Eating Carbs Actually Leads to Weight Loss and Health

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Title: Eating Carbs Actually Leads to Weight Loss and Health

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Author: Mark Hyman MD

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Eating Carbs Actually Leads to Weight Loss and Health

Copyright 2006 Mark Hyman MD

Carbohydrates are the single most important food you can

eat.

That statement probably goes against everything you've ever

heard, so let me explain.

If you don't believe me, take this little test. Think of a

carb!

If you're like most Americans, bread, pasta, soft drinks,

French fries, sugar, and similar foods probably flew into

your mind. Yes, these foods are carbs -- highly processed

and refined ones.

And if these are the kinds of carbs you consume on a

regular basis, let me warn you, (unless you regularly run

marathons), you're most likely either overweight or heading

down the road to weight gain.

You may like them, you may consider them " comfort foods, "

you may think that they couldn't be so bad since they are

so predominant in our current diet. But the biological

bottom line is that human beings have not evolved to

metabolize these types of carbohydrates.

They slow down your metabolism and contribute to every one

of the major diseases associated with aging including

diabetes, heart disease, dementia and cancer.

In most, cases they are also " empty " calorie foods-the

worst possible combination -- high caloric foods, low in

nutrients. They deprive you of vital nutrients as well as

burden your body with the task of digesting food molecules

that aren't giving you anything you need.

Eating them (especially in excess) is a prescription for

weight gain. But they're not the end of the carb story. If

you're like most people, you may not realize that the wide

world of carbs is actually much, much bigger than this

limited crowd of processed carbs.

In contrast, natural carbohydrates, which come to your

table just like Mother Nature made them, contain many

essential nutrients and specialized chemicals that turn up

your metabolism via newly discovered plant chemicals call

phytonutrients.

So you have a choice: use phytonutrients to spark your

metabolism into action, or drown your metabolism with

indigestible nutrient-poor carbs.

Our genetic nutritional template goes back 20,000 years.

Our ancestors foraged for wild food, like wild berries,

grasses, roots, and mushrooms to find life-giving

phytonutrients that all humans are designed by nature to

eat.

On a recent vacation I found myself in a sea of

phytonutrients in the wild islands of Southeast Alaska. I

was foraging along with the grizzly bears for bog

cranberries, blueberries, nagoonberries, raspberries, and

strawberries. These scrumptious berries, bursting with

phytonutrients, were smaller, richer in color and taste,

(and lower in sugar) than their domestic berry cousins.

Here's a tip: The greater variety and the deeper the color

of plant foods you eat, the higher their concentration of

phytonutrients. The key is to learn which

phytonutrient-dense foods can prevent disease and promote

weight loss.

Want phytonutrient power?

Here 's a small sample of the many superfoods that contain

these powerful phytonutrients: isoflavones in soy foods,

lignans in flax seeds, catechins in green tea, polyphenols

in cocoa (yes, chocolate!), glucosinolates in broccoli,

carnosol in rosemary, and resveratrol in red wine.

And there are hundreds more that can help you unlock the

secret to natural weight loss. All of these compounds --

and dozens more -- will help you fight disease and obesity.

These special compounds literally communicate with your

genes and turn on messages of health and weight loss. They

are key to the success people experience in losing weight

on a program I've developed during my 20-years practicing

medicine, called UltraMetabolism.

Before you reach for that Cinnabon, know that

phytonutrients only occur in whole, unrefined, unprocessed

plant foods. All vegetables (and many fruits) score high in

phytonutrients, while processed carbs, like bread and

pasta, have virtually none.

Here's a shorthand to distinguish between the metabolism

boosters and the processed carbs that will only weigh you

down:

Anything that has been packaged or put through a machine is

processed (like a potato chip). Anything that comes right

out of the earth is natural (like a plum).

Don't let all the terminology -- high fat, low-fat,

high-carb, low-carb, high glycemic index, low glycemic

index, complex carbs and simple carbs -- confuse you. The

key is eating whole, real, unprocessed, food found as close

to nature as possible. Now you know why your grandmother

always told you to eat your vegetables!

Folk wisdom passed down the generations showed how to give

the body what it needs. In the early twenty-first century,

that wisdom is being confirmed in the research of leading

edge scientists. So you can follow these recommendations I

offer with total confidence that the latest medical science

backs them up.

This new science reveals why you should never do what some

ill-advised diets suggest: cut out all carbs. Not a good

idea-because you also cut out all the phytonutrients (and

the fiber) that only comes from whole plant foods.

Along with their obesity fighting chemicals, vitamins, and

minerals to accelerate your metabolism, most whole

carbohydrates are filled with healthy plant fiber to slow

the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream.

And for super fast weight loss, you'll want to eat some

special " super " fiber foods which I use as my secret weapon

with many patients who have had difficulty losing weight.

Once you incorporate them into your diet, you'll feel full,

experience steady energy, and will never be tempted to

overeat.

Here's a guarantee: If you've been consuming highly

processed foods such as sodas, chips, and crackers, and you

decide to boost your intake of those powerful

phytonutrients that I've reviewed, you'll be taking the

first step towards re-programming your body for automatic

weight loss and health.

My dirty little secret as a doctor is that I never treat

anybody specifically to lose weight; I simply help them

become healthy using these and other techniques and the

weight automatically comes off.

So remember, eat your carbs, but make them the right carbs!

About the Author:

Mark Hyman, M.D. is a NY Times bestselling author,

lecturer, and practicing physician. Discover how you can

program your body to automatically lose weight and find out

what special super fiber can help by grabbing an exclusive

sneak preview of UltraMetabolism at

http://www.ultrametabolism.com/article5