Fat chance

I’ve been trying to convince the world that fat is not the enemy for as long as I can remember. But the tide has been slow to change. So I’m always happy when new studies surface to support my cause.

Needless to say, coming across new research on the benefit of walnuts was one of the highlights of my week.

When you’re on a diet, nuts deliver some serious bang for your buck. Whether you eat them as a snack, in a salad, or some other way… they’re filling and they pack a huge nutritional punch.

And yet, so many people still think of them as a forbidden food. They balk at their fat content. And they dismiss them as “junk food.”

It’s a real shame. Because nuts are truly some of the healthiest foods you can eat. And this latest study is proof positive of that.

It’s a big one, too. Researchers used data from the famous Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and NHS II, which followed over 137,000 women for roughly a decade. They analyzed the women’s eating habits–and nut consumption, in particular, to see how it correlates to diabetes risk.

Results appeared in the Journal of Nutrition. And they showed that women who ate walnuts one to three times a month had a 4 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Eating walnuts once a week was linked to a 13 percent lower risk of the disease. And eating walnuts twice a week cut diabetes risk by 24 percent.

That’s a compelling conclusion right there. So please pass the walnuts… the more, the better.

Now, since nuts are a staple of my New Hamptons Health Miracle and other low carbohydrate diets, there’s another study out that I’d like to share with you. This one demonstrated that a low carb diet does not boost cardiovascular disease risk.

In fact, headlines reported that low carb dieters shed more weight and benefited from significant reductions in systemic inflammation. Two benefits that were always thought to be impossible without fat restriction.

There is such an incredible bias toward low carb diets in the medical community. We’ve been told for the past 30 to 40 years–by the American Heart Association, no less–that eating fat raises cholesterol and destroys your blood vessels.

Of course, I know that’s not true. And so do you. But if the rest of the world needs more research to drive this point home, then so be it.

Hopefully, this study can put an end to the misinformation, once and for all. Because it showed that low-carb diets don’t contribute to endothelial dysfunction or vascular stiffness–two risk factors behind high blood pressure and plaque formation.

Once again, low-carb diets deliver consistent improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And that’s not all, either.

During this six-month study period, low-carb dieters lost an average of 29 pounds. While those eating low fat only lost a mere 18 pounds.

There is just no denying the facts anymore. Diets like my New Hamptons Health Miracle are clearly the way to go if you want to lose weight. And maintain that weight loss. And lower your risk for diabetes and heart disease, too.

I just wish more people would ditch their low fat diets and give low-carb living a chance. Because if everyone traded in sugar and carbs for veggies, lean protein, and plenty of healthy fats?

Well, the world would be a much healthier place.

Sources:
“Walnut consumption is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes in women.” J. Nutr. April 1, 2013 vol. 143 no. 4 512-518.
Jancin, Bruce. “Low carb diet didn’t boost CV risk.” Skin and Allergy News Digital Network. 23 Jan 2013.