Monday, August 20, 2012

[fast5] Carbs: Are they bad?

 


This video is very long, and rather loaded with ideas. I think Dr. Johnson must do a LOT of experimenting!

Anyway, I think what he is saying is important, and it ties together a lot of what has been said over the years in this group. Dr. Johnson has a mixed take on IF -- he thinks using up the glycogen and then having a time to go into "fat eating mode" is important, but he's also in favor of breakfast. But a more important point is that he's researched how "carbs" affect weight, and he may have the answer to my personal questions: "If carbs make you fat, then why are the Japanese so slim?".

What he has found, basically, is that excess *fructose* causes uric acid levels to rise in the blood, and the rise in uric acid causes "metabolic syndrome". The person becomes leptin-resistant, and starts eating more and more, while at the same time, ATP levels drop and the person has no energy to exercise. When this is reversed ... by giving gout medication for example ... blood pressure drops and the person gets skinnier. He's experimented for years on animals with this.

Now as to the Japanese ... starches don't metabolize into fructose. They metabolize into glucose, which doesn't have the same effect for most people or animals. So it's not just a matter of "carbs" ... specific carbs have a specific effect.

However, if uric acid levels are high, sometimes the body can convert glucose to fructose. For those people, they need to avoid glucose too. So Barney, you might have a very good point: some people need to just go low-carb for some period of time, to lose the weight.

According to Dr. Johnson, human beings tend to eat less-ripe fruit, which has more Vitamin C and less fructose. Also eating the whole fruit doesn't seem to have a huge effect. However, fruit juice does have a big effect, and just about any sugar ... including table sugar, agave, palm sugar, coconut sugar, molasses. Dextrose and rice syrup and Karo though, don't have fructose. Dates and dried fruit has lots of fructose. And of course soft drinks are loaded with fructose, but it's not just the HFCS pop. The soda made with white sugar or apple juice as a sweetener are just as bad. Sports drinks too.

Then I started looking at other foods that raise uric acid levels. A big one is *beer* ... something I did identify as problematic for me with weight. Another is iron, which I was having problems with, partly because of the high-iron levels in our water and my love of good grass-fed beef. Beef and organ meats also raise uric acid levels.

And there are foods that lower uric acid levels. One is vinegar, which has been associated with weight loss for some time. Another is *eggs* ... and recently it's been found that adding eggs to your diet can make people lose weight faster.

--
Heather Twist
http://eatingoffthefoodgrid.blogspot.com/
 
 

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