Listening to a Mozart symphony is not the same as swooning over a Justin Bieber love ballad. And eating a 210-calorie order of French fries is NOT the equivalent of 210 calories’ worth of grilled broccoli.
The notion that “a calorie is a calorie” is a big, FAT myth. You can’t make that deal to substitute fries for broccoli and expect to stay the same weight or have good health. What you eat affects your metabolism, circulation and brain. And it turns on and off genes that trigger everything from Alzheimer’s disease to cancer.
Make the right trade. A low-glycemic-index diet, with 40 percent of calories from carbs, 40 percent from fats and 20 percent from protein, burns 150 more calories a day than a high-carb, low-fat diet (60 percent of calories from carbs and 20 percent from fats, with 20 percent protein). Though a low-carb, high-saturated-fat diet (10 percent carbs) burns even more calories, it also amps up inflammatory C-reactive protein and cortisol, and that’s bad for the heart, brain and nerves!
So, for a nutritional plan that’s loaded with health-promoting calories, here’s the real deal.
1. You know our mantra: Avoid the five food felons – added sugars and syrups, any grain that’s not 100 percent whole, most saturated fats and all trans fats.
2. Opt for foods with a low glycemic index – it tells you how quickly foods are digested and how they send blood sugar up. High-fiber foods are low and slow; try beans, whole grains, fruits and fibrous veggies like dark, leafy greens and broccoli. Enjoy!
– Dr. Michael Roizen & Dr. Mehmet Oz
© 2012 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
