The most common carbs that we know of are cereals and grains. But did you know there are good carbs vs bad carbs? If so, what are their differences?
In this article, I’ll explain why cereals and grains are one of the most indigestible foods for humans.
Man was not designed to eat cereals and grains, which are after all, are grasses for cattle and wild animals.
Cows chew for up to 20 hours a day, they make 100 to 150 litres of saliva a day to produce the enzymes to break down grass and they have four stomachs to digest grains. Humans in contrast have a much shorter digestive tract and a smaller stomach, as we are not designed to eat the same as cows.
The Modern Diet Is Making Us Sicker And Fatter
Grains have only been used by man as food for 10,000 years, and man has functioned very well without them for 2 million years. 70-80% of the food we eat today was not eaten by our ancestors and our bodies are still not adapted to these foods. Our ancestors could only eat food raw or cooked over an open fire.
Over the last 50 years, as carbs have been refined and processed and become the basis of our diet, we have gotten fatter and sicker. They have also been modified to contain way too much gluten. Grains contain mycotoxins which are linked to the growing increase in diabetes.
“Which provides energy? Good carbs or bad carbs?”
When people say to me “‘Which provides energy? Don’t all carbs do?” I always reply “what do you think the Zulu and the Masai lived on for thousands of years?” They could not carb load as no-one ate grains before mills and ovens were invented. In fact, cereals are indigestible and can be toxic in their raw state.
Your Body Stores Good Carbs and Bad Carbs As Fat
When you eat carbs or any starchy food, they turn to sugar very fast, your blood sugar goes up and you make insulin. The job of insulin is fat storage. It’s incredibly hard to lose weight once you have eaten carbs and it’s very hard to gain weight if you have not eaten carbs.
Your body won’t burn fat when carbs are present unless you exercise. That is why endurance athletes carb load before competing as they will have the stored carbs to use for energy, whereas protein is used too quickly. Bodybuilders on the other hand, who want to sculpt their body, cut out carbs before a competition so they burn fat.
What We Are Built To Eat
Good carbs and bad carbs alike, everything we are meant to eat was put on the planet by mother nature for us to find, gather or hunt. Our basic diet should be made up of protein, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds and the good oils they contain.
Natural oils are good fats and we need good fat and protein to maintain muscle. Also since almost all vitamins apart from vitamin C are fat soluble, without fat they cannot be absorbed. When you eat protein or natural oils, the body will use these as they are a building food.
The Good, The Bad And The Frankenstein
The oils from fish, avocados, olives, nuts and seeds are healthy and known as essential oils. Essential because the body cannot make them and absolutely needs them for good physical and mental health.
The oil from hydrogenated fats contained in margarine is what I call “Frankenstein food” no-one should eat trans fats ever as the body can’t get rid of them. Fatty meat can be eaten sparingly. The oil in cheese, cream and butter should be eaten in moderation. We need to know the difference between monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, saturated fats, and trans Fats. I do it this way, for mono think nuts and seeds, for poly think fish, for saturated think of cheese and cream, where the whole food is saturated in fat, for trans think Frankenstein.
“Eat Your Vegetables”
We should have up to eleven daily servings of vegetables and only 3 of fruit, ideally organic and locally grown. A wide variety of vegetables are far more important than fruits, they have more vitamins and antioxidants. Fruit is still a sugar and too much of it pushes up insulin levels.
Fruit juice is not a good food at all, no tribesman started the day with the juice of 5 oranges, the fruit was seasonal and had to be shared out.
This Is How A Healthy Diet Should Look Like:
The 4 Rs – follow this simple guide
My 4 Rs will help you eat food that your body can easily digest and burn off. Our bodies are designed to eat everything that was on the planet when we evolved – food that grows and roams and is easily recognisable. If it rots, then it can be broken down by your body. Food in its most natural state is digestible.
Join the 21-Day Healthy Eating Challenge
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