How to turn a sinking ship?

5 years ago•3 Replies

An average sedentary person uses about 150g of carbohydrate per day for activities including brain function. We are encouraged to consume up to 60% of our daily calories as carbohydrate. For a 2000 kcal intake, that would equate to 1200 kcalories, or about 300 grammes.

What if saturated fat is harmless, as the Swiss and French ‘paradox’ diets for example suggest, and refined carbohydrates aren’t?

What would it take to affect the mainstream, healthy eating guidelines, bearing in mind that it has been proven since 1981 that many starchy carbohydrates are turned to glucose in the body and enter the bloodstream faster than table sugar, yet we are told that a third of our intake should be starchy carbs without acknowledging this fact?

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Beek

5 years ago

I am reading a book by Dr John Briffa called Escape the Diet Trap which deals with the effects of carbs on our fat cells and how insulin works. He is saying exactly what you did. Fats are necessary and are not entirely bad for you, but carbs are. The effects on/of cholesterol are discussed too.

The harm comes from highly refined foods, artificial sweeteners etc. If we ate more unprocessed foods we would be a lot healthier.

You are right to be questioning the current advice.

I feel sure my T2 diabetes has been brought on by a sedentary job which included high stress levels and not enough time to 'unwind' properly (be active) And this addage 'If you are of a certain age and overweight you will develop T2 diabetes' - in my opinion you are overweight because you already have a level of diabetes for your body to contend with. I have never eaten rubbish foods like Big Macs and KFC's, I could not afford to but did use a lot of 'filler' foods like porridge and other carbs. I would have been a lot better eating fats, which in those days was a big No, No.

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