absolutely critical that the carbohydrates you eat be mostly those with a low glycemic index to ensure the maintenance of low levels of blood sugar and insulin. We should limit our intake of high-glycemic carbs to only immediately before or immediately after a high-intensity weight-training workout. This will shuttle muscle-building nutrients quickly into muscle tissue and promote growth and strength.
CARBOHYDRATES AND FOOD ADDICTION
Unfortunately, carbohydrates now form the bulk of our diets. Seventy-five percent of all Americans overreact to carbohydrates and produce too much insulin in their bodies. This causes marked fluctuations in blood sugars and higher-than-normal baseline levels of insulin, which, over time, can create a dependency on sugar and highly processed carbohydrates, leading ultimately to more fatness and obesity along with serious health consequences.
In spite of all this, our love for sweets and processed carbohydrates continues to escalate. We eat an average of 20 teaspoons of sugar every day. That’s 320 calories daily, or 117,000 calories a year, which our bodies convert into 33 pounds of fat. And this doesn’t include the natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and milk—it’s just the sugar that is added to our foods. It includes white, raw, brown, or cane sugar; corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup; molasses, honey, or sorghum syrup; and fruit juice concentrate. No matter what it is called, it’s all the same—just plain old white table sugar, which has 4 calories per gram and no other nutrients.
Recent studies done at the University of Wisconsin have demonstrated that fat alone, or the combination of fat with sugar or salt, has a powerful neurochemical effect on the brain, causing it to release certain natural chemicals similar to drugs like heroin and morphine that activate pleasure centers and promote addiction. Dr. Ann Kelly, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and the senior author of the study, believes it is the fat that is the primary addicting culprit—especially when it is combined with sugar or salt.
This study, which strongly suggests that fast food is addictive, is expected to be the basis of a number of obesity lawsuits filed against the fast-food industry. In fact, lawyer John Banzhaf III, famous for his battles against the tobacco industry, has already used some of Dr. Kelly’s research as a foundation for lawsuits he is threatening to bring against six fast-food giants (McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken).
An ultra-low-carbohydrate eating plan is the only way I know to beat carbohydrate addiction. My plan is easy to follow, and I can personally confirm that your hunger will be well controlled and your food cravings and compulsive eating will come to a rapid stop. On this plan you will limit your intake of all carbs to less than 30 grams a day, and replace the carbohydrates you have eliminated with high-quality protein containing low amounts of saturated fat.
My Life Plan diet differs significantly from Dr. Atkins’s low-carb diet, because he promoted (actually encouraged) the consumption of unhealthy saturated fats found in red meats, bacon, and dairy products, while I believe that these fats need to be avoided, since they are proven to cause heart disease. Instead, you will be replacing unhealthy fats with the disease-fighting essential fatty acids and monounsaturated fats I mentioned above. The reason this very-low-carb diet does such a great job in controlling eating and cravings is that it rapidly achieves control over blood sugars and insulin levels and thereby prevents the vicious cycle of hyperinsulinism (high insulin levels) followed by low blood sugar levels—the root cause of cravings and addiction to sugar and processed carbohydrates.
Within a few days after you start this approach, your cravings for sweets, breads, pastas, and bagels will begin to subside. After one week, the cravings
CARBOHYDRATES AND FOOD ADDICTION
Unfortunately, carbohydrates now form the bulk of our diets. Seventy-five percent of all Americans overreact to carbohydrates and produce too much insulin in their bodies. This causes marked fluctuations in blood sugars and higher-than-normal baseline levels of insulin, which, over time, can create a dependency on sugar and highly processed carbohydrates, leading ultimately to more fatness and obesity along with serious health consequences.
In spite of all this, our love for sweets and processed carbohydrates continues to escalate. We eat an average of 20 teaspoons of sugar every day. That’s 320 calories daily, or 117,000 calories a year, which our bodies convert into 33 pounds of fat. And this doesn’t include the natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and milk—it’s just the sugar that is added to our foods. It includes white, raw, brown, or cane sugar; corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup; molasses, honey, or sorghum syrup; and fruit juice concentrate. No matter what it is called, it’s all the same—just plain old white table sugar, which has 4 calories per gram and no other nutrients.
Recent studies done at the University of Wisconsin have demonstrated that fat alone, or the combination of fat with sugar or salt, has a powerful neurochemical effect on the brain, causing it to release certain natural chemicals similar to drugs like heroin and morphine that activate pleasure centers and promote addiction. Dr. Ann Kelly, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and the senior author of the study, believes it is the fat that is the primary addicting culprit—especially when it is combined with sugar or salt.
This study, which strongly suggests that fast food is addictive, is expected to be the basis of a number of obesity lawsuits filed against the fast-food industry. In fact, lawyer John Banzhaf III, famous for his battles against the tobacco industry, has already used some of Dr. Kelly’s research as a foundation for lawsuits he is threatening to bring against six fast-food giants (McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken).
An ultra-low-carbohydrate eating plan is the only way I know to beat carbohydrate addiction. My plan is easy to follow, and I can personally confirm that your hunger will be well controlled and your food cravings and compulsive eating will come to a rapid stop. On this plan you will limit your intake of all carbs to less than 30 grams a day, and replace the carbohydrates you have eliminated with high-quality protein containing low amounts of saturated fat.
My Life Plan diet differs significantly from Dr. Atkins’s low-carb diet, because he promoted (actually encouraged) the consumption of unhealthy saturated fats found in red meats, bacon, and dairy products, while I believe that these fats need to be avoided, since they are proven to cause heart disease. Instead, you will be replacing unhealthy fats with the disease-fighting essential fatty acids and monounsaturated fats I mentioned above. The reason this very-low-carb diet does such a great job in controlling eating and cravings is that it rapidly achieves control over blood sugars and insulin levels and thereby prevents the vicious cycle of hyperinsulinism (high insulin levels) followed by low blood sugar levels—the root cause of cravings and addiction to sugar and processed carbohydrates.
Within a few days after you start this approach, your cravings for sweets, breads, pastas, and bagels will begin to subside. After one week, the cravings
Similar Books
