Some of us have certain types of foods that are "trigger" foods. These foods could be completely healthy (like oatmeal), and yet, they cause us to have less control over our food, even though they should not, technically, be affecting our blood sugar too much. Who knows?
For me, I get frustrated at times when I see commercials about thinner people having a higher amount of whole grains in their diet---for me, that just isn't true. When I cut out grains, I tend to feel a lot better, even though I would love to wake up to croissants and coffee in the morning. Sigh. But, really, when I don't eat grains (even healthy brown rice), I feel like I am in better control of my overeating. I also have to watch potatoes and corn chips and corn tortillas. It is something about having too many carbs, I think.
Is anyone else frustrated by these kinds of things at times? It feels like I am not eating healthy when I view the commercials, but the way I am eating now feels best for me. Sigh.
I've seen commercials that tell you how Froot Loops are good for you! They don't care about your health--they just want your money. Everyone is different, so even things that work for the "average" person may not work for some of us.
I also have had trouble thinking of a healthy diet as being anything other than a high grain diet, because that's what I was taught.
But a high grain diet may not be the healthiest diet for everyone. It may actually not be the healthiest diet for anyone.
The more I read, the more I wonder. Humans only began eating a significant amount of grain foods about 10,000 years ago or so. Yet we did perfectly fine for 200,000 years or more without grains. There's evidence that many health issues began to appear in the fossil record only after humans started eating more significant amounts of grains. Issues that are exponentially increasing in frequency and severity in the modern grain-heavy and exercise-poor environment.
I think the jury is still out on the "optimal" human diet (if there exists such a thing). It very well may be that there are many factors that determine the optimal diet, and that several different diets may be equally healthy.
Whole grains are better than processed grains. That is an established fact (no one is claiming that bleached white flour is better for you than whole grain flours).
However, whether grains are a required food group and whether they need to be (or should be) a large part of our diet is still an unanswered question. There are many experts with very different opinions. Some of the books I've read that are fairly critical of over-using grains:
The Paleolithic Prescription: A Program of Diet & Exercise and a Design for Living by S. Boyd, M.D. Eaton, Marjorie Shostak, and Melvin Konner
NeanderThin: Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body by Ray Audette, Troy Gilchrist, Raymond V. Audette, and Michael R. Eades
Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize Your Health ~ Melissa Smith
The No-Grain Diet by Joseph Mercola
Grain Damage: Rethinking the High-Starch Diet
~ Douglas N. Graham
Dangerous Grains: Why Gluten Cereal Grains May Be Hazardous To Your Health ~ James Braly M.D. (Author), Ron Hoggan M.A.
Lfe Without Bread: How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life ~ Christian B. Allan
I just read an article in the local paper about some studies that indicate genes play a part in which diet works for our individual body types. So, whole grain just might not work for your body. I wouldn't stress; I'd use whatever works.
It's frustrating enough to have to work at eating and being healthy in a society like ours, and if one needs to also eat low carb or nongrain, it is certainly even more frustrating. Sometimes it's encouraging to see the tide turning just a bit here and there, and other times it seems overwhelmingly like it's hopeless. I just feel feel frustrated when I need to, but keep going!
I definitely think its just based on the individual. I'm like you milliondollarbbw, I have to be careful even with the healthy grains, they can trigger me to go out of control. I've only just realized and accepted that I am different and life isn't always fair! I am not one of these people who can eat a healthy well-rounded diet, even brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, etc can trigger me to binge. It is a carb thing for me, I really only think no-carb is what I'll be able to succeed with for a while. Hopefully down the road things will change and I can re-introduce the healthy grains, but for now they need to stay out of my diet.
More power to those people who can eat a well-rounded diet! Have to admit, those whole-grain fruit loops aren't so bad...LOL! My son likes them once in a while! I've always been a kashi kind of girl, but unfortunately even that triggers me to overeat.
I think we all have foods that we know make us gain weight, even if they are healthy foods. I can't eat any whole grains either. They make me gain like crazy. I would love to eat them, because I know i should and I like them. I also stay away from any starchy veggie or really high carb fruits. This is strange but red + green peppers + broccoli make me gain. I just don't eat them and it works for me.
I don't eat any grains, potatos, corn, beans, dairy, salt, or sugar. I will eat grains and beans in the form of sprouts though, because they are chemically transformed. I'm always working with the sprouting jars.
I was an ovo/lacto vegetarian, and in the 5 or so, I gained 100 pounds eating grains, cerial, falafal, hummus and foods I was thought were "good" foods. You know, low fat, high fiber carbs.
I'm not writing this to diss anyone's diet, just to answer the post: In my experience, carbs make you want to eat more, and in fact if you are eating close to vegetarian, you eat a ton of food because there is very little nutritional value in those foods. There are a lot of "empty" calories in those portions of the food pyramid. Carbs also are used up quickly and you need to eat again soon after. The result is that you are hungry all day and you end up binging sooner or later. Carbs are also easily transformed into fat-- They hinder weight loss, not help it. The fiber is good, but you can also eat broccolii, or lettuce and get fiber.
I started to read up on paleo-type diets, and like the answer given by kaplods above realized that humans were around for several million years before farming. Even the US pioneers of 100 years ago, and the hunting-gathering Native Americans did not practice large scale agriculture. In fact, many native peoples from many ancestories react very badly to bread and grains. Even those of caucasian type really have not had convenient grain products around in the amount that we have it today. I think anyone with any sort of carb based diseases in their family tree should swear off refined flour as well as sugar. Other people should limit its use to "special occasions."
I don't consider grains to be any part or portion of a well rounded or healthy diet--
I definitely don't like the idea of one size fits all diets. I also limit my bread intake, even (maybe especially?) whole grains. I'm almost always hungry, I think I have a fast metabolism (but even my metabolism can't keep up with my food intake lol), but if I eat mainly carbs with no fat or protein, it's all downhill from there. I find it's not any old carbs that trigger a binge, it's certain types of bread, pasta (unless I keep the serving size really small and eat lots of veggies with it), Crystal Light, and - believe it or not - NOT eating something sweet after dinner. I don't know if it's chemical, behavioral, social, or a combination of all of them, but if I don't save some calories for some ice cream, chocolate, etc (not fruit, that will not do the trick!), I will be peckish all night and it usually turns into a binge. But if I just take those 150 cals, eat a nice amount of something sweet, I'm satisfied for the whole night.
I definitely believe that our bodies weren't designed for vegan diets, or anything close to it. If you look at all the nutrients that can't be naturally or effectively obtained in a vegan diet (B12, iron, easily absorbed protein, etc.), it makes you wonder why people think eating vegan is so much more natural and healthy!
But then, I guess it's up to the individual to decide what works and what doesn't. =)
3 months ago I stopped eating meat almost altogether. Not because I'm a vegetarian or anything, I never liked meat much and I started eating a lot of rice, beans, lentils, potatoes, hummus and whole wheat flour-based foods.
I am cutting back on this, because every time I eat whole wheat flour, my belly gets so round and tight that I look like I'm 6 months pregnant. It happens immediately: a big round, VERY HARD belly.
I am going back to adding more meat to my diet and cutting back on the grains.
I don't follow a particular diet, I just try to see what makes my body feel good. The idea of one diet fits all doesn't make sense to me anymore. And I'm tired of ppl thinking they know which foods are good or bad for you.
I don't believe there are any good or bad foods. period.
It irks me when I feel good about my food choices, and then someone comes along and lectures me (directly or indirectly) on how this or that isn't good for me, and I should have made different choices.
And I think that's what you mean. Isn't it? So yes, it bothers me too.
In fact, when I asked my Sunday School class for prayer over my blood sugar readings, a fight actually broke out about what I should be eating! Meats or veggies, carbs or not, whatever. Ridiculous!
If we followed *everyone's* advice on what to cut out because it's bad for you, what would be left? Fruits and vegetables? Bread and pasta? "Bad" if you're watching carbs, "good" if you're watching fats. Meat? Dairy? Eggs? "Bad" if you're watching fats or cholesterol, "good" for low-carbers. Diet drinks and artificial sweeteners? "Bad" if you're into natural foods, "good" for low-cal and low-carb fans. Water? Well, that's the one thing we all agree on, maybe, as long as it's purified.
But who can live on water alone?
Last edited by LovebirdsFlying; 03-09-2010 at 12:09 AM.
Does this irk anyone else?
