[Mase]

Thank you for your reply. I tried to read the article linked in post #79 by EBH, but stopped after the first couple of paragraphs. As a rule, I stop reading whenever anyone calls sucrose or white flour a "deadly poison." Although just about anything can be considered toxic, in large enough quantities, I don't suspect that this is what the good doctor was communicating. Good grief, people die from drinking too much water, after all.

The author says that the "excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates" will result in the kind of inflamation that leads to all sorts of deadly maladies. How does he define "excessive?" If you overwhelm the body with anything, bad things can happen. But I think he's arguing that all carbohydrates are bad. I've been hearing that a lot lately...and it is contrary to your fact that the human body was designed to derive the majority of its calories from carbohydrates.

EBH seems to be claiming that a diet including white flour, pasta, bread, and any other refined carbohydrate, is toxic and deleterious to our health. It's a common refrain I hear on this forum and elsewhere. If so, then we're all doomed to die an early and painful death. It appears that consuming a balanced diet (along with a discipline of moderation) is no longer a prescription for being healthy and happy. That's been replaced with the demonization of one macronutrient vs. another.

Even so, we continue to live longer and healthier lives than at any other time in our history. Go figure.

[allmendream]

LOL! Indeed.

The anti-carb fanatics are the flip side of the coin from fanatic vegans. Both have had moderate success with a highly restrictive diet and think that because they were unhealthy being unrestricted and had some success with the diet - then everyone at every stage of health should at all times follow their diet.

Yes, the danger of “Di-hydrous Oxide” a deadly compound that is the #1 cause of death through inhalation of a chemical! Drowning. ;)

Demonization of one macronutrient or another seems a common thread to the illogical American mind about food and diet.

Fat free was the big thing. People thought “How can I get fat if I don't eat fat?”.

Cotton candy is a “fat free food”. Your body knows how to get energy from fat, protein, sugar or carbohydrate - and store that excess energy as fat tissue FROM ANY SOURCE that the energy was derived from.

A balanced diet high in carbohydrates is recommended for athletes and you will find that almost every successful Olympic caliber athlete will derive the majority of their calories from carbohydrates.

How poisonous can it be if eating it leads to Olympic caliber performance?

If their grandiose claims had any basis in reality, then raw foodist idiots, Atkinsites, and Vegans should be able to point to all the major athletes that follow their diet regimen, no?