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Burger buns, French fries, sodas, pizza, pasta, bagels, bread, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles, scones, muffins, cake, chips, crackers, cereal, candy...
a who’s who of carbohydrates, and a list of food items that dominates the daily diet for many millions. Add all that up, day-in and day-out, and you have a carbohydrate overload that experts say is bad for your brain…not to mention the rest of you.
One such messenger is nutritionally-oriented neurologist David Perlmutter, who has created waves in the health world with his bestselling book, Grain Brain. In it, he argues that the brain thrives on a fat-rich, low-carbohydrate diet, and, unfortunately, today’s proliferation of carbs is putting that equation at risk and destroying our brains.
Dr. Perlmutter, an old friend, conducted an exhaustive review of medical research and found ample evidence to incriminate excess carb intake as a brain-hostile practice. He warns that it’s not just your typical refined carbohydrates (namely, white flour) that are problematic, but so-called healthier whole grains can be as well. Based on his research and many years in clinical practice, he believes that the unprecedented dietary domination of cheap carbohydrates during the last century has led to overconsumption, and contributed to multiple problems including dementia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression. During this time we have gone from a high-fat, low carb diet to a low-fat, high carb diet.
We have become a society of carboholics!
As Dr. Perlmutter says, we need to go beyond thinking of diet as more than just how food affects the tightness of our pants. “Diets impact the functioning of our entire body…including our brain. There’s a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the food we eat and the state of our health; it’s up to us to make smart choices and increase our consumption of those foods that will keep our bodies operating optimally.”
Grains (examples: wheat, oats, rice) are carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are broken down by the digestive system into sugar; refined grains break down quicker than whole grains. But whether refined or whole, we just eat way too many of them. And often, we wash down our carb-loaded meals with sodas, which pile on more sugar and sweeteners, further increasing the onslaught of carbohydrates. Inside the body, both above and below the neck, this high tide of sugar stokes oxidative stress that leads to inflammation and tissue damage.
When I say above and below the neck, I mean that this overload is destructive in a systemic way. When the body becomes flooded with carbohydrates, the pancreas responds by spiking its insulin production (insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar). Over time, the body’s cells stop responding to insulin (insulin resistance), leading to weight gain, belly fat, inflammation, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even to a significantly increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. All carbohydrates activate the insulin response to varying degrees.
Read on: http://www.heartmdinstitute.com/
a who’s who of carbohydrates, and a list of food items that dominates the daily diet for many millions. Add all that up, day-in and day-out, and you have a carbohydrate overload that experts say is bad for your brain…not to mention the rest of you.
One such messenger is nutritionally-oriented neurologist David Perlmutter, who has created waves in the health world with his bestselling book, Grain Brain. In it, he argues that the brain thrives on a fat-rich, low-carbohydrate diet, and, unfortunately, today’s proliferation of carbs is putting that equation at risk and destroying our brains.
Dr. Perlmutter, an old friend, conducted an exhaustive review of medical research and found ample evidence to incriminate excess carb intake as a brain-hostile practice. He warns that it’s not just your typical refined carbohydrates (namely, white flour) that are problematic, but so-called healthier whole grains can be as well. Based on his research and many years in clinical practice, he believes that the unprecedented dietary domination of cheap carbohydrates during the last century has led to overconsumption, and contributed to multiple problems including dementia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression. During this time we have gone from a high-fat, low carb diet to a low-fat, high carb diet.
We have become a society of carboholics!
As Dr. Perlmutter says, we need to go beyond thinking of diet as more than just how food affects the tightness of our pants. “Diets impact the functioning of our entire body…including our brain. There’s a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the food we eat and the state of our health; it’s up to us to make smart choices and increase our consumption of those foods that will keep our bodies operating optimally.”
Grains (examples: wheat, oats, rice) are carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are broken down by the digestive system into sugar; refined grains break down quicker than whole grains. But whether refined or whole, we just eat way too many of them. And often, we wash down our carb-loaded meals with sodas, which pile on more sugar and sweeteners, further increasing the onslaught of carbohydrates. Inside the body, both above and below the neck, this high tide of sugar stokes oxidative stress that leads to inflammation and tissue damage.
When I say above and below the neck, I mean that this overload is destructive in a systemic way. When the body becomes flooded with carbohydrates, the pancreas responds by spiking its insulin production (insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar). Over time, the body’s cells stop responding to insulin (insulin resistance), leading to weight gain, belly fat, inflammation, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even to a significantly increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. All carbohydrates activate the insulin response to varying degrees.
Read on: http://www.heartmdinstitute.com/
