Dr Michael Moseley has shared the three food categories that dieters should avoid if they want to lose weight.
The diet expert, who founded The Fast 5:2 diet, has issued advice is based on the principles of the Keto diet - which puts your body into fat-burning mode.
Whilst “cutting right down” is essential in taking inches off your waist, simply cutting calories is not always the best method for consistent weight loss, the health expert told ITV's This Morning.
Dr Michael shared how avoiding sugar, starchy-carbohydrates, and processed meat can transform the body’s metabolism.
He advised viewers to stop indulging in sugary drinks, cereal, and even high-sugar fruit smoothies. He said: “Cut right down on sugar, sugary treats, drinks and desserts. That includes most breakfast cereals, which are usually full of sugar, as well as most commercial smoothies.”
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Unlike other diets that focus on removing fats from your meals, Dr Michael advised avoiding or minimising starchy carbohydrates. He went on to list white bread, pasta, potatoes and white rice as the culprits for many people’s weight gain.
The weight loss expert added: "Switch instead to whole grains including bulgur (cracked wheat), whole rye, wholegrain barley, wild rice and buckwheat. Brown rice is okay.”
He also suggested adding legumes such as lentils, kidney beans and chickpeas to meals as “healthy and filling” alternatives to stodgy carbohydrates. Dr Michael added that making this switch was also a good way to cut down the price of the food shop, whilst also watching your waistline.
Dr Michael’s Fast 5:2 diet doesn’t recommend counting calories each day. Instead its followers are advised to only track calories on the two days a week they fast (sticking to a fasting limit of 500 calories on those days).
But unfortunately that doesn’t mean going wild the rest of the time, according to Dr Michael. The doctor suggests that people adopt a Mediterranean-style diet throughout the week, which should help them avoid overly sugary foods, starchy carbs, and processed meats.
He told This Morning viewers in a segment last Monday: “That means more olive oil and nuts, as well as plenty of eggs, full-fat yoghurt, oily fish and vegetables. Make sure you fill up on protein and veg on your fasting days. Protein is very satiating and you can eat a lot of vegetables for very few calories.”
On his website, Fast800 , Dr Michael also advises that ultra-processed meats, as well as processed food in general, are best avoided due to often being “packed with sugar, fat, and salt, as well as chemical flavourings and preservatives.”
The doctor’s site lists these foods as: “Chicken nuggets, burgers, chips, pizzas, hotdogs, pre-packaged meals, mass-produced ice-cream, sweets, crisps, energy bars, bakery goods, biscuits, margarine and pretty well anything that says ‘instant’– i.e. instant noodles, soups and desserts.”
Dr Michael added that these foods are designed to set off the reward circuits in our brains, "so once we start eating them we find it really hard to stop".
The health expert stands by his Fast 5:2 Diet as a sure-fire way to get slim, he said: “Today we have more hard evidence than ever that the 5:2 is one of the best ways to get slim and stay slim – as well as reduce your risk of illness.”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV and ITV Hub.
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