Posted on 01/05/2012 7:50:58 AM PST by Brookhaven
I had a bit an epiphany yesterday, but it seems so contray to what I've been told about eating all my life, I'm having a hard time believing my analysis is corret.
I've been working on changing my diet. One of the things I ran across was the fact that eating carbohydrates spikes your blood sugar. Then I heard someone make the comment (and it was almost a throw-away side comment) "of course, carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar." Really?
The following lines are pulled from here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161547.php, my insertions are in brackets [my comment].
Saccharides, or carbohydrates, are sugars or starches.There are various types of saccharides:
Monosaccharide - this is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood; glucose is a major source of energy for a cell. In human nutrition, galactose can be found most readily in milk and dairy products, while fructose is found mostly in vegetables and fruit.
Disaccharide - two monosaccharide [simple sugar] molecules bonded together. Disaccharides are polysaccharides - "poly…" specifies any number higher than one, while "di…" specifies exactly two. Examples of disaccharides include lactose, maltose, and sucrose. If you bond one glucose molecule with a fructose molecule you get a sucrose molecule.
Sucrose is found in table sugar, and is often formed as a result of photosynthesis (sunlight absorbed by chlorophyll reacting with other compounds in plants). If you bond one glucose molecule with a galactose molecule you get lactose, which is commonly found in milk.
Polysaccharide - a chain of two or more monosaccharides [simple sugar molecule]. The chain may be branched (molecule is like a tree with branches and twigs) or unbranched (molecule is a straight line with no twigs). Polysaccharide molecule chains may be made up of hundreds or thousands of monosaccharides.
So, carbohydrates are made up of sugar or starch. Monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide are all forms of sugar. But, what is starch?
Starch - these are glucose polymers made up of Amylose [short chains of glucose] and Amylopectin [long chains of glucose]. Rich sources of starches for humans include potatoes, rice and wheat.
So, startch is a form of glucose. And, what is glucose? Remember the paragraph above about monosaccharides?
Monosaccharide - this is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood;
So, if carbohydrates are made up of one of the three saccharides (mono, di, or poly--all a type of sugar) or starch (which is made up of glucose--a type of sugar), doesn't that mean carbohydrates are--at the end of the day--just a complex type of sugar?
That's a hard fact for me to accept, because it contradicts everything I've been taught about nutrition. The current recommendation is that at least 50% of a person's calorie intake each day come from carbohydrats (as can be seen in the food pyramid).
But, if carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar, does that mean 50% of my calories should come from sugar (a complex form of sugar, but sugar none-the-less)?
Given sharp rise in not just childhood obesity and diabetes, but obesity and diabetes in general (all commonly called an epidemic by the medical community), I'm starting to wonder if we just didn't make a mistake. By emphasizing grains (carbohydrates) so heavily in our diets, did we unwittingly emphasize sugar in our diets and cause these epidemics?
And sure, fruits and veggies are god for you, but remember: the fruits we eat today are modified from their wild forms and have a much higher sugar content.
The empirical data on weight gain and diabetes over the last 30 years of following your advice would seem to prove otherwise. Check out the paleolithic diet to see how humankind naturally should eat.
Please read Gary Taubes' book, How We Get Fat. The first part lets you know that all of the "studies" that you think "prove" that low-fat is the way to go, well, not so much. He has actually read the studies and finds that a lot of the time the researchers tell a different story from what the actual results of the study were; and, then put it in the short summary at the end of the study. The short summary is all the media ever reads, and that is what you hear about. Again, very much like "global warming", these "scientists" begin with an assumption and then either cherry-pick or outright lie about the findings of their study in order for it to fit the agenda/narrative.
The second part of the book is really a great explanation of how one's body processes food. Dr. Atkins was correct. The problem is the carbs, NOT the fat. It is an easily accessible book to people without a science background,and is very informative. I think Mr. Taubes' book has really started people re-evaluating what the government has been telling us for decades (as we have all been getting fatter for decades).
My reaction after reading the Taubes' book was anger. I was angry that I have been lied to by everyone for decades. My husband read the book after I did, and had the same reaction.
A lot of us are skeptical about the idea that we should get most of our caloric intake from carbs because years of trying to eat that way, per government recommendations, made us fat. Some of us found that no matter how little we ate and how hard we exercised, we still couldn’t get slender. I think this is a particular problem for middle-aged women, since our metabolism becomes very, very efficient after menopause and we can exist on air, while our appetites ramp up. There’s a limit to the number of hours a normal person with a job and a family can devote to exercise, but I was spending more than two hours a day exercising hard and I still wasn’t getting anywhere.
Do you think there might just be a connection between the fact that millions of Americans have been trying to eat this high-carb diet and the fact that they have gotten so fat?
Of course everyone’s body is different. I’m glad that your high-carb diet is working out for you. But for many people, it’s a problem. When I stopped eating white things and focused on protein and greens, my weight dropped like a rock, my appetite quieted, my energy level went up, my blood chemistry became perfect, and my mood improved. Apparently you and other people have a different metabolic make up.
I'm glad that your posting on this topic, good work
Agriculture has only been around for approx. 10k yrs compared to 2.5M yrs for the Homo genus.
It seems to me we are far better adapted to eating meat/fish then products of agriculture (i.e. carbs).
Yup, carbs are death.Go paleolithic, eat fruit vegetables and no carbs like potatoes and you’ll feel much better. No bread.
“As a side note, if you want to burn more calories and don’t want to put in the work, then you should eat less; the math is not hard. Alternatively, you will burn ~15% more calories/day by simply putting your feet in ice water for 10 min. It may be uncomfortable, but the thermogenic effects are systemic and REAL!”
Hmmm... a positive side to my furnace being out!
Yes, carbs have always been sugars. Never understood why so many were oblivious to that fact. If nothing else just take a look at Moochelle’s caboose. Atkins knew what he was talking about and low carb diets work.
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One of the things I liked about Gary Taubes' book (Why we get Fat) vs. Dr. Atkins, is that Taubes recognizes that people do have different body types that react differently to foods. As he points out, some people are naturally thin, and others have bodies that like to be heavier. I fall into the latter category.
He also posits that some people can handle small amounts of carbs and not have a problem, while others have metabolisms that have been so damaged by the "low-fat", high carb diet that has been promoted by the government, that they really can't handle much in the way of carbs at all without gaining weight. I also fall into that category.
I have been eating a low-carb diet now since last April. I've lost a little over 30 pounds -- I have hit a plateau. I do feel better, my appetite is a lot more normal. I am not constantly hungry. And, my stomach problems have improved tremendously. My "numbers" have also improved.
Before agriculture there was horticulture and before that there was hunting/gathering - with gathering being the much more dependable.
Humans in the wild still gain the majority of their calories from carbohydrates. Meat and fish are a major source of necessary protein - but the vast majority of energy was still derived from carbohydrates.
Our molecules of metabolism are set up to burn carbohydrates as the primary energy source.
Our metabolism may be set up to burn carbs efficiently; that doesn't mean that's the healthiest way to eat.
Everything you just realized is correct. All carbs, whether processed into candy bars or “pure whole grains”, are converted into sugar in the body. If they’re not burned immediately, they’re stored as fat. It’s the foundation of the Atkins diet, although he wasn’t the first to have those realizations, just the first to popularize them. If you want to get more into the science of why carbs (and more specifically, grains - even whole grains - and legumes) are fundamentally bad for us, start by reading “The Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf, and continue your education in paleo/primal/low-carb diets from there.
There is no doubt in my mind of the direct relationship between the popularity of the grain and carb heavy low-fat “food pyramid” diets of the last 30 or so years and the massive increases in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other so-called “diseases of affluence”.
Sure, back when cavemen frequented McDonald's. Just read Atkins' book or any other of the many low carb books. I'm not asking you to change your way of thinking but just read the books.
Look at the biochemistry metabolism chart I posted a link to. Each dot on there is an enzymatic reaction taking it all around in a big circle.
It is not JUST high carbohydrates that is the problem - it is high protein, high fat, high sugar AND high carbohydrates that is typical of the American diet.
This is the fact: if you take in more calories (from fat, from sugar, from carbs, from protein) than you burn - your body will turn that extra energy into lipids and store it as fat.
There is no exemption if the excess calories were from fat and protein then your body doesn't “know” how to deposit the excess as fat.
The molecular enzymes “know” how to turn excess calories from fat and protein into adipose tissue just fine.
I have been eating this way since late last January. Lost 37 pounds on Atkins, but I slowed it way down because I lost that weight in about 3 months. It scared me and all my friends kept asking what was “wrong” with me. It’s amazing how people think that way.
Added nuts and legumes lately, but very judiciously. It appears I’m gonna have to back those off a little, it would seem I have a very low carb tolerance and more than about 50 grams per day will make me gain weight.
Keep it up friend, good luck!
Nope, not even a piece of lettuce.
And I don’t supplement, either.
And I don’t drink any artificially sweetened stuff, either.
You get all the nutrients you need from meat, if it’s not over cooked.
I used to eat my meat medium to medium-rare. Now I eat my steaks bleu...almost rare. Keeps more of the nutrients.
An interesting concept: Most of what we eat and why we eat it is from our culturization. In other words, we think veggies are good for us because we’ve been told/taught that and because lots of people say it. We think nearly rare meat is “yucky”, when it tastes amazing. When we start eating to live rather than living to eat, our thought processes change.
Another thing: Most people say they’d be bored out of their minds just eating meat (product of eating as entertainment) or that a meat-only diet would be too expensive.
I eat hamburger (patties, mostly) almost exclusively, with a steak every week or so. I’m never bored and look forward to my meals.
If I buy a big tube of ground beef (as fatty as possible) that costs me <$20, that’ll last me most of a week. That’s it. $20 is my food budget per week; with the exception of any steak I decide to eat.
The hunger pangs disappear, the cravings for sweets, carbs, etc. go away. Read “runninglips’ post at #18)
It’s really pretty amazing.
A great book to read is by Dr. Gary Taubes...”Why We Get Fat”. Explains the whole problem with carbs and insulin. And demonstrates the problem by comparing all kinds of cultures, from the different Native American tribes to African cultures....differentiates the health of primarily meat/dairy consuming tribes and agriculture-based tribes.
Very good stuff, with lots of back up.
Good luck!
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