We all know the rules. To stay healthy it is important to drink as much water as possible, eat breakfast and plenty of fruit and vegetables. While it would be great to add a bit of chocolate to that list, something better has come along. According to Mats Forsenberg, who once weighed 150kg, by eating fat you can actually be as strong as an ox and as light as a feather.
Mats now weighs 108kg. “I know how people can be well and eat as much as they want without even needing any exercise. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t,” he says. And this with meat and no fruit. Mats, 48, a business entrepreneur from Sweden, is a fan of the LCHF diet. The theory behind this diet – Low Carbs High Fat – is to eat fewer carbohydrates and replace the calories obtained from them with fat.
While it is recommended adults eat 50 to 60 per cent of their diet as carbohydrates, 10 to 20 per cent protein and 25 to 35 per cent fat, an LCHF diet follower would reduce the percentage of carbs significantly, while increasing their fat intake. In short, the exact opposite of what billions of people are doing right now.
Mats, whose weight fluctuated between 100 and 150kg and who has tried a raft of diets, has never been more sure about anything. “I want people to know that heart diseases, blood pressure and obesity can be tackled and defeated,” he says. “It worked for me and I was taking five pills a day, for blood pressure, diabetes and depression. About four years ago, I just stopped taking them one day and turned to the LCHF diet without even consulting my doctor, who checked up on me a month later and couldn’t believe I was in good health.”
The diet can also apparently help people with asthma, allergies and IBS. Mats says he has helped around 200 people overcome their problems. And he is keen to be involved with more, spreading the word through medical seminars. It’s something he’s still working on and will continue to do so, especially since more and more people seem to be agreeing with his logic – you can even buy LCHF cookbooks. It doesn’t come without a price though. “It’s difficult in the beginning, giving up pasta, bread, biscuits, fruit, fries and soft drinks but you have to realise that these are foods your body just doesn’t need.”
And what did he eat yesterday? “A 300g ribeye steak, 250g of pork chops and 100g of garlic butter. That was at 3pm and its 1pm now and I haven’t eaten since then and I’m not particularly hungry.” And even though Mats is quite heavy, he is also tall – 1.86m to be exact – and surprisingly fit. He has silver hair and looks like he jogs on a regular basis. “I don’t exercise,” he says. “I never sit still either. When your eating choices are like mine, you have a lot of energy and being a couch potato is nearly impossible.”
How does it work? “First, get over the fact that more fat will make you fat. As long as one’s calorific intake is balanced with energy expenditure, you’re fine,” says Mats. “And second, because a low carbohydrate diet does not increase blood sugar levels, you avoid the release of excess insulin. Insulin lowers the blood sugar level, quickly causing you to soon feel hungry again. Insulin is responsible for storing fat and blocking its use as an energy source.” It also converts excess carbs into fat.
The body can get the blood sugar it needs from protein and fat in food. This releases a steady level of blood sugar instead of the highs and lows caused by bad carbs.
But what of the dangers of eating too much saturated fat? According to nutritionist Ingrid Larsson of Sweden, where the diet has begun to take over, “many studies over several decades have come to the conclusion that high consumption of saturated fats does lead to an increased risk of arteriosclerosis.” However Ralf Sundberg, a transplant surgeon and advocate of the LCHF diet, disagrees. “Saturated fat does not clog arteries. A study from Harvard University found that arteriosclerotic narrowing of coronary arteries progresses more rapidly from a carbohydrate-rich diet, while the opposite was found with a diet rich in saturated fats.”
The other issue with the LCHF diet is its lack of essential nutrients. Over time, a decreased intake of vitamins, potassium and magnesium, which come mainly from plant and cereal sources, could develop. Mats says: “You have a greater risk of such a thing with the low-fat high-carb diets. Hundreds of years ago, men didn’t wonder if they had breakfast before going hunting or vegetables of three kinds on their plate and what did they eat and never grow fat? Fat!”
A recent follower of the diet, Anders Rosen has discovered many benefits associated with the low carb option. “Although in the one year I have been an LCHF fan and witnessed a slow and steady decrease in weight of 10kg, the best part is that I no longer suffer from pain in my hip and neck. The pain was significantly reduced in the first four to six weeks and now I have none. Cyprus is a nation that can really benefit from LCHF because there is a high percentage of diabetics and obese young people.”
For more information on the LCHF diet in Cyprus contact Mats at [email protected]
What you can eat
Beef, pork, chicken, fish, fried or barbequed and eggs
Cheese – again whole fat
Whole fat cream and milk products that have not been sweetened
Vegetables that grow above ground as these are lower in carbohydrates, with the exception of carrots
Olive oil and butter – Mats insists on using butter to fry his food
Mayonnaise and make that full fat too!
Wine, red or very dry white
A little dark chocolate 70 per cent, beans, lentils and berries
A good rule of thumb is to look for foods that contain less than 5 per cent carbs
What not to eat
Sweets, cakes, ice cream, buns and anything sweetened with refined sugar
Beer
Low fat or sweetened dairy products
Margarine
Fruit
White flour, pasta, rice, potatoes and bread
