Carbohydrate is the main macro to be concerned about because it is particularly obesogenic, irrespective of calories, through its disruption of blood glucose homeostasis. But all energy macronutrients should be of concern. This carbs, fat and protein. You need to make sure you aren't eating too many carbs and a fat and eating enough protein.
2. Nothing happens if you are low carb and decide to eat a slice of bread every morning, if it’s the only carbohydrate you have.
The only thing that determines what "happens", is your blood glucose. If the slice of bread you eat, every morning, does not interfere with blood glucose regulation, for the rest of the day and night, then "nothing happens".
Unfortunately, we have seen time and time again how this is not the case through calorie restricted diets. These diets keep you at one slice of bread for breakfast or one bagel or one pop tart, so you don't go over your calorie allotment, but yet you still continue to gain weight and eventually become diabetic.
This is because carbs are notorious for interfering in blood glucose regulation, irrespective of their calories (amount). This is particularly true of the already overweight/obese/diabetic and why you shouldn't try to negotiate with carbs but instead, eliminate them.
3. The fiber in whole fruit is protective.
Absolutely not. Fiber does not protect you from diabetes. That is a myth. If fiber was kryptonite for diabetes, then you would be able to take a fiber pill, every morning, and either cure your diabetes, if you already have it, or never get it if you don't.
What is protective in whole fruit is its glucose to fiber and water ratio. In other words, it's not the presence of fiber that makes whole fruit benign, it's the percentage of glucose in relation to its fiber and water content. The higher the glucose, the greater the interference with blood glucose.
For example, if I take a strawberry and grind it in a blender, it becomes one tablespoon of liquid. I need to grind an entire pint of strawberries in order to make myself a decent smoothie that will fill up a glass. The destruction of the fruit's fiber, by the blender, causes me to eat much more strawberries than I would otherwise, upping my glucose/fructose load to obesogenic levels. The addition of fat and sugar, to make this smoothie, adds to its already obesogenic profile.
Eating the fruit whole, does not save me from this because I keep the fiber intact. It saves me from this because I can't eat as many whole strawberries and I don't add more energy to them. So in essence, what is protective is your teeth.
Teeth are protective against diabetes because teeth cause less glucose to be eaten. People who have a "drinking problem" and make everything into a beverage are particularly obese and at risk for diabetes.
4. Is there an ideal insulin level?
If there is, no one knows it. We surmise that a fasting insulin level of between 3 - 6 is ideal because that is the average insulin level of hunter/gatherers, but there is a big difference between hunter/gatherers and modern man, particularly in their body composition. Once again, context is everything and why numbers alone are meaningless. This is why we put more emphasis on insulin expression, than on just serum insulin levels.
For example, there is a difference between an athletic body builder's insulin of 6 and a sedentary obese person's insulin of 6. Yes they are both 6, but the body builder is using their insulin for building muscle, while the obese person is using their insulin to build more fat. This makes the insulin of 6 irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is what is the insulin doing.
So, this 3 - 6 insulin recommendation is just that, a recommendation. Results are truly the only thing that speaks volumes. We do not guide ourselves by any one marker, on this blog.
5. Oats are deadly.
No. Oats are not deadly, in the short term. They are worse than deadly. They are completely unnecessary. If the third world could see how easily real food is obtained in Western societies, they would douse you in their oats and set you on fire for insisting on eating them. Do not eat like a peasant, unless you are willing to live like one.
No one reading this blog should be lounging on their couch, with their AC on, while watching Netflix and eating a bowl of oats. That's ridiculous. You better be outside toiling on your farm instead.
I have talked about this before, but I'll refresh everyone's memory. Oats are for horses, not for humans. If you are stranded on a deserted island and the Discovery Channel purposely supplied you with a variety of grains to eat and nothing else, please don't starve. I understand that not everyone knows how to, or has the capacity, to hunt. Maybe the island is barren and you can't hunt a thing. If that's the case, the safest grain you can consume from your supply is oats. Thankfully you aren't on an island. No one has supplied you with only grains and you don't have to hunt. You can just drive to Walmart and get some real food.
Real food is not oats.
Having a choice, changes everything. Stop eating oats for breakfast. This isn't farm life in 1807. Just eat eggs and meat.
6. Many studies continue to show a link between whole grain intake and better health.
This is a good segue to the oats statement above, which is simple to comment on - anything that deviates from the Standard American Diet (SAD) will show health improvements. Anything. Whole grains are not part of the SAD diet. This means that if I eat oats for breakfast, rather than Frosted Flakes, I might be thinner. But thinner doesn't mean not fat. If I eat a whole wheat bagel for breakfast, rather than pancakes, I might have lower blood glucose postprandial. But lower does not mean normal. If I eat a slice of 1000 ancient grain bread for breakfast, rather than a Snickers bar, I might have lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Again, lower does not mean normal.
So, basically the bottom line is that if I compare my mother in law's cooking with a bowl of turds, she will always come out as the best chef in the world. Therein lies the problem with all these studies showing the health benefits of whole grains. They are comparing whole grains to standard junk, so they will always see a vast improvement across the board. Couple that with the fact that most people who lean towards eating whole grains follow healthier lifestyles over all, like avoiding smoking and getting regular exercise, you will automatically get a much healthier person.
Of course, there is going to be a huge difference in health when you compare whole grain eating "Evan" in San Francisco to waffle eating "Bubba" in Mississippi. But if you compare Evan to a hunter/gatherer, who eats no grains, guess who will win?
These studies are just another ploy to get people to eat "healthier". Not healthy, just healthier. Just like calories are a way to get people to stop gaining weight. Not get thin, just stop gaining. Mediocre, half-assed goals that have not made a dent, so far, in the obesity/diabetes epidemic.
You cannot negotiate diabetes away. Diabetes is not a "disease" caused by lack of diplomacy. It is an adaptation that requires non diplomatic elimination of what perpetuates it, like whole grains.
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