Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult to lose weight when eating a recommended high carbohydrate diet? We’re not doing anything wrong. Quite the reverse, on such a diet our body is evolved to gain weight.

Everyday foods like fruit juice, bread, croissants, pasta, potatoes, and rice are readily turned into blood sugar when we consume them. Much of that sugar is then turned into body fat. Eating these things all day and everyday goes a long way to explain why so many of us struggle with our weight. I explain how this happens here.

Fruit juice must be good for us, right? Not so fast, fruit juice is not a natural food, it has been processed and changed from its natural fruity origin. It can be OK when consumed in moderation by someone who is metabolically flexible. Otherwise, be careful.

This is a simple graphic that highlights the difference between healthy and unhealthy dietary carbohydrates. I tend to follow this guidance but point out where I do make exceptions

Did you know that an editorial recently published in the British Medical Journal has called for the UN to think about ultra-processed food in the same was as it does tobacco? This follows a review of how ultra-processed food affected the health of almost 10 million people.

Have you ever wondered why, indeed did you even know that the sugar and starches many of us eat today are the main causes of weight gain and obesity? Even worse, if left unchecked, the metabolic damage they cause can include heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type-2 diabetes. I explain here how eating to much industrially processed carbohydrate drives up blood insulin and insulin resistance to produce those ill-effects.

This is the story of a young Englishman following dietary guidelines and professional advice but developed IBD which within three years required that his colon be removed. He describes in graphic detail how he was required to manually manipulate his gut to ease the passage of plant material and eventually remove it in a bag. He finally improved his quality of life by eating a 100% animal-based diet. This is a cautionary tale of how one-size-fits-all dietary recommendations can be harmful.

Healthy cholesterol is good for me and the speakers in this embedded discussion do a fabulous job of explaining that. They also describe better risk factors for ill health including blood clotting factors and a certain type of damaged LDL called sdLDL. I hope you enjoy the discussion as much as I did.

A review of Ketogenic: The science of therapeutic carbohydrate restriction in human health, Edited by the Nutrition Network. This is an indispensable text for anyone interested in the metabolic and health effects of carbohydrates in the human diet.