Yesterday I shared an interesting email from a physician friend lamenting the widely varying recommendations about carbohydrate consumption discussed in the medical and lay press these days.
We agreed to spend thirty minutes on the phone together to allow me to present a simple collection of five suggestions to him; the discussion focused on the following. (I’ll be delving into the established science in each of these areas in later posts; to do so here and now would simply be too much to cover…)
You Say Low Carb, I Say Thoughtful, Careful, Smart Carb
The longer I personally live what most would call a ‘Primal Lifestyle’, the more I feel we’re probably mischaracterizing the optimal approach to carbohydrates in a healthy diet.
We’re not carb-phobic, or carb avoiding. Quite the contrary.
What we’re really talking about here is a Thoughtful, Careful, Very Intentional Carbohydrate approach (some even frame it as Smart Carbs), selecting nutrient-dense, fresh, insoluble fiber-rich, whole sources of carbohydrate, and avoiding (like the plague) highly refined and processed carbohydrate sources, like sugars, just about all grains, legumes, and overly sweet fruits.
One of my mentors early on challenged me to eat 30 to 50 grams of healthy carb vegetables a day (as part of a rational eating plan) and then argue that I didn’t find my hunger sated and energy needs met handily; I issued the same challenge to my friend…
Clearly for those who have existed and struggled as carb-fueled, binge and crash several times a day machines, there’s a transition journey, though for most it’s a molehill and not a mountain to cross.
Is Restoring Insulin Homeostasis the Key? (Yep, It Is.)
I reminded my friend of the critical and varied roles that insulin plays in the human body, in addition to one of its principle tasks, that being the storage of excess ingested nutrients, most commonly as stored fat. There’s no question that high carb diets chronically elevate insulin levels, keeping fat locked in storage, and over time, lead to development of insulin resistance, which among a myriad list of undesirable effects, makes it much, much harder to drop excess body fat.
Chatting about this, we found we both share a particular interest in insulin’s effects on brain metabolism and aging (here’s an interesting read on some probable mechanisms in the brain).
Thoughtful, Careful, Smart Carb: Embrace the Good, Out with the Bad
There are several foods, ironically centerpieces of the typical American diet, that contribute more to the damaged and deranged health of the population than anything else – sugar, grains, and the highly-oxidized, polyunsaturated, industrially-processed vegetable and seed oils being the worst of all.
Eating a SAD diet, these three categories often make up the preponderance of calories consumed, despite the hard science record that carbs are the principle driver in determining body composition and that excess glucose (yep, we’re looking right at you grains and sugars) is the root culprit fostering the obesity epidemic and the flood of disorders (i.e. T2DM, heart disease) that walk hand in hand with it.
This isn’t a carb-phobic approach – it’s sweeping the crap carbs out of your diet, and replacing them fully with nutrient-dense, fiber-rich, healthy carbs at levels that make sense physiologically.
I reminded my friend that dialing in optimal, quality carbohydrate intake goes hand in hand with consuming moderate amounts of quality proteins, which contributes impressively to satiety, along with consumption of healthy, appropriate fats.
Thoughtful, Careful, Smart Carb Brings Out the Fat Burning Beast
We talked briefly about the growing body of data suggesting that fats (and some of their metabolic derivatives, i.e. ketone bodies) very well may be the body’s preferred, most efficiently utilized fuel for anaerobic activities (the stuff we humans do for the vast majority of our days).
This is an enormous subject, and far too vast to cover in a few paragraphs (or a thirty minute conversation on the phone). Having just read it myself, I suggested my compadre grab a copy of Nora Gedgaudas’ most recent book Primal Fat Burner for a detailed, recent review of the science behind this growing and most interesting line of thinking.
Training your body to become fat adapted opens doors of (metabolic) flexibility that are truly game changing.
Thoughtful, Careful, Smart Carb Works for the Long Haul
Finally, my friend and I agreed that we’d both journeyed down various diet paths only to find these altered eating routines unsustainable over time.
Eating a thoughtful, careful, very intentional carbohydrate approach, coupled with high-quality, moderate protein consumption, and liberal enjoyment of tasty, healthy fats simply tastes good, one of, if not the most critical feature for longterm eating plan compliance.
Not only that, this type of eating plan is based on simple, easy to understand, almost common-sense principles that allow anyone to intuitively navigate the vast sea of food choices we face every day.
That said, I reminded him of a key point mentioned in yesterday’s post – the key imperative is paying careful, thoughtful attention to what your own body is telling you, and adjusting your approach to fit your own unique, (very likely) evolving physiology.
As noted above, we’ll be delving into each of these areas in more detail here on the blog over the next few months.
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