AWOL wrote:I am afraid that the idea that carbs are bad is very fashionable in the diet industry (an industry that succeeds at selling diets but fails to produce any lasting results) but has more evidence to the contrary than in it's favour. Some of the confusion seams to be that many people find it difficult not to have ideas relating to simple sugars spill over onto carbohydrates in general. Our bodies have evolved for optimal fuelling from carbohydrates. As an endurance runner and someone who has problems with hypoglycaemia I am acutely sensitive to what happens when our bodies have insufficient carbohydrate. I will skip ketosis and quite how nasty that is but point out that many fashionable diets push the body into this state of toxicity intentionally.
Yes simple sugars are overconsumed by most people and avoiding sweet treats is not likely to do anybody much harm except if they are hypoglycaemic at the time and would be good for the vast majority of us.
Here's a reasonable summary of the truth about carbs
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-we ... eat-carbs/ and I'd also recommend Giles Yeo's books and the various videos on Youtube for anyone wanting a rational and scientific approach to food consumption. His work is of unusually high quality for the quack ridden field of nutrition and he is a great communicator.
I completely agree that a high fibre approach to diet with plenty of fibre and moderating consumption of high GI foods for those that can manage it without intolerance or allergy is probably the best approach.
Regarding white flour, I agree that the OPs fears are little more than that. For most people white flour is fine being consumed in moderation but substituting with higher fibre flour is clearly much better as fibre is one of the few genuine routes to effective weight management and health. However everyone is different, for example a close relative of mine can consume white bread with reckless abandon but brown/wholemeal bread or brown rice all make her bloated, sore, and constipated even in the smallest quantities. The other issue with wholemeal bread or brown rice is that it may carry an increased risk of pesticide poisoning (and [expletive deleted] for the rice, especially long grain American rice). However the jury is out on the actual effect of the exposure to below individual safe limits amounts of pesticides in a cocktail although the cocktail effect is a grave concern.
Personally, I eat white flour products but try to minimise the amounts and if having toast tend to use frozen bread as this increases the fibre content surprisingly. Buying cakes regularly isn't a good idea in a world of plenty where diabetes is a major killer.
Thanks, but I have to disagree with some of that. Firstly, your last comment:
frozen bread as this increases the fibre content surprisingly
I don't think freezing increases the fibre content but (may) reduce the glycaemic response, see
The impact of freezing and toasting on the glycaemic response of white bread:
https://www.nature.com/articles/1602746I agree about Giles Yeo, I watched one of his videos yesterday about calories and how they are misrepresented, excellent stuff.
Our bodies have evolved for optimal fuelling from carbohydrates
I'm not so sure about that. Until farming was invented humans had little access to carbohydrates in significant quantity and no access to refined carbohydrates until
very recently in evolutionary terms.
It's a pity that you say:
I will skip ketosis and quite how nasty that is but point out that many fashionable diets push the body into this state of toxicity intentionally
Because I would be interested to know why you think that. I used to be an endurance runner (well, long-distance anyway) myself although I'm too worn out to continue with that, unfortunately. I have - for many years - eaten about 6 meals a week, including a fasting period of 48 hours, which apparently means that I spend quite a long time in a state of ketosis. My understanding is that this is a natural and healthy state which apparently increases human growth hormone, cleans up old cells, normalises blood sugar levels and has some putative effects such as increasing longevity and slowing the progress of Alzheimer's. I've certainly never read anything to suggest that nutritional ketosis is harmful in any respect. I'd suggest that if our human ancestors couldn't cope with ketosis we wouldn't have survived as a species. Humans must have evolved to deal with food scarcity without becoming unwell and unable to function. It is rather more my view that it is the absence of regular ketosis in the average person that creates health problems such as diabetes and obesity. A point that Michael Mosely has been making in his various dietary advice. I'd certainly be interested in reading a counter view if you can provide any sources. I haven't found any myself, although the NHS link that you give states that:
This can cause headaches, weakness, feeling sick, dehydration, dizziness and irritability.
Well, if a person has never experienced ketosis regularly before they may well feel that way, I can honestly say that I don't experience that even with a 72 hour fast, in fact I tend to feel 'good' as a result. My guess is that that is why most if not all major religions advocate fasting days - although I don't fast for religious purposes myself.
RC