Phytonutrients
& Carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are the single
most important food you can eat. That statement probably goes
against everything you've ever heard, so let me explain.
If you don't believe me, take
this little test. Think of a carbohydrate! If you're like
most Americans, bread, pasta, soft drinks, French fries, sugar,
and similar foods probably flew into your mind. Yes, these
foods are carbohydrates but they are highly processed and
refined ones.
And if these are the kinds
of carbohydrates you consume on a regular basis, let me warn
you, (unless you regularly run marathons), you're most likely
either overweight or heading down the road to weight gain.
You may like them, you may consider them "comfort foods,"
you may think that they couldn't be so bad since they are
so predominant in our current diet. But the biological bottom
line is that human beings have not evolved to metabolize these
types of carbohydrates.
They slow down your metabolism
and contribute to every one of the major diseases associated
with aging including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and
cancer. In most, cases they are also "empty" calorie foods-the
worst possible combination -- high caloric foods, low in nutrients.
They deprive you of vital nutrients as well as burden your
body with the task of digesting food molecules that aren't
giving you anything you need.
Eating them (especially in
excess) is a prescription for weight gain. But they're not
the end of the carb story. If you're like most people, you
may not realize that the wide world of carbs is actually much,
much bigger than this limited crowd of processed carbs.
In contrast, natural carbohydrates,
which come to your table just like Mother Nature made them,
contain many essential nutrients and specialized chemicals
that turn up your metabolism via newly discovered plant chemicals
call phytonutrients. So you have a choice: use phytonutrients
to spark your metabolism into action, or drown your metabolism
with indigestible nutrient-poor carbs.
Our genetic nutritional template
goes back 20,000 years. Our ancestors foraged for wild food,
like wild berries, grasses, roots, and mushrooms to find life-giving
phytonutrients that all humans are designed by nature to eat.
On a recent vacation I found
myself in a sea of phytonutrients in the wild islands of Southeast
Alaska. I was foraging along with the grizzly bears for bog
cranberries, blueberries, nagoonberries, raspberries, and
strawberries. These scrumptious berries, bursting with phytonutrients,
were smaller, richer in color and taste, (and lower in sugar)
than their domestic berry cousins.
Here's a tip: The greater
variety and the deeper the color of plant foods you eat, the
higher their concentration of phytonutrients. The key is to
learn which phytonutrient-dense foods can prevent disease
and promote weight loss.
Want phytonutrient power?
Here 's a small sample of
the many superfoods that contain these powerful phytonutrients:
isoflavones in soy foods, lignans in flax seeds, catechins
in green tea, polyphenols in cocoa (yes, chocolate!), glucosinolates
in broccoli, carnosol in rosemary, and resveratrol in red
wine.
And there are hundreds more
that can help you unlock the secret to natural weight loss.
All of these compounds -- and dozens more -- will help you
fight disease and obesity. These special compounds literally
communicate with your genes and turn on messages of health
and weight loss. They are key to the success people experience
in losing weight on a program I've developed during my 20-years
practicing medicine, called UltraMetabolism.
Before you reach for that
Cinnabon, know that phytonutrients only occur in whole, unrefined,
unprocessed plant foods. All vegetables (and many fruits)
score high in phytonutrients, while processed carbs, like
bread and pasta, have virtually none.
Here's a shorthand to distinguish
between the metabolism boosters and the processed carbs that
will only weigh you down:
Anything that has been packaged
or put through a machine is processed (like a potato chip).
Anything that comes right out of the earth is natural (like
a plum).
Don't let all the terminology
-- high fat, low-fat, high-carb, low-carb, high glycemic index,
low glycemic index, complex carbs and simple carbs -- confuse
you. The key is eating whole, real, unprocessed, food found
as close to nature as possible. Now you know why your grandmother
always told you to eat your vegetables!
Folk wisdom passed down the
generations showed how to give the body what it needs. In
the early twenty-first century, that wisdom is being confirmed
in the research of leading edge scientists. So you can follow
these recommendations I offer with total confidence that the
latest medical science backs them up.
This new science reveals why
you should never do what some ill-advised diets suggest: cut
out all carbs. Not a good idea-because you also cut out all
the phytonutrients (and the fiber) that only comes from whole
plant foods.
Along with their obesity fighting
chemicals, vitamins, and minerals to accelerate your metabolism,
most whole carbohydrates are filled with healthy plant fiber
to slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream.
And for super fast weight
loss, you'll want to eat some special "super" fiber foods
which I use as my secret weapon with many patients who have
had difficulty losing weight. Once you incorporate them into
your diet, you'll feel full, experience steady energy, and
will never be tempted to overeat.
Here's a guarantee: If you've
been consuming highly processed foods such as sodas, chips,
and crackers, and you decide to boost your intake of those
powerful phytonutrients that I've reviewed, you'll be taking
the first step towards re-programming your body for automatic
weight loss and health.
My dirty little secret as
a doctor is that I never treat anybody specifically to lose
weight; I simply help them become healthy using these and
other techniques and the weight automatically comes off.
So remember, eat your carbohydrates,
but make them the carbs that contain phytonutrients!
| Authors Details: Mark Hyman, M.D. Web
Site |
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