Tim Spector is an expert on nutrition who now states that calories counting in order to lose weight is a complete nonsense. He wants weight losers to focus on the quality of food and not on calories.
Tim Spector and his opinion on diets
The nutritional expert, Tim Spector has warned people that counting calories of foods they eat in order to shed the extra body fat is sheer nonsense. He feels that by counting calories and macronutrients of foods, people can lose weight in a short time. But this lost weight would return soon after they stop the diet and calories restrictions. And in some cases, this weight that returns might be even more than what they had at the start of the weight loss journey. Thus, it only complicates the matter and is not a long term solution for weight loss.
Tim Spector (Source: The Guardian)NHS advocates counting food calories as one of the ways to lose weight. But Tim feels that it is a giant camouflage that forces people to keep counting food calories and in the process distracts them away from the quality of the foods they eat. But the latter is more important for daily life and its well-being.
Instead, Tim advises people to have a plate that is full of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts etc. But he wants people to avoid junk foods and also consume their meals in a ten hour window period of the day.
More about Tim’s views on dieting
Tim believes that is next to impossible to accurately count calories of foods you eat daily. It is a tedious job and suffers from inaccuracies. Food packets and portions of foods in restaurants vary in the amount of foods in them and hence the calories. Hence, he is against calories counting and counting of fat content and sugar content of foods.
He adds that the food industry does not want people to focus on the food quality. Because this helps them to make their profits high by putting substandard ingredients or synthetic ingredients that can harm our gut microbiome and our overall health.
Calories counting (Source: Pinterest)Hence, Professor Tim states:
“Stop obsessing about calories and start thinking about food much more as quality and what it does to your body.”
He urges people to have a plant-based diet and concentrate on eating whole foods that are made from original ingredients. Foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds should be eaten in the pure form, he said.
Tim’s 3 messages
Tim revealed to MailOnline that people should:
- Avoid ultra-processed foods
- Practice time-restricted eating
- Eat 30 different plants per week.
Ultra-processed foods contain a lot of added sugar, salt, and fats and other harmful additives. Studies have revealed that those who consume these junk foods consume an extra 300 calories per day compared to people who eat little processed foods. The former group also have less of appetite-suppressing hormones and more of appetite-stimulating hormones in their blood. Hence you feel hungrier and overeat and have unhealthy gut bacteria.
Food quality explained (Source: Slide player)Also, time-restricted eating is best because you fast for the remaining time during sleep. Hence, snacking comes down and late-night eating also reduces. These two are bad for health.
Also, read: Quercetin: the plant pigment with potential health benefits!
And 30 plants of different kinds in a week can help in improving gut health and this is the key to improving your overall physical and mental health and well-being.