Eating For Health, Eating For Life

When it comes to what to eat and what not to eat for health development…it comes down to some simple truths. Sometimes I feel like a broken record when talking to my patients about diet modification; here are my thoughts about that topic…

America has been accustomed to a high carbohydrate diet.  Today there is controversy around the high carbohydrate vs. the low carbohydrate diet.  Oftentimes the low carbohydrate diet is misnamed the no carbohydrate diet, but that is not accurate. The reality is that the standard American diet should be called a high carbohydrate and a low carbohydrate should be called the normal diet.

Some experts speculate that approximately 90 percent of illness results from carbohydrate metabolism and difficulty.  When archeologists wander in the wilderness and discover the skull of an aboriginal people the first thing they do is open the jaw to view whether or not the teeth are still there.  If the teeth are in the jaw, the skeleton is classified as a hunter/gatherer; and if the teeth are missing, the remains are classified as aggregarian (eating cultivated grains).  Even this simple classification describes carbohydrate difficulty, wherein primitive people eating a higher carbohydrate grain diet lose their teeth due to the damaging effects of sugar on the body.

Most people intend to control sugar in their diet because of weight gain, although they never seem to succeed in overcoming the sugar cravings.  This is because there is more unseen and un-tasted sugar in the starches from grains than there is from simple sugars that are sweet.  It has always been difficult to encourage people to reduce their sugar consumption while leaving them on a high starch diet.  Now simply by eliminating pasta, bread, potatoes and rice, and all forms of starch sugar cravings go away.  This is because the starches are powder kegs of sugar requiring huge releases of insulin to manage leading to irregular blood sugar level management and subsequent sugar cravings.

Because of our past attitudes towards dieting and sugar control, many people believe that low glycemic diets would be difficult.  It is quite the opposite, by eating more protein (adequate levels of protein – not too much and not too little), healthy fats and oils (like olive oil and coconut oil), and the low carbohydrate composition of vegetables and fruits within days there is an elimination of sugar cravings and the beginning of glycemic balance.  The results of this are more energy, less inflammation and aching, and less food cravings, sugar especially.  The other results are lower triglycerides and cholesterol, reduced body fat percentage and therefore shape loss and weight loss, increased concentration and attention, and increased repair of the protein structures of the body.

Of the three major diseases facing modern-day America, namely heart disease, diabetes and cancer, a low-glycemic diet would be preventative and reparative in each case.  Indeed when the deeper cause of these three major diseases is addressed, it follows to say that longevity is served.  Strategically, perhaps the low glycemic diet is the most important aspect of an effort to word longevity and vitality.

Dr. Joseph Medina – Chiropractor & Nutritional Health Consultant

Balanced Health Solutions

330-433-0275