Why Paleo and Wheat Belly are Not Fad Diets but Lifestyles

paleo, wheat belly, lifestyle changes, fad diets

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]You can find many articles online trying to call Paleo and Wheat Belly Lifestyles ‘Fad Diets,’ associating them with the likes of the Atkins diet. It is important to look at who is writing these articles, are they connected to big agribusiness in some way or the 6-sugar king families? Just like tobacco and sugar, these companies pay scientists to discredit any science research that proves their products unhealthy, until people take a stand and say enough is enough. While these lifestyles do have lower carbohydrate intakes, they do not, unlike Atkins, cut out all carbs, just unhealthy carbohydrates from the likes of seeds of grass and table sugars (Which believe it or not Atkins did have something right). Seeds of grass are something that the human body was never meant to consume but were adapted into our diets years ago (about 10,000) because of desperation from starvation in a time of ecological deprivation. Carbohydrates break down into sugars in the body and while some healthy carbs are good like those from broccoli and sweet potatoes, some like the sweet potato need to be limited due to the spiking of blood sugar. This is why foods that spike the blood sugar (carbs, like seeds of grass and sugars) are either completely eliminated or limited as well on these lifestyle plans.

This is a way of eating forever not to be mistaken with the fad diet way of eating that implies, eat this way for a few weeks or a month, then please feel free to eat any way you wish again. No, Paleo and Wheat Belly followers believe this is a way of living. Living truly, healthfully, and disease free as possible, these lifestyles are along the beliefs of Hippocrates, who said “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” When you take a deeper look into to why these lifestyles believe in not eating things like grains you can better understand why these choices are for true healthy living not for a fad weight loss. Although losing weight can be a benefit. Paleo lifestyle believes there was a reason that our ancestors instinctively stayed away from eating seeds of grass. Later the science that began to accumulate against human consumption of grains, much of which is featured in Dr. Davis’s Wheat Belly books, began to come to light. First grain consumption is virtually impossible for the structure of the human digestive system. Look at the animal world at those that naturally eat grains in the world, like cows, sheep, and goats. These animals have appropriate digestive systems in which to digest the layers of grain DNA.

Lets compare contrast for a moment a human verses a cow eating seeds of grass. A cow grows it’s teeth throughout its entire lifetime continuously, which compensates for the sandpaper like grinding of particles called phyoliths in grass. Humans grow teeth twice in a lifetime, childhood and adolescent years. We also have incisors, which cows don’t but rather are replaced with a bony dental pad to seize hold of grasses. I ask you this, if humans always ate grasses why are there less then 1% of tooth decay found in Neanderthals remains? Did you ever hear of a caveman dentist? Did they have fluoride toothpaste and floss? One of the earliest human civilizations to consume grains are the Egyptians, and interesting enough one of the first civilizations to also have dentists, even drilling holes for cavities.

The next difference in a cow is saliva and lots of it over 100 quarts to our minor production of 1 quart. Saliva is the first step to food breakdown for consumption.

One of the main differences is the 4 compartment stomachs in a cow verses our one. This 4-compartment stomach allows a cow to breakdown the cellulose in grasses. Ever heard the saying, chewin, the chud? Well, it comes from a cows’ ability to regurgitate the grasses it eats to start the breakdown process all over and fully gain the nutrients from grasses. A cow also has a much longer spiral colon for longer exposure to digestion. A cow’s unique 4 compartment stomach and colon hold a plethora of microorganisms that carry the cellulase enzyme and other enzymes to break down grasses. Although we do have some species of microorganisms that produce cellulase it is not enough to breakdown the components in grasses for human digestion.

While it is obvious that humans can not start breaking off a stock of wheat and start chewing on it from roots to stalk, removing the seed and pulverizing it to flour or mush makes it somewhat eatable. For example we can digest a component called amylopectin A, however other parts in the entire grass that are also found in the seed are not digestible, like wheat germ agglutinin, D-amino acids, gliadin (partially digestible), and trysin inhibitors. Lets recall the product I mentioned could be digested, amylopectin A, while it can be digested it creates high glycemic potential. An example often given, is just eating two slices of morning toast will spike the blood sugar higher then 6 teaspoons of regular table sugar. This is because amylopectin A breaks down even faster then table sugar from the moment you place it in your mouth, due to amylase in the saliva which digests it very easily, compared to other long chain carbs in the complex branch and even simple carbs. Why is this important? Because spikes in blood sugar lead to all sorts of bodily complications, like heart disease, diabetes, and host of other equally undesirable diseases and dysfunctions.

This information should be enough, but now we have the newest conundrum. Grain is being changed by big business agriculture with their genetically modified dwarf wheat stocks, virtually making wheat a poison. Also adding a none related travesty, allowing nature to be owned, putting a stamp of patented on a nature born, god given gift, and raping farmers of their organic lively hood, and forcing them to sell their agribusiness product like drug lords with their big corporate lawyers. But I will take a moment to step off that soapbox and back into the blog at hand, that of why Paleo and Wheat Belly is a chosen lifestyle of health not a fad diet to lose weight.

If the evidence of why not to eat seeds of grass is still not convincing enough for you to look into this life changing way of living, then read Dr. William Davis’s book, ‘Wheat Belly’ and you will be enlightened on the many other reasons to see this way of life as a valid lifestyle and not just another fad diet. Or try this, detox from seeds of grass and sugars for a one-month period, feel the difference in your body and also what happens if you slip back up or eat grains or sugar again. The detox will feel like you are going off of a drug like heroine.Why? Because what carbs of grain and sugars breakdown to essentially is an opiate in the body. Once you get past this stage just wait for the burst of energy, loss of remaining visceral fat, and general better health, you will never want to go back.

Although both of these lifestyles do have the benefits of weight loss that is not the main purpose of these ideologies their purpose is to create a whole healthy lifestyle, to reduce and even dare I say hopefully help ‘cure’ disease in the body. As well they create a more clear focused mind, to bring back a vitality and energy as well as to sustain a healthy weight, not just temporary weight loss. Beware the article that sputters about the fallacy of Wheat Belly and Paleo claims to weight loss, or calls them fad diets, because now you know they are lifestyles. You will now be wary of why someone would want to disparage them. I have a long time friend in the health and wellness industry that often laughs when someone says they are Paleo or Wheat Belly, he says, “you mean you eat real food.” That pretty much sums it ups, Paleo and Wheat Belly are just calls to duty on how to eat real food, label or no label. There are many other aspects to the Paleo and Wheat Belly lifestyles that are as important as their stand on wheat, this is just one reason to show they stand for real food for real human beings health.

Will you see through the lies we are fed about healthy eating? Have you opened yourself to the Paleo or Wheat Belly lifestyle? Why? How do you feel? Share below.

Unitl next time, enjoy the good life,

Woman on the Journey[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDcCUyMGNsYXNzJTNEJTIyc2lnbmF0dXJlJTIyJTNFQW1hbmRhJTIwSmVhbiUzQyUyRnAlM0UlMjA=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]References:

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2014/06/whats-cow-got-aint-got/

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2013/07/thats-a-mouthful/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]