Nutrition can be so complex, as it’s full of conflicting opinions.
I do love me some facts.
Here are 5 surprising Facts about Carbs…
#1: Carbs are the only food your body doesn’t need
Why not? Your Liver can produce all the glucose it wants from protein and fatty acids.
The liver is an amazing organ, doing around 400 jobs for the body and the production of glucose is one of the most important!
Bonus points if you know what this process is called.
#2: The 1983 UK Food Guidelines were premature (to put it mildly)
As I mentioned on page 233 of my seminal book “How to do Low Carb, UK Style!“ When the UK introduced the current food guidelines in 1983, increasing carbs and decreasing fats, there was still rampant scientific debate going on about if were actually wise to do so.
The guidance even said that :”“The previous nutritional advice in the UK to limit the intake of all carbohydrates as a means of weight control now runs counter to current thinking and contrary to the present proposals for a nutrition education policy for the population as a whole”
It’s from these guidelines that the current “Eatwell plate” evolved – and we can all see with our own eyes the effect that it has had on the British population…
I’m curious… how has the Eatwell plate served you? (I’m willing to lay money on “not very well at all really” as your answer!)
#3 This fact makes logical sense once you think about it…
Humans do not make the enzyme which digests cellulose. We also do not have a hind gut, where we could ferment it to make it digestible.
This is why fibre is indigestible to us and passes right on through.
We all know that there is a relentless push to eat more fruit, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
In fact, some messages we see push us towards eating these things exclusively/in preference to the most concentrated sources of nutrition we could eat as humans, animals.
Yet we didn’t evolve to deal with massive amounts of plant matter at all!
Also, plants have defence chemicals to which some of us are really rather sensitive.
Remember, whilst green veg, vine veg, mushrooms and berries are generally lovely, the other plant bits we are encouraged to eat aren’t really nutrition at all!
How does this fact change your view on what you are choosing to eat? (and of course, using the HOPE Protocol supports these choices effortlessly)
#4 is one for the peanut butter lovers (yes, I’m one!)
As you know, one of the best things I think we can all do for our health is ditch the bread habit.
This fact might make you reconsider if you are still choosing to have a slice of toast with peanut butter regularly…
(This used to be one of my favourite breakfasts)
Did you know that peanut butter makes the toast we put it on more fattening?
The combination of carbs, fats and salt together makes us instinctively want to gorge,. Then, the body stores everything when we do this rather than using it immediately
Hyperpalatability occurs rarely in nature (cheese being the most notable natural Hyperpalatable food).
Yet it’s one of the tools that the food-like substances manufacturers use to get us to buy and eat more of their products.
Are you aware of the Hyperpalatable foods you regularly consume? And how to employ boundaries around them for your own health?
#5 is “wisdom of our ancestors” about carbs – let’s go retro!
Right up to the mid 1980’s “Everybody knew”: if you were getting a bit thick wasted, you cut back on bread, potatoes and desserts.
So much so that Dr Spock put it into
“The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child care” in 1946:
“Rich desserts can be omitted without risk, and should be, by anyone who is obese and trying to reduce. The amount of plain, starchy foods (cereals, breads, potatoes) taken is what determines, in the case of most people, how much (weight) they gain or lose”
and that paragraph stayed in there until the 80’s, when all the guidelines changed (for the worse)
I have a rhetorical question: Why did we ditch a whole bunch of knowledge and the evidence of our eyes for a bunch of dodgy science?
It’s has made us all fatter and sicker than ever before in the history of humanity…
Are you ready to take Dr Spock’s advice?
Hi Nikola
Read somewhere that Keto may not be suitable for those without a gallbladder as this is used to process fat efficiently. Wondered what your thoughts are as I’ve had my gallbladder removed several years ago.
Ah! You need my post on gallstones 🙂
Gallstones – How are they formed?
All the above is true – the problem for me is that they are also highly addictive! Very, very hard to give up.
I’m also a food addict – which is why I invented my system, The HOPE Protocol, to assist me to take back the power from the addictive carbs!
How can I assist you to do the same?