Posts Tagged ‘low-fat’

Fiber alone is the wrong answer for intestinal health. With all the information out there, it is still not easy to find the truth. We know that the Eskimos had good health on a low to no fiber diet. There have never been so many intestinal problems than here in the high fiber touting U.S.A.

Dietary Fiber

Most doctors, nutritionist, and food manufactures recommend a high fiber diet. Dietary fiber is considered not only good, but necessary. Fiber is in many whole foods. The American assumption is if this is true, than let us manufacture more.

This recommendation is based on the assumptions of Dr. Dennis Burkitt, a British surgeon working in Africa a half century ago. It was his theory that the barley bread eaten by his African patients was what made their digestion system work so well. The Englishmen living in Africa and England lived on a diet of refined food.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The real difference was in the diet. Inflammatory bowel disease wasn’t a fiber shortage, but a lack of good fats and whole foods.

The English ate large quantities of sugar. The Africans ate none.

The English ate large quantities of flour. The Africans ate none.

The English ate large quantities of breakfast cereals made from grain. The Africans ate none.

The English ate large quantities of potatoes. The Africans ate none.

The English ate salt cured meat when meat was eaten. The Africans ate no cured meats.

The English ate very little fresh meat or raw meat. The Africans ate a generous supply of both.

The English were most likely to be protein deficient. The Africans had a generous supply of protein from meat.

The English diet was deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. The Africans had omega-3 fatty acids in the fresh meat.

The English diet of processed food was deficient in vitamins and minerals. The Africans had an abundance supply.

The English diet caused tooth and gum problems.

The English drank large quantities of sugar sweetened soft drinks. The Africans drank none.

The English ate a significant amount of honey. The Africans ate none.

The English ate molasses and maple syrup. The Africans ate none.

The English ate a significant amount of canned fruit. The Africans ate very little fresh fruit and none canned.

Low-Carb Diet

Dr. Burkitt’s assumption that the fiber made the African’s so healthy. The real reason for their good health was from the benefits of eating a relative low-carbohydrate diet, which consisted of fresh meats, animal fats and some vegetables. The barley bread was a relatively small part of their diet.

They were not vegetarians; their diet had a large quantity of meat. They raised domestic cattle, sheep, and goats, while hunting and eating wild animals. The diet was high in protein and fat.

Eskimos

The Eskimos had good intestinal health with a diet of primary animal protein and fat. The Arctic Eskimos ate an all meat diet with almost zero fiber. They had very healthy digestive systems, and were without cancer of any kind in the entire population. The digestive health of the Eskimos was much better than that of Dr. Burkitt’s African patients who ate the higher fiber barley bread diet. Eskimo is an American Indian word which translates to “eaters of raw meat.”

Masai Tribe

Dr. Weston A. Price visited the Masai tribe in 1935, and noted that they had excellent health. They herded cattle, and ate little to no fiber.

Low Fat-Diet

Between the high carbohydrates, low-fat, high fiber diet that is recommended we still are not healthy. It must be the opposite low carbohydrates, high good fats, and hold the industrial type fiber. Manufacturers of high fiber cereal, and potent fiber over the counter laxative type products, don’t get it. Everything is in a whole food diet, which includes plenty of Omega 3 fatty acids, brings good intestinal health.

Conclusion

Fiber is known to make inflammatory bowel diseases worst. It actually encourages pathogenic bacteria and produces bowel diseases. Many times fiber expands and gets impacted in the intestines.

Fiber fermentation inside the intestines produces gases. The acidity from the fermentation causes intestinal inflammation. Avoiding dietary fiber isn’t easy. It is hidden behind names like cellulose, pectin, guar gum, cellulose gum, Carrageen, agar-agar, frutooligoaccharides, psyllium, and others.

These are factory-made ingredients. The sources for them are wood-pulp, cotton, husks, seeds, tubers, and other plants that may not be for human consumption unless they are processed. These add texture and volume to our faux foods. If you need these items for fiber, your diet consists of pre-packaged manufactured foods.

The human mouth is not meant to grind indigestible fibers. That is why fiber is milled or ground first so it will require little or no chewing. Manufactured fiber is not fit for human consumption.

Cholesterol is not an accurate predictor of heart attacks. That unhappy outcome is from a poor lifestyle, and related to the amount of processed food. Just because you have a presumably higher overall reading doesn’t mean you should go on a low-fat kick.

HEART DISEASE

Your heart is a workhorse, when given the proper nutrition. While the doctors are on patrol to see if your cholesterol is too high, they ignore the true cause of heart disease, nutritional deficiencies. It is heartbreaking in the literal, as well as figural, the miscalculations made on the part of the medical community.

The cholesterol lowing drugs cause nutrient deficiencies. The common assumption is that high cholesterol will cause clogged arteries.

INJURY NOT CHOLESTEROL

The studies to pay attention to are the ones that show atherosclerosis is the response to injury. The body uses cholesterol to respond to injury of the cells lining the inside of the arteries. It is injury to the lining of the blood vessel, not cholesterol that is the cause of heart disease.

Cholesterol is the innocent bystander who happens to be arround when there is a heart blockage. Fireman are around when there is a fire, and they don’t usually get blamed for the destruction. Vascular injury can occur from mechanical stress, tobacco fumes, metabolic consequences of diabetes, deficiencies of vitamins A and D, consumption of trans fatty acids, and microorganisms.

Sounds to me like a lifestyle problem. Omega 6s in our diet causes inflammation. Since this is in most processed food we know the solution, and it isn’t in a pill.

DIET AND EXERCISE

When diet and exercise doesn’t help who do we call, the doctor of course. What is wrong with this picture is that there isn’t a single culture that eats their natural diet that doesn’t find diet and exercise enough.

From the early Eskimos who ate a diet of whale blubber and other good fats to the native America’s who hunted on the Great Plains cholesterol wasn’t problematic.

Now, when they followed the path of civilization they now have to call the doctor.

HOW LOW

Physicians are so engaged in driving cholesterol to new lows, they never look at is the primary goal of health, which is to have individuals function at the best level possible.

As a result of cholesterol lowing medicine the persons has a higher risk of harm. The irony is that the hypothesis that cholesterol is harmful at a certain number is not only unproven, but false.

MYTH

One reason for the high cholesterol myth was the observation; mortality rates for heart attacks dropped in areas with a low food supply in World War ll. This phenomenon was noticed by Dr. Ansel Keys in the 1950”s.

Dr. Keys’ findings were eagerly endorsed by “cholesterol is harmful” advocates, but he himself did not state that cholesterol was the direct cause of heart disease or atherosclerosis. He pointed out that just because cholesterol is present in arterial plaque does not mean that cholesterol is the cause of arterial plaque.

What is wrong with the conclusions, most of the people were following an American diet that had sugar, and refined flour. They were on an inflammatory diet, which produces inflammation. Calorie restrictive diets are known to be anti-inflammatory.

Again wrong assumptions based on the wrong hypothesis. That is the Achilles heel of modern medicine.

DANGEROUS SCIENCE

The fist drug approved for the lowering of cholesterol appeared in 1967 called Atromid-S and was withdrawn from the market in 2000. The drug didn’t prove to lower mortality. However, it was found to increase the incidence of gallstones, cancer, liver disease, and inflammation of the pancreas producing pancreatitis.

The side effects included nausea, diarrhea, loss of sexual performance, weakness, abdominal pain, muscle pain and other discomforts. The newer drugs available for this bring some of the same risks and side effects. This is dangerous science.

CONSIDERATIONS

The biggest consideration is that most cardiovascular disease is seen in people over 60. Fact, higher cholesterol in the elderly is protective. Seniors with higher cholesterol levels tend to live longer than their peers with low cholesterol.

The two reasons for this, first cholesterol is protective, and second those with lower levels are on the dangerous medications. 

First and foremost take the prudent path with a healthy and active lifestyle.

The paleo diet is also referred to as the caveman diet, Paleolithic diet, Stone Age diet, and hunter-gatherer diet. It is based on what we presume our very distant ancestors consumed.

Paleo Diet 101

A paleo diet is based on plants and animal protein. This diet consists mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots and nuts. It excludes grains, legumes, refined sugar, and processed oils. The paleo diet is a meat eaters paradise. A diet where you eat and get healthier.

The paleo diet 101 is the basic blueprint for a life free of chronic disease. All the press has been on the dangers eating too much meat. Now, lets bust that myth. We balance the bad press with the news that there is less to fear from animal protein, than from a diet of contrived food.

Low-Fat Diet

The current fad of low-fat diets has the American public suffering from more degenerative diseases than ever before. The dangers of low-fat foods is from the high sugar content and the lack of good fats.

The epidemic of degenerative diseases is on the increase, and so is the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acid. The ratio is anywhere from 20:1 to 30:1, when it should be 3:1 or less. Omega-6s that have dominated our foods for the last 50 years.

Essential Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids are not manufactured by the body and must be consumed in foods. Processed food and unnatural oils has changed the ratio and quality of the oils we consume. Manufactured food is high in Omega-6 fats. The modern diet is short on Omega-3 fatty acids. When the Omega-3 in the diet went down the heart disease and cancer rate went up. Omega 3’s best source are fatty fish and beef. Nuts, seeds, vegetables have some Omega-3, but are not the same as the long-chain Omega-3’s found in fatty fish and grass-fed-beef.

Grain-Fed Beef 

Grain-fed beef has an Omega 6:3 ratio of 20:1. This is the reason that meat is implicated in many of the diseases that are so prevalent today. The ideal ratio of Omega 3:1 equal to fish without mercury is found in grass-fed beef. People on the paleo diet consume grass-fed beef. Free roaming animals were the food of our distant ancestors.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid  

One of the big benefits of grass-fed beef and lamb is the presence of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). This is an essential fatty acid. CLA fights cancer, combats clogged arteries, and may prevent or delay diabetes. It is responsible for lowering cholesterol, lowers LDL, lower triglycerides and improves the cholesterol/HDL ratio. We can’t produce CLA and must get it from our diets.

CLA is also known for its ability to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. There are many clinical studies that have been published on the effect of CLA on weight management. Conjugated linoleic acid reduces fat and increases lean muscle mass.

Modern Diet

Today’s diet is high in manufactured food. Our modern diet supplies a high amount of Omega 6s in the form of processed wheat, corn rice, and oils, such as safflower, corn, soybean, etc. Grain-fed cattle consume all of these.

A low-fat diet is high in all of these processed foods that contain high amounts of Omega-6s, also known as the inflammatory diet.

Diet Paleo

Studies on mice and rats show that CLA hinders the growth of tumors in mammary, skin, and colon tissues. It has been shown that CLA can up-regulate the tumor suppressor gene PTPRG.

Studies have shown that CLA usage has a positive effect on the improvement of lean muscles, and reduced fat.

To diet paleo style seems to be a wise choice. We seem to be programmed for this, remember the margarine fiasco. The low fat diet, has one great draw back it depends on pre-packaged faux foods. The paleo diet is a whole foods diet that makes sense.