There are many diets and fat loss regimens available, but the eating plan below is supported by science and may be the simplest one yet.
There are numerous perspectives on diet and weight loss and the general opinion is that calories are the only thing that count. In fact, calories are probably the single most important factor when it comes to regulating your weight. And, to claim that calories have no effect on fat loss is either ignoring the overwhelming body of evidence to the contrary or is unaware of it.
However, whoever believes that calories are the ONLY factor that counts, lacks knowledge of biochemistry, nutrition, and fat reduction. Additionally, the trustworthiness of anyone making this assertion is inadequate.
So what is the big picture ? It matters how much and what kind of food you eat. Both of these factors are important. It is up for debate which is more crucial.
It seems that certain people perform better when they weigh and measure everything. Some people appear to get by with eating certain foods more frequently. Those that succeed most likely take care of both.
There are numerous things to think about. There are three factors to consider when eating—quantity, timing, and quality of food. According to research, meal sequencing – or the sequence in which you eat the foods in your meals also has a positive impact.
What is food sequencing
Food sequencing simply refers to consuming certain food items first and then others. Years have been spent studying this in relation to what scientists refer to as “preloads.” Food consumed at a set time prior to a meal is known as a preload. This could occur only moments or an hour beforehand.
The most popular pre-loaded items are protein shakes, bars or anything containing high protein. For example consuming a protein shake an hour before your regular meal.
This method has been shown to be effective in controlling hunger. However, these types of preloads are not always convenient or available.
Research done with food sequencing
In one study, the goal was to evaluate the idea over a typical lunch. They sought to see whether consuming particular foods ahead of others could provide some of the same advantages as typical preloads, but without the hassle, scheduling, or preparation.
They fed one group their meals normally in order to test this. What “normal eating” means for most people is eating the food items in the plate as they come to them, or in other words mixing all the food items and eating until the plate is empty. The control group was the one that ate in this manner.
The experimental group was told to consume their meat portion (protein and fat) first and their carbohydrate portion last.
The study was conducted on type-2 diabetics, which is the first thing to be aware of. This indicates that a significant level of metabolic impairment was already present in these people. To varied degrees, they were all overweight as well. This indicates that the intervention has a potent enough effect to change metabolic function that has been damaged.
A modest, low-calorie diet that was the same for both groups was recommended to the twenty participants who were split into two groups. The eight-week diet plan was tailored to each participant’s specific needs, resulting in a daily deficit of 200 calories.
The instructions for consuming the meals differed solely in the experiment:
Control group: Adhere to a low-calorie diet for a period of eight weeks.
Experimental group: consume a low-calorie diet, prioritizing foods high in protein and fat (fish, meat, and cheese) over those high in carbohydrates (pasta, rice, and potatoes).
The End Results
The study’s findings were remarkable. Fat reduction differed between the two groups, but weight loss did not. The control group did not experience any substantial reductions in fat mass, whereas the group that ate protein and fat before carbohydrates did.
The metabolic function measures were the most amazing. The group that rearranged their food consumption had a significant improvement in these pre- and post-meal parameters.
This is important in people with diabetes who are unable to efficiently utilize sugar. When blood sugar stays constantly high, this is extremely harmful and can result in a variety of problems, such as sickness, dysfunction, and damage to the liver, kidneys, and arteries. Diabetics need to check their blood sugar levels frequently in order to gauge the severity of the consequences.
Furthermore, average blood sugar levels over a period of several months were assessed using hemoglobin A1c, a more accurate blood sugar test. Eating the dishes in a particular order also had a significant and beneficial impact on these results. No such alterations were observed in the control group.
What does this mean for athletes ?
Well, it means that you can significantly control your insulin levels and metabolism by making a simple change when you eat. And that is to consume your protein and fats first and leave the carbohydrates last.
These findings make perfect sense in light of the abundance of research on protein preloads and the established mechanisms by which fat and protein inhibit the absorption of glucose.
