Food Friday: Better Carbs

Authorities agree that we consume too many carbohydrates and that this has contributed to the obesity epidemic. However it’s easy to eat plenty of carbs, lose weight, and have lots of energy if you just shift the way you think about them. 

When most people think about carbs (carbohydrates) they think of starches like white potatoes, grains like rice, and of course wheat products like bread, tortillas and pasta. But carbohydrates also comprise sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, etc, and all the products which feature them prominently, like conventional soda, frappes, and lattes. These sorts of carbohydrates are unhealthy because they jet sugar into your bloodstream much faster than you can utilize it and it ends up being stored as fat. The fat ends up having a variety of toxic effects down the line. Even the white flours, pastas, rices and white potatoes do this. The white flour and white rice have been denatured of their fibrous structure and because of this breakdown very quickly into sugar. 

Whole wheat flour and brown rice are commonly thought of as better carbs, and they are, but not as much as you might think. Their glycemic index (rate at which they break down into sugar) is not that much better than their white counterparts. These should be utilized by people of normal weight and body composition with high energy requirements. This would include adolescents and athletes.

It has been shown that consumption of 2-3 servings of whole grains per day reduces risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, colon cancer and obesity, compared to rates in those that don’t eat these. The precise reason for this is unclear, though it may well be because of the fiber and additional nutrients that whole grains contain compared to refined (denatured) grains.  It is a sad commentary that the presence of 2-3 servings of whole grains per day constitutes a measurably higher caliber of diet than our general population’s diet.

Certainly whole grains are not the only readily available dietary source of fiber and nutrients. What if, in an imaginary prospective research study, conventional eaters were compared to those with 2-3 servings of whole grains per day, AND against those with an equivalent amount of fiber, BUT in the form of vegetables and fruits? I suspect that the third group that took their carbs as fruits and vegetables would do even better. I feel confident in speculating like this because, as a rule, produce (vegetables and fruits) is considerably more nutrient dense than whole grains. Depending on the particulars, they have fiber, vitamins, minerals, but also other types of nutrient such as healthy fats and antioxidants. Moreover, they have even lower glycemic indices. 

So, I propose that we learn to take most of our carbs as produce. What ? No bread at dinner ? No pancakes or cereal at breakfast ? No bread for sandwiches at lunch ? People are sure they will starve. What they will do is lose some of their belly fat. They will lower their blood sugars. Pregnant women will gain less excess weight, and be less likely to have gestational diabetes. They will also spend more money and time on food. But, they could also be spending money on treatments for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and worse. 

There are other differences that should go along with this approach. Portion sizes usually need to be larger. Additionally, there should is more emphasis on healthy fats such as coconut oil for high heat and olive oil for low heat and dressings. Also, from a culinary standpoint, there should be a greater utilization of flavors such as spices, garlic, lemon, chili and so on.  Healthy sauces and dressings figure more prominently. and Finally, there is more emphasis on lean meats, poultry and cold water fish. 

I wanted to take this post and show you how this might look. I think that while you will find it completely different, you will find it rather appealing. 

Breakfast idea: 

I would pair this with a small bowl of fresh fruit. 

Lunch: 

Stiff leaves of romaine make a crunchy manageable container for savory contents, much like a taco shell. 

Dinner:

These are cauliflower mashed “ potatoes”, also known as “faux”  potatoes, which can be served as a side dish at dinner, drizzled with olive oil or butter.

These are zucchini noodles which just need a hearty meat sauce.

Dinner is in some ways the easiest, since you still have your “main dish” and your salad. All you need is another cooked vegetable, like these vegetable fries, and perhaps some fresh fruit. 

There are an infinity of substitutions like this. When families are transitioning from conventional diets to more of a paleo style diet like this, they may find it politic to try to make their new healthier dishes resemble old conventional ones. Eventually, this pretense can be abandoned, as more exciting approaches to healthy cooking are discovered. Check out any number of the new Paleo cookbooks out there. For more information, see the last four Food Friday blog posts on food inspiration. 

Medical Monday: Insulin resistance

This is one of those chicken and egg things. It turns out that being insulin resistant makes you gain body fat. But, it also turns out that gaining body fat makes you more insulin resistant. What a vicious cycle! No wonder it is hard for people to lose weight. 

Recall that insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas which is responsible for getting glucose from the circulation and into the cells, where it can be used for energy.

Recall that glucose is the final breakdown product of all carbohydrates (carbs) like bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. If too much glucose is in the circulation, either because too much has been consumed at once, or because the insulin cannot move the glucose into the cell or both, high levels of glucose in the blood stream get turned into triglycerides and fat. Atherosclerotic plaques can form in the vessels and cardiovascular disease results. This is part of what we call metabolic syndrome. 

In a normal person, insulin rises in response to a meal and diminishes in-between. Moreover, it rises in proportion to need. Insulin would spike if you drank a coke, but just gently ebb if you ate some strawberries. Why? Because the sugar of coke just jets into your bloodstream, unnaturally rapidly. Your body cannot cope with it. A strawberry has structure and the sugar and nutrients release slowly. Said another way, the glycemic index of coke is high, and that of a strawberry is relatively low. 

I recommend that my patients eat low glycemic all the time. What about treats? When a person eats low glycemic consistently, their ambient insulin levels decrease. Insulin levels are related to cravings, and their cravings diminish. A "treat" will bring the cravings back, since it may cause insulin levels to spike. If you think you can have an occasional treat and then resume your healthy low glycemic diet and resist cravings, more power to you. 

How do you turn this vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle? First visit with your doctor if you have diabetes, the condition which is the mother of all insulin resistance. Visit with her if you have been told you have polycystic ovary syndrome. This also entails some degree of insulin resistance. 

Second, learn about how to keep your blood sugar low and steady, with three meals and three snacks every day. Add protein each time to buffer your carbohydrates. Add exercise everyday to boost your muscle mass, burn fat, increase your insulin SENSITIVITY and increase your metabolism. 

Here's the flip side of the coin: If you lose fat, you will become more insulin sensitive. And, if you become more insulin sensitive, you will make it easier to lose weight! 

To learn more, check our sections on 

NUTRITION 

CHRONIC ESTROGENIZED ANOVULATION

For more reading check THIS out from Live Science. 

Food Friday: Manage your weight the counterintuitive way !

It seems to make sense that to lose weight we should eat less. On the other hand we all know certain people who seem to eat all day long and are quite slim. Indeed, the French who are known for their small figures, have food as a centerpiece of their culture, a lot of it, and all day long, well into the night. 

How is it possible? It's all about metabolism. It's not about the calories you eat in one sitting, and it's not about the calories you burn in one exercise session. It is about the rate at which you feed calories into your system and your body's ability to utilize them as they come in. 

To have good energy all day, you must have a moderate steady input of calories all day long. If you have a span of time without enough fuel, you body will turn down your metabolic rate and you will feel fatigued and be sluggish. If we eat episodically, then binge, we create a slow metabolism, then overwhelm it with an excess. Such an excess is stored as fat, even though then total number of calories eaten in that day might have been low. This strategy leads to feeling sluggish, losing muscle, and gaining fat all in the course of one day. 

Anyone would rather feel energetic and improve their body composition, but few know how.  Surprisingly, you have to eat more of the right kinds of food, and eat them more often. This produces a steady release of calories. To accomplish a steady release of calories into your system, you need to choose foods which singly, or in combination, release slowly. Unprocessed natural foods tend to release slowly, whereas process foods release quickly. If you combine high quality carbohydrate containing foods like fruits and vegetables with healthy fats or proteins, then you will have energy even longer. 

The rate at which a food digests and release energy in the form of glucose is called the glycemic index. Slow release foods have a low glycemic index, and that is what we should be choosing. If we choose high glycemic foods like sweets or breads, we stimulate a spike in our insulin levels, which leads to cravings. Thus, the less we eat of high glycemic foods, the less we want them. 

Do you want to leverage the system even more? Build up some muscle through a mixture of cardio and resistance. Muscle is lean body mass and has a much higher metabolism than body fat. Either cardio or resistance will increase your metabolism all day long, far beyond your exercise session, but together, they synergize. 

If you are willing to eat three moderate meals and three small snacks composed of some protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats and low glycemic grains, you will have more energy and you will drift toward your ideal weight. If you are willing to do a half an hour of cardio and light resistance every day though a gym or a DVD available at any big box store, you will make progress even faster. 

To learn more, see this following section in our website. 

Nutrition 

Bon appetite!