Three of nature’s most unusual foods

All food is carbohydrate, protein or fat – or, invariably, a combination of two or three of these. Protein is in everything from lettuce to fruit to whole grains to meat, so almost all food can be categorised as either a carb/protein or a fat/protein. The Harcombe Diet tends to drop the word protein and just refer to carbs and fats. The reason for these two groups being so important is that carbs cause insulin to be released and fats don’t. I find it fascinating that nature tends to separate foods into carbs and fats and indeed this was a discovery behind one of the principle of the diet. However, there are three ‘complete’ foods where nature decided to be different: 1. Avocados: A 100g portion of avocado contains 15g of fat and 9g of carbohydrate. Avocados are, therefore, higher in fat than carbs, but have quite high levels of both. This means you should eat them in moderation in Phase 2 of the diet and have them as part of a fat meal on the occasions when you do have them. 2. Nuts and Seeds: 100g of peanuts, as an example, have 25g of carb and 51g of fat; sunflower seeds have 20g of carb and 51g of fat. These are real and nutritious foods, but not great for weight loss.