Dr Peter Brukner: So Paul, the Defeat Diabetes Program encourages people to eat lots of healthy fats but won't fats make you fat?

Dr Paul Mason: Well that would be logical really, wouldn't it there?

Dr Peter Brukner: Yep, but it would be wrong. 

Dr. Paul Mason: Because the problem is it comes back to insulin, which is a hormone that circulates around our body and this basically tells our body to store fat. And insulin is released far more potently by carbohydrates than it is by fat. So an actual fact carbohydrates are more likely to make you fat, than is fat itself.

Dr Peter Brukner: So does that explain why low fat diets are not as effective as low carb diets.

Dr Paul Mason: In terms of weight loss?

Dr Peter Brukner: Yeah. 

Dr Paul Mason: Absolutely. And we've got plenty of evidence for this. To date, there's been over 64 studies that compare low fat and low carb diets head-to-head low fat and low carb diets head-to-head in terms of weight loss. And 32 of those studies have actually had statistically significant results. Now what that means is that the findings are unlikely to be due to chance and in all of those 32 studies that had statistically significant results, all of them found in favour of the low carb diets that is people on low carb diets absolutely lose more weight than people on low fat diets.

Dr Peter Brukner: So fats don't make you fat. 

Dr Paul Mason: Neither. Absolutely don't. But carbohydrate certainly can

Dr Peter Brukner: You know, one of the hardest things about this program, is getting your head around the fact that it's okay to eat fat. For so many years we've been told that fat is bad for you, and there really is no evidence to support that. Fat is okay.