Dropping The Carbs - Part Two The pros and cons of ketogenic
dieting.
OKAY, SO ARE THERE ANY GOOD CARBOHYDRATES?? The good news for
carbohydrates is that they can claim the HEALTHIEST of
foodstuffs amongst their number. Here is where a simple view of
the Atkins diet and other strict no or low carb diets flounder.
Not all carbs are created equal as we know and the carb group
that is utterly essential to our survival? VEGETABLES! Low carb
diets have often been seen as lacking in vegetables as people
carefully trim away all excess carbohydrates, effectively
throwing the baby out with the dirty bathwater. On the subject
of vegetables you won’t find much dissension amongst medical
experts of any standpoint. These wonderful foodstuffs not only
contain a plethora of vitamins and minerals, but also are often
chock-full of fibre, water and a host of exotic cancer-fighting
substances unique to vegetables. The important thing about
vegetables is that they are nutrient dense and calorie sparse.
In plain English, they contain a lot of good stuff in a very
small package. You can eat virtually enough vegetables to fill
you up and still have eaten only a tiny percentage of the
calories a normal diet would confer. One of the arguments for
regular grain consumption is the necessary vitamins and minerals
they contain, not to mention the essential fibre for our
digestive tract. But guess what? Vegetables make grains seem
pretty redundant. A small handful of organic vegetables will
contain more vitamins and minerals than virtually a day's worth
of grains, all in an easier to digest package, with extra water
and no danger of insulin overload. Even on a low-carb diet you
can stuff yourself silly with vegetables without fear. The
primary advantage of a low-carb diet is insulin control and
vegetables won’t interfere with that. Remember organic
vegetables have a much higher vitamin and mineral content, also
the darker green or red a vegetable the higher the amount of
beneficial Chlorophyll inside the plant. Try to eat your veggies
raw and fresh and often. A regular supply of varied veggies is
like nature’s most perfect multivitamin pill. OKAY, SO WE EAT
VEGGIES BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER FOODS YOU NEED? So low-carb
dieters are shedding the pounds by avoiding the insulin spiking
grains and sugars. In the process they’re moving over to eating
other stuff though right? You stop eating bread and pasta and
you’ve got to eat something! We see Atkins dieters especially
loading up proteins and fats, burgers, sausages, bacon, full
double cream, fried eggs and a host of other tasty but
controversial foods. So, fine, we can accept that somehow these
people still seem to shed weight much faster and more
consistently than their carbohydrate munching friends but
surely, surely, that can’t be HEALTHY? Too good to be true? Some
Doctors definitely believe so. We’ve been warned about saturated
fat and our rising cholesterol problem for a number of years.
Suddenly a diet comes along that seems to throw all that
conventional wisdom out of the window. As it happens, the
American Medical Association was forced to declare the Atkins
diet ‘heart-healthy’ after a number of university studies came
up with the surprising findings that Atkins dieters were
actually lowering their blood fat deposits and sparing the
hearts much more than those on a regular higher carb diet. That
being said, the heart isn’t the only thing we have to keep
healthy, so is there a third option? A kind of best of all
worlds diet? A low-carb plan that works for your health as well
as your waistline? You bet! First we know the basis of that diet
is our good friend, the organic vegetable. But moving on, it
seems our bodies were designed for a much greater range of
essential nutrients than those found in vegetables alone. First
up Fats. Yes, it may have finally begun to infiltrate the
mainstream press but its old news to many of us. Fat is
essential! We need to eat fat. There’s no getting around it, our
bodies don’t merely tolerate the stuff, they absolutely need it
to function. When you remember that our brains are over sixty
percent fat, our organs require it and our very nerves are built
from it, you begin to see how important it is. However much like
our friend the Carbohydrate, all fats are not created equal
either. Our bodies need a small group of fats that we call
‘Essential Fatty Acids’. Our body cannot produce these from any
other substances and needs a regular supply or it begins to see
shortcomings in its internal workings. We can get by for a while
on diminished supplies but our health begins to suffer greatly
in the long run. These healthy fats come in the form of the
well-publicised fish and cod-liver oils, flax and various other
nut oils and foods like avocado. (Although not essential organic
coconut oil has a host of special benefits) Simply be ensuring
that a large percentage of our daily fat intake comes from
clean, healthy oils will go a long way to improving our health,
from defending our brain against degenerative diseases to
protecting our skin from the harmful rays of the sun. To be a
healthy low carber you need to investigate healthy fats a little
more and remember that high quality, preferably organic oils are
a better choice than others. There are a host of books on this
subject and a host of great products out there. Unfortunately
due to the mass pollution of the seas, fish may no longer be the
healthiest option, although carefully filtrated fish-oils (by
Companies who are clued up on the science of keeping these oils
in a health-giving state) are widely available and a must-buy
for everyone. Protein covers the widest range of foods left to
us. Protein, which makes up our body’s muscles, can be found
from the flesh of other animals as well as from milks, beans and
lentils. Much like fat, our body requires protein. How much is
open to debate. Active individuals, particularly those who
require larger muscles, will have a much higher protein need
than a sedentary individual but sufficed to say, excess protein
intake (although feared by many mainstream nutritionists) has
none of the dangers that excess grain or sugar consumption does.
That said, we could always make healthier choices. Although the
Atkins diet may allow us to eat burgers and bacon all day long,
this may not be the ideal choice. When considering meat products
we have to remember what state the animal it came from was in
when it was slaughtered. Most animals in large factory farming
business are over-fed, over medicated cripples and surely this
meat can’t be entirely healthy. Foods like bacon also contain a
large number of hazardous preservative chemicals that sap at our
besieged immune systems. Once again, not all proteins are
created equal. Choosing organic fresh meats from leaner animals
is a wise choice when considering health. Chicken and Turkey,
from good organic sources is a lean and easy to use protein
source. Animals such as bison (buffalo) and Ostrich may sound
like exotic food sources to many, but their meat is almost
entirely free from chemicals and their natural diets of grass
and other non-artificial feeds leaves them with a low-fat
content of good, healthy fats. High quality protein is essential
to your health and survival. Eating lower-quality meats may
allow you to stay trim (since protein consumption appears to
regulate our appetite much better than grains ever could) but
investing in higher quality meats will mean you can claim the
health benefits as well. THE HEALTHY LOW CARB APPROACH As many
low-carb dieters have pointed out, most humans were never
designed to live on a high carbohydrate content in their diets.
As hunter-gatherers we consisted mostly on animals that roamed
wild and on fresh vegetables and berries we could find in our
local habitat. Although our societies may have advanced enough
to let us devise sustained agriculture, our genes are still
locked in a hundred thousand-year-old struggle for survival. Our
bodies recognise the nutrients available from clean meats,
healthy fats and fresh vegetables. They have substantial trouble
coping with the sudden influx of excess energy and too quickly
absorbed carbohydrates in the form of grains and sugars.
Restricting the intake of grains and sugars makes a fairly quick
and positive change towards a healthier life. However, it may be
that in our urge to shed the pounds with as little pain as
possible, the lower carb diets we choose are tilted towards the
proteins and fats we don’t really need and attention to
vegetables is ignored. With a few minor modifications we can
find a lower-carbohydrate approach that not only helps us
maintain a normalised body-weight and fat mass but also helps us
be an all round healthier individual. There are a hundred other
points towards improving health but all these changes make an
admirable start. BULLET-POINTS AND OTHER HINTS FOR A HEALTHY
STARTER APPROACH TO LOW-CARB LIFESTYLES EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
(They’re the good carbs and won’t interfere with your low carb
benefits) CHOOSE LEAN MEATS & EGGS (Eggs are a great source of
protein as is grass-fed organic meat) CHOOSE BETTER FATS (Make
sure you eat a regular supply of Omega 3 fats amongst your other
daily intakes. Saturated fat in moderation is not the danger.
Sugar is) STAY AWAY FROM SUGARS AND GRAINS! (Low carbohydrate is
less about maligning one particular food group and more about
staying away from those sources which your body can’t handle in
large amounts. Athletes and healthy individuals may be able to
use limited sugar and/or grains to improve performance but the
same basic rules apply elsewhere) DRINK LOTS OF WATER (We often
argue over what groups of food are essential or not but one we
can all agree on is water. You need it and lots of it. Forgot
food, without water you die fast!) BE WARY OF SPECIAL LOW-CARB
FOODS (There are a great number of healthy choices here,
Athletes especially will enjoy easy-to-mix carb free protein
drinks etc but as low-carb diets have hit certain food
industries hard, expect lots of products that may be lower carb
choices but are not healthy. Always remember the low-fat craze
where manufacturers swapped saturated fat for lots of sugar…)
MIX YOUR FOOD CHOICES (Restricting grains and sugars is a great
start but don’t fall into the trap of just surviving on the same
meat diet day in and day out. Mix your proteins and fats and
vegetables offer a wide variety of healthy options) ENJOY THE
DIET! (Just because you stopped eating chips and bread with your
meals doesn’t mean you have to get bored! There is a limitless
supply of sauces, seasonings, meats, eggs and vegetables that
don’t require high carb sugar and corn syrup additives to make
great tasting meals. Get fitter and healthier and enjoy your
food while you do! Enjoying bacon once in a while poses little
threat. Compare this to downing a fizzy drink with eight spoons
of addictive, toxic sugar and you see the advantages already)
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