The Namgis First Nation is giving up sugar and junk food for a year to return to a traditional style of eating to fight obesity and diabetes.
The epidemic is affecting not only aboriginal people in Canada, but many many Canadians. Could our high-carbohydrate, high-processed, highly-refined diets be to blame?
Many people are familiar with the Atkins nutritional approach and similar ketogenic diets restricting white flour, white sugar, and refined and simple carbohydrates. The explanation as to why health authorities don't fully accept this approach can be a little complicated. Dr. Jay's blog explains,
"In short, the current recommendation to eat a majority
of our calories as carbohydrates reflects the conventional
wisdom that dietary fat is the cause of heart disease.
Since there is a limit to how much of our daily energy needs can be
obtained from protein, we are left to chose between carbs and fat.
If you believe fat is harmful, then you are left with carbs as the main source of energy.
Gary Taubes documents in his book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories,
the science implicating fat in heart disease is not particularly sound.
It may, in fact, be that carbs are the dietary villain, not fat.
There have been a number of recent studies that have shown
that people on a very low carb diet can eat lots of fat,
including saturated fat, and achieve a better lipid profile than people eating
the American Heart Association recommended low-fat diet.
In a recent editorial, Dr. Frank Hu, a well-respected Harvard nutritional researcher,
argued that, based on the evidence, public health programs
to reduce cardiovascular disease need to shift
from targeting dietary fat to targeting carbohydrates.
He states that the original programs to discourage fat consumption may have backfired and inadvertently increased obesity and cardiovascular disease by encouraging a shift towards carbohydrate consumption."
of our calories as carbohydrates reflects the conventional
wisdom that dietary fat is the cause of heart disease.
Since there is a limit to how much of our daily energy needs can be
obtained from protein, we are left to chose between carbs and fat.
If you believe fat is harmful, then you are left with carbs as the main source of energy.
Gary Taubes documents in his book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories,
the science implicating fat in heart disease is not particularly sound.
It may, in fact, be that carbs are the dietary villain, not fat.
There have been a number of recent studies that have shown
that people on a very low carb diet can eat lots of fat,
including saturated fat, and achieve a better lipid profile than people eating
the American Heart Association recommended low-fat diet.
In a recent editorial, Dr. Frank Hu, a well-respected Harvard nutritional researcher,
argued that, based on the evidence, public health programs
to reduce cardiovascular disease need to shift
from targeting dietary fat to targeting carbohydrates.
He states that the original programs to discourage fat consumption may have backfired and inadvertently increased obesity and cardiovascular disease by encouraging a shift towards carbohydrate consumption."
