Part 1: Farewell to carbs or low carbs?

Part I    Farewell to carbs or low carbs?

Let us get sweetness from love, not from sugar… M.C Abadia

First of all, it is important to begin on what seems to be the root of the misunderstanding.

To find an early point of reference, in 1991, the United Kingdom Department of Health published the Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients for the United Kingdom. These records, Dietary Reference Values (DRV) which recommended nutritional intakes for the UK adults population, state that the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI), whereby 97.5% of the population's requirement is met in terms of carbohydrates, should be 50% of the total daily intake. That means half of the content in your plate at any time, in theory should be made of these. There is no further indication as to what type of carbohydrates should be part of it. Increasingly, evidence amounts that these guidelines need a serious revision.

For the sake of basics and as a reminder for us all, I will explain that the way our bodies turn food into energy is systematically the same. The body uses carbohydrates available first, following by fat and finally protein. If the critical point arises when the body is forced to use its protein, all muscles will suffer with the final result in death. This of course, would be the case of severe starvation, more usually heard of in developing countries.

To follow this trend it is safe to assume that the more fat reserves a person has the more that person could endure starvation without dying.

When it comes to the ordinary day to day diets it is crucial to bear in mind the actual needs of the person, the weight proportional to height, the waist circumference, amount of exercise or lack of it, medical conditions, genetic predisposition and other markers.

For instance, an athlete would use carbohydrates for fuel first, with ease, followed by fat as everybody else. However, body performance running on fat becomes harder and tiresome so professional athletes tend to have a diet higher on carbohydrates, at least while training and competing. So for them a diet higher in carbohydrates could be contemplated.

If there is one carbohydrate that even athletes could do without, it would be table or granulated sugar, sucrose, as it is known within the carbohydrates category. It would appear safe to say that it is completely unnecessary and harmful as part of any diet. To make matters worse, it is well known for causing tooth decay, throwing insulin production into disarray and accelerating the development of diabetes, the type II. It is involved in cardiovascular disease, macular degeneration, dementia, lowering the immune system and it creates addiction. This to mention a few contraindications. Finally, it has no nutritional values other than the highly calorific one. To conclude, it serves no positive purposes at any stages of life development.

What is the fate of carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are the category of food which includes potatoes, pasta, root vegetables, rice, bread, flour, refined sugar (sucrose, the white stuff that we used in cakes).

In their research to look for best food for diabetics, carbohydrates were divided in 1981 by Dr. David J Jenkins and colleagues into two groups; High Glycaemic Index (GI) and Low Glycaemic Index (GI). They signify a measure of the effects of carbohydrates in food on blood sugar levels.

The so called Glycaemic load goes from GI of 1 to glucose with a GI of 100. Foods with carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream (like potatoes or white bread) tend to have a high GI; foods with carbohydrates that break down more slowly, releasing glucose more gradually into the bloodstream, tend to have a low GI. Hence anything to do with refined sugar and white flour is bad news when it comes to the body having to produce huge quantities of insulin to cope with it.  

So to give you a bit of direction the carbohydrates with Low GI and therefore more recommended for a healthy diet are;

Low GI 55 or less

Most fruits and vegetables (including carrots); legumes/pulses; some whole, intact grains; nuts; fructose; kidney beans; beets; chickpeas.

Following the Medium GI which would advise moderate consumption would be;

Medium GI 56-69

whole wheat products, pita bread, basmati rice, grapes, sucrose (refined sugar), raisins, pumpernickel bread, cranberry juice and regular ice cream.

And finally, with the highest GI hence to be considered in very small amounts or none at all would be;

High GI 70 and above

White bread, most white rice, corn flakes, the majority of breakfast cereals, glucose, maltose, maltodextrins (food additive used in sodas and candy), white potato, pretzels

As I mentioned before, carbohydrates are a first port of call for the body’s need of fuel. Furthermore, they are the brain’s favourite source of energy. When carbohydrates are consumed as a part of the diet they get used as the first available energy and the remaining gets stored in the form of fat.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the average person consumes about 24 kilograms of sugar each year, equivalent to over 260 food calories per person, per day.

The time has come when the Eatwell graphic representation in UK needs to be redesigned. As a matter of urgency!

Next time how to succesfuly consume carbohydrates.

The Latest Dukan diet

Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."

The UK continues to be the leader in Europe when it comes to obese population. Nearly a quarter of British women are obese following suit by about 22% of men. However, it is sadly a problem that is spreading everywhere. Eating disorders, of social and psychological origin are not a cause of society problems, but a consequence of them. 


Unfortunately, it is in the febrile interest of mainstream politicians and influential members of society to think that it is the other way round. And it is precisely this lack of acknowledgement which is part of the problem. 

On Saturdays I indulge myself on the little pleasure of reading the Guardian newspaper, and a few months back I came across an article named “How to say ‘non’ to vol-au-vents”. If it sounds a bit French to you it is because it comes from a French figure named Dr. Pierre Dunkan. Doctor Dunkan is been described in the article as the protein-loving doctor. I will tell you more on this dieting system but before I will briefly describe how the official dieting with doctors started. 

The doctoring of losing weight trend started with the Calorie Restriction Diet (CRD) accompanied in many cases by some sort of amphetamines to reduce appetite. This began in the 70s. The CRD has a host of beneficial qualities to it. To name some, it is a crucial part of any regime that will work efficiently and will have beneficial effects in the long term. However, it was approached in practice with a rather burdensome operation in which every ingredient had to be weighted to the exact amounts. This proved to be unsustainable as a way to lose weight and be on a realistic scheme. Furthermore, the outlandish claims that this regime combined with amphetamines would return the person to a healthy balance weight was to be vanished. 


If it is true that great amounts of weight were lost, the person was left addicted to the amphetamines and when these were stopped weight would pliled back with a surplus. Although this practice was soon abandoned it left patients in a state of hopelessness and frustration.


 Not very long ago, Dr. Robert Atkins whose diet advice was on high-protein, high-fat, non-carbohydrate diets was also in the limelight as a new trend that was to be the final solution. The protein based diet was answering some of the problem. There again, Dr. Dunkan’s diet on a high-protein, low fat, low carbohydrates had certain resonance. Unfortunately, the protein here deriving mainly from meats cannot possibly leave the high fat content behind. 
This discrimination, omission of food groups and lack of balance prevents the body from benefiting from nutrients that are essential and should only be exercise under extreme circumstances, for very small periods at a time and under strict supervision. 


There are a number of diets available which claim to work on different theories but although all of them may hold a grain of truth in them there is no one diet per se that could be recommended to the whole of humanity as we are all equal but definitely not the same, right?. 
We have all heard of innumerable crash diets and quick fits, some known by fancy names and others after the person who exercise then for the first time, as if it was a matter of a discovery or a novel price. After all these people are making a healthy living and finally it could be said that any publicity is good publicity in the end. But for the reader it adds to another failure to find a solution in the search of achieving a suitable weight or a healthy and balanced diet. 


If it would be true to say that a diet which is high in protein would achieve the desirable amount of weight loss for the majority of people. It is equally necessary to add that a medium to long term protein diet would cause serious health problems. The exclusion of food groups from the diet will never be part of the long term solution in achieving a balanced weight. This is a well known factor by all serious professionals in the field.

So do I hear the question from you as to why all this fanciful diets continue to gather momentum? The answer has to do with speed. On the one hand is the demanding force from people wishing to lose weight rapidly and on the other the poor effort that most are willing to make. Needless to say that such is the demand of this course of action that the market constantly engineers new fad diets. 

What are the perils of a high protein diet? 

The requirement of protein for a normal sedentary person is 0.9 g/Kg of body weight. For instance, 63 g for a 70 Kg person. However, requirements are also greater during childhood for growth and development, during pregnancy or when breast-feeding in order to nourish a baby, or when the body needs to recover from malnutrition or trauma or after an operation. 

When carbohydrate is missing or ingested in small amounts from the diet, the body is forced to burn fat from its stores and also from the diet to fulfil its need for energy. The breakdown products of this process are called ketone bodies, which in turn begin to accumulate in the body. A build-up of ketones can cause great damage to kidneys and the liver. Furthermore, this build-up upsets the balance of acids and alkalines, causing acidosis. If this process continues unless immediate treatment is applied, a state of coma or death might result.


Other side effects of a high protein diet are unpleasant body odour and bad breath. High-protein foods are often also high in animal fats, mostly saturated fats and cholesterol which run in the blood increasing the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer. 
Another important factor to consider is the loss of muscle tissue. The higher the amount of protein that you eat and the lower the carbohydrate, the lower your body protein stores will be because you’re using protein as a fuel. The implications of cutting out fruits and vegetables, exposes you to the risk of developing vitamin B and E deficiencies. Finally, the purpose of carbohydrates such as fruit , vegetables, grains and cereals, particularly the wholegrain varieties, are the main source of dietary fibre in the diet. Eliminating these foods begin with constipation and inevitably lead to diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome and make you more susceptible to bowel cancer. 

To conclude the take away message would be three different aspects: 


1. Do not adopt a high protein diet for more than a week or so unless advised by a doctor and under strict supervision.
2. If you suffer from any related kidney condition or liver problems the effects of this diet would be even more severe. 
3. Unless you have gained more than 3 stones in weigh (19 Kg approx.) a high protein diet would not be recommended. 


 Remember that there are not quick fixes in the medium and long terms and prevention is always better than cure.

Transition diet

Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party? …Because it had no body to go with.

Effectively, bodies are made of meat. And that is how the story starts…

My maternal grandmother, who lived with us, came from a family of farmers who raised cattle and she, herself became a butcher. She was born in 1898, and bigger than life in many ways.

It is hardly necessary to say that we had a lot of meat at home. She did most of the cooking and was very particular about the different cuts of meat. One of her convictions was about not eating pork products. She certainly was a good connoisseur of meat, especially keen on the beef and horse types. As a result, I grew up experiencing great amounts of meat in my diet.

We had a very close relationship; she lived with me in her late years until she was almost a hundred years old. But for the last ten years or so of her life, she too chose never to eat meat again.

In my teenage years back in Asturias (Spain), we had a much regimented discipline when it came to meal times, and if we did not like the food available there was no other alternative. However, it was in my teen years too that I recall granny saying how the meat quality was changing, when preparing the meals a kind of foam would appear on the frying pan due to perhaps excess water. She knew that something was different as she had been handling meat for most of her life.

We now know for a fact that the nutritional composition of meats have changed considerably from the last 30 years or so. For instance, there has been a mayor reduction in mineral content in meat, due to the quality of the soil, which has the effect of us having to almost double the portion size to obtain the same quantity of minerals.

By the time I reach the tender age of eighteen I had come to abhor meat; the taste, the smell and the texture and started to think that perhaps there was a way in which meat could be eliminated from the diet.

I had chosen the root of humanities in my studies so my knowledge of science was very primitive and the field of nutrition in those days was at an infant stage.

I began to read ferociously about food, vitamins and the digestive system but it was barely scratching the surface so I went to see a doctor specialized in endocrinology and nutrition. Her name was Concha Arguelles, a true source of inspiration to me. A seed that flourished into a career as a professional nutritionist. I believe that nutrition has the potential to maximise the functions of the body and the brain from the very core, which is our genetic make-up, where nutrition plays a crucial role. So I embraced it; the task is endless, the study continuous and the benefits long-lasting.

And I also discovered that it was possible to live without meat, that there were other sources of protein and iron. And that the haem-iron, for which red meat is consumed mainly, could be obtain from legumes and vegetable sources. Then, of course, to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, I had to look at the ways the different iron compounds would be absorbed by the body as it was well known even then that iron from vegetables was less readily absorbed.

The truth is that we have a truly efficient body in many ways, and now we know that people who do not eat red meat develop a more sophisticated mechanism in order to absorb the necessary iron from vegetables. (The body makes the most of what it is given). Let me point out that I am not talking about vegetarians yet, just people who do not eat red meat. From this information, which I experienced on my own flesh, as it were, I can dispelled the myth that one could not live without red meat.

To further complement this facts, these days we have increasingly more evidence as to how the consumption of red meats is associated with colorectal cancers.

So what do we take from this information?

I must confess that I still do not eat meat myself, red or otherwise. The other interesting factor about meat is that it is high is saturated fats, even the lean cuts. Unfortunately, there is a strong link between high levels of saturated fats in the body and many cardiovascular diseases and brain degenerative disorders.
However, in the meantime, for those who enjoy meat my advice would be:


·    To cut the consumption of meat gradually, to no more than twice a week and increase the amount of green leafy vegetables and legumes at the same time.

·      If and when you buy meat choose the best quality available. Try game meat, it is more expensive but these animals have access to better food themselves and they are no treated with antibiotics to prevent them from illness as most domesticated animals in the meat industry are.  
·     Remember that what animals eat will be part of your diet too when you eat their meat.  

My granny’s body improved for the last years of her life without the meat, she lost the excess weight naturally and gradually and was more agile. Her digestions were lighter and the loss of excess weight meant that she was in less pain because of the several disc hernias as she carry around a much lighter body.

 
…The right body to take to the party. Alas, all parties will end.  

A little introduction

The Longest journey begins with the first step...
Lao Tse

This is the birth of my blog. I am initiating what I would like it to be the beginning of my sharing with you on matters of nutrition and well-being. My intention is to contribute through this social media to modestly delivering my knowledge and expertise on these subjects in an objective and pragmatic way.

There will be criticism and debate, if you wish, but I would like to think it all in the name of a constructive approach.

As my dear tutor at university used to say "Your English is full of peppered idiosyncrasies, but nothing stops you from being understood". This will be my contribution.