Reduce Grains and Sugar to Lose Weight and Improve Health
For several million years, humans existed on a diet of animals and
vegetation. It was only with the advent of agriculture a mere
10,000 years ago -- a fraction of a second in evolutionary time --
that humans began ingesting large amounts of sugar and starch in
the form of grains (and potatoes) into their diets. Indeed, 99.99%
of our genes were formed before the advent of agriculture; in
biological terms, our bodies are still those of
hunter-gatherers.
While the human shift to agriculture produced indisputable gains
for man -- modern civilization is based on this epoch -- societies
where the transition from a primarily meat/vegetation diet to one
high in cereals show a reduced lifespan and stature, increases in
infant mortality and infectious disease, and higher nutritional
deficiencies.
Contemporary humans have not suddenly evolved mechanisms to
incorporate the high carbohydrates from starch- and sugar-rich
foods into their diet. In short, we are consuming far too much
bread, cereal, pasta, corn (a grain, not a vegetable), rice,
potatoes and Little Debbie snack cakes, with very grave
consequences to our health. Making matters worse, most of these
carbohydrates we consume come in the form of processed food.
That 65% of Americans are overweight, and 27% clinically obese, in
a nation addicted to sesame seed buns for that hamburger, with a
side of French fries and a Coke, is no coincidence. It is not the
fat in the foods we eat but, far more, the excess carbohydrates
from our starch- and sugar-loaded diet that is making people fat
and unhealthy, and leading to epidemic levels of a host of diseases
such as diabetes.
If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, chances are
very good that the excess carbohydrates in your body are, in part
or whole, to blame:
Excess weight
Fatigue and frequent sleepiness
Depression
Brain fogginess
Bloating
Low blood sugar
High blood pressure
High triglycerides
We all need a certain amount of carbohydrates, of course, but,
through our addiction to grains, potatoes, sweets and other starchy
and sugary foods, we are consuming far too many. The body's storage
capacity for carbohydrates is quite limited, though, so here's what
happens to all the excess: they are converted, via insulin, into
fat and stored in the adipose, or fatty, tissue.
Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates generates a rapid rise in
blood glucose. To adjust for this rise, the pancreas secretes the
hormone insulin into the bloodstream, which lowers the glucose.
Insulin is, though, essentially a storage hormone, evolved over
those millions of years of humans prior to the agricultural age, to
store the excess calories from carbohydrates in the form of fat in
case of famine.
Insulin, stimulated by the excess carbohydrates in our overabundant
consumption of grains, starches and sweets, is responsible for all
those bulging stomachs and fat rolls in thighs and chins.
Even worse, high insulin levels suppress two other important
hormones -- glucagons and growth hormones -- that are responsible
for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development,
respectively. So insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat,
and then wards off the body's ability to lose that fat.
Excess weight and obesity lead to heart disease and a wide variety
of other diseases. But the ill effect of grains and sugars does not
end there. They suppress the immune system, contributing to
allergies, and they are responsible for a host of digestive
disorders. They contribute to depression, and their excess
consumption is, in fact, associated with many of the chronic
diseases in our nation, such as cancer and diabetes.
I encourage you to delve into this subject in greater detail by
clicking on the links below, or by using our powerful search tool
above.
Subscribe to my free e-newsletter for ongoing detail on reducing
grains and sweets, and for a comprehensive dietary plan geared
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The bottom line is this: Americans need to reduce their intake of
grains, including corn-based foods, and all sweets and potatoes,
dramatically.
http://mercola.com/article/insulin.htm