Your body has three main sources of energy. It can burn fat, carbohydrate, or protein. When we burn fat, we produce substances called ketones. These are produced normally, and when we measure these ketones in our urine, we know we are burning fat efficiently.

High levels of high glycaemic index (high GI) dietary carbohydrates, such as; sugars, bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, work with the hormone insulin to “switch off” fat burning and increase fat gain.It becomes virtually impossible to lose fat if you have raised your insulin levels.

High Carbohydrate Diets Increase Fat Gain

When your body’s blood sugar and insulin levels are low enough you will switch to a higher level of fat burning. This is the secret to the Keto diet. To burn fat you will need to restrict high glycaemic load foods to a level where your body will produce less of the hormone insulin, thereby increase the rate of fat burning.

Eating Less Food Is Not The Answer

Fad diets that were popular in the 80s and 90s and even some weight loss programmes still around today encourage people to reduce the amount of food they ate, including healthy fats and continue to consume some high GI carbohydrates in the diet. This may lead to weight loss on the scales, but it ultimately causes muscle loss along with a reduction in body fat. Maintaining a healthy muscle mass is essential to support your metabolism as it helps to dictate how well our body can store and utilise energy. So anything that leads to a decrease in muscle mass, such as a reduced calorie approach to dieting ultimately can have negative effects on metabolism.

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