Don’t blame carbs: fat is making you fat
EATING fatty foods is the only cause of weight gain, not carbs, according to a new study.
Despite confusing and conflicting information in the past, scientists have been able to prove those extra centimetres have nothing to do with carbs or protein.
In a huge experiment, mice were fed varying diets over three months – the equivalent of nine human years.
They only piled on the kilos during the course of the fatty diets.
This is because the fatty food stimulated the reward centres in their brains.
Scientists from the University of Aberdeen and the Chinese Academy of Sciences undertook the largest study of its kind.
The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, includes 30 different diets that vary in their fat, carbohydrate (sugar) and protein contents.
Professor John Speakman, who led the study, said: “The result of this enormous study was unequivocal – the only thing that made the mice get fat was eating more fat in their diets.
“Carbohydrates, including up to 30 per cent of calories coming from sugar, had no effect.
“Combining sugar with fat had no more impact than fat alone.”
He added: “There was no evidence that low protein, down to 5 per cent, stimulated greater intake, suggesting there is no protein target.”
And he said mice were ideal test subjects as they were similar to humans in their physiology and metabolism.