Carbs in Nutrition.

[-KJ-]

Carbohydrates in Nutrition
by Ron Kennedy, M.D., Santa Rosa, California


Carbohydrates come in two basic forms: complex and simple. Simple carbs are one, two, or at most three units of sugar linked together in single molecules. Complex carbs are hundreds or thousands of sugar units linked together in single molecules. Simple sugars are easily identified by their taste: sweet. Complex carbs, such as potatoes, are pleasant to the taste buds, but not sweet.

There are two groups of complex carbs: high fiber and low fiber. High-fiber, complex carbs are not digestible, at least not by human beings, because we do not have the enzyme to do the job. Cows have that enzyme; that is why they can get calories out of grass, and we cannot. The main stuff in high-fiber, complex carbs which is indigestible by humans is called "cellulose."

High-fiber (high-cellulose) vegetable foods are the healthiest choices for human nutrition, and intake of these foods is associated with lowered incidences of hypertension, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, etc. Examples are lettuce and broccoli. Examples of low-fiber, complex carbs are banana, tomato, squash and all cereals and grains (therefore bread and pasta), potatoes and rice.

It matters not if a carb is simple or complex. After digestion, it appears in the circulatory system in the simple form, as glucose, on its way to the cells where it is used for energy. To be transformed into simple sugars, complex carbs must be digested by the enzyme amylase. Amylase is secreted by the salivary glands, which empty into the mouth, and by the pancreas, which empties into the head of the duodenum.

Simple sugars and low-fiber, complex carbs represent a threat to health when they are consumed in inappropriate amounts such as may occur in low-soy, vegetarian diets where they are being eaten to replace the calories which would ordinarily come from protein.

Processing of plant food strips away its fiber and/or vitamin content. A simple example of processing is cutting an orange in two pieces, pressing the juice into a glass and discarding the fiber.

While it is true that fiber is an important part of your diet, even necessary to protect you from some diseases, carbohydrates themselves are not necessary. There are "essential" fatty acids and "essential" amino acids (from protein), however there are no known essential carbohydrates.

Most of our carbohydrates come from cereals and grains, both products of the agricultural revolution. Our bodies are not genetically designed to thrive on large amounts of these fiberless complex carbs. With the popularity of cereal- and grain-based "health diets," carbohydrate metabolism has been upset in approximately 3/4 of the population which simply cannot handle this large load of carbs. Increased insulin output from the pancreas, over the years, results in hyperinsulinism, insulin resistance and the resulting diseases mentioned above: hypertension, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Complex carbs with lots of fiber should be consumed in proper proportion for maximum health and vitality. Complex carbs with lots of fiber are rich sources of necessary vitamins and minerals as well as enzymes when in the raw state. The problem happens when carbohydrates are altered by processes which provide empty calories stripped of much of their original food value.

I should also mention the relationship between simple sugars and mucus formation. The biochemical name for mucus is mucopolysaccharide. This literally means "mucus of many sugars," and it tells us how mucus is formed through the linking together of sugar molecules. If you have a condition, such as asthma or emphysema, in which mucus is part of the problem, you can do yourself a lot of good by stopping your intake of simple sugars and lowering your intake of complex carbohydrates (which convert to simple sugars upon digestion). Unfortunately, this means such wonderful sweet fruits as plums, peaches, apples, etc., must go along with breads, pastas and pastries.

The most healthy form of sugar is the complex carbohydrates present in high-fiber vegetables; however, it is certainly acceptable to spice up your diet in moderation with simple sugars in the form of whole fruits — unless, of course, you are trying to avoid mucus formation. Eat your fruits, do not juice them and drink them, unless you are on a juice fast as described earlier in this book. Eating the whole fruit results in the inclusion of natural fiber, which allows proper absorption of sugars. If you must have juice, dilute it with twice the recommended amount of water, so as to get the taste without overdosing on simple sugars.

The Result of Excess Carbohydrate Intake

Excess carbohydrates also causes generalized vascular disease. The high-carbohydrate diet which is now so popular causes the pancreas to produce large amounts of insulin, and if this happens for many years in a genetically predisposed person, the insulin receptors throughout the body become resistant to insulin. Because insulin's action is to drive glucose into the cells, this results in chronic hyperglycemia, also called "high blood sugar." A large portion of this sugar is stored as fat resulting in obesity. Excess insulin also causes hypertension and helps initiate the sequence of events in the arterial wall which leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Adult onset diabetes is known to be greatly benefited by the adoption of a low carbohydrate diet, moderate in fat, which stresses the importance of a regular intake of sufficient protein. You will not hear this advice from the American Diabetes Association, (or from most doctors) since they are still operating on the research as it was twenty years ago.

Many cancers, such as breast, colon and lung cancer, apparently have a hereditary tendency. However, it may be that nutritional habits are passed on from one generation to the next, thus accounting for the familial tendency toward cancer.

Excess fats damage the immune system through irradiation by free radicals during peroxidation of fats. Excess carbohydrates upset the hormonal system mentioned above (known as the "eicosanoids") and results in an imbalance favoring the type of eicosanoid (known as "prostaglandins E-2" or "PGE-2") which also suppresses the immune system. Thus obesity is associated with a higher incidence of infection.

What do you thinks fellas?

[SlimmerMe]

I think you are a great addition to this forum is what I think~

[-KJ-]

I think you are a great addition to this forum is what I think~

Thanks Slimmer. Means alot.
Try my best to give info as accurate as I can and use what I have learned on here.
And if I find an article that I feel is a good read i'll share it.

Also spoken to alot of nice people id would like to get to know more.

[gbrice75]

Nice post, agree with everything i've read. Good job KJ!

[-KJ-]

Nice post, agree with everything i've read. Good job KJ!

Cheers GB!

[oscarjones]

Carbohydrates in Nutrition
by Ron Kennedy, M.D., Santa Rosa, California


Carbohydrates come in two basic forms: complex and simple. Simple carbs are one, two, or at most three units of sugar linked together in single molecules. Complex carbs are hundreds or thousands of sugar units linked together in single molecules. Simple sugars are easily identified by their taste: sweet. Complex carbs, such as potatoes, are pleasant to the taste buds, but not sweet.

There are two groups of complex carbs: high fiber and low fiber. High-fiber, complex carbs are not digestible, at least not by human beings, because we do not have the enzyme to do the job. Cows have that enzyme; that is why they can get calories out of grass, and we cannot. The main stuff in high-fiber, complex carbs which is indigestible by humans is called "cellulose."

High-fiber (high-cellulose) vegetable foods are the healthiest choices for human nutrition, and intake of these foods is associated with lowered incidences of hypertension, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, etc. Examples are lettuce and broccoli. Examples of low-fiber, complex carbs are banana, tomato, squash and all cereals and grains (therefore bread and pasta), potatoes and rice.

It matters not if a carb is simple or complex. After digestion, it appears in the circulatory system in the simple form, as glucose, on its way to the cells where it is used for energy. To be transformed into simple sugars, complex carbs must be digested by the enzyme amylase. Amylase is secreted by the salivary glands, which empty into the mouth, and by the pancreas, which empties into the head of the duodenum.

Simple sugars and low-fiber, complex carbs represent a threat to health when they are consumed in inappropriate amounts such as may occur in low-soy, vegetarian diets where they are being eaten to replace the calories which would ordinarily come from protein.

Processing of plant food strips away its fiber and/or vitamin content. A simple example of processing is cutting an orange in two pieces, pressing the juice into a glass and discarding the fiber.

While it is true that fiber is an important part of your diet, even necessary to protect you from some diseases, carbohydrates themselves are not necessary. There are "essential" fatty acids and "essential" amino acids (from protein), however there are no known essential carbohydrates.

Most of our carbohydrates come from cereals and grains, both products of the agricultural revolution. Our bodies are not genetically designed to thrive on large amounts of these fiberless complex carbs. With the popularity of cereal- and grain-based "health diets," carbohydrate metabolism has been upset in approximately 3/4 of the population which simply cannot handle this large load of carbs. Increased insulin output from the pancreas, over the years, results in hyperinsulinism, insulin resistance and the resulting diseases mentioned above: hypertension, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Complex carbs with lots of fiber should be consumed in proper proportion for maximum health and vitality. Complex carbs with lots of fiber are rich sources of necessary vitamins and minerals as well as enzymes when in the raw state. The problem happens when carbohydrates are altered by processes which provide empty calories stripped of much of their original food value.

I should also mention the relationship between simple sugars and mucus formation. The biochemical name for mucus is mucopolysaccharide. This literally means "mucus of many sugars," and it tells us how mucus is formed through the linking together of sugar molecules. If you have a condition, such as asthma or emphysema, in which mucus is part of the problem, you can do yourself a lot of good by stopping your intake of simple sugars and lowering your intake of complex carbohydrates (which convert to simple sugars upon digestion). Unfortunately, this means such wonderful sweet fruits as plums, peaches, apples, etc., must go along with breads, pastas and pastries.

The most healthy form of sugar is the complex carbohydrates present in high-fiber vegetables; however, it is certainly acceptable to spice up your diet in moderation with simple sugars in the form of whole fruits — unless, of course, you are trying to avoid mucus formation. Eat your fruits, do not juice them and drink them, unless you are on a juice fast as described earlier in this book. Eating the whole fruit results in the inclusion of natural fiber, which allows proper absorption of sugars. If you must have juice, dilute it with twice the recommended amount of water, so as to get the taste without overdosing on simple sugars.

The Result of Excess Carbohydrate Intake

Excess carbohydrates also causes generalized vascular disease. The high-carbohydrate diet which is now so popular causes the pancreas to produce large amounts of insulin, and if this happens for many years in a genetically predisposed person, the insulin receptors throughout the body become resistant to insulin. Because insulin's action is to drive glucose into the cells, this results in chronic hyperglycemia, also called "high blood sugar." A large portion of this sugar is stored as fat resulting in obesity. Excess insulin also causes hypertension and helps initiate the sequence of events in the arterial wall which leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Adult onset diabetes is known to be greatly benefited by the adoption of a low carbohydrate diet, moderate in fat, which stresses the importance of a regular intake of sufficient protein. You will not hear this advice from the American Diabetes Association, (or from most doctors) since they are still operating on the research as it was twenty years ago.

Many cancers, such as breast, colon and lung cancer, apparently have a hereditary tendency. However, it may be that nutritional habits are passed on from one generation to the next, thus accounting for the familial tendency toward cancer.

Excess fats damage the immune system through irradiation by free radicals during peroxidation of fats. Excess carbohydrates upset the hormonal system mentioned above (known as the "eicosanoids") and results in an imbalance favoring the type of eicosanoid (known as "prostaglandins E-2" or "PGE-2") which also suppresses the immune system. Thus obesity is associated with a higher incidence of infection.

What do you thinks fellas?

It goes beyond there being 2 types of carbohydrates! Since the fertile crescent (beginning of agrarian way of living, 10,000 years ago) our species has been planting these things called grains. We stopped being hunter gatherers and started planting in one spot and growing the majority of our foods.

Grains as a hole offer us a different way of eating, and each has their own set of liabilities that goes along with them. Wheat, oats, rye, spelt, for example, have what we call prolamins - very hard to digest and uniquely antigenic proteins, which are very rich in proline and glutamine.

The thing about Wheat is, it's a hexaploid species - us as humans are diaploid - we have 2 sets of chromosomes we inherit, one from each parent. Whereas, wheat is a byproduct of 3 different grasses interacting to produce a species that has 6.5x more genes than we do. As a result, that produces...

23,000 different proteins!

Ok, so we're dealing with 23,000 different proteins when we eat a slice of bread. This is obviously a problem, because our bodies have to break down these complex proteins into single amino acids for them to be incorporated effectively into our body without stimulating an immune response, and then being used as fuel.

The other known mechanism which happens to cause problem as well in wheat. It's called gliadin. Alpha-gliadin, an alcohol soluble protein, in this huge complex of proteins, is the number one culprit in inducing this autoimmune enteropathy in the intestine. This we see most commonly in people who have been diagnosed as celiac.

Interestingly enough, this gliadin has a unique feature which upregulates the protein in the intestinal wall that causes the gap between the enterocytes (your intenstinal wall is only 1 cell thick) to open up, and which literally opens up pandora's box, or leaky gut syndrome and intestinal permeability.

Regardless they've done tests on non-celiac vs. celiac disease sufferers and found that both are susceptible to gliadin stimulating the intestinal permeability. A pathological response to wheat, is a normal response! Eat healthier! Cut out the wheat, and other grains that may have cross-reactivity!

[-KJ-]

Interesting info Oscar thanks...

[boxer08]

Intresting read...can someone list the best sources of carbs to eat going off that post please.

[Gucks]

ill be honest, i couldnt pay attention long enouhg to read it all :P like what i read though!

[Gucks]

Intresting read...can someone list the best sources of carbs to eat going off that post please.

depends what u want them 4. u cant go wrong with brown rice 4 ur meals.

[musclestack]

Intresting read...can someone list the best sources of carbs to eat going off that post please.

Complex carbs: brown rice, oats, sweet potato, quinoa, lentils, beans........
High Fiber carbs: brocolli, asparagus, green beans....

[oscarjones]

depends what u want them 4. u cant go wrong with brown rice 4 ur meals.

Complex carbs: brown rice, oats, sweet potato, quinoa, lentils, beans........
High Fiber carbs: brocolli, asparagus, green beans....

Contrary to popular belief some of the most common foods we once thought were healthy can have detrimental affects to our body's sensitive chemistry.

New information is always sprouting up, and that's why I love sharing knowledge and communicating here at forum base.

~~~~~~~~

"In a previous article this author discussed the "invisible thorn" found within all wheat products - including sprouted wheat bread and wheat grass- known as wheat lectin (technical name: Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA)). This intrinsically inflammatory and endocrine disruptive substance was thoroughly reviewed (via MEDLINE) and identified to have a broad range of potentially disruptive effects:

1) WGA may be Pro-inflammatory

2) WGA may be Immunotoxic

3) WGA may be Neurotoxic

4) WGA may be Cytotoxic

5) WGA may interfere with Gene Expression

6) WGA may disrupt Endocrine Function

7) WGA may be Cardiotoxic

8) WGA may adversely effect Gastrointestinal Function

9) WAGpathogenic similarities with certain Viruses

Explained better here.

A major revelation in addition to wheat lectin's intrinsically harmful properties is that it does not require immune-mediation to exert its adverse effects. Unlike classically defined wheat/gluten allergies, intolerances and celiac disease, which require positive findings on blood, intestinal biopsy and genetic tests, wheat lectin operates beneath this level of surveillance on a more primary, subclinical level.

This "invisibility" is why wheat lectin is often difficult to identify as a major contributing cause of morbidity in those who consume it is because while it may not be the sole or primary cause of a wide range of disorders, it is a major factor in sustaining or reinforcing injuries or diseases once they are already initiated or established by interfering with the healing process. This is due to the fact that wheat lectin (WGA) binds to and interacts with a basic component found within all neural, connective and epithelial tissue, namely, n-acetyl-glucosamine. Once WGA makes it through a compromised mucoust and/or digestive lining, for instance, it can exert systemic effects which are largely subclinical or simply overlooked vis-a-vis the often myopic conventional medical diagnostic gaze.

So why do plants like wheat produce lectins?

"Nature engineers, within all species, a set of defenses against predation, though not all are as obvious as the thorns on a rose or the horns on a rhinoceros. Plants do not have the cell-mediated immunity of higher life forms, like ants, nor do they have the antibody driven, secondary immune systems of vertebrates with jaws. They must rely on a much simpler, innate immunity. It is for this reason that seeds of the grass family, e.g. rice, wheat, spelt, rye, have exceptionally high levels of defensive glycoproteins known as lectins....

"WGA is Nature's ingenious solution for protecting the wheat plant from the entire gamut of its natural enemies. Fungi have cell walls composed of a polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine. The cellular walls of bacteria are made from a layered structure called the peptidoglycan, a biopolymer of N-Acetylglucosamine. N-acetylglucosamine is the basic unit of the biopolymer chitin, which forms the outer coverings of insects and crustaceans (shrimp, crab, etc.). All animals, including worms, fish, birds and humans, use N-Acetyglucosamine as a foundational substance for building the various tissues in their bodies, including the bones. The production of cartilage, tendons, and joints depend on the structural integrity of N-Acetylglucosamine. The mucous known as the glycocalyx, or literally, “sugar coat” is secreted in humans by the epithelial cells which line all the mucous membranes, from nasal cavities to the top to the bottom of the alimentary tube, as well as the protective and slippery lining of our blood vessels. The glycocalyx is composed largely of N-Acetylglucosamine and N-Acetylneuraminic acid (also known as sialic acid), with carbohydrate end of N-Acetylneuraminic acid of this protective glycoprotein forming the terminal sugar that is exposed to the contents of both the gut and the arterial lumen (opening). WGA's unique binding specificity to these exact two glycoproteins is not accidental. Nature has designed WGA perfectly to attach to, disrupt, and gain entry through these mucosal surfaces."

While eliminating wheat from the diet is an excellent and necessary step for improving health, it may not be alone sufficient, especially in those with serious health challenges. There are other lectins in the Western diet that have properties similar to wheat lectin (WGA), namely, "chitin-binding lectins." Remember, "chitins" are long polymers of n-acetyl-glucosamine, the primary binding target of wheat lectin. Wheat lectin and "chitin-binding lectin" therefore are functionally identical. These chitin-binding lectin containing foods are:

1) Potato (view abstract)

2) Tomato (view abstract)

3) Barley (view abstract)

4) Rye (view abstract)

4) Rice (view abstract)


Yes, you are seeing correctly: "gluten free" potato and rice, which are two of the most commonly used ingredients in "gluten and wheat free" products, are on this list. These foods contain a lectin structurally and functionally similar to wheat lectin. While the "nightshade" connection with inflammation has a well-established history, even if the scientific explanation for the connection has been somewhat lacking (perhaps until now), the fact that RICE is on this list amounts to a dietary bombshell. This may also explain why the grain-free diet often produces such superior over simply the wheat or gluten-grain restricted diet and why in some cases elimating rice may be necessary for full recovery from diet-induced or diet-related ailments."

bye Sayer Ji GreenMedInfo

~~~~~~~~

Hope this clears up some stuff!

[Swifto]

Most of my carb sources are from fruits and vegetables, but grains are also in there.

[oscarjones]

That's great Swifto.

If you want to eliminate all grains completely, it's quite easy to do with Quinoa (actually a fruit), and other legumes, such as brown/black beans, lentils, amaranth, buckwheat, etc.

**BUCKWEHAT/AMARANTH are grains but contain no gluten, or wheat lectins, so they are suitable for me personally.

[Swifto]

I use quinoa more than any other grain, perhaps on par with oats.

Its also a complete protein.

[-KJ-]

I think there are Pro's and Con's to everything so you just choose a side and go with it.

[oscarjones]

I think there are Pro's and Con's to everything so you just choose a side and go with it.

I would much rather go by scientific studies to chose which side. Medline is the number 1 doctors resource for finding our information. Granted the language requires some deciphering, however if you can understand even a small portion of molecular biology, then you are golden.

You are only as healthy as you want to be! All the information is out there for you guys to make better choices in regards to your health and well being, and really achieve that next level of wellness. So many men face GI problems as they age, and the information I have provided is one small step to help prevent and correct such problems.