Let us start the article for a word of advice to those who keep trying different diets but fail to achieve permanent results: “eat as if you have diabetes.” This is truly an excellent method to be healthy and to stay healthy, though it requires a radical change in our eating habits. Even though doing this may sound difficult in the beginning, it actually turns out to be quite easy once you comprehend the logic behind it. This specific reasoning is what this article will be trying to explain in basic terms.

Obesity and diabetes is on the rise, especially in the United States and Western countries. Increasing levels of welfare, technological advances and the quest for comfortable lives are causing people to become more and more inactive every day. The increasing desire to lose considerable weight in a short amount of time, on the hand, has paved the way for diets that promise results short of miracles. While many of those diets are popular for a period of time, they often lead to disappointment. Even though people spend huge amounts of money on weight loss programs, centers, and books, they end up gaining back all those lost pounds with almost the same speed as it took to shed them, and some end up gaining even more than they lost. Consumption frenzy keeps generating capital as people gain weight and loses weight, and there’s a significant group that is profiting from this whole process while many of us are caught in this irresistible flow, be it consciously or unconsciously.

Diets that are based on limiting calorie intake are still quite popular. Many weight loss programs advise eating only certain type of foods for a short period of time. There are also those that recommend eating according to the blood type or body type. Some of them work briefly, and those who dictate unrealistic limits are abandoned after a short while.

The market for low-fat products has truly gone overboard – grocery store shelves are now stocked with low-fat, nonfat, diet, light, or 99% fat free products. However most fats, including vegetable fats, are not only good but also essential for our body. No one can explain how our grandparents dipped their food in so much butter and grease and managed to stay that thin and healthy; and I believe there’s a huge misunderstanding (or misinformation) regarding this matter. The natural amount of fat in our food is under attack for no reason, and weight loss programs that promote eating fatty foods (such as Atkinson and Montignac diets) are living proof for this fact. Unless insulin levels are seriously agitated and the pancreas is overstrained, our body can easily dispose of excess fats via the skin and the digestive system, and a little walking and movement will help the process.

On the other hand, when insulin is agitated, our body releases high amounts of insulin in order to decrease its sugar level, and this effort to dispose of the sugar first causes the body to send all the fats that are supposed to stay in the body temporarily directly to the fat reserves. The stored fats are the kind that is really difficult to burn; such an effort requires much more activity. These glucids (unnatural carbohydrates) are the real culprit behind obesity and many illnesses and this is exactly what diabetics cannot / should not consume: foods with a high glycemic index (with potential to increase blood sugar).

The leaders in this category are refined white sugar, refined white flour, white rice (and flour), processed potatoes, and alcohol. As one can see, all of these are foods that have been processed and modified from their natural state.

White Flour

We had mentioned white flour in our previous article – it is produced by a factory process that removes the skin. This skin, called wheat bran, includes many minerals and vitamins (especially B1). Under normal conditions white flour, like white sugar, is quickly absorbed and passed into the blood which increases blood sugar and sets off the release of insulin. Wheat bran, on the other hand, prevents this and therefore constitutes a nourishing and energizing nutrient. While causing a feeling of fullness, it also has positive effects on the digestive system. The usage of refined white flour instead of traditional full wheat flour is a habit that is less than a century old, and while it is a commonly known fact that white bread does not contain many minerals and vitamins, the solution has been found in not going back to the traditional ways but in adding vitamins to the current bread mix for obviously the current system is long-established and much more profitable. It is commonly accepted, for some reason, that white flour has a longer shelf life and the bread made from it tastes much better.

White Rice (and Flour) 

Just like wheat, rice is also separated from its skin during production. And like white flour, rice flour is also quickly absorbed by the body, thereby increasing blood sugar. Preferred in the Far East, brown rice can be tolerated by the human body while rice flour is almost as bad as white flour and should be avoided – in fact, “bulgur” rice is a much better choice than soft white rice. This is why instant weight gain is seen in many babies fed with infant formulas made of rice flour and sugar instead of mother’s milk. It is a truly sad fact that until quite recently, statements that have proclaimed these formulas to be healthier and more nourishing have found unwarranted support and caused many mothers to stop breastfeeding.

Potato 
 

Up to several centuries ago, Europeans produced potatoes mainly for animals; however, the famine and long-lasting war periods caused potatoes to emerge as a life-saving staple. The potatoes consumed in that time period were smaller and had thicker skins. The skin became thinner in time and the potatoes grew larger, thus becoming an indispensable part of the Western diet. Even though these potatoes contain high amounts of gluten and calories, they provide quite low amounts of nutrition and the vitamin C they contain virtually disappears when fried or pureed. The potato would have been a much more nutritious food had it stayed in its natural size and with its natural thick skin and while more nutritious types of potatoes are found in the Far East and Australia, they are quite scarce in our country. And then there are those diets that promote eating only potatoes which I find quite difficult to understand. One should strongly avoid mashed and fried potatoes as well as potato chips, and should opt for undercooked potatoes eaten with the skin if absolutely necessary.

Alcoholic Beverages and Others

What I am talking about here is beer and spirits that are produced from starch and potatoes and served with sugar and lemon. The wine is by far the safest bet with regard to the glycemic index.

Aside from the alcoholic beverages, popcorn and corn flour are other culprits – whole corn is much more preferable as the skin burns and disappears during cooking and grinding. In addition, boiled beets and carrots, certain sweet fruits (such as date) and honey are some of the not-so-innocent foods, though in my opinion they are not too harmful unless consumed in excessive amounts.

A few words of advice…

Having breakfast is a must, and the body will always make up for diets that cause one to starve him. It is also absolutely necessary to drink a lot of water and eat fruits in between meals. The body should be aware that whenever it is hungry, it will be fed. Otherwise it will switch to the famine mode, and the more you decrease your calories intake, the more it will slow down the metabolism in order to spend fewer calories. This is exactly why many diets fail. The body wills most likely triumph in the end, and even if you succeed in resisting the urge, you will end up looking sick and famished. The only option is keeping you body full with the right foods. If you consume candy or pastries with a high glycemic index before your meals, this will cause the body to become even hungrier in a short amount of time, which in turn will cause you to virtually “attack” more food.

Unless we exclude the items mentioned in this article from our diets and eat right, no method for weight loss can provide long term results. We need to be fully aware of this fact and completely change our eating habits. Once a sufficient number of people gain such healthy eating habitat, the shelves will once more become stocked with products that support this kind of eating behavior. Until then, though, one can always head for the diabetic aisle. Our health and physique will not change instantly, as it takes a long time to arrive at overweight proportions and an unhealthy body, and it will take time to change that. In order to be thin and robust, we need to change not only the way we eat, but also the way we think. If we fully comprehend the reasons why we gain weight, we will recognize what we need to change. This transformation can only be attained with motivation, as well as peace and balance in our physical and emotional body. Exercising is a wonderful way to create this motivation, but while it strengthens our muscles, it is quite difficult to lose weight by exercise alone.