Healthy Action Australia > Natural Weightloss
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 toward fighting illness, preventing disease, increasing energy and optimizing your weight,
check out my new book.
The bottom line is this: Americans need to reduce their intake of grains, including corn-based foods, and all
sweets and potatoes, dramatically.
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