The diet low in carbohydrates and fat: the last way to lose weight and stay healthy is to change the diet.

Adhering to a reasonable diet has never been so difficult.

A civil war is raging in the world of nutrition, placing fat advocates in violent academic conflicts with those who favor carbohydrates as a path to health.

A first shot (he did not know it at the time) was sent back in 2014 when a general practitioner from Merseyside submitted 19 overweight patients or patients with type 2 diabetes to a diet that had made them take for advice to reduce their fat consumption carbohydrates.

It was Dr. David Unwin, who participated in the recent Mail Series on Type 2 Diabetes. He advised his patients to reduce the amount of starchy carbohydrates they ate, including bread, pasta , rice and root vegetables, while including some high-fat foods, such as olive oil and butter.

Instead of an average of 300 g of carbohydrates a day, their consumption fell between 20 and 50 g (a croissant contains about 25).

Most importantly, they did not need to reduce calories. Lost carbohydrates have been replaced by high-fat foods, reducing hunger. After eight months, patients' blood sugar levels dropped and they had lost an average of 9 kg.

Follow-up studies found that 40% of patients had reversed their type 2 diabetes and that their unhealthy blood lipid levels (LDL cholesterol, for example) had dropped. And their energy levels improved.

This low carb diet is similar to the increasingly popular ketogenic diet; Keto cookbooks are now bestsellers on amazon.co.uk. "Keto" involves eating even fewer carbohydrates, which helps you burn fat as fuel rather than as glucose (good for losing weight) and also gives the impression of feeling more energetic.

Does this mean that we should all start the low carbohydrate or keto diet? This is a controversial area. Some experts say that eating so little carbohydrate is harmful in the long run. Another concern is that this diet does not provide enough fiber.

At the same time, an American study published earlier this year in The Lancet claimed that by following such a diet, one could lose four years of life because of the increase in the amount of animal fat it causes .

However, proponents of the keto diet also argue for the repeated failure of low-fat diet trials, which show that they reduce the risk of heart disease.

Another potential benefit is the suggestion that the keto can activate the body's garbage repair and collection system, called autophagy, which is in each cell.

Cells generate a lot of waste – dead and damaged proteins. Without regular cleaning, they become progressively less effective.

At the same time, a one – year study of 349 diabetic obese patients on a low – carb diet found that 60% of them had a satisfactory blood sugar level and that they were losing average 12% of their body weight. So, if you have trouble losing weight or are pre-diabetic, which war camp should you join?

Well, if you could follow a diet that had the benefits of reducing carbohydrates but allowed you to eat some of the high carbohydrate foods (bread, potatoes) that these dieters often miss?

There is more and more evidence to support the idea of ​​moving from a low-carb keto approach – eating a few grams of carbohydrate a day to a good amount of fat – to another form Low carbohydrate approach (without the high dose of fat) which keeps your blood sugar low but allows you a much wider range of carbohydrate foods that you may want.

Both diets have health benefits, including weight loss and improved diabetic markers, but switching between them can reinforce these results – and make them more durable.

Professor Valter Longo, a biologist and gerontologist at the University of California, is currently studying the possibility of switching from a more intense diet to a less intense diet. He developed what he calls the imitation-fasting diet, designed to provide the benefits of caloric restriction, which includes weight loss and a fall in blood markers associated with type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

His diet, tested in the laboratory and in clinical trials, begins with a strict restriction of calories for five days, during which participants limit themselves to a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat containing less than 1,000 calories per day from vegan sources.

After five days, participants return to a regular vegan diet, with more carbohydrates and less fat, for three weeks. They resume the diet imitating fast for another five days – and the cycle continues. Professor Longo says that one of the benefits, not yet fully tested, is to allow the regeneration of defective cells, such as those affecting autoimmune diseases, so that they find health again.

During the fasting period, these cells contract and some die. When patients come back, the extra food allows them to regrow without autoimmune defects.

Switching from one diet to another means not to ban fats or carbohydrates – a perverse idea because our body has developed very sophisticated systems to switch from one diet to another.

"We can use fats and carbohydrates as fuel and as proteins, because evolution promotes adaptability," says Richard Feinman, a professor of cell biology at State University in New York.

Glucose (carbohydrates) is a major fuel for muscles and the brain. In addition, the body is designed to run on fat in case of glucose shortage.

In fact, your brain can not function on the fat itself, so our body can turn newly released fat into energy packets called ketones. And the reason you do not need to make a calorie restriction to lose weight with the keto diet is that the carbohydrate deficit makes the fat release automatic.

The possibility of changing diets is the central theme of my new book, The Hybrid Diet. Years ago, I became interested in why the recommended low-fat diet did not help stop the progression of obesity and diabetes.

Medical journalist for 40 years, I came across a study conducted by Oxford University on ketones produced by the low carbohydrate ketogenic diet. This knowledge forms the basis of the "hybrid diet", which combines the ketogenic diet and a low carbohydrate diet, called glyecemic load (GL), a more sophisticated version of the low GI.

With the GL diet, you can consume 150 grams or more of carbohydrates, but the blood sugar level stays healthy.

This is because not all carbohydrates are created equal. People with low glycemic index slowly release the sugar in the blood, keeping it stable and allowing you to eat more safely.

For example, half a portion of corn flakes has a high GL index, the same as two bowls of porridge.

Tuna and bean salad, as well as oatcakes, are among other foods with low glycemic index. They provide more carbohydrates, but do not raise blood sugar (which is related to type 2 and also makes it more difficult to lose weight without reducing calories because the body responds to a constant high blood sugar. hanging on his fat reserves).

Switching to a ketogenic diet means reducing carbohydrate intake and significantly increasing fat intake, ie meat and dairy products, with avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut and olive oil.

The release of fat from fat reserves is even more important when switching to keto, as the body reacts to the drastic fall of carbohydrates as a starvation.

Crucially, to make ketones, the carbohydrate intake has to drop significantly – below 30 g. The speed with which we can switch to ketone production varies, but the first time it usually takes a week or more. This, however, becomes easier.

Professor Feinmann has found it useful to use the keto diet with the low-glycemic option to lose weight. It is possible that the hybrid diet allows both tribes – the supporters of fats and carbohydrates – to call a truce.

Note: Always check with your doctor before starting any new regimen, especially if you are taking prescribed medication.

The Hybrid Diet: Your body feeds on two fuels from Patrick Holford and Jerome Burne (Piatkus, £ 16.99).