Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Can the right diet make you heart attack proof? 'The Last Heart Attack in America' (video)
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is on a personal mission to never
have a heart attack. And in the process, he embarked on a year-long
investigation to find out what actions he could take to offset his
family history of heart disease by lifestyle choices. Gupta's
investigation is document in the video below, "The Last Heart Attack in
America".
With what we know right now, we could see the last heart attack in America - Dr. Sanjay Gupta
How to break out of carbophobia, cut carb cravings, and derail your jones for junkfood
Craving carbs? Eat them! To read this article online, click HERE now.
Carbophobia. I can - and have been known to - (just as I did with Sandra) go on
and on about this topic because it is fear of carbs that has made many
of us fatter than ever. How's that? Let me explain.
Not all carbs are created equal
You know already that all carbs are not created equal. You can see
the difference between a bowl of brown rice and a twinkie as good as the
next gal.
Now, intellectually you know they are not in the same league. Yet when it comes down to actually eating
that heaping plate of brown rice, potatoes, or sweet potatoes, you may -
even subconsciously - be gripped with the same fear. It's almost an
unspoken second language among women who have struggled with their
weight.
Craving carbs? - eat them!
Whoa, Nelly! What? Eat them? Remember, we've already agreed that
not all carbs are created equal. Yet there's another very important
thing you can do to finish defogging the glass on this one.
More often than not, when a client books a
consultation with me to find solutions to their
weight and energy problems,
one of their concerns comes up quickly in the conversation. And often
it looks like this: "I can't stop craving carbs!" Or "I'm having
trouble with carbohydrate cravings."
I usually press for details, by asking something like "Oh, well, specifically what did you eat or want to eat?"
"Cookies" is a common answer. Or, "Chocolate! "
To which I answer, "Well, cookies get a big chunk of their calories from
fat."
A quick Google search for "cookie ingredients" brought up a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with the analysis of:
calories per cookie: 266
total grams of fat per cookie: 12.4
I'll do the math. At 9 calories per gram, this cookie packs 112 of those 266 calories in pure fat.
That's 42% of those 266 calories kids. These cookies are almost half fat. Don't just blame the carbs here.
PLUS the carbs in these cookies are processed, fiber deficient, and
flavor enhanced. So what are we really craving here? How about a
pleasurable biochemical cascade (quick rush) from fat and concentrated sugars?
Let's level the playing field here. If were were really "craving carbs" then a bowl of brown rice should do it, shouldn't it?
But when we're at a carbohydrate deficit, we can't get the quick rush we get from high fat, high sugar items out of our minds.
Now that we've got that straight, let's clarify my "Craving carbs?
Eat them!" comment, just in case you've still got whiplash from that
one.
Quality carbohydrates for fuel from early in the day makes 'cravings' for sugar-and-fat junk food dissolve.
Has this every happened to you?
You resolve to 'eat better' today. You have a residual fear of carbohydrate - carbophobia - that has you limiting your oatmeal, measuring out 1/2 cup of rice, or carefully portioning your potato.
And
bread? Fuhgedabout it!
Then about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, you can't get
the cookies, or crackers - or whatever flavor your 'cravings' happen to
take - out of your mind and before you know it you are shattering your
nails and self-esteem ripping open the cake mix.
I thought I invented the term "Carbophobia" a decade ago, yet
Michael Greger, MD (photo,right) evidently had the same idea. Author of the book
Carbophobia,
Dr. Greger is a physician, author, and internationally recognized
professional speaker on a number of important public health issues and
was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the
infamous "meat defamation" trial.
I used to do this. Open face sandwich (1 piece of bread only!), or
1/2 potato at lunch. Then come early afternoon? Stay away from my
cookie dough and no one gets hurt.
The psychological pain of this, to someone who is fat and overweight at the same time as I was for lo those many years, is devastating.
Yet it can take decades - as apparently it did in my case - to get that
eating more generously of those healthy whole grains and starchy
vegetables, along with my veggies and legumes and fruits, was far better
for my weight loss goals in the long run than holding out with
white-knuckle hunger to only dive face-first into the brownie mix.
D'oh!
Carbohydrate is our most important fuel and we can't fool mother
nature for long by denying that. Hence, the desire for fast
carbohydrate in all its unhealthiest forms seizes our eating behaviors
in spite of our best intentions.
What about fighting carb cravings by eating fat?
Women have gotten it through the gravevine that if they only eat more
fat, they will reduce their carb cravings. The truth is, fats in our
diet other than the essential fats, in balance, that are found in whole
foods, hinders the work of insulin to shuttle sugar from the bloodstream
into the muscles. This can contribute to insulin resistance and can
create its own carbohydrate cravings. Whole, high fiber and low in fat
carbohydrates will allow a solid shuttle of energy into the muscles -
and the brain - where you absolutely need them as primary fuel.
We don't want to "fight" anything. Work WITH your body and watch carbophobia fade
Craving carbs means your body is sending the message
that you need them for fuel. It's a mix up to respond with processed
sugars and starches. Lumping them in the same category as real, whole
food carbs as primary fuel has gotten us into a lot of trouble.
Derail your jones for junk food by responding to your body's need- and
desire - for quality carbohydrate, to satisfaction, early in the day,
and watch that overwhelming craving for cr*p be barely a memory.
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