cupcakes you love to secretly indulge in and found “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” often among the top five ingredients. This hydrogenation process increases the shelf life of the product. Real butter will go rancid in time (without refrigeration), and chemically hydrogen-impregnated vegetable oil alleviates this problem and, according to the food industry, will taste just as delectable months, perhaps years, from the day it was created. Margarines and shortenings are produced through this hydrogenation process as a low-cost preservation method for baked goods.
The ensuing problem is that the unsaturated fatty acid gets mutated in the process of hydrogenation. The naturally occurring form of the fatty acid, called a cis form, basically a spiraling molecular structure, gets involuntarily straightened out. The mutant post-hydrogenation form, the straight version, is called a trans fatty acid and is well-documented as causing higher LDL cholesterol levels and elevating risks for heart disease. So stick with organic butter and shun the margarines—butter is better; just keep to slender portions.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates come from plants. There are three primary groups of carbohydrates, casually known as carbs. As we will discover, not all carbs are equal.
• Group One: Simple Sugars (a.k.a. saccharides)
• Group Two: Complex Carbohydrates (a.k.a. starches)
• Group Three: Dietary Fiber (a.k.a. roughage)
The Group One collection of carbs is the most immediately usable form for energy from foods. They break down to blood sugar (glucose) quite fast. The cast of simple sugars, glucose, fructose, and galactose, looks something like this:
| Monosaccharides: | Disaccharides: |
| The simplest form of sugar | 2 monosaccharides bonded together |
| Glucose (blood sugar) | Maltose(grain sugar) = glucose + glucose |
| Fructose (plant sugar) | Sucrose(cane, beet sugar) = glucose + fructose |
| Galactose (milk sugar) | Lactose(milk sugar) = glucose + galactose |
Our culture is addicted to sucrose in many ways. What is usually listed in the food additives as sugar is some form of sucrose. Since sugar is excessive in the commercial food supply, and we know that sugar abuse is a problem, some food manufacturers are trying to obscure their listing of it as an ingredient. Vague labels such as, “evaporated cane juice” or “crystallized cane powder” are appearing on your favorite food products. It is just sugar.
Both sucrose and salt are the two most used commercial food ingredients. If you start seeing salt listed as “distilled sodium chloride” or “evaporated sea mineral,” you know someone is attempting to veil something.
Refined sugar is problematic for the body because the minerals and fiber of the sugar cane or beet have been chemically stripped away. The refining produces a highly acidic producing chemical, one with many negative health effects. You know sugar is not great for you, but you take it in excess anyways—it is like a drug. Here are three things that are undisputed in the dietary frontlines, where there is often less agreement than discord:
1. Excess sugar consumption causes dental carries (cavities).
2. Excess sugar consumption is a significant factor in obesity.
3. People who have removed refined sugar from their diets have shown remarkable improvement in their health and wellness. Jack Lalanne, for example, America’s first television health guru, whom I recall watching as a youngster (along with his German shepherd named Happy), attributes his robust health to his forsaking refined sugar and processed foods.3 At 90 years, Jack is still going strong. May we all learn a few lessons from his example. (See segment on sugar in chapter 14.)
The Group Two collection contains carbohydrates that are long-chain assemblies of monosaccharides and disaccharides, known as polysaccharides or starch. These are commonly called complex carbohydrates because of the numerous groupings of simple sugars.
Three primary types of starches are (1) dietary starches (grains, roots, beans); (2) dietary fiber (carbohydrates that cannot be digested by human enzymes but can be by others in the animal kingdom); (3) glycogen (starch stored in your muscles and organs).
Starches are good sources of energy, especially corn, beans, and whole grains, but should not be eaten in excess. Part of the food combining guideline is to moderate, but not necessarily eliminate, starch intake,4 especially past 49 years of age or with physical inactivity. (Refer to “Three Levels of Food Combining” in chapter 8.)
Recall that complex carbohydrates are simple sugars that are chained together. When the body breaks apart the sugar chains and uses them for fuel, the net result is sugar hitting the blood; the more starch you eat, the more this turns to sugar. This is what happens when you get “pasta intoxication” and feel very sleepy after the huge ravioli, potato gnocchi, and garlic bread feast. For diabetics, this is an extremely poor choice and could even be dangerous.
Usually both water and fiber occur in nature with carbohydrates. This helps slow down the rate at which the starch becomes glucose in the blood. The reason whole grains are steadily recommended is that the fiber of the husk and endosperm helps the body to efficiently process the starch and move it out of the gastrointestinal tract after assimilation. The fiber and water also help slow down the rate at which starch gets converted to blood sugar, minimizing, although not necessarily eliminating increased blood sugar spikes.
Things get thoroughly complicated when you mix too many different nutrients with a lot of starch (either in amount or in variety). All types of digestion chaos ensue, and it is possible that animal proteins will be on the deficient end of digestion, leaving you with meats that may ferment in the intestine. This is certainly a possibility with a person living with chronic constipation, a smoking habit, eating large amounts of refined and processed convenience foods, and having an inactive physical lifestyle. This is a true recipe for disease.
Desirable Starches:
• Whole grains (This means they have not been refined; they do not have the bran removed)
• Root Vegetables
• Ground, stalk, or stem vegetables
Undesirable Starches:
• All refined bread products (that is, white bread)
• White rice, instant rice
• White potatoes in excess and especially without the peeling
