"Obesity increases the risk of chronic diseases and puts its victims at a 200-300% greater risk of death.3,4"   Life Extension

                                                   Carbs and Obesity 

Notice this Nation got fat when we rejected FOOD fat and replaced it with SUGAR and Simple Carbs

"What if you were to learn that every day, 25 percent of your calories came from a poison, disguised as a food?   Doctor Robert H. Lustig MD  UCSF        Start of series, NOTE You MUST watch this. This video will help you kick the deadly sugar habit that contributes GREATLY to obesity problems.

"Certain isolated traditional groups such the Eskimo, the pre-Columbian plains Indians and the medieval in habitants of Greenland, subsisted on diets composed almost entirely of animal products-protein and fats. Examination of the skulls of these groups shows a virtual absence of tooth decay indicative of a high general level of health on a diet almost completely devoid of carbohydrate foods."   Sally Fallon

"We have an epidemic of diabetic six month old babies. It’s the sugar.”   Doctor Robert H. Lustig MD 

The bottom line on carbs is you cannot afford to eat SIMPLE CARBS in any quantity. The limited carbs you do eat should be mostly COMPLEX carbs centered on mostly raw vegetables.

The simple carb SUGAR in its thousands of forms, is an absolute NO, NO; to be consciously avoided every day until the avoidance of sugar is an iron habit.

Sugar and Disease Protocol

Please visit the Sugar and Disease Protocol to learn how to help prevent SUGAR Diabetes and other disease by stopping or limiting SUGAR found in table SUGAR other SUGARS and simple carbs.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Michael Pollan

“Among modern hunter-gatherers, the percentage of total protein and fat have been found to vary from 36% to 97% with total carbohydrates varying from 3% to 64% and the people at both extremes are equally disease-free.”  Doctor Jonathan V. Wright MD, Note this is a mind blowing fact first take some time to digest its implications, then stop worrying about your fat consumption. Just make sure ALL the fat you consume is GOOD fat.

”Replacing fats with carbs may be fine for some individuals but for those who are insulin resistant it is a grievous even fatal mistake.”  Reaven et al 2000, Note it’s not a great idea for most of us either.

“Less important than the proportion of fats, protein, and carbohydrates is the form in which each is presented. Digestible or indigestible? Natural or processed? Raw or cooked? Sprayed or organic? Cleanse or clog? With or without enzymes? These are the real issues that determine the value of a food. These are the questions we should be asking.” The Doctor Within

“Clearly, the destructive role of carbohydrates has not been fully elucidated before the public is asked to indulge into this 20 year exercise of slow-suicide. It is now clear that excessive refined carbohydrates can be equally, if not more, destructive than excessive saturated fat. Perhaps it should be made more clear - excessive intake of harmful carbohydrates such as cakes, sweets, potatoes, white bread and pasta are the main culprits behind the rise in obesity and cardiovascular disease despite a drop in dietary saturated fats over the past 20 years.” Doctor Michael Lam MD

“Furthermore, the body can survive very well without simple refined carbohydrate provided that adequate protein and fat is on board to provide the calories required for metabolic functions. Our body is designed to run on fats as a fuel and not sugar. In fact, excess sugar is stored as fat because fat is the preferred source of fuel. The body can store a lot of fat but only limited amount of sugar.” Doctor Michael Lam MD

“When you take a high carbohydrate diet such as pasta, the carbohydrate changes into sugar inside our body. Our blood sugar goes up quickly. The body does not welcome this rush. It panics. The pancreas is immediately signaled to release insulin in order to facilitate the movement of sugar away from the blood stream into the cell, thereby lowering the blood sugar. This reaction is a back up plan for something that should not happen too often in our body, as our body was never designed to process sugar in large quantities in a short time. The pancreas tries to do its best to lower sugar through the release of the hormone insulin. But it generally overcompensates and secretes more than we need at times, especially when the pancreas is chronically stressed.  The result - your blood sugar goes down excessively.” Doctor Michael Lam MD

"Study shows alpha lipoic acid can lower triglycerides. Alpha-lipoic acid's mechanisms include inhibition of specific gene expression in the liver, lowering liver triglyceride secretion, and stimulating the clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. When the animals' livers were examined at the study's conclusion, those from rats treated with lipoic acid showed elevated glycogen levels, which suggests that more consumed carbohydrates were being stored as glycogen rather than becoming triglycerides. The extent of triglyceride reduction was really dramatic, we didn't expect it to be this profound. The potential is good that this could become another way to lower blood triglycerides and help reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. It's pretty exciting"   Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Note this is huge and just what you want

"A new study shows what researchers have suspected for years—consuming carbohydrates dramatically increases the risk for a common type of breast cancer, a kind that is notoriously hard to treat.1"   Deadly Carbohydrates The Lethal Sugar/Cancer Connection

Your body must convert all carbs into glucose. The glucose is then burned by your cells as energy or converted into glycogen or fat and stored in your body. Complex Carbs are converted to glucose slowly and simple carbs rapidly. The simpler the carb the higher its GI index (See Glycemic Index Protocol). If you do not immediately require glucose or glycogen you will convert almost ALL the simple carbs to fat.

When eating mostly simple carbs the sugar high may prompt you to eat MORE carbs. This is a wonderful mechanism to pack on the pounds to get you thru the winter; if you have LITTLE FOOD in the winter. If you continue to eat lots of simple carbs thru the winter you WILL pack on MORE pounds. This explains how many people gain weight in the winter.

Simple Carbs are USUALLY Bad

Aside from cancer, all those daily bowls of cereal and sandwiches also amount to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. A study published just last year found that women who eat a lot of foods high in blood sugar-spiking carbohydrates, such as white bread and rice, double their risk of heart disease. This is because, when you eat more carbohydrates than your body can use, the excess energy is converted to unhealthy fats by your liver which push your cholesterol ratios in the wrong direction. This process occurs to help your body maintain blood sugar control in the short-term, however it will likely increase triglyceride concentrations, which in turn increases your risk of cardiovascular disease.”   Doctor Joseph Mercola MD

"Your simplest possible hypothesis is [that] it's the carbohydrates from the diet; the sugar and the refined carbohydrates that raise insulin and in turn raises blood pressure, causes hypertension, causes obesity, causes diabetes, causes heart disease. The funny thing is the research community doesn't like these unified theories because it makes you sound like a quack. And yet… remember these clinical trials where you put somebody on a high-fat, high-saturated fat but low-carbohydrate diet without sugars; not only all their heart disease risk factors improve and their diabetes risk factors improve, but their blood pressure drops. It drops just as much in those studies as it does in this DASH-sodium study. … What I'm trying to do is to get the medical research community and these public health authorities to look at this evidence, and look at it in an unbiased perspective. If you do that, everything implicates the carbohydrates."     Gary Taubes

"Even if you reduce your carbohydrate intake, your body struggles to process any excess carbs as you age."   Life Extension, Note aim for NO simple carbs

“The biggest problem with these foods [Refined Carbs] is that they are digested too easily. This causes a spike in the blood sugar level which in turn causes the pancreas to get into high gear, overproducing more than enough insulin to break down these sugars, so that they can be stored by the liver as glycogen for future energy needs. One consequence is that the insulin receptors become increasingly less responsive to insulin, leading over time to type II diabetes: an inability to efficiently utilize insulin. Diabetes is easily diagnosed by measuring the levels of sugar in the urine, because the excess sugar that was not broken down due to insufficient insulin eventually is excreted by the kidneys as waste material.”   The Problem with Refined Carbs

Simple carbs, the kind often found in refined sugar, grains, bread products, snack "foods" and other REFINED "food" and in boxes and bags will usually not bring you good health; a few once and awhile perhaps but they must be a VERY small part of your diet IMO. You may require simple carbs if you have been exercising for a while; the high sugar fruits work well here.

I try to limit my simple sugars to less than 1% of my calories and all the other simple carbs to 5%. I eat a LOT of complex carbs mostly as raw vegetables.

Know where your carbs are on the Glycemic Index (See Glycemic Index Protocol) and try to eat low on the index, those carbs will be for the most part healthy complex carbs.

Complex Carbs are Usually GOOD

"Enjoy your carbs the way Nature made them. Fresh and raw.”   Doctor Al Sears MD

"Potatoes have been on a downward slide for hundreds of years…and a great many nutrients have disappeared. The loss of color is the major reason for the decline. The Purple Peruvian is a small, knobby potato cultivated for thousands of years. Its abundance of anthocyanins makes it one of the most nutritious. On an ounce-per-ounce basis, it has 28 times more bionutrients than our popular potato, the Russet Burbank, and 166 times more than the Kennebec white. Wild potatoes are also lower in sugar and rapidly digested starch. Most of our modern varieties are high-glycemic [and] give us a sharp rise in blood glucose. People who consume a high-glycemic diet over a long time have a higher risk of metabolic syndrome, which can lead to type II diabetes.  There is a slick trick you can use to tame the sugar rush of high-glycemic potatoes. If you cook them and then chill them for about 24 hours, they are magically transformed into a low- or moderate-glycemic vegetable. The cool temperature converts the potatoes’ rapidly digested starch into a more resistant starch that is broken down more slowly. You can reheat them and they’ll maintain their lower glycemic value."   Eating On The Wild Side

Complex carbs from vegetables contain a very high ratio of nutrients per calorie. When you eat a large salad it may weigh over two pounds but most of it is water. A very nutritious water suffused with nutrition.

Your body should have SOME complex carbs and fat available while you are awake to convert to the energy you require to live. Up to fifty or sixty percent or so of our calories can be eaten as carbs BUT we have to be careful to eat mostly complex carbs; mostly vegetables and when we eat good simple carbs; mostly fruit.

I try to limit my simple sugars to less than 1% of my calories and all the other simple carbs to 5%. I eat a LOT of complex carbs mostly as raw vegetables.

Know where your carbs are on the Glycemic Index (See Glycemic Index Protocol) and try to eat low on the index, those carbs will be for the most part healthy complex carbs.

Metabolic Syndrome and Carbs

"One of the most stubborn aspects of normal aging is accumulation of deep visceral (abdominal) fat. Not only can this be unsightly, but it generates systemic inflammation and glucose/lipid imbalances that are root causes of metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes. Seeking a natural approach to boosting AMPK, researchers studied a citrus flavonoid called hesperidin. Laboratory results show that hesperidin markedly activates AMPK."  Reverse Underlying Cause of Degenerative Aging

Metabolic Syndrome can NOT be ignored you MUST solve and eliminate it from your LIFE. Metabolic Syndrome is almost always accompanied by a "beer belly" if allowed to progress it becomes almost impossible to resolve multiple health problems. Citrus, especially hesperidin, can help you with this important task. That "beer belly" is a mortal enemy folks; it is a breeding ground for never ending SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION. That baby is churning out inflammation 24x7 folks; while you sleep it is slowly killing you.

Lentils a Very Nutritious, Satisfying, Complex Carb

"Lentils are seeds that grow in pods, and are a part of the legume family of foods, which also includes peanuts, beans, peas, and chickpeas. They come in a variety of shapes and colors and are a staple in the cuisine of Asia and the Middle East. Often eaten in soups, salads, and stews, lentils are a remarkably nutritious food and it’s a good idea to include them in a healthy diet regimen due to their numerous health benefits."    Lentils

"Lentils comprise a large part of the Mediterranean diet and are a good source of fiber, B vitamins—and, of course, polyphenols. Extracts made from lentils have been found to prevent high blood pressure induced by the hormone angiotensin-II, a vessel-constricting signaling molecule. This action helps protect against arterial narrowing."   Note here is a DIRT Cheap polyphenol, if you cook the lentils just a little it will slow the digestion and not bring on the carb rapid sugar release syndrome. Lentils have become my go to carb.

Lentils may be the Healthiest medium caloric CARB you can eat. Lentils can satisfy your TASTE for carbs and do it in a super nutritious fashion; now this is SMART salubrious eating with PLEASURE.

“... [S]ubjects who consumed [a] moderately carb-restricted diet had 11 percent less deep abdominal fat than those who ate the standard diet ... [S]ubjects on both diets lost weight. However, the moderately carb-restricted diet promoted a 4 percent greater loss of total body fat.”      Eurekalert June 5, 2011

"Few people realize that excess abdominal fat, especially excess fatty deposits around the internal organs in the abdominal cavity (called visceral body fat), is far more damaging to health and longevity than simply being “overweight.” When excess abdominal fat accumulates, research indicates a strong correlation with cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and even some types of cancer.1-4 In addition, excessive abdominal fat is also associated with Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis.5-9 "   The Deadly Consequences Of Excess Abdominal Fat

"Fat cells, especially the “white adipose tissue” found in abdominal fat, are a massive factory for inflammatory signaling molecules.6-8 The steady outpouring of these molecules from belly fat cells results in low-grade body-wide inflammation,9,10 which is a primary instigator of chronic “age-related” disorders.11,12 Pro-inflammatory molecules emitted from fat cells interfere with normal insulin function, which results in the state known as insulin resistance.6 Resistance to insulin increases the amount of glucose in the blood, where it further damages tissues and eventually contributes to still greater problems managing weight."    Stop the Fat Cycle

"A new study shows what researchers have suspected for years—consuming carbohydrates dramatically increases the risk for a common type of breast cancer, a kind that is notoriously hard to treat.1"   Deadly Carbohydrates The Lethal Sugar/Cancer Connection

• Insulin Resistance
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Cancer
• High Blood Pressure
• Hypothyroidism
• Hormone Dysfunction
• High Estrogen production   can induce estrogen dominance
• Estrogen Dominance
• Inflammation
• Weight Problems
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis
• Lethargy
• Mental Fog
• Depression

• ALWAYS avoid table sugar and HFCS
• Always avoid Soft Drinks   both sugar and sugarless
• Avoid Junk Food
• Avoid Fast Food
• Avoid Processed Food
• Avoid Restaurant Food unless you KNOW it is safe   difficult to do
• Avoid simple Carbs unless during exercising for very long periods such as an all day hike
• Mostly eat Complex Carbs, mostly raw
• Eat Lentils

In addition to good carbs we need good fat (See Fat Protocol) and good protein (See Protein Protocol).

Protein, Fat and Carbs

“You can read Dr. Jaminet's response to Dr. Rosedale here, and his earlier statement to which Dr Rosedale was replying here. It is really unusual to have two such prominent experts carry on a civil and erudite discussion on such an important topic [Carbs]. If you have the time and interest I would strongly recommend that you read their detailed debate.”    The great Carb debate

"Eskimos (Inuit) would eat almost a pure animal food diet… People in the tropics would tend to eat more carbohydrates. But typically, the amount of carbohydrates eaten would… be about 15 percent to 20 percent. We know that from hunter-gatherer tribes that were contacted in the 1800s. We have some good data from that period on what hunter-gatherer diets looked like."   Doctor Paul Jaminet, Note the Inuit will often eat the stomach contents of the animals they harvest, no matter how repugnant to the white man this seemed, can you see why? Man cannot live well on a PURE animal diet. The white men living with the Inuit who refused to eat these stomach contents often grew sick and if they still refused, died. What a health lesson this is for us. Preconceptions and myth can kill. HHS has loaded our brains with preconceptions and myth. Is HHS killing  us? Your call.

A good rule of thumb is to get about 15% - 20% of your calories as quality Protein. Most healthy societies have settled on about this basic amount. Naturally children, elders, athletes and others may require more protein but too much or too little protein can both be problems.

Incidentally this answers a basic diet question about the split between protein, fat and carbs. You absolutely need the protein at about 15% to 20% of calories. You absolutely need fat at about 30% to 75% of calories. We NEED absolutely very few complex carbs, as few as 10% of calories; but healthy mostly low glycemic index complex carbs can comprise as much as 50% of a healthy diet.

Know where your carbs are on the Glycemic Index (See Glycemic Index Protocol) and try to eat low on the index, those carbs will be for the most part healthy complex carbs.

More

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-15-2005-84054.asp