You may have seen recent research suggesting that low-carbohydrate diets can negatively impact our health, sparking concern about cutting carbs to lose weight. This comes as no surprise to us at Slimming World. We know from our own research that anti-carb messages and myths have caused widespread confusion about the role of carbs in health and weight loss – and that some dieters find low-carb diets difficult to follow, because they feel hungry, bored and restricted in what they can eat.
When Margaret Miles-Bramwell founded Slimming World, she created a healthy way to lose weight – without hunger, deprivation or guilt. Here’s what she says about the carb ‘news’ that isn’t actually news to us at all…
“The pendulum is swinging on the role of carbs in our diets. Evidence contradicting that carbs are the very devil for those wishing to manage their weight is building.
The low-carb/no-carb craze that has been sweeping the USA and the UK for many years now, is being highlighted in more and more scientific research to be potentially harmful to our health and unhelpful for our long-term weight control.
For more than 50 years, as the UK and Ireland’s leading weight loss organisation, we’ve been advocating healthy complex carbs as a key part of our Food Optimising eating plan, with many of them (including potatoes, rice, pasta, lentils, beans, oats and wholegrains) featuring on our huge Free Food and Healthy Extra lists. Healthy, filling Free Foods, as designated by Slimming World, need no weighing, measuring or counting. Our members tell us they feel they have been set free.”
Sam and Sophie are two of our members who’ve achieved their dream weights without missing out on their favourite foods. Together, they’ve lost an amazing 13st (82kg), and they’re now planning to get married! They say:
“The Food Optimising eating plan was nothing like we were expecting. We’re both big foodies, so we loved adapting some of our favourite meals, like spicy meatball pasta and Korean beef noodles, to make them slimming-friendly.”
Read Sam and Sophie’s weight loss success story
What are Slimming World Free Foods?
Free Foods are foods that are ‘low energy dense’ (lower in calories for their weight) – so they’re the best at satisfying your appetite for the fewest calories. This means you can eat them freely and still lose weight beautifully.
Free Food means never feeling hungry, guilty or deprived, so you’re less likely to want to rebel by reaching for those high-fat, high-sugar foods that can so easily derail our best intentions. As long as they’re cooked without fat or oil, you can enjoy hundreds of delicious Slimming World Free Foods with absolutely no limits.
Before coming to Slimming World, many slimmers are told to avoid carbohydrates – yet carbs such as rice, potatoes and pasta have fantastic filling power, as well as being low in energy density, which is why they’re on our Free Food list and absolutely can help our members to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way.
Find out more about Slimming World Free Foods
Try our favourite pasta recipes
If you’d love to set yourself free from restrictive dieting, discover two great ways to lose weight with Slimming World.
