolism and making you feel fuller, longer.
Studies show that adding a little Resistant Starch to your breakfast will shift your body into fat-burning mode so that you torch nearly 25 percent more calories a day. Meanwhile, you'll eat about 10 percent fewer calories -- simply because you're not as hungry. In fact, people who have followed "The CarbLovers Diet" tell us that they feel completely satisfied -- in spite of being on a calorie-restricted diet. Sometimes they can't even finish a whole day's worth of food!
Here's the best news of all: Resistant Starch-filled foods aren't exotic, super-expensive ingredients you can only get via mail-order from Hawaii. They're at your local supermarket. They are bread, cereals, potatoes, (even potato chips!) and bananas -- foods that just happen to be delicious, affordable and satisfying -- and you can find them at any grocery store. These are the real foods you've been hungry for and you don't ever have to be deprived of them again!