ARE GRAINS GOOD FOR US?

Boy have I been so wrong!
I took the US Government food pyramid seriously. I made sure and eat lots of whole grains every day, sometimes every few hours. I proselytized on my soapbox for over the past three years on the glorious benefits of whole grains, low fat and small portions of meat in my food column and blog. I was a stellar health nut, by conventional standards. It has been a little un-nerving and a bit humbling to find out that I have been wrong.
You see, all the craziness of our modern diet started about 10,000 years ago when our burly ancestors, who had been on earth for 200,000 years as hunters and gathers, decided to start growing things. Everything went pretty well until they started growing grains. I know, I know, it is recommended by our very own government’s health pyramid to eat 6 – 11 serving a day. But I’m here to tell you, don’t believe it. GRAINS ARE BAD FOR US.
Why? You see, grains are digested like sugars. They are just long chains of glucose that the body has to use insulin to process. Our modern diet is filled with so many grains, sugars and processed foods that we are always in the state of insulin rush. Insulin is constantly running around in our digestive system, like tidy housecleaners trying to mop up the mess of sugary carbohydrate laden foods and storing the energy into fat cells.
Insulin is such a good housekeeper that when it tidies up all the glucose in our blood, our body goes into a crash. You know what I mean, we’ve all been there. Then our brain, who loves glucose SCREAMS at us, “EAT MORE SUGAR, I NEED GLUCOSE NOW!” So we do, usually more empty calories called grains. “Modern” humans are so busy eating empty calories that they are starving for nutrition. We crave something, so we eat more and get more insulin production making us fatter. Vicious circle, I tell you!!
To make a long story short, cause I could go on forever, changing our diet to that based on fruits, veggies, nuts, good fats and lean clean meats like our hunter and gatherer ancestors, has many great benefits. I have been off grains, for the most part, for 1 month now. I can attest, that beside being pain free in my knees, an back Some of the wonderful benefits that I have experiencing are higher energy, mental well being, mental clarity, (great side benny!) need less sleep, less cravings and a lot less garbage and recycling. Oh and I have gained 3 pounds of muscle effortlessly, without counting calories. (Yippee!)
I know this will be hard for some of you to grasp so just play around with it and cut out little things here and there and pay attention to how you are feeling.
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