Where’s the Terrorist?!
If there were ever were to be a terror plot to affect all of society, it would be the recommended 6-11 servings of processed carbohydrates recommended on the USA’s Food Pyramid. If you asked a room full of doctors that were nutrition experts if they would recommend the food pyramid to their patients, you will most likely see zero hands go up. Here are a few reasons why:
- Process grains are stripped of their husk, the shell that contains most of the nutrients. This is one of the reasons why the FDA recommended fortifying bread with vitamins and minerals.
- The husk breaks down quickly at room temperature. This means bad news for grain company’s profits and even worse news for you…
- The husk is dense which allows slow digestion of the carbohydrate center. Since almost all bread companies have removed the husk, the carbohydrates break down very fast. This fast break down causes blood sugar to spike upward. ‘So what’? you ask?. As blood sugar levels rise, insulin is released from the pancreas to shove that sugar into your cells for energy. The higher the sugar level, the higher the insulin levels. Like any hormone, when too much gets produced the body becomes resistant to it as a self-protective measure.
- High insulin levels can lead to:
- Diabetes
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Increase testosterone in women–> Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)–> greater insulin resistance–> increased testosterone… see the cycle (see blood tests for PCOS)?
- In men- Increased conversion of testosterone into estrogen–>Erectile dysfunction, low libido, sperm mutation (infertility), depression, cardiovascular issues, insulin resistance, diabetes, prostate cancer (see the 10 most important blood tests for men)
- Increased cholesterol production by the liver. If the cholesterol becomes oxidized (which it will for those on the SAD diet (Standard American Diet)) it will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and can create hormone problems (most hormones are made from cholesterol…see the new VAP cholesterol test).
- Increased cortisol production. Prolonged cortisol exposure can shut down the immune system, further promote insulin resistance, break down muscle tissue, and promote cortical atrophy (death of brain cells, especially in the area of memory).
- Most processed grains contain a protein called gluten. Gluten makes dough sticky if you will. Outside of bread, gluten is found in many other products like ketchup, ice-cream, salad dressing, toothpaste, and instant coffee (see entire list).
- Since most people are constantly bombarded with gluten, their immune system may start to sift to an abnormal state and begin to overreact. Gluten is a major factor in Celiac Disease, Autism, autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Lupus, Sjogren’s Syndrome, and many other conditions (see related tests for autoimmunity).
The good news is that not everyone is gluten sensitive. Since most food sensitivities and allergies are delayed reactions (e.g. if you ate the offending food on Monday, you may not show any signs/symptoms until Wednesday), it makes it hard to pinpoint the problem. IgG food allergy testing is used to identify these foods which then allows you to change your dietary habits and thus greatly lessen the massive burden of food sensitivities. IgG food allergy testing is available throughout the website. You may also contact our office for more information.
I hope this helped heighten your knowledge of true health. Feel free to follow me on Facebook where I post very helpful articles and health tips. You can also click on the “RSS Feed” button to get notified every time I post a new article. This site is packed full of useful information to make sure you share it. To paste one of my links in a health forum is simple and could help hundreds of people.
Dr. Brady Hurst
Clinic Director for:
True Health Center for Functional Medicine
TrueHelathLabs.com (Lab Tests Online)
