Well balanced article on Carbs

Mr_Pot said:

Whole grain really means the whole of the grain and the term is permitted as a description as long as the germ, endosperm and bran are contained in the original proportions. When flour is refined only the endosperm part which contains most of the starch is retained. The alleged benefit of whole grain is that most of the vitamins are in the germ part and the bran contains fibre.

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See post #11 for context

“I don’t disagree with anything in the article as such, but I think the layperson should be aware that just because something has “whole grains” on the box doesn’t mean it won’t cause a significant glucose response.”

jpscloud said:

And toffee - if I start with that I won't stop. Although that proved dangerous to my fillings way before I understood how dangerous it is for my metabolism!

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Oh mine is peanuts so I have to turn away in stores lol.

kitedoc said:

Where does chia, taken as the seeds, not as flour, fit into this discussion?
And we have teeth with which to mash and grind food and saliva which contains enzymes to start breaking down starches etc, whether we have smashed, ground, sliced or whatever before it reaches our mouths.
Are we saying that we should never have begun eating grains, or that to adapt we needed a digestive system that could maintain us a meat diet, a bit like the Inuit, as well as adapt to savanna where there may have been less meat etc.
And has it been the deliberate breeding of grain crops and fruit crops for commercial gain that has swung the pendulum around to the metabolic unfitness of the majority today ?

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My understanding so far is that the processing of grains makes the sugars more readily available, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the level of processing. Mixing those with fats as in cream cakes and pastry and so on, then incorporating them into our daily diets is what has done the damage. Not everyone gets diabetes as a result of course but it is undeniably a modern epidemic.

My personal problem with grains is that I preferred them as processed as possible and combined with fats and plenty of added sugars. For this type of food I have no off switch and have almost eaten myself to death.

bulkbiker said:

I'd hazard a guess that it hasn't done us any favours and so far as I'm aware we do have a digestive system that can happily handle only meat (that's how I've been eating for the past 6 months). I think there was probably more meat available on the plains than anywhere else as well as more carrion?

I'd say yes to that too..that and transportation so we can now eat things completely out of season and that would not have grown where we now live.. like bananas in England in January for example. Completely impossible in nature (well bananas in England almost any time in fact).

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I like the perverse logic of it: One would not transport coals to Newcastle because there is plenty there already, but we will transport out of season or exotic foodstuffs anywhere whether people's genetic metabolism is suited or not.
Mind you the air travel and the like, emigration etc the metabolic genetics are mixing but who is going to necessarily forego the banana because that is not their tribal food or in season?
And I am unsure how much dietitians get this or not. I suspect some do because they may work with indigenous peoples or have sussed out the charlatanism but otherwise, like their views on low carb high fat diets and carnivore diets, the food industry (and registration and training bodies) have done a number of them. But boy, are some of the Aussie dietitians riled up !! Time for a revolution ??

I believe another factor with consuming carbs and fat together, besides the reward cycle, is that by remaining a sugar burner you are effectively denying your body access to use the fat as fuel, and so the calorific content goes straight to the hips/belly and stays there forever.

jpscloud said:

And toffee - if I start with that I won't stop. Although that proved dangerous to my fillings way before I understood how dangerous it is for my metabolism!

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Had exactly the same issue with toffee switched to fudge, which is almost irresistable and being softer, is really easy to overdose on. My daughter gave me some gorgeous homemade fudge for xmas. Have to admit to eating it all. - but not all in one go

kitedoc said:

Where does chia, taken as the seeds, not as flour, fit into this discussion?
And we have teeth with which to mash and grind food and saliva which contains enzymes to start breaking down starches etc, whether we have smashed, ground, sliced or whatever before it reaches our mouths.
Are we saying that we should never have begun eating grains, or that to adapt we needed a digestive system that could maintain us a meat diet, a bit like the Inuit, as well as adapt to savanna where there may have been less meat etc.
And has it been the deliberate breeding of grain crops and fruit crops for commercial gain that has swung the pendulum around to the metabolic unfitness of the majority today ?

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Grains and fruits were seasonal before we settled down and invented agriculture. So we would stuff ourselves with whatever fruit or grain was available, store the excess carbs as fat and then live off that in the lean times when we had to survive off whatever game we could catch. Prossessed food was whatever could be crushed with a rock, and the grains were wild varieties with much less carbs in them compared to todays varieties. Unfortunately our food has evolved faster than us, the consumer.