Scientific Ccommunity vs. Popular Press [Blood Sugar] (WAS: Article: Raw Food Diet - Cure for Weight Loss and Eating Disorders)

[Guest guest]

I'd like to offer a few observations in this thread.

 

1. With the exception of the Atkins folks, there is no substantive

disagreement in the scientific community that a high-fat OR a high protein

diet is good for us. Not one Olympic committee, not even the U.S. federal

government seriously advocates such a program. And among those to whom

people here are likely to give high regard ... Ornish, Esselstyn, McDougall,

and the like, there is no controversy at all. 100% of these sources tell us

unequivocally that a high-fat diet ... one that provides more than 10% or so

of calories from fat ... diminishes and eventually destroys our health.

 

Of course, what goes on in the popular press and in the

medical/pharmaceutical world is entirely another matter. Unfortunately,

this is where most people, including most RF teachers and authors, get their

information. Almost no one reads scientific studies. True, many people scan

and read ABOUT scientific studies. But what appears in the popular press

ABOUT those studies often bears little relationship to what is in the

studies themselves. Al Gore made this point rather well in his film about

global warming: something like 1500 studies were reviewed, and zero articles

expressed any disagreement with the notion that global warming is both real

and a severe problem. In contrast, in a similar survey of the popular press,

a MAJORITY of the articles said that there IS such disagreement in the

scientific community. But even the docs and the drug companies shy away from

advocating a any form of high-fat diet, when directly asked.

 

2. There are clear and specific adverse effects, both immediate and

long-term, from eating a high-fat diet ... AND most people do not have

sufficient physical self-awareness to notice all these, particularly the

immediate effects, at least not until they experience sufficient contrast.

 

For example, in the short term, digestion immediately slows, or digestive

times lengthen (same point made differently), and the body immediately

begins redirecting blood flow and other resources into the digestive system.

Further, the workload upon the circulatory system (heart etc.), respiratory

system (lungs etc) and certain organs increases to at least some degree. The

load on the lymphatic system increases substantially for at least a portion

of every day. The total systemic requirement for rest increases, hydration

decreases, and electrical imbalances occur, causing at least some drop in

metabolic and nerve energy. All these (and other) effects occur either

immediately or very quickly.

 

Long-term effects are well-established in the scientific community and more

widely known among the general public: blood-sugar problems (diabetes 2,

chronic fatigue, hyper and hypoglycemia, etc.; weight gain from increased

body fat (and usually also from water retention, because most high-fat foods

are salted and spiced); etc. NOTE: Although most " treatments " for

" blood-sugar problems " attempt to address only the symptoms by manipulating

dietary sugars and/or the systemic insulin supply, there is actually

surprisingly little disagreement in the scientific community that elevated

blood fat lies at the heart of these problems. It's much like the diagnosis,

kwashiorkor, supposedly a " protein deficiency " and actually systemic

starvation. The recommended treatment: carbohydrate!!

 

In the interest of brevity, I'll stop here. There is much, much more, as one

might imagine.

 

All these things having been said, when someone stops eating what most

people stop eating when they first embrace a RF program ... almost ANY RF

program ... their health improves dramatically, and they don't notice the

little problems beneath ... for awhile. But eventually emotional issues,

cravings, cleansing issues, and the like set in, and people begin grasping

for straws in almost every conceivable direction. There are workable

solutions for all these challenges ... but what is widely taught, in the RF

world as well as elsewhere, does not typically provide such workable

solutions.

 

Best,

Elchanan

 

 

On Behalf Of Roger Padvorac

Monday, September 24, 2007 5:59 PM

 

Re: Article: Raw Food Diet - Cure for Weight Loss

and Eating Disorders

 

Hi Shari,

I know that some health authorities say a high fat diet isn't good for you,

and at the same time others say that under some circumstances it isn't a

problem. The problems they describe with a high fat diet tend to be gradual

long-term issues which would be difficult to notice in the short-term by

just observing yourself.

 

I hadn't heard before that there are some obvious short-term problems with a

high fat diet, the kind where you switch your diet and you obviously are

doing worse. So I was curious about what these people, who had problems with

a raw high fat diet, had experienced.

 

The standard recommendation for hypoglycemic people is for them to make sure

they get concentrated protein and go easy on the carbohydrates/sugar. The

only concentrated sources of digestible raw vegetable protein are nuts and

seeds, which have medium to high levels of fat. So if you are hypoglycemic

(like me), raw, and vegan, you also end up with a lot of fat in your diet.

 

So because of the lack of agreement about high fat diets, and the

complications of being hypoglycemic on a raw vegan diet, I keep wondering

about this, and so was curious about first hand information about how a raw

high fat diet didn't work out for people.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace, progress, and warm laughter,

Roger

 

-

" SV " <shavig

 

Monday, September 24, 2007 4:37 PM

Re: Article: Raw Food Diet - Cure for Weight Loss

and Eating Disorders

 

 

> " I'm curious about what kinds of problem a person could experience with a

high fat diet and would appreciate it if you would share your experience

about this. "

>

> Oh I'm just taking a wild guess here, but I think diabetes would be one,

psoriasis another, obesity yet one more. Even on raw if you are eating too

much fat it is in your bloodstream and slows down the elimination process.

>

> I'm thinking this must be a trick question because I know Roger knows the

answer to this one.

>

> Shari