Low carb foods like Kale is about the most nutritious vegetable you can eat. ‘Fad diets’ come and go with the breeze, just about as fast as you gain all the weight back you lost. There are low carb diet and low-fat diets among a hundred other books about it for sale online.
Personally, I have found that fiber rich diets are the best for losing weight. That’s how I lost almost fifty pounds. So far, the weight’s stayed off. But, we do need a certain amount of calorie intake and nutritional content to function right each day.
It seemed in the past that fat or oil was the weight gain culprit. Then, the low-fat diet was hatched. But, to make things taste good, they had to add more salt and sugar. Fat makes food taste much better.
No matter what they name fad diets, (low-fat, high fat, high carb, low carb, high protein, detox, body cleansing, etc.) most of them have failed miserably! Americans eat more ‘refined carbs’ and are heavier than ever!
Everyone loves the taste of food cooked in oil. I know I do. Fried foods taste great. I still love foods drenched in unhealthy oil and fat, but don’t eat them. I know greasy food satisfies, but remember good tasting food doesn’t mean it’s healthy!
Fried, greasy, oily and fatty foods will eventually put us ‘six feet under’ because of a heart attack or stroke. Therefore, don’t cook with oil or drizzle it over your salad! No good!
More than a few Americans have veered away from fatty foods in favor of refined carb foods. And, voila! We got even fatter with less fat! Cases of obesity and diabetes are soaring even higher. Why is this so?
The more refined carbs like sugar and ground up grain we eat, the more insulin is needed to process these carbohydrates and regulate blood sugar. It gets turned into the fat we wear. But, the larger danger is when fat surrounds our organs.
Change over now to the good carb food
- Favor legumes like beans, lentils and peas
- Brown rice and wild rice
- Potatoes
- Eat fruits like berries, bananas and oranges
- Include vegetables like green salads and broccoli
It’s a ‘grand deception’ when you think refined carbs are healthier than oil. Did you know fat or oil has nine calories per gram and carbs have only four? It’s the ‘type of carbohydrate’ that makes you ‘lose or gain’ weight.
Refined carbs are in all the empty calorie junk or snack food. Resistant starch (like in potatoes, brown rice and pinto beans) doesn’t get digested quickly, so blood sugar doesn’t rise fast.
The more insulin secreted, the more fat our bodies store. There are good calories and bad calories. There are also good and bad carbs. It matters which ‘carbs’ you ingest.
Complex carbohydrates are known to be ‘good carbs’ because they have fiber. Simple carbohydrate is sugars found in foods like fruits. It’s OK to eat whole fruit because it has fiber. Fiber is an important ‘key’ to health.
But, do avoid fruit juice. Fiber helps control our blood sugar levels reducing cholesterol. Foods with white flour (or any other powdered grain) and added sugar in processed food is ‘bad carbohydrate’ because it elevates blood sugar too quickly.
To conclude, don’t worry about ‘calories or low carb foods’ when you eat plant-based whole food. We can stuff ourselves until full because it has superior nutritional value and plant fiber.
Even though snacks like some crackers, cookies and granola bars may have fiber added, they are not real food. It never satisfies for long. I used to eat the whole package, bag or box watching TV! I kept wanting even more. Did you know wheat is addictive?
Ground up (refined) grain causes your blood sugar to skyrocket. There is also added sugar (fructose) salt and fat in junk and snack foods (as in crackers, cookies, bread, pastry, pasta, etc.)
Refined carbs are the health and weight gain problem, not nutritious complex carb whole foods like beans, brown rice and potatoes. Begin shopping healthy now with your new grocery list.
Note- check with your doctor before you change your diet.
