We were led to believe that fat is the biggest cause of obesity, heart problems, diabetes and other diet-related conditions. Since the 1970’s, the government has declared war on fat. If you look at the food products in your supermarket, you will find that many products are very often ‘low-fat’ or ‘no-fat’ at all. Unfortunately, that approach has proven to be a mistake. Now more than ever, food-related illnesses are one of the leading causes of death. But is fat really to blame?

Fatty myths

Here’s the catch – if you take the fat out of the food product, it tastes… awful. And an awful-tasting product doesn’t sell very well. So the food industry came up with a solution – they load the products with sugar instead. It can be found in 80% (!) of processed foods, and not just the obvious ones like soda and sweets. Even if you steer clear of chocolate and soft drinks, you are probably still indulging about 40 teaspoons of sugar per day. How? A medium-size bowl of cereal and a glass of juice in the morning is more or less 14 teaspoons of sugar. And what seems like a healthy lunch – a canned cream of tomato soup and some bread –  adds about 3-5 teaspoons to the equation. If you sum it up with an afternoon snack (flavour water and an oats bar – 9 teaspoons) and a dinner (chicken stir-fry with a ready-made lemon & ginger sauce – 20 teaspoons) you can easily see how much you exceed the WHO-recommended daily intake of sugar (9 teaspoons).

Why work with a registered dietitian?

Most people don’t realize how easy it is to jeopardize your dieting efforts just by eating store-bought products. You need to have the basic nutritional knowledge to avoid extra-calorie intake, and most people don’t have that. That is why your best option is to work with your local  registered dietitian – someone who has spent most of their life learning about food and how it affects the body and health. We can teach you to decipher product labels and know the difference between the food that heals and the food that kills.