The challenges in health for the modern lifestyle is less physical activity and more mental stress. The challenges in health with the traditional diet are with sugar and staple foods. Fat in foods is not the dietary problem of our times. The problem with the traditional diet is that it’s high in carbohydrates to support lots of physical activity like farming compared to sitting behind a computer. People have been on low-fat diets for decades now and obesity is on the rise. Even children are acquiring adult onset diabetes – something that only adults use to get hence the name was changed to type II diabetes. These troubling carbohydrates are what I like to call staple foods. Staple food are the cheap foods that are often eaten such as bread, pasta, and white potatoes – basically high-glycemic starchy foods, cereals and grains. These staple foods offer lots of calories and mostly breaks down into sugar. Whatever sugar is not burned as fuel is stored as fat.

Keep in mind that there are simple carbohydrates (bad) and complex carbohydrates (better). The complex carbohydrates are plant-based whole foods such as broccoli, beans, and brown rice – higher in fiber and nutrients. Simple carbohydrates like bread and pasta are processed from complex carbohydrates like wheat. The processing of these complex carbs into simple carbs destroys the nutrients, removes the fiber and condenses the natural sugars. Manufacturers fortify these simple carbs for this very reason – they are almost void of nutrition. Stay with me now because there’s a lot to understand about all these terms. All carbs, when broken down, release sugar but the simple carbs tend to offer a higher quantity of calories and sugar. There is indigestible fiber in complex carbs which prevents us from taken in too many calories/sugar and helps regulate bowel movements. That’s the benefit of whole-foods. When you hear the term whole-foods this implies foods still in their original whole form – i.e. apple, broccoli, spinach. I never seen a bread tree – in other words bread is not a whole food it is a processed grain with other ingredients added in that tend to do more harm than good.

Here’s the bottom line on this issue – if you eat lots of staple foods but you aren’t physically active your naturally-thrifty body will store the excess fuel/sugar as fat and you will gain weight. The body will also tend to produce more inflammation which can lead to all sorts of health issues including heart disease, diabetes, asthma, allergies, fatigue and sleep apnea. If you want to lose weight you need to eat a low-carb diet. When you take away this cheap fuel source that’s low in nutrients the body will start burning fat until weight normalizes based the intake of calories to the amount of energy you spend physically. Always consult a health professional before attempting any diet changes especially if you have concerning health issues.