SUGAR & STARCH

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Note: For more health information and some experimental methods for

Physical Immortality, please go to:

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STARCH & SUGAR

 

Like the Atkins Diet Said - Starch and Sugar are Bad

 

REDUCE GRAINS AND SUGAR TO LOSE WEIGHT AND IMPROVE HEALTH

by Dr. Joseph Mercola

 

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

consulting the online nutrition plan

(http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/).

 

For more 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 first major book, The No-Grain Diet at

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/cancercomfort-20.

 

The bottom line is this: Americans need to reduce their intake

of

grains, including corn-based foods, and all sweets and potatoes,

dramatically. You should consult the eating plan

(http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/index.htm) for more detail

on reducing grains and sweets, and for a comprehensive plan for

a

healthy and long life.

 

Note: For more health information and some experimental methods for

Physical Immortality, please go to:

geneticrejuvenation/