Back to The Abs Diet: Bad Fats & Carbohydrates

I’m back on The Abs Diet, which I first wrote about here. I agree with the author, Men’s Health editor David Zinczenko, that it isn’t fair to call The Abs Diet an actual diet. Because as we know, diets don’t work. They leave you famished, angry and defeated. The Abs Diet food suggestions — which I have outlined here — include tons of generous suggestions. It is easier to remember this diet by the few things you cannot eat simply because you are encouraged to eat so many things and so much of it.

As I revisit this book, I can grasp much deeper about the points the writer is making about the bad stuff, which includes trans fats (or also known as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil), saturated fats, and high fructose corn syrup. Let me share:

• Trans fat. To understand trans fats, just imagine vegetable oil in a solid form, which essentially is what margarine is. It’s so bad that the food companies have fought for years to keep it off of their labels (it was only in 2003 that the FDA finally made regulations about how it was supposed to be labeled). If 3% of your daily diet is made up of trans fats, you are increasing your chances for heart disease 50 percent. And 3% equals about 7 grams of trans fat, which is like a single order of fries.
• Saturated fats. These are animal fates, like whole milk and fatty cuts of meat like Rib Eye. These are my weakness, as I have a hard time saying no to triple-cream bries, sour cream or steaks. The sad thing about saturated fats is the first place they are stored in your body — just like the animal they were in before you — is the stomach. They have a powerful staying factor more than any other fats. Of course it is fine to eat fat-free or low fat yogurt, milk and cheese.
• High fructose corn syrup. A nasty carbohydrate the body cannot process because it doesn’t recognize fructose. Corn syrup isn’t that bad because it has glucose, which the body can break down. You know why 7-11 invented the Big Gulp and then the 32-Ouncer? Because you can drink that much soda or fructose and never feel full for the body doesn’t understand fructose as anything with nutritional value. If a label says sugar or cane sugar, you’re looking at an item that is 50/50 with glucose and fructose. If it’s just a gram or two, don’t worry about it because the body can deal with anything (in small doses — honey and fruit have small doses of fructose). But if HFCS is the first ingredient, dump it.

Just read the back of all packages, cans and containers for fat and ingredient contents. I had to toss out a seemingly harmless container of bar-be-q sauce the other day. I ended up making my own using chopped up onions, garlic, organic ketchup, spices, and honey. It was delicious. For more entries here on The Abs Diet, go to:

• Could You Be Working Out Your Abs Without Knowing It? More on The Abs Diet
• Fitting Water Workouts into the Abs Diet For Women
• Eat Like You’re Easing into it: More Abs Diet for Women

Tags: swim eating, the abs diet