Below is an article from Isabel on Grains and Bread which may help if you are struggling with your Weight Loss
Grains
For several million years, humans survived on a diet of
animals and plants. As hunter gatherers, they ate whatever they could find.
With the introduction of new farming practices 10,000 years ago, humans began
eating sugar and starch (in the form of grains and potatoes).
Although 10,000 years sounds like a long time, it’s really
only a fraction of a second in evolutionary terms and the human body and
digestive system have not evolved to process and digest high amounts of
carbohydrates from starch and sugar rich diets. Genetically speaking, humans
still have the bodies of cavemen.
Carbohydrates
Most Americans eat far too many carbohydrates—in the form of
bread, cereal, pasta, corn (a grain, not a vegetable), rice, potatoes, and
processed cakes and snacks—with severe consequences to their health. Making matters worse, most of these
carbohydrates are consumed in the form of processed foods. After 130 years of
consuming highly processed grains in the form of breads, pastries, and cereals,
chronic diseases such as heart disease, elevated cholesterol, and obesity are
rampant among most industrialized nations.
I do not suggest that everyone should follow a low-carbohydrate
diet; everyone needs a certain amount of carbohydrates. What most people
haven’t realized is that the body’s storage capacity for carbohydrates is quite
limited, and any excess is stored as fat. Therefore, it is important to
remember that vegetables and fruits also contain carbohydrates.
Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates generates a rapid
rise in blood glucose (sugar). To compensate for this increase, the pancreas
secretes insulin into the bloodstream, which lowers the glucose. Insulin,
though, is essentially a hormone that stores excess carbohydrate calories (as fat
in the thighs, abdomen, and buttocks) in case of famine. Even worse, high
insulin levels suppress two other important hormones: glucagon and human growth
hormone, which regulate the burning of fat and promote muscle development,
respectively. So, the insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat, and then
inhibits the body’s ability to lose that fat.
The goal to successful weight loss is to first find the
right quantity of carbohydrates that provide enough fuel and energy for the day
(but not so many that we end up storing most of it as fat), then consume the
right kind of carbohydrates to feel good and satiated after a meal.
Bread
Probably the most consumed and most popular of all carbohydrates
among Americans is bread. Americans consume far too much bread, and the
negative effects of its consumption are manifest in poor health and excess
weight. Americans also consume the wrong kinds of bread.
The only bread allowed on the Diet Solution Program is Food
for Life brand’s Ezekiel organic sprouted whole grain products. The process of
sprouting changes a grain’s composition in numerous ways to make it more
beneficial as a food. It increases the content of vitamins dramatically.
The whole wheat bread that the American public has been led
to believe is healthy contains processed wheat, which is deficient in
nutrients. Hence the extremely high prevalence among Americans of digestive
disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome and constipation.
Chronic constipation can lead to many potentially dangerous
health disorders and also can make losing weight quite difficult. Simply
replacing bread with sprouted grain bread can radically improve your digestion
and your ability to lose weight.
Note that if you are intolerant of gluten or wheat, then you
also will be intolerant of Ezekiel organic sprouted whole grain bread. Even
though sprouted grains are healthy foods for most people, the Ezekiel
ingredients include wheat and other grains that contain gluten.
Gluten
Intolerance
Many people cannot digest gluten—a protein found in wheat
and some other grains that forms the structure of bread dough and suffer from mild
to severe gluten intolerance. Possible symptoms of gluten intolerance include
abdominal pain and cramping
bloating and flatulence
bone and joint pain
chronic diarrhoea
emotional disturbances such as anxiety and depression
fatigue (especially after eating gluten containing foods)
infertility
painful skin rash
weight gain or the inability to lose weight
If you suspect that you may be intolerant to gluten, I
encourage you to eliminate gluten from your diet for at least 4–6 weeks to
determine whether your symptoms are alleviated.
If you feel relief after following a gluten-free diet for 4–6
weeks, then you may be able to maintain a healthy weight more easily without gluten.
Because most individuals who are intolerant to gluten also are intolerant to
dairy, lactose, or both, I encourage you to also eliminate dairy and dairy containing
products while you’re on a gluten free diet.
Eliminating
Grains
Many health experts recommend that people who suffer from chronic
disease (e.g., diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart
disease), have struggled with obesity their whole lives, or are genetically
predisposed to obesity or chronic disease completely eliminate grains from
their diet.
by Isabel De Los Rios
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