10 Fad Diets, Debunked

What should you cut out of your diet to be more healthy? Everything. According to the most popular diet books on the market, there's barely a food on Earth that's safe to eat. But what is the actual benefit of these diets? Here's what science has to say.

10. Cut Out Wheat to Slim Down

The Books: The Wheat Belly Fat Diet, Wheat Belly

The Claims: Wheat is making you fat! And not just fat, but fat around the tummy, which is the worst kind of fat! Belly fat itself puts you at a higher risk of cancer and other diseases. And we can cut our weight and cancer risk way down by cutting wheat out of our diet. This is especially hard because, since the 1970s, Americans have been pushed to eat more "whole grains" in order to be healthy. But since the 1970s, Americans have gotten steadily fatter on this supposedly healthy diet. Is there any doubt that wheat is ruining our health?

The Facts: Most "wheat belly fat" books contain persuasive book jacket blurbs that stress how obesity has gone up in the decades since people began eating a carb-based diet. But correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation. One possible explanation for the national weight gain is the fact that the median age of the United States population has also gone up, and no matter what, we gain fat as we age. In fact, age is a major factor in why we gain belly fat. Eat no wheat whatsoever, and you'll still pack on a bit more belly fat as you get older, even if the fat is internal. (Sorry.)

It's possible that belly fat may be more unhealthy than regular fat. Abdominal fat cells tend to boost the production of certain hormones which aren't healthy. But belly fat isn't the only problem. It turns out that "gluteal fat" (AKA the fat on your butt) promotes inflammation and insulin resistance. In other words, all extra fat can be bad. Belly fat isn't necessarily worse than any other kind of fat.

Even if belly fat is especially unhealthy, wheat might not be the main culprit. If you want to lose belly fat, you might want to look at saturated fats. In one study, men who ate muffins made with saturated fats gained more abdominal fat than men who ate muffins made with unsaturated fat. There is even one carefully-done study that suggests carbohydrates might lower a person's amount of belly fat. Men with a daily diet that contained 10 grams of soluble fiber lost more visceral fat over 5 years than men who didn't eat the soluble fiber. Oats, barley, and beans all have soluble fiber. A warning — this reduction in fat was a 3.7 percent reduction. There are no miracle diets that will simply take away your belly. Nor, really, do there need to be.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
Although volume and intensity hasn't been all that high this past week, it felt like it was time for a rest day.  But, I did stay productive by spending several hours on business development projects.

~Feelin' Alive!~