Healthy eating advice questioned by Hassocks personal trainer

Jane Roweth, from Hassocks, has been a personal trainer for six years.

Jane and husband Malcolm say people should cut down on sugars rather than fats.

“What we have been told is wrong,” Jane said.

“We’ve had women who can run 10k, and follow our training guide lines. They weren’t losing weight and we didn’t believe they were being fat and lazy and eating loads.”

Jane says she believes avoiding fats causes people to eat more sugars and reduces energy levels.

“I did a lot of research, and researched the research. People have lived longer but not in a healthy way. They’ve had too much sugar. Companies with low fat yoghurts with a high amount of sugar are giving people the wrong impression,” she explained.

“And slim people are getting diabetes.”

Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in people older than 30, and is associated with excess body weight and high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

However, type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed in childhood and is not associated with excess weight.

Scientists writing in the journal Open Heart last week claimed advice to cut down on fats lacked evidence to back it up.

But since then many scientists back the original advice and say not lowering fat intakes could be potentially dangerous.

But the Roweths do not encourage simply eating high levels of fat, but enough to give you energy to exercise, whilst avoiding unhealthy sugars.

Malcolm blogs his opinions on healthy eating. Much of what he does is not for profit, as he simply wants to give public information on health.

“People have been living longer but living sicker. 50 years ago child diabetes was unheard of,” he said.

“People are scared that saturated fats clog up your blood. If your cholesterol is high it can cause heart disease, and they’re going to die quicker, people are worried about it, it’s ingrained in us.

“But if you eat fat you’re full much quicker, and it gives you energy.”

The distance runner ‘runs on fat’ rather than carbs, which he says has improved his recovery.

Now in her 40s, Jane is fitter than ever using a high fat diet.

She has never encouraged a specific diet until she discovered the benefits of a her own.

She added that extreme dieting is often detrimental.

The personal trainer continued: “I hear so often ‘If I could be the weight I was when I started dieting’. They lose weight and put more back on and lose weight and put more back on.

Jane is a former PE teacher, with degree in Sports Science. She also hold Come Diet With Me with friends and clients.

The couple create specific diets for each client.

She continued: “We’re not going with a new trend of low sugar diets.

“When people try a high fat diet they have more energy. Several of our friends are doctors. People are starting to pay attention.”

Jane runs Aspire Fitness Solutions on Stanford Avenue, Hassocks.

“It’s functional strength training. It’s about training your body to do the things you want to do,” Jane explained.

“It’s about leading a healthy life, for a future of a happy and healthy life. I’m not into hard core fitness, it’s fitness for living.”

Aspire does not aim to body build, but build a community atmosphere and help with all aspects of a healthy living.

Jane added: “Women are scared of that, they don’t want to end up looking like Madonna!”

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