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Health101.org
High
Carbs, Low Carbs, We have the intelligence to journey to the moon, and walk on it. We've figured out how to split the atom and harness the resulting energy. We've had the smarts to build a telescope that has allowed us to view galaxies billions of light years away. Is it likely that we don't know what the natural diet of human beings is? Pick any other animal on the planet, from the tiniest insect to the largest mammal, and you'll discover that we know exactly what they're supposed to eat. So it's hard to imagine that we don't know what we're supposed to eat. Could it be that the diet we're designed to consume is a complete mystery to us? From watching the tons of TV commercials lately, you'd think we finally discovered that we're supposed to eat low carbs and high protein. Wow, it took us until 2004 A.D. to figure it out! Well, everything you're seeing on TV now-a-days can't be further from the truth. The ads tell you what the food companies want you to eat, not what you're designed to eat. They want you to chow down on chicken, bacon, beef, ice cream, cheese, low-carb beer, low-carb cereal, low-carb cookies, and the list goes on and on. Besides appearing all over the TV and your supermarket, what else do these things have in common? They're not foods designed for human consumption. We're designed for high carbs and low protein, not the other way around, as your TV would have you believe. But there are carbs, and there are carbs. Yes, two types! The carbs we're designed to eat are called simple carbs, as in fruits and veggies. The carbs we're not designed to eat are called complex carbs, as in breads, pastas, rice, and junk food. Want proof? Pick a food item. If it's created from more than one thing, break it down into its individual components and put it to the edible test: Can you make a meal of each one of the components, as it appears in nature, and enjoy the experience. Let's start with simple carbs: a piece of fruit. No individual components to break down, and Mmmm, yummy. Now take bread or pasta. Can you make an enjoyable meal of wheat? Yeast? No. Conclusion: Just because we figured out a way to take an inedible grain and turn it into something we can eat without gagging, doesn't mean it's what we're supposed to eat. And if it's not food fit for human consumption, which one of the three possible effects on the human body will it probably have? Good for your health; bad for health; or no effect either way? I haven't found anything that has no effect either way, so it's either a health enhancing thing or a health damaging thing. Take three guesses which category grains occupy. And if you're avoiding carbs (the body's fuel of choice), you have to get your calories from somewhere, so your daily intake of fat and protein increases to make sure you get enough. And it's too much fat and protein that accounts for the epidemic of degenerative disease we have today, not too many carbs. Yes, too many complex carbs and empty carb foods are unhealthy (we're designed to run on simple carbs from nutritious food), but substituting fat and protein for carbs is a recipe for disaster. I'm both amused and amazed when I hear nutritionists arguing about carbs. One insisting that fruits are simple carbs, and one adamant that fruits are complex carbs. One nutrition expert stating that we're designed to eat complex carbs, and another saying that it's simple carbs we're designed for. Why is there so much misinformation, and worse, disinformation (info presented as truth that's known to be false)? If nutritionists are confused about nutrition, how can you, the consumer, expect to get truthful nutritional information? Knowing what I know about nutrition, I am appalled by what I see on TV. Food companies taking advantage of people's taste buds, drug companies taking advantage of your fear of disease and your dislike of symptoms, and weight loss companies taking advantage of your desire to be slim… all for the sake of profit, at the expense of your health. But you can't blame businesses for caring about profit; it's not their responsibility to care about your health, it's yours. And taking the latest medication because some suggestive TV ad said to ask a doctor about it, or eating the way the news reporter said you should, is likely to be in someone else's best interest, not yours. What can you do about it? Start off by adopting the old adage: Let the Buyer Beware. Next, educate yourself. Yes, in a perfect world, you could depend on professionals to give you info that was truly in your best interest. But take it from me, in this world, the food, drug, medical, and health care industries are motivated by self-interest and financial gain (I'm not talking about the people you have direct contact with, I'm referring to the people who make the rules, set the party lines, and influence the curriculums... the ones making six figure incomes). So take a class, buy some books (that can't be found in stores like Barnes & Noble), and for your sake, think for yourself. And thank heavens for the Internet; use it before it becomes controlled, and all the truthful information regarding harmful foods disappears forever. Start with the other articles on this website. Yes, they will drop your jaw. Yes, they will challenge your long-standing beliefs. But if you truly care about your health, you'll read on. It's been said, the truth shall set you free, but only if you know what the truth is. Additional reading:
The Atkins "Nightmare"
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