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Most nutritionists would agree that if you want to lose weight, you should try cutting out carbs and sugar. But what you replace them with — lean meats, tofu, steak, beans, etc. — remains an area of controversy. On today’s show, we talk to Columbia-trained nutritionist Kristen Mancinelli about an ultra, ultra low-carb diet that hacks your body into using fat, instead of carbs, as fuel. “The word ‘fat’ has an image problem,” Mancinelli says. “Fat the nutrient and fat the condition are two separate things.” The fat-as-fuel diet Mancinelli champions is something called the Ketogenic diet. Somewhat similar to a Paleo diet, a Ketogenic diet emphasizes foods rich in natural fats and adequate in protein, and restricts foods high in carbohydrates (sugar and starches). “Carbs don’t seem to be essential,” Mancinelli says.”You can train your body to use fat instead.” In a Ketogenic diet, your body uses the fats you’ve stored for energy, instead of all the empty carbs you eat before working out. The diet recommends