86Thousand400: Say no to Carbs

Relooking at beliefs in light of following evidence:

- Carbohydrates present in a high carb diet only serve two functions - used as fuel or stored as fat or glycogen. (Possibility that habitual High Carb Low Fat (HCLF)

diet was nutritionally deficient).

- Persons with Insulin Resistance (IR) are unable to metabolise carbohydrates normally.

- Energy levels increase when carbohydrates are cut.

- We have moved from the absolute belief that a high carbohydrate diet is essential for superior athletic performance to the realisation that this is certainly not true for everyone. Instead it is clear that a large proportion of athletes will do better by reducing their carbohydrate intake and eating more fat and protein.

- The high carbohydrate diet was clearly detrimental to our health, athletic performance and enjoyment of life.

- There is little reason to ingest more than 200g/day of carbohydrates regardless of how much exercise one is performing. The key is to discover the grams of carbohydrate/day that optimises one's health and performance and this will generally lie between 25 and 200g/day. The lower the values for those with the most extreme IR.

- Ingesting carbohydrates during exercise is less damaging than during rest.

- Those with increasing IR have higher BMI at any given level of daily carbohydrate intake so those who are morbidly insulin resistant must cut their daily carbohydrate intakes to about 25-50g/day.

Diabetics

- Carbohydrates drive up your blood glucose concentration. Insulin brings your blood glucose concentration down. I can give you insulin, or you can cut your carbohydrate intake.

- Patients with either form of diabetes will be advised to drastically reduce their daily carbohydrate intake.

Digestive Conditions

- Kemir, Kimchi and Sauerkraut are invaluable

- Fermented foods fell from favour with the advent of modern processed food

- Nourishing Traditions, for anyone wanting to resurrect ancient culinary skills

- Note, whenever more fibre is added to the diet, more water is needed. In essence though, eating more kefir, sauerkraut and even taking probiotics will ultimately go a long way to solving this problem.

- The beauty of Banting is that all sugary foods are eliminated, making this the perfect anti-candida diet.

- Banting consist of low-carbohydrates, moderate protein and higher than normal fat intake. By eating more vegetables you will be getting more chlorophyll, which is a natural deodorant, and making a daily green drink with leaves and water in a blender will help alleviate bad breath.

- Self experimentation is the easiest way to find out where you stand.

Cancer

- There is mounting evidence that a ketogenic diet is a powerful alternative cancer treatment. This is one where carbohydrates are kept to 25g or less in order to form ketones or ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are three different chemicals formed when fatty acids are broken down by the liver for energy.

- Type 1 diabetic is unable to produce insulin.

- Ketosis may occur at slightly different levels for different people - anywhere from 0 - 50g of carbohydrates a day can produce ketones, however the general consensus is that around 20 to 25g of carbs a day will do it.

- By cutting off the "food" of cancer cells - glucose and fructose - you cut off their life-support and force them to die. When cells are deprived of this fuel they will have to resort to using fat-based ketones. Normal cells can switch between glucose and ketone bodies, but cancer cells lack that flexibility.

- When fighting cancer, only the best will do. Grass-fed beef, pasture reared chickens, organic vegetables.

- One has to be committed to quality in order to avoid the hazards of hormones, pesticides and GM foods as they are highly carcinogenic in themselves.

- Dr Dominic Agostino, pioneer in the field.