Over millions of years humans have evolved to eat a diet of primarily wild animals and vegetation and our genes have changed very little in the last 100,000 years. Yet in the last few thousand years our diets (and our lives) have changed remarkably.
It is estimated that the first grain mill was produced around 5,000 years ago. As a result we have not had time to evolve to process our modern diets, in particular the high consumption of processed grains and sugars.
Any meal or snack high in grains or refined sugar generates a rapid rise in blood glucose. When there is more sugar than your body requires for its current needs it is stored for the future. Your pancreas secretes insulin to store the sugar for future requirements. Some sugar is stored in the liver and muscles but not as much as most people think. In fact the amount of sugar stored in muscles and the liver is not even enough for one active day. Anything over and above that is stored as fat. This is your body saving for rainy day (a drought or famine). In our modern society and with our western diets, these famines never come. We always have more sugar and carbohydrates than we need available to us.
Any sudden increase in blood sugar from grains or refined sugars leads to increased insulin. This then rapidly removes the sugar from the blood stream, leading to lowered blood sugar. If ignored long enough, this will lead to a “crash" as a result of hypoglycaemia and low blood sugars.
If these eating habits are maintained over time, the cells will try to protect themselves from the toxic effects of high insulin and hence their receptors become resistant. This means that the pancreas has to secrete more insulin to get the same job done. It has to “yell" louder to get the cells to listen. This of course is a vicious cycle, with more resistance leading to more insulin leading to more resistance and so on.
Insulin also has many other effects in the body. High insulin levels lower your levels of glucagon and growth hormone, both of which help to burn fat and sugar. It causes hunger (especially for sweets), leads to decreased vitamin C absorption (lower immunity), decreased magnesium in muscles (muscle cramps and constricted blood vessels), increased blood pressure and heart rate, altered growth hormone levels (decreased bone formation, osteoporosis), decreased thyroid function and increased cell division (ageing).
Of course our body needs carbohydrates. They are an essential part of our diet. The trick is to eat carbohydrates that are released more slowly and so don't lead to the same sugar spikes and crashes. The best way to get these “good" carbs is of course fruit and vegetables, in particular vegetables. And the best way for them to be eaten is whole and as raw as possible. This means that all of the fibre and body of the fruit and vegetables stays intact, ensuring that the carbohydrates are released slowly and evenly into your body.
So get your carbohydrates from fruit and vegetables (and limited whole grains), and you will improve your health and vitality in more ways than one.
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