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Carbohydrates in Nutrition.

 
by Ron Kennedy, M.D., Santa Rosa, California .

 

Carbohydrates come in three basic forms: simple, refined, and complex. Simple carbs are one, two, or at most three units of sugar linked together in single molecules. Refined carbs are made of flour so that means foods like pastries, breads, and pastas. Flour has been stripped of its cellulose (fiber) and almost all of its nutritional value. Simple and refined carbs are referred to as" empty calories.” These calories require vitamins and minerals to be metabolized, but supply none of those requirements. Thus they drain the body of stored nutrients. Refined  carbs are hundreds or thousands of sugar units linked together in single molecules.

Simple sugars are easily identified by their taste: sweet. Most people know to avoid excess simple sugars. The same alarms do not go off when consuming breads and pastas, although they should since these items convert to simple sugar within minutes of consumption. Potatoes and rice are not very different in that respect.

Complex carbs come in two varieties: high fiber and low fiber. The main stuff in high-fiber, complex carbs which is cellulose. Fiber is not digestible by human beings because we do not have the enzyme (cellulase) to do the job. Cows and other ruminants do not make cellulase either, but they can get calories out of grass because they have a bacteria which can break down cellulose for them.

High-fiber (high-cellulose) vegetable foods (not grass of course) are the healthiest choices for human nutrition, and the ingestion is associated with lowered incidences of hypertension, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, etc. Examples are lettuce and broccoli. Examples of low-fiber, complex carbs are potatoes, rice, banana, tomato, squash and all cereals and grains (therefore bread and pasta), potatoes and rice.

After digestion, carbohydrates appear 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, refined 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, refined carbohydrates, 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 fiber less complex carbs. With the popularity of cereal-based 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 muco polysaccharide. 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 refined carbohydrates. which convert to simple sugars upon digestion. Unfortunately, this means such wonderful sweet fruits such as plums, peaches, apples, 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 in moderation. 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.

 

HOW REFINED CARBOHYDRATES CAN HARM YOU

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

 

All refined sugars and most refined grain products, anything made from flour, milled corn or white rice have had vitamins, minerals and other nutrients removed in processing. Some but not all of these nutrients may be added back in enriched flours or fortified foods.

From 1600 to 1930, more North Americans died from the vitamin deficiency diseases, beriberi and pellagra, than from any other cause. These diseases disappeared when governments legislated that all flour had to have three vitamins, thiamin, niacin and riboflavin left in or added back. Over the last 70 years, the incidence of heart attacks in the United States had been increasing until Congress legislated that folic acid must be left in or added back to flour; now the heart attack rate is decreasing. However, diabetes and obesity continue to increase at alarming rates in all age groups.

Where carbohydrates are found in plants, the B vitamins are also found. Carbohydrates are combinations of sugars, either as single sugars or chains of sugars from two to millions. When you eat carbohydrates, enzymes in your intestines break them down into single sugars and only single sugars can pass from your intestines into your bloodstream, where they can be used for energy, stored as sugar in your liver or muscles or be converted to fat. Many different chemical reactions then break down sugar one step at a time to release energy. Each reaction must be started by an individual chemical called an enzyme and the B vitamins are parts of these enzymes that start the reactions that break sugar into energy.

If any of the B vitamins are not available, the conversion of carbohydrates to energy is blocked. Instead, the carbohydrates are converted to fat which:

» raise blood levels of triglycerides;.

» uses up the good HDL cholesterol, which lowers blood levels of HDL and increases risk for heart attacks;.

» is stored in fat cells primarily in your abdomen;.

» helps form plaques in arteries, which makes them stiff and raises blood pressure; and blocks insulin receptors on cells so you cannot respond adequately to insulin. This causes you to produce more insulin, which makes you hungrier, makes you store more fat, and leads to diabetes in susceptible people.

When you eat carbohydrates that have been separated from the B vitamins, minerals and perhaps other nutrients which have not yet been identified, you increase your risk for diabetes, obesity, heart attacks and high blood pressure. We do not have enough dependable research to know if taking the B vitamins separately in other foods or supplements is as healthful as eating the B vitamins as they come in nature, paired with the carbohydrates in whole grains and other seeds, vegetables and fruits.

Refined carbohydrates

 Refers to foods where machinery has been used to remove the high fiber bits (the bran and the germ) from the grain. White rice, white bread, sugary cereals, and pasta and noodles made from white flour are all examples of refined carbohydrates.

 

 

Sugar vs. Refined Carbohydrates

By Dr. Stoll

Elimination of sugar is not enough to get quick, sustained, results.

 

This is in answer to the often asked question: "What is the difference between sugar and other refined carbohydrates?"

First, you have to know something about the Krebs Cycle. This is the metabolic pathway that ALL carbohydrates have to go through in order to be broken down into little energy packets called ATP (adenosine tri phosphate). This extremely complicated system is one of the first ones we physicians learn in medical school. The system requires at least 48 different nutrients to work at peak efficiency to complete the carbohydrate breakdown. All of these nutrients are present in any living food since they are processing their own Krebs Cycle to maintain their life processes.

A good example is the grain of wheat found in the pyramids. It is at least 2000 years old and yet a certain percentage of the grains will still grow. That means that the spark of life was continually burning all that time. The wheat Krebs Cycle had to function all that time. A grain of wheat is a perfect little package. It has just enough of the 48 micronutrients to digest exactly the amount of energy (starch) that is present in that grain of wheat. It is designed to last till the plant can grow enough root and leaves to make its own energy.

When we eat a whole grain, we are getting exactly the amount of micronutrients needed to digest the amount of carbohydrates in that grain--no more and no less. If we eat a grain that has been refined, all we have left are the carbohydrates. All the micronutrients have been removed to feed to animals. Remember, the main reason that refining is done is that the impoverished produce has a much longer "shelf-life". In other words, no self-respecting germ, rat, mouse, fungus, etc., will eat it. We humans are not smart enough to avoid it since we are complex enough organisms that we can borrow from Peter to pay Paul--FOR A WHILE!

Eating a refined anything means that our system has to provide, from storage, all of the micronutrients that are missing in the food. Eventually, we don't have enough places to borrow from and the first micronutrient's function has to be bypassed. Then, we are a little less efficient. Over the years, enough micronutrients are missing that we are inefficient enough to start sliding down the slippery slope of the "Bell Curve of Immunity". We don't die, we just get sick and pay the medical system a lot of money treating the symptoms of our "incurable condition".

This is the magic of the "whole-foods diet". Now aren't you glad you asked?

Since the American diet is about 75% refined, is it any wonder that we MDs make so much money?

A former patient of mine is a Registered Dietitian who was eating what her training told her was a good diet when she came to me with so many symptoms she could no longer work in her profession. Through our experience together, she not only became exuberantly healthy, but wrote a book the best I have yet seen that actually specifically trains the reader to avoid ALL refined carbohydrates. This is important because, once the Krebs Cycle is impoverished enough to create an addictive state to these substances, the slightest TRACE of a refined carbohydrate triggers an almost unbearable craving for this substance. If TOTALLY eliminated, the individual is not only much better within a week but has lost nearly all of the craving at the same time. If the diet is carefully continued, benefits will continue to accrue for about 3 months and cravings will be completely gone within 2 weeks.