Fats? Yes! Carbs? No!
Forget the low-fat mantra the mainstream has been chanting for generations now, because the consensus is quietly changing.
Now, top researchers from the nation's leading institutions are singing a new tune, because they're finally recognizing that fat on the belly isn't caused by fat on the dinner plate--but by the sugar and other carbs hidden inside the staples of the modern American diet.
An eye-popping report in the Los Angeles Times offers a who's who of big names joining the Carbohydrate Tea Party: Harvard, Duke, Tufts and UC Davis are throwing the sugar overboard and embracing a common-sense approach that can save millions of lives.
Let's hope it's not too late--because the latest research shows that today's teens are already suffering from the earliest warning signs of sugar overload.
Researchers have found that adolescents who consume the most white stuff already have the cardiovascular risk factors that once appeared only in middle age or beyond.
These sugar-addicted teens have lower levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, and higher levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and triglycerides.
Naturally, they're also far more likely to be overweight and are even showing signs of insulin resistance, putting them at risk for diabetes, according to the study in Circulation.
The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey, and found that today's teens now eat or drink a quarter pound of sugar every single day--nearly double the consumption of kids the same age back in the late 1970s.
And if that keeps up, we're facing a dark future--because if there's ever been a single ingredient responsible for more death and disease than sugar, I haven't seen it.
Eliminating sugar in all its forms, even without following an otherwise strict low-carb diet, would do more for your overall health than any other single dietary change.
And getting rid of the rest of the bad carbs will positively transform you.
But if you don't want to take my word for it, now you can listen to Harvard:
"If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases," Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, told the Times.
Maybe it's time for the low-carb craze to mount a comeback.
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Edward Martin writes House Calls, a daily letter chronicling the most cutting-edge alternative methods for beating diabetes and cancer, to the latest FDA foul-ups and Big Pharma conspiracies.
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Comments
Lori
Yea!!
Tom CHHC
While consumption of simple carbohydrates and sugars definitely worsens metabolic sydrome once insulin resistance has been established, the real question is what causes insulin resistance? Traditional thinking would have us believe that it is those same sugars and carbs, but no less an authority than Dr. Gabriel Cousens ("There Is A Cure For Diabetes") who has treated and CURED thousands of diabetes-- he claims a 99.9% cure rate-- suggests that the problem begins with FAT. Fat that has been COOKED.
We all know now that trans fats are bad for us, and Dr. Cousens asserts that the process of cooking alters the chemical structure of fats in a manner similar to hydrogenation. When these damaged fats are then incorporated into the cellular membrane, they impair the ability of receptors, such as insulin receptors, to operate efficiently. He cures diabetes patients by having them follow a raw food, vegan diet (free of grains too) for several weeks. This gives the cells a chance to replace the bad fats in their membranes and allows the receptor sites to once again function efficiently.
Lori
If cooking fat was really the reason for diabetes, humans probably would have been wiped out years ago. The raw diet is great for cleansing, and free of grains is a key. 50 years ago, there was hardly a mention of type 2 diabetes. And if we dig a little deeper, we'll find that vitamin K2 deficiency is a MAJOR factor in it's development. I know quite a few folks who have also ditched their diabetes by eliminating grains and adding small amounts of whole, real fats to their diet.
Tom CHHC
Hi Lori-- I did not say cooking fat was the reason for diabetes, I said it can interfere with cellular membrane function and prevent insulin receptor sites from recognizing and utilizing insulin. In comination with a high carbohydrate and starch diet, AKA the Standard American Diet, this can lead to diabetes. Grains in combination with cooked oils, (think of doughnuts, chips, crackers, cookies) are primary contributors to diabetes, I'm sure even you will not deny this. Consuming grains without the use of cooked oils, which is the way our ancestors ate them, does not cause diabetes. You yourself stated that this epidemic of diabetes has only happened within the last 50 years, and people have been eating grains for thousands of years. What has changed in the last 50 years? The addition of cooked fats to the grain.
By eliminating grains you are preventing a build-up of sugar in the blood, which treats the symptom but does not address the cause, which is impaired cellular membrane function, caused by cooked fats.
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