Refined Food Risks: Why They're Like Trying to Keep a Bonfire Going with Toilet Paper
by www.SixWise.com
You've heard the advice: eat fewer refined foods like white
bread and white sugar. But what exactly are refined foods,
and what makes them so taboo?
|
Anything made with white sugar or white flour is at
the top of the list of refined foods to avoid.
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When you think of something that's refined, you may think
of something that is superior to its predecessor. And in terms
of food, refined versions are said to be "made purer
by an industrial refining process."
And when food
processing first began, it was only the wealthy who could
afford such luxuries as "refined" white flour and
white sugar, while the peasants had to make do with foods
the way nature created them.
So what's the problem?
Refined Foods Lack the "Good Stuff"
While your food is being "made purer" it's essentially
being stripped of everything in it that's good for you. Nutrients
are lost, valuable fibers are removed, and what's left is
a bland, nutrient-poor, calorie-rich shell of a real food.
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With refined foods, natural variations such as color and
texture are removed, so the end product is often perfectly
colorless, uniform in texture and quite uninteresting (a good
comparison would be replacing a diverse forest with a strip
mall).
Further, many refined foods are so far from their original
forms nutritionally that synthetic nutrients have to then
be added back in.
Meanwhile, your body processes refined foods very differently
than whole foods. Take, for example, a handful of whole grains
and a handful of white flour. Let it sift through your fingers
and what do you notice? The whole grains go through slowly,
while the white flour runs through like water.
This is similar to what happens inside of your body. While
whole foods, such as an orange, contain fiber, nutrients and
other beneficial compounds that take your body some time to
digest, refined foods, such as orange juice, contain only
simple carbs that get metabolized very quickly.
Under normal circumstances, every time you eat your blood
glucose (sugar) levels will rise slightly. This signals
your pancreas to release insulin, which makes sure your blood
sugar levels do not get too high.
However, if your blood glucose levels remain elevated for
too long, such as can happen if you eat a steady diet of refined
foods, it can lead to obesity, diabetes
and damage to your kidneys, eyes, nerves and blood vessels.
In this way, eating refined foods are very much like trying
to keep a bonfire going with toilet paper. Your body (the
bonfire) consumes the refined foods (the toilet paper) extremely
quickly, yet does not get enough sustenance to keep fueled
for long. After a brief boost, you will need to eat more and
more refined foods just to keep going (but eventually even
an unlimited amount of refined foods will not be enough to
fuel your body).
|
Love pasta but want to eat healthier? Swap regular
noodles for whole-grain varieties that are now
widely available in stores.
|
This may also explain why a 2004 study published in
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that
people who ate the most white bread and other refined
foods gained the most belly
fat, a dangerous type of fat that can infiltrate
your liver and other organs, streak through your muscles
and even strangle your heart.
Meanwhile, the people who gained the least amount of
weight over time were those who ate high-fiber foods
regularly -- and high-fiber foods are, of course, whole
foods.
How to Get More Whole Foods in Your Diet
The bottom line is that your body was designed to eat
foods in their whole form, and when you give your body
this preferred fuel it will function better on all levels.
The good news is that it's quite easy to replace refined
foods with far healthier whole versions, and here is
a list to get you started.
|
| Instead Of ... |
Choose ... |
| White bread |
Whole-grain bread (the FIRST ingredient should
say WHOLE Wheat, WHOLE rye, WHOLE buckwheat, or whatever
type of grain you choose) |
| Fruit juice |
Fresh fruit |
| White sugar |
Pure, raw honey |
| White pasta |
Whole-wheat pasta |
| Refined vegetable oil |
Unrefined cooking oils (they will say "unrefined"
on the label) |
| Bakery (made with white sugar and flour) |
Home-made varieties made with whole-wheat flour
and fruit or honey instead of sugar |
Finally, if you are looking for an excellent cooking companion,
Alive
in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes is packed with
recipes using only healthy, raw foods -- and the results are
quick, delicious meals that you can feel good about feeding
your family!
Recommended Reading
All
the Health Risks of Processed Foods -- In Just a Few Quick,
Convenient Bites
Food
Nutrition Labels: Six Catches You Need to Know
Sources
American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 2, 504-513, August
2004