Guest guest Posted May 13, 2004 Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Simple Carbohydrates JoAnn Guest May 13, 2004 12:20 PDT Simple Carbohydrates The word " Simple Carbohydrate " means it is a 'fractionated,artificial, devitalized by-product' of the original plant. The original plant contained all the properties of a whole food: Vitamins, Minerals, Enzymes. What are Carbohydrates?? Everyone knows that food comes in three forms: fats, protein, and carbohydrates. Most foods have all three, in 'varying' proportions. Carbohydrates are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The main carbos are sugar, starches, and cellulose. (Dorland, p121) Sugars are 'sweet' carbohydrates, either single or double molecules: monosaccharides or disaccharides. Starches are the main form of carbohydrate 'storage' in plants. Starches are polysaccharides, which means strings of more than two carbohydrate " molecules " . Cellulose is made of long, fibrous strings of carbohydrate, mainly for 'structural' support of a plant. It is cellulose that provides us with 'fiber' in the diet. Complex Vs. Simple: An apple contains natural sugar: fructose. A potato contains natural starch. But these are whole foods containing much more than just isolated carbohydrates. Apples and potatoes grown in good soil also contain vitamins,minerals, and enzymes. Such foods are `complex' carbohydrates, meaning that they are *complete* foods. Fruits contain mainly natural sugars, while vegetables contain mainly starches. And both contain 'cellulose'. The problem comes in with " processed " sugar and " processed " starch. White table sugar has no nutrients. White bread is a processed, artificial starch. These are not foods - they do not " nourish " . We call them simple carbohydrates. Even when they are broken down to individual glucose molecules by digestion, it is completely different from the glucose end-product of a digested apple,for example. That's because apples don't simply break down into " isolated " glucose " molecules " . Other nutrients and co-factors are present, which are necessary for the body to make use of the glucose: enzymes, minerals, vitamins. When *complex* carbohydrates are broken down, the result is a " usable " *glucose molecule*. On the other hand,white sugar and white bread need 'added' enzymes, vitamins, minerals,and insulin in order to be digested. These are taken from existing 'stores'of nutrients in order to complete the 'digestive' process. All 'enzymes' and 'nutrients' have been purposely removed from white sugar and white flour by 'processing'. The result is a *synthetic* 'man-made carbohydrate', occurring nowhere in nature. The body regards such as a " foreign " substance as a " drug " . Whenever the body does not have the " required " nutrients to process these " non-foods " , the simple (refined) carbohydrates cannot be broken down (digested) and just lay and ferment in the digestive tract. Simple carbohydrates " increase " blood glucose by an 'unregulated','unnatural' amount. And this is the real problem with *simple* refined carbohydrates: the quantity of pure glucose 'suddenly' taken in! Most books, most doctors, and most nutritionists fail to make this `distinction' between simple and complex carbohydrates. With sugar, ingestion is far different from digestion: just because you ate it doesn't mean you can use it. This is why counting calories and food combining and blood typing and the Zone and other passing fads are so irrelevant: it doesn't matter what you eat; it matters what you digest. Natural sugar doesn't cause diabetes; if you eat too much raw natural honey, you just get sick! As time went by,machinery got better and better at removing the outer husks from the wheat and leaving behind only the white inner simple carbohydrate, *devoid* of minerals and vitamins. Same with sugar beets and cane. Most sources estimate that today sugar makes up about 20% of the calories of the average American diet! Just imagine - that means that on the average, 20% of what Americans eat has *NO nutrient* content. Worse yet, it's physically " destructive " , as we will see. In a more scholarly work, Dr. Weston Price had come to the same conclusions in his landmark journal " Nutrition and Physical Degeneration " . Price found that as long as a group of people could remain isoloated and eat their 'primitive' simple food, the rates of degenerative disease were practically zero. He found that when a people would become exposed to western foods - white sugar and white flour - within a very few years, they would be experiencing rates of tuberculosis, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis equal to the " civilized " nations. The body has figured out many ways to try and keep the glucose level within a certain range: 90 - 140 milligrams per deciliter. (Guyton, p 863) The pancreas and the adrenal glands work together to fine-tune blood sugar levels at all times. As the blood flows by, the pancreas senses the high glucose content and puts out insulin. Insulin gets rid of the glucose in two ways, into the cells--- or storage in the liver, in the form of *glycogen* . The adrenals do the opposite; when blood sugar is too low, they send a *hormone* called ACTH to the liver to get some of the stored glucose out of storage. The body is then ready for action. A great system, evolved after countless millenia, perfectly capable of balancing blood sugar, with a diet of " natural " foods. Then manmade sugar came on the scene - a compound that nature would never have 'invented'. This new chemical, offering so much refined glucose to the bloodstream without the benefit of the usual accompanying fiber, minerals, vitamins and enzymes - was an assault on a human biochemistry that had evolved over the centuries. All these precious stores of nutrients which the body had other plans for, must now be 'mobilized' and used up in order to deal with 150 pounds per year of a devitalized non-food. Hence the phrase 'malnutrition of the affluent.' ENERGY KICK? TRY ENERGY DRAIN No matter what athletes you see on TV commercials chugging famous soft drinks, none of them is that stupid. What are they drinking on the bench? Water. The illusion of energy from refined sugar is something that sugar advertisers have capitalized on for decades. That initial burst of nervous energy is immediately followed by a body in " crisis " ... wasting energy trying to bring things back to normal. These efforts make the body tired, sleepy, and run down. The initial blast of energy is the " adrenal shock " reacting to a 'non-food' in the system. Refined sugar stimulates a whole range of physiological responses, all of which are unnecessary, all of which waste the energy of the cells and systems, and all of which are followed by condition of " exhaustion " soon after the brief " rush " subsides. Sugar cannot be digested. Sugar inactivates digestive enzymes. It remains in the intestinal tract, fermenting. Some of the toxic mass gradually seeps into the bloodstream where it 'acidifies' the blood. The body tries desperate measures to maintain the normal pH of the blood. This process wastes vitamins, minerals, and enzymes which should have been used for normal metabolism. See how sugar can age the body? Worn adrenals, used-up pancreas. Another problem with an over-acid digestive tract is that the good bacteria, the intestinal flora, are destroyed. Their job was the final stages of digestion. Without them, " rotting " and " stagnation " of food is promoted, instead of " digestion " . The half-digested carbohydrates leak into the bloodstream intact causing problems in the bloodstream (CVD) joints (arthritis), muscles (fibro,etc), organs ( heart disease, etc) - any place they lodge. Examples of diseases that come about in this manner: - osteoarthritis - hepatitis - cirrhosis - kidney disease - chronic fatigue - fibro - colitis/irritable bowel syndrome - Candida albicans - chronic allergies Candida albicans is a common yeast infection that goes all through the body. Many researchers estimate that as many as 80% of American women may have Candida. (Anderson) The #1 way Candida occurs is floral imbalance—normal flora keep Candida and other potentially bad organisms in check. Not only does half-digested sugar kill off the " good " bacteria. In addition, Candida " thrive " on it. MINERAL IMBALANCE Besides enzyme destruction and acidifying the blood, sugar depletes the body of minerals. Most of the damage to the body resulting from sugar can be traced to one of these three events. Many life functions of cells and tissues are dependent on the presence of minerals. The action of many vitamins are dependent on the presence of minerals. First off, we have seen the importance of chromium for insulin to operate. A double threat is happening with chromium: - chromium is " depleted " as the body attempts to metabolize and remove white sugar - as the stores are used up, there won't be enough chromium left to allow the 'available' " insulin " to work. For this reason, many people who are being 'diagnosed' diabetic may be just chromium 'deficient'. Even if insulin is present, it cannot operate on sugars without chromium as a co-factor. (Appleton, p 61) Very often chelated chromium supplements together with 'eliminating' refined sugar from the 'diet' can 'normalize' a patient who was 'incorrectly' labeled as diabetic. White sugar causes sharp " drop-offs " in blood sugar level after it is removed from the blood, because it has " destroyed " 'digestive enzymes' necessary for breaking down the other food that is still in the tract, waiting to be absorbed. Natural fruit sugar from organic fresh fruit is generally low on the glycemic index (23). (Miller, p.29) Fructose from organic fresh whole fruit is quickly and easily used by the cells and thus removed from the blood. Here we see one of the common errors of 'Junk Science' and the " Everybody's-A-Nutritionist " phenomenon. Some " experts " will say that it's bad to drink natural fruit juice because of all the sugar. Such a notion is completely without foundation, and shows no understanding of whole foods, the importance of enzymes, or the Glycemic Index. Fruits contain within them the " enzymes " such as 'maltase' and 'invertase' necessary to break down their fructose into " usable " glucose. The glucose is then either used as fuel or stored. People don't get diabetes because they drink too much orange juice. They get diabetes from drinking a six-pack of cola every day, or that box of donuts, or a quart of ice cream. Fruits are loaded with whole food vitamins, minerals, cellulose and natural antioxidants. These are fundamental nutrients. Alternative-Lite holistic practitioners making recommendations for cancer patients who have refused standard treatment sometimes tell the patients to avoid fruits because " cancer loves sugar. " Such unfounded advice is not only incorrect; it deprives the patient of an important " source " of nutrient forms which is are essential for fighting cancer and boosting the immune system: antioxidants. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates never even mentions diabetes. (Dufty, p.7 Before refined sugar came on the scene, diabetes did not even exist. The English physician Thomas Willis first identified and named diabetes in 1674, after England's annual sugar consumption had gone from zero to 16 million lbs. in the previous 200 years. But Willis was unable to say anything bad about sugar since he was King Charles' personal physician, and Charles was making a ton of gold off the sugar trade. (Dufty, p. 75) Years of loading up on indigestible sugar wears out the pancreas. You'll remember that insulin, produced by the pancreas, is supposed to allow sugar to be taken into the cells and used. When the body is young, the pancreas works well. Excess sugar in the teen years gets the pancreas used to continually dumping lots of insulin into the bloodstream to get ready for the day's sugar load. Since insulin only lasts about 15 minutes, the pancreas may have to work all day long. Here's where the rollercoaster first begins: all that free insulin will serve to abnormally lower the blood sugar on those occasions when the person forgot to eat his usual 10x normal sugar intake. All that insulin, and all it's got to work on is a normal level of blood glucose. Enter hypoglycemia - low blood sugar. The body gets accustomed to excesses of both sugar and insulin. For awhile. A few years later, when insulin no longer can keep up with the incoming daily sugar fix, the pancreas finally " gives up " . Unused sugar builds up higher and higher in the blood. The kidneys try their best to excrete it, causing the classic 'sweet urine' sign. That's what diabetes is: constantly high blood glucose. The idiotic solution is to take a drug to get rid of all that extra glucose, instead of simply to *stop* eating 10 or 20x as much sugar as the body can handle. The medical approach is always the same: if an imbalance cannot be corrected by a new drug, any natural remedy like sensible eating, is called " unscientific. " _________________ JoAnn Guest mrsjo- DietaryTi- http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest The complete " Whole Body " Health line consists of the " AIM GARDEN TRIO " Ask About Health Professional Support Series: AIM Barleygreen " Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future " http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/AIM.html PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER We have made every effort to ensure that the information included in these pages is accurate. However, we make no guarantees nor can we assume any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or process discussed. Movies - Buy advance tickets for 'Shrek 2' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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