Quality Control

The pain in the ass has increased. We know which carbohydrates are ideal and which are not so ideal. It is the belief of many people in evolutionary sciences that our bodies have not evolved to the point of safely digesting particular foods. Using "safely" as lack of a better word; they can be digested (we have been most of our lives) but probably shouldn't due to their design and natural composition. Who are these destructive adversaries?

Grains, Potatoes and Legumes.

These three culprits have toxins within them (enzyme blockers, lectins and also in potatoes, glycoalkaloids). Some of these toxins are destroyed when cooked. The problem is that not all of them are. All which are not good for your body. Many of these foods where deemed un-eatable until they were cooked, due to their toxic state. Legumes include peanuts, cashews, and all beans. These items all contain toxins which are referred to as anti-nutrients and are usually packed with calories and low on nutritional value. Meat and fish are cooked for sanitation purposes.. These guys are cooked to convert from an inedible state to an edible state. Cow dung may have some excess nutrients in it ,that the cow didn't digest; so would you eat that if someone told you that baking it would destroy the toxins in it to deem it edible?

Wikipedia states that "lectins are sugar-binding proteins which are highly specific for their sugar moieties. They typically play a role in biological recognition phenomena involving cells and proteins. For example, some bacteria use lectins to attach themselves to the cells of the host organism during infection."  Well, shit.. how much damage could a some of these lectins do, if I'm not able to destroy all of them via cooking? (List Courtesy of earth360.com / Dr. Ben Balzer, Family Physician)

     -strip protective mucus off tissues,
     -damage the cells lining the small intestine
     -disrupting the microscopic fingers called villi and microvilli
     -get swallowed whole by the small intestine cells
     -bind to cells including blood cells causing a clot to form
     -make a cell act as if it has been stimulated by a hormone
     -stimulate a cell to secrete a hormone
     -promote cell division at the wrong time
     -cause growth or shrinkage of lymphatic tissue
     -cause enlargement of the pancreas
     -cause cells to present codes (HLA's) that they normally should not use
     -cause cell death (apoptosis)

Imagine what years and years of these occurences could potentially compound into (in time); autoimmune diseases? How many times have you heard "He/She was so healthy and then all of a suddenly they got sick (or developed a disease)." Years of these toxins and/or high insulin levels have dramatic effects on our bodies; you may not notice it for a period of time, but it has the potential to become quite the monster one day. Your body needs proper nourishment, and the decrease/elimination of these can increase your health immensely. We already know the high blood sugar / insulin issues associated with grains; it's a problem in itself. Gluten intolerance has been linked problems like infertility, to diseases like celiac and lupus. Barley, Bran, Breads, Cereals, Oats, Muesli, Rice, Wheat, and Corn, are all considered grains. Pre-agricultural revolution populations had no sign of any cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer or autoimmune diseases.

This "ideal" style of eating, in combination with the consumption of lean meats, fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables and some fruit, could be considered a Paleolithic Diet. Stone Age diet, Hunter/Gatherer Diet.. Call it what you like, but it serviced some of the healthiest populations (in the past), free of modern day diseases and health problems. While the processing and consumption of grains has only been around for some 10,000 years, mankind had been eating paleolithically for about 2.5 million years; not quite proportional. This is just one more thing to take in consideration for modification of your diet (for increase efficiency); The quality associated with paleo eating can jump start and support significant results in both muscle gain and weight lose. Dr. Loren Cordain, believes that a paleolithic diet "can lead you to ideal body weight, optimum health and peak athletic performance" (from his website www.thepaleodiet.com) 

Eat things that you personally would be able to prepare. Seek out non-processed foods and avoid manufactured foods/beverages. Keep your fruit and vegetables varied, for palate reasons, as well as varied vitamin source (eat what's in season, it'll keep your produce bill cheaper as well). Foods jacked up with preservatives are doing you an disservice. If the price is right, shoot for grass-fed beef. Foods with longer shelf-lives tend to be of less quality. If something makes you sick, avoid it. Some peoples' stomachs are stronger than others and can handle the digestion of dairy; The lactose in dairy is sugar, so there is an aspect of high blood sugar associated with dairy, as well as possible fat quantities (based on pasteurization). If you can handle dairy, consume at controlled quantities. The goal here is optimization of health.

The health results are unbelievable. A month of eating this way will not go unnoticed. The biomarkers on an average blood panel will present you with the internal results (significant cholesterol improvements, lowered blood pressure if hypertension is present, increased LDL particle sizes, and much more), not to mention increased insulin sensitivity, more constant energy, as well as faster recovery. The benefits are beyond words and bullet-points. Eat when you're hungry, eat until your full.. no measuring, no weighing, no proportioning.. just easy, healthy eating.

References:
The Paleo Diet - Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
Against the Grain - Katherine Czapp
Paleolithic Diet - Staffan Lindeberg
Refined Food Bad! Caveman Diet Good! - Mike Taylor
Natural Toxins in Food - New Zealand Food Safety Authority
Phytohaemagglutinin - Wikipedia
Introduction to the Paleolithic Diet - Dr. Ben Balzer
Hidden Gluten Sensitivity a Leading Cause of Infertility - Julie Renee Holland

Comments

[Adam]

I had no idea cashews were so bad. And I eat them almost every day! The Zone recommends them so that's why I ate them so often. I'll have to cut back.