Unfortunately, we all have been
unknowing victims of a massive experiment — “the great
carbohydrate eating experiment” — forcing us to endure a diet
proper to fa�ening a cow but not proper for a human. For the past 50
years, Americans have been told to make carbohydrates the basis of
our diet — currently publicized as the “Food Pyramid.” Starting in
the late 1950s, the “Four Basic Food Groups” model showed us that we
should eat “balanced” portions of bread/cereal, fruits/vegetables,
dairy, and meat. The first 2 of these groups are almost all
carbohydrate. In the 90s, the “Food Pyramid” model officially
replaced the older model. The base of
this model, the largest food group, is bread/cereal, with other
carbohydrates
still making up most of the
rest. This is in contrast to the diets proven successful for
hundreds of years — eating more proteins and natural fats with
less carbohydrates — the diet of our parents and grandparents,
and of most Americans before 1950. They told us not to eat too many
potatoes, not to eat too much pie, and not to have too much cereal.
Did mom tell you, “Now don’t eat that cookie, I’m cooking a good
meal, and that will ‘spoil’ your appetite”? She was at least
partially right.
I point again to that “great
carbohydrate eating experiment.” We never gave our informed
consent.* It’s an experiment that most of us weren’t aware of
and in which we weren’t willing participants.
What was the
result of this experiment? Unprecedented levels of obesity and
diabetes have occurred during the exact time frame of this
experiment. Heart disease and strokes have not decreased during this
time frame. We are victims, and we have every right to be upset. You
also have a right to find out who perpetrated this experiment on us
and what their motivation may have been. More than 25% of our
children are now obese and more than 55% of adult Americans are
certified obese.
Surprise #1
— Carbohydrates are either aldehyde or ketone compounds.
Analysis: Even the carbohydrates we are told are so good for us
are loaded with the building blocks of ketone bodies.
Carbohydrates directly generate a problematic insulin-response;
ketones don’t.
Surprise #2
— Biochemically, ketones are the #1 preferred fuel of the
following organs: the skeletal muscles, the heart, and the liver.
Analysis: These organs don’t want sugar (carbohydrate). Are
we doing great damage by not giving these vital organs the fuel that
Mother Nature designed them to run on?
Surprise #3
— Ketones are natural products of fat burning. When body fat is
oxidized, ketones are produced. Analysis:
Unless you want to keep all the excess body fat
you have, you can’t prevent generating ketones.
Surprise #4
— We have been led to believe that the medical condition called
“ketosis” (leading to metabolic acidosis — low blood pH) happens
very quickly. This is correct for the diabetic, but not true for
the general population. Only a�er 3-5 days of virtually
complete starvation (fasting) do ketones in the body become
significant. Our bodies have been compromised. Our bodies have
been forced to try to adapt to run primarily on carbohydrates. You
will learn why carbohydrates are not meant by Mother Nature to be
our primary food. “The great carbohydrate eating experiment”
was instituted with no scientific basis – only “studies”
subject to misinterpretation. It was founded on biased
opinion with no underlying established medical science. Contrary
to popular misinformation, running on ketones (for the non-diabetic)
is the body’s preferred and most efficient state, and the leading
biochemistry and physiology textbooks support this fact.
Analysis: We have been misled into
believing what the body’s preferred natural state and its proper
fuel are. Carbohydrates are not meant by Mother Nature to be our
primary food. Mother Nature never intended this, and the
real-life results are terrible.
Surprise #5
— We’ve even been (mis)advised to eat many times a day. We
have become accustomed to cravings. But we know that many religious
sects fast for prolonged periods of time (weeks), and have safely
done so for thousands of years. Analysis: Real-life results
and Mother Nature’s time-tested wisdom offer more valuable guidance
than the most popular unsupported theoretical guesses by those
defending biased positions. The diabetes epidemic is accelerated by
this bad advice.
Surprise #6
— We are told that ketosis will cannibalize our muscle tissue.
Medical Fact: A�er just 3-5 days of fasting, our body requires
only 1/3 the amount of glucose it has been forced to tolerate during
“the great carbohydrate eating experiment” — we could eat
less than 1/3 of a bagel a day and maintain superb health. The brain
and nervous system start to use ketones, because they finally get
them. Our muscle is spared. Analysis: If you have spent
much time in a gym, then you know how difficult it is to add muscle.
Do you really think that Mother Nature would allow that precious
muscle to be quickly wasted? A
widespread but unrecognized nutrition deficiency is at the core of
our problem, and it has nothing to do with ketosis.
Surprise #7
— Protein and ketones are NOT “hard” on the kidneys and liver.
Most of the nitrogen from the protein is converted to urea in the
liver and excreted by the kidneys (a normal process), and
the carbons are oxidized to carbon dioxide and
water. The ketones are used as primary fuel by the kidneys, skeletal
muscles, and heart.
Surprise #8
— Carbohydrates, not protein, are hard on the kidneys. High
blood glucose levels place excessive stress on the kidneys. That is
why diabetes is the single greatest cause of kidney failure in the
U.S. Too many nutritionists and
physicians continue to “parrot” outdated misinformation.
Surprise #9
— Before carbon skeletons of amino acids can be oxidized, the
nitrogen must be removed. Ammonia is
formed and converted to urea, which is nontoxic, water-soluble, and
readily excreted in the urine.
Surprise #10
— Perform a Medline Internet search on “kidney, high-protein
diet,” and you will find article-a�er-article a�esting to the
scientific FACT there is no problem. An example is “The
concomitant increase of renal net acid excretion and maximum renal
acid excretion capacity in periods of high protein intake appears to
be a highly effective response of the kidney to a specific food
intake leaving a large renal surplus capacity for an
additional renal acid load.” Translation: The body’s natural
life-systems perform perfectly as Mother Nature intended.
In contrast to the body’s protein response, its
carbohydrate response is strongly associated with renal (kidney)
failure.
Surprise #11 — Have you heard the
unfounded and scientifically incorrect claim that excess protein
“leaches” calcium from the bone and causes osteoporosis? Then
why does The Textbook of Medical Physiology state, “… protein
functions in the brush borders of these cells to transport calcium
into the cell cytoplasm… The rate of calcium absorption seems to
be directly proportional to the quantity of this calcium-binding
protein.” Analysis: Calcium is transported via protein.
Along with the protein, the calcium is actually going into the cell
— not being taken away!
Surprise # 12
— Mother Nature designed 3 life-systems to prevent any of the
so-called “problems” with which the high-carbohydrate promoters
continue to scare us: respiratory system, circulatory buffer system,
and renal (excretory) system. O�en,
there is a lack of insight by nutritionists into how the various
life-systems work together:
• Before ketosis COULD EVER
BECOME A PROBLEM (in an extreme case, ketosis could lead to
ketoacidosis — whereby low blood pH would cause severe
complications), your respiration would have to increase to almost
double your normal rate. This can happen to the diabetic but
has this ever happened to you?
• Sufficient salt
(sodium) is required for the circulatory buffer system to work
properly — lack of salt means lack of sodium bicarbonate
(NaHCO3). Could Americans’ obsession with reducing dietary salt be
the real reason that this critical life-system is compromised and
unable to do its job? Salt is critical to proper functioning.
• Our renal system
automatically responds (similar to increased breathing when
exercising to increase oxygen) to stabilize our system.
Surprise # 13
— If you are diagnosed with kidney malfunction, and a nutritionist
tells you that the traditional diet for a person with kidney
malfunction is low protein, you need to resist this advice. This
paper discusses nutrition for healthy people, not ones with diseased
kidneys. Protein does not cause kidney failure. Unless you
are eating too many carbohydrates and you are an uncontrolled
diabetic, a normally functioning kidney REPELS excess protein in the
blood. If the kidney doesn’t work, it may make sense to restrict
protein levels. Analysis: Existing kidney disease has no
bearing concerning healthy people. If you have an injured back,
you may not exercise too much — but a healthy person could exercise
for hours — don’t get fooled by incorrect analogies.
Note #1: Only a
Type I, insulin-dependent diabetic who has no access to insulin
(virtually no one) could possibly have a problem with eating
protein. But that diabetic would have a life-threatening problem
eating carbohydrates without the insulin to protect him from high
blood sugar and ketoacidosis.
Note #2: Following the ingestion of a high
protein meal, the gut and liver utilize most of the absorbed amino
acids… The liver takes up 60-70% of the amino acids in the
portal vein. These amino acids, for the most part, are converted to
glucose and directly used for the protein’s own digestion (not
raising blood glucose levels).
Note #3: Anyone suggesting you take the result of
a “rat” study and apply it to a human being is misleading you.
More o�en than not, a rat’s physiology doesn’t correlate directly
with a human being’s physiology. Translation: People
aren’t rats! Never rely on an animal study to “prove” anything about
how the item under study applies to a human being. The best
scientists and physicians never do.
Note #4: If you exercise by running, you produce
lots of “extra” carbon dioxide — a waste product, because
respiration increases. If you eat more protein, you automatically
produce more ammonia. If you insist
that “extra” ammonia is “bad,” then following the same logic, you
must say that even moderate exercise is “bad,” too.
Note #5: Even a�er 5 weeks of complete
starvation, (but drinking water), blood glucose levels in the
average, healthy adult only drop to 65 mg/dl (normal is 70-110
mg/dl). From burning our excess body fat, we still get all the
sugar we require.
Note #6: As the Textbook of Medical Physiology
makes quite clear, urea and uric acid are removed by your
kidneys, and excreted. The kidneys regulate your blood’s acid-base
balance so your blood’s acid/alkaline level is very tightly
controlled (7.35 – 7.40). Tight blood pH control is why the pH of
urine can vary widely (4.5 – 8.0).
This is the established medical science —
not unjustified opinions, so you can choose for yourself.