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Diet has become the new religion, with adherents proselytizing their beliefs as if they were the one and only TRUTH.
Every **body** is different. While some may do best on the Mediterranean diet, others do better avoiding carbs, or eating only vegan food, or cutting out fat, or exercising their brains out.
That's why there are so many fad diets; each works for some people, who tout it as the answer for everybody. But it doesn't work for loads of folks, who go onto the next fad, or give up altogether.
In these anti-carb discussions, I always think about indigenous cultures who depended on their local carbs for sustenance, rounded out with what animal protein they could add on.
Taro, plantains, cassava, potatoes, rice, corn, coconut, yams, others I can't think of right now. They managed to be healthy somehow....until processed food reached them.
In these anti-carb discussions, I always think about indigenous cultures who depended on their local carbs for sustenance, rounded out with what animal protein they could add on.
Taro, plantains, cassava, potatoes, rice, corn, coconut, yams, others I can't think of right now. They managed to be healthy somehow....until processed food reached them.
Right, and there are dieticians who do talk about how the demonization of "cultural" or indigenous foods is a classist and even racist part of diet culture. Potatoes, rice and beans, cornmeal mush, etc. have fed a lot of people over the years.
In these anti-carb discussions, I always think about indigenous cultures who depended on their local carbs for sustenance, rounded out with what animal protein they could add on.
Taro, plantains, cassava, potatoes, rice, corn, coconut, yams, others I can't think of right now. They managed to be healthy somehow....until processed food reached them.
I've read discussions about how it's best to eat local foods especially if that's where your ancestors grew up. Your body is genetically ready for those foods. Now we fly in a variety of non local foods from all over the world.
In these anti-carb discussions, I always think about indigenous cultures who depended on their local carbs for sustenance, rounded out with what animal protein they could add on.
How many of these indigenous cultures led sedentary lives? Or expected to have lifespans into their 90s?
Our medical advances have made huge leaps. Both of my parents very nearly crippled by Rheumatoid Arthritis. Now we have NSAIDs and much more precise diagnostic procedures that may help with it. I remember being introduced to old men when I was 8 to 14 years old [1960s] who had prostate cancer, at that time and among that culture it was assumed to be a result of having worked in a saddle for many years [those were cattlehands], I have gone through prostate cancer myself and it is a world apart from what those men went through 50 years ago.
Joint replacements that once required a month in a hospital bed and 6 months of rehab, have now become out-patient procedures. You can get a new knee and walk out of the hospital later the same day.
In an indigenous culture 200 years ago, I seriously doubt any of them would have been able to even detect if an individual had a high A1C.
At this point it is like shouting into a hurricane. The message has been sent for so long and from so many sources that it will probably never change - plant based nutrition is better for people and better for the planet. The more educated and sophisticated you view yourself, the more you "know" that is a fact.
Government and pharma are joined by the food industry itself, who promotes "healthy alternatives" like vegetable shortening and vegetable oil. And who could resist?! All those healthy looking models and happy children on the cereal boxes couldn't just be nonsense.... could they?
Yeah. They are. Tony The Tiger and Frosted Flakes are not just a conspiracy used by food processors. The whole bit has been swallowed to the point where the manufacturers themselves feed the stuff to their children.
It's 1:30 PM where I live. My breakfast of pork chop and egg still keeps me satiated even though today was gym day and generally pretty busy. Maybe around 3 I'll feel like eating again. When I do I'll take some of that roast beef we made last night, put it on some cheese and call it lunch.
I'm 78. I did it wrong for a lot of years before I learned.
I’ll raise up in a toast my Ezekiel English muffin, slathered with olive tapenade hummus and topped with a thick slice of heirloom tomato, garnished with a dash of milled pepper. And an apple on the side. Cheers!
Last edited by Hearthcrafter; 11-01-2023 at 05:30 AM..
I find it's often lumping ALL carbs together that causes confusion.
There are highly processed carbs with most of the nutrition removed. These are often found in the snack/junk food aisles. We're eating way too many of these empty carbs and they can make us ill.
Then there are the whole carbs that are complete with all their nutrition intact. Just think of them as a single ingredient carb: a potato, brown rice, quinoa, whole grains, bran, beans, lentils, barley
Eating these nutritious carbs in moderation are good for us....
I find it's often lumping ALL carbs together that causes confusion.
There are highly processed carbs with most of the nutrition removed. These are often found in the snack/junk food aisles. We're eating way too many of these empty carbs and they can make us ill.
Then there are the whole carbs that are complete with all their nutrition intact. Just think of them as a single ingredient carb: a potato, brown rice, quinoa, whole grains, bran, beans, lentils, barley
Eating these nutritious carbs in moderation are good for us....
A carb is not a carb--there are two kinds.
There are also unprocessed carbs that you should eat sparingly: sugar cane, sugar beets. Mangoes, bananas, and grapes are also high in sugar and should be enjoyed in moderation.
Tomatoes and watermelon are the lowest-carb fruits. After that, you get more nutritional bang for the buck with berries of all sorts, lemons, limes, grapefruit, kiwi, and avocados.
In fact, if you were to eat a diet with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans, fatty fish and occasional poultry, you're basically enjoying a Mediterranean diet, which is known to be pretty healthful.
I find it's often lumping ALL carbs together that causes confusion.
There are highly processed carbs with most of the nutrition removed. These are often found in the snack/junk food aisles. We're eating way too many of these empty carbs and they can make us ill.
Then there are the whole carbs that are complete with all their nutrition intact. Just think of them as a single ingredient carb: a potato, brown rice, quinoa, whole grains, bran, beans, lentils, barley
Eating these nutritious carbs in moderation are good for us....
A carb is not a carb--there are two kinds.
When you use the term 'snack/junk food', I generally think of store bought junk. As they used to say stuff from the middle of a grocery store, not from the produce, meat or dairy sections [usually on the outer walls.
My problem with carbs came eating wheat, potatoes and rice.
Since giving up wheat, potatoes and rice, my A1C has gone down, and I am no longer becoming diabetic.
It was definitely NOT snacks or junk food that drove my A1C too high. I have not eaten junk food for over a decade. Unless you are defining junk food as home grown veggies.
When you use the term 'snack/junk food', I generally think of store bought junk. As they used to say stuff from the middle of a grocery store, not from the produce, meat or dairy sections [usually on the outer walls.
My problem with carbs came eating wheat, potatoes and rice.
Since giving up wheat, potatoes and rice, my A1C has gone down, and I am no longer becoming diabetic.
It was definitely NOT snacks or junk food that drove my A1C too high. I have not eaten junk food for over a decade. Unless you are defining junk food as home grown veggies.
That's interesting...curious--were you eating large amounts of wheat, potatoes and rice prior to developing diabetes???
I've a friend who developed diabetes as an adult despite a very healthy diet and much exercise. She cannot eat any carbs. Her pancreas is pretty much non-functional. Her doctors wonder if her pancreas was destroyed by a virus. She was in the service and served in a variety of overseas locations.
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