* You Are Eating Too Much SugarExcess sugar consumption is the root cause of obesity, diabetes and many other health issues. The less sugar a human being consumes in his or her lifetime the better. But it is especially terrible for those looking to lose weight. When you eat sugar your body secretes insulin, this hormone causes fat to be stored. Insulin levels are mostly determined by how much carbohydrates you are putting in your body. When you eat sugary foods (yes, even fruits should be eaten in moderation if your goal is weight loss) you are peaking your insulin and consequently storing more and more fat. If you are eating sugar every once in awhile this isn’t a problem, but for those of us who have eaten a standard Western diet high in sugar since we were children, our insulin levels are likely out of whack.
* You’re Drinking Too Much SugarYou may ask, “why have a separate point for drinking sugar?” Didn’t we just cover sugar in the first point? Yes, we did, but I hope to emphasize the fact that sugar is the main culprit in your lack of Ramadan weight loss, and also highlight the fact that sugar consumed in liquid form is the most harmful. The worst way to take in sugar is in liquid form. It is like taking a sugar I.V. straight into the bloodstream. It is absorbed directly into the blood and causes blood sugar levels to skyrocket.
* You’re Eating Too Many Things That Turn to SugarA lot of people cut out sugar and then are surprised that it doesn’t give them the desired results, or they lose a bit of weight but then they reach a weight loss plateau. Even with all my interest in health and nutrition, it took me until my early 30s to fully understand the way that grains also turn to sugar in the body. Bread, rice, and other carbohydrates are converted to glucose in the body. The liver secretes insulin when you eat them. For some people this is no problem. For people who are insulin resistant (if you are overweight this almost certainly includes you) it wreaks havoc on the body.
* You Aren’t Eating Enough Probiotic/Prebiotic FoodsModern science has confirmed what Hippocrates said 2,000 years ago, “all disease begins in the gut.” We now know that there is more bacteria in us and on us than there are human cells in our entire body! Walt Whitman was right, “[We] contain multitudes.” There are trillions of microbes in your stomach that help you digest food and protect you from harmful bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These microbes also deeply influence one’s propensity to gain weight. Studies have shown that mice with imbalanced gut microbes become obese even when they are fed the same diets (with exactly the same caloric intake) as mice with healthy gut bacteria. Furthermore, when bacteria from the healthy mice is put in the stomach of the obese mice, the obese mice loses weight even when their diet is not changed at all. The field of study on the human microbiome is a hot topic in scientific and medical circles and is expanding rapidly. A lot of this science is still less than a decade old and has not yet filtered down to common popular knowledge outside of health conscious circles.
* You Still Think Fat is BadFat does not make you fat! Sugar does. I personally lost 20 plus pounds in 5 months by cutting sugar and grains, while eating as much fat as I cared to consume. Two great forms of fat are coconut oil and avocados. Try a spoonful of coconut oil for iftar and for suhoor (it is also great for the microbiome). Avocados are the perfect suhoor. Eggs (yolks and all) and meat (especially organ meat) are also good sources of fat and are incredibly nutrient dense. Seeds and nuts are a great source of fat and serve as the perfect snack for that midnight hunger between taraweeh and suhoor. Fat is also slow burning so it keeps you going throughout the day during long fasts. Butter is excellent and delicious. Cut out all the “low-fat” garbage. These are usually laced with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or other frankenfoods not fit for human consumption. Fat is not bad. And it does not make you fat. Sugar does.