PALEO living was not designed to manage weight issues, but to promote better health …… (paraphrased) I read this today – as told By Dr. Loren Cordain – the ‘inventor’ of the Paleo Movement. It makes good sense actually that we should do our best to minimise or completely eliminate if we can all forms of toxins that enter our body. These are what makes us sick, causes cancer, autoimmune disorders, gastrointestinal distress…. you name it !
You will discover that grains of all types can make you quite ill – but unfortunately the government health edict is still for everyone to eat many servings of grains each day. It seems they are not prepared to come out and admit they were wrong when they put this edict into place some thirty odd years ago. Look at the Food Pyramid and The Food Plate advertisements put about by governments across the world. It is heavily stacked in favour of eating grains.
Natural News shared the following information with readers about some of the problems associated with eating grains:
Grains have only been a part of the human diet for about 10,000 years, which is a very small time in the context of evolution. Just because humans can tolerate grains to a certain degree doesn’t mean that we are designed to consume grains or that we can achieve optimal health on a grain-based diet.
1) High-carbohydrate density and increased insulin load
Carbohydrates are eventually converted into a simple form of sugar, glucose, after they are consumed. Insulin is secreted and allows glucose to be transported into various cells throughout the body. Individuals who aren’t very physically active don’t have the need to continually refill their muscle and liver cells with glycogen, and these cells often start to become insulin-resistant on a grain-based diet. Regular consumption of high-density carbohydrates is not only linked to insulin resistance and overweight, but also Leptin resistance, altered gut flora and inflammation.
2) Antinutrients
Grains are the reproductive material of the plant, and plants don’t make the reproductive material to give away for free to animals. Cereal grains have evolved Lectins, Phytic Acid, Protease Inhibitors and other anti-nutrients that potentially disrupt normal gut physiology when they are consumed over time. Only certain anti-nutrients are problematic in humans, and they seem to operate in a dose-dependent manner. Regular consumption of anti-nutrients in grains may lead to poor mineral absorption, autoimmune disease, leaky gut and low-level chronic inflammation. More studies on human subjects are needed to fully understand the detrimental effects of Lectins and other anti-nutrients on human health.
3) Gluten
Studies and anecdotal reports indicate that gluten intolerance is much more common than previously thought, and many asymptomatic individuals react to gluten with some type of inflammatory response.
4) Insoluble fiber
While fruits and vegetables contain heart-healthy, soluble fiber that promote good gut flora, cereal grains are high in insoluble fiber that shouldn’t be eaten in excess. More insoluble fiber is often recommended for healthy digestion, despite the fact that healthy gut bacteria is the key to relieve constipation and achieve healthy bowel movements.
5) Dietary imbalances
Cereal grains have several dietary shortcomings, and a grain-based diet can disrupt adequate nutritional balance. Cereal grains are poor sources of fiber, minerals, vitamins and protein compared to animal products, fruits and vegetables. They contain no vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B12, calcium nor sodium, and several animal studies show that grain consumption can induce vitamin D deficiencies and alter the metabolism of several minerals. Cereal grains only supply some of the essential amino acids, very few essential fatty acids and are also characterized by a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
Our modern lifestyle which is very fast paced induces us to reach for fast foods and easy to prepare meals. Rarely are these wholesome natural foods which our bodies have developed to eat. More likely they are filled with chemicals and colours and toxic substances, high levels of vegetable oils and preservatives, sugar and salt. And to fill them out, so they will induce a feeling of fullness quickly, they are served with grains, starches, carbohydrates, which are cheap to add as fillers to the foods.
We are loading our bodies with toxins, and damaging our bodies vasculature with all the grains and carbohydrates we are consuming. Carbohydrates – like it or not – are broken down during digestion and converted into glucose. An excess of glucose equates to an excess of insulin. Insulin spikes cause an inflammatory response….. and even Blind Freddie will have read or heard in the news, that inflammation damages the arteries and the organs of the body.
What we put in our mouths as ‘food’ has to be broken down to be used as nutrition by every cell in the human body. There is good nutrition and there is bad nutrition. It seems reasonable that the bad stuff will do the damage!
A new study indicates that a diet low in carbohydrates is also more effective than a diet low in fat in reducing saturated fatty acids in the blood and reducing markers of inflammation. LINK
The science is there for all to see….. accepting that you have been wrong, and been responsible for damaging millions of lives is a HUGE thing which, as of yet, those in politics have refused to accept. The tide is turning, slowly………
The reason eating grains is promoted as a so called “healthy” eating style, is because they can be grown quickly, stored and shipped worldwide efficiently, can be manipulated as in GMO’s to grow bigger and yield more – so there is a lot of money to be made off them…. sadly not for the farmers! But all in all no one involved in this is prepared to accept that this entire enterprise is damaging the human race….. follow the dollar and to heck with the consequences.
Myths and outright lies about the alleged benefits of genetically engineered crops (GE crops or GMOs) persist only because the multinationals that profit from them have put so much effort into spreading them around.
They want you to believe that GMOs will feed the world; that they are more productive; that they will eliminate the use of agrichemicals; that they can coexist with other crops, and that they are perfectly safe for humans and the environment.
False in every case, and in this article we’ll show how easy it is to debunk these myths.
Even if you are still sitting on the fence as it were in regards to GMO’s…. you ought to do yourself a big favour and learn about the PALEO and Low Carbohydrate (Banting) style lifestyles that are achieving such good results with health and waistlines.
This blogs title asks – Why Bother Eliminating Grains? If you follow the links in this BLOG you should uncover many reasons why this would be of benefit to you and those whom you love.
Here is to your Good Health.
Just ME in T's Health Stuff 
Reblogged this on JustMEinT's General Blog.
From the above blog post:
“Cereal grains only supply some of the essential amino acids, very few essential fatty acids and are also characterized by a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio…An excess of glucose equates to an excess of insulin. Insulin spikes cause an inflammatory response…”
On page 191 of “The Modern Nutritional Diseases: And How to Prevent Them” Fred and Alice Ottoboni explain how inflammation works. Excerpt:
“BIOCHEMICAL LESSON: The significant point is that good health depends on regulating the D5D enzyme. High insulin levels due to dietary sugar and starch and high dietary omega-6 to omega-3 ratios, stimulate the D5D enzyme, and move the biochemical set point from normal toward inflammation. On the other hand, control of dietary sugar and starch, reduction of LA in the diet, and a daily supplement of fish oil to provide EPA will inhibit the D5D enzyme so that the appropriate amounts of both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory eicosanoids are produced. Keep in mind that all of the eicosanoids, both the so-called good and bad, are important. The body is designed to use eicosanoids with opposing effects to control vital functions. In a state of optimum health, the good and the bad eicosanoids balance one another.”
In some cases it may not be wise to try to curtail inflammation simply by supplementing with omega-3s. Excerpt:
“What this study makes clear is that you can’t compensate eating crap loads of omega 6 PUFAs by adding omega 3 supplements without experiencing some level of immune suppression and the consequences that flow from that. The only long-term healthy option when it comes to gut health and fat is to radically cut your omega 6 PUFA intake.” http://syontix.com/ulcerative-colitis-and-dietary-pufas/
To be sure, grains are problematic for many. But the Paleo also has it’s problems. Excerpt:
“A few years back, I briefly covered a throwaway Yahoo! article about how “carbs will make you lose weight” because so many readers had emailed about it. It turned out that the ‘carbs’ in the article were resistant starch, a type of carbohydrate that our digestive enzymes cannot break down. I’ll admit now, with regret, that I didn’t look as deeply into the matter as I might have. I didn’t dismiss resistant starch, but I did downplay its importance, characterizing it as ‘just another type of prebiotic’ – important but not necessary so long as you were eating other fermentable fibers. While technically true, we’re fast learning that resistant starch may be a special type of prebiotic with a special place in the human diet.” http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-resistant-starch/#axzz2yOOV4QB6
Resistant Starch is a contentious issue. In my own particular situation, if I consume a potato (for example) my BGL’s spike. That is not to say that the humble spud is bad for everyone!
There are carbohydrates in above ground leafy green vegetables etc… YES far less than in below ground storage ones, but when you have a damaged vascular system it pays to reduce the amount of carbs you are consuming to maintain a level glucose/insulin in the body.
I’m not certain what you mean by “contentious issue.” And there’s a difference between eating a warm, cooked potato and ingesting a few tablespoons of Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch. Did you read any of Mark Sisson’s article?
It’s interesting that animal feed researchers are experimenting with resistant starch these days. Excerpt:
Souza da Silva tested different types of fibre in her research, but found that feeding fermentable fibres was best for pigs. “Such as cassava roots or raw potatoes.” The aim of her research was to determine how and which types of fibres influence satiety, to prevent pigs from becoming hungry between meals, thereby improving their welfare. In her research she noticed that pigs fed resistant starch maintained a ‘full’ feeling for up to more than seven hours after their meal. “The pigs were less hungry, which was also reflected in their behaviour. Moreover, resistant starch was found to change gene expression patterns and microbiotica composition in the hind gut, reflecting improved gut health and stabilized glucose levels.” http://www.allaboutfeed.net/Nutrition/Diet-Formulation/2014/3/Better-gut-health-with-more-fibre-in-the-diet-1483825W/
I’m not suggesting anyone jump on a resistant starch bandwagon. I just feel RS has enough going for it than it makes sense to experiment with it to see if there is any benefit.
thanks for your comments and links… I do subscribe to Mark’s Daily 🙂
interesting post from the Blogs today…… about the resistant starch phenomenon………..
http://primaldocs.com/opinion/resisting-resistant-starch/