“I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.” – Jamie Oliver
Did you know that obesity is defined as a body-mass index of 30 or higher?
Did you know that there are approximately 79 million U.S. adults that are obese?
Did you know that obesity has gone from being a curiosity to that of an epidemic?
Did you know that the agribusiness provides $300 billion in snacks worldwide?
Did you know that in 1980 no state had an obesity rate higher than 15%?
Did you know that in 2013 Pennsylvania had an obesity rate higher than 29%?
Did you know that in 2013 West Virginia had an obesity rate higher than 34%?
Why the obesity rate increase? To put it simply we are being fattened like cattle on a feedlot.
In the United States, most cattle come from feedlots where they are fed a diet of corn and other grains. These grains wreak havoc on a cow’s digestive system so they are fed daily rations of antibiotics. Cows, with their four-compartment stomachs, were designed to consume grass and not the seeds of grasses (grains). Humans lack a cow’s digestive system; therefore, we are not meant to eat grass.
Out of desperation 10,000 years ago, humans learned how to prepare the grains so that they could survive another day, week, or month during periods of food scarcity. What happened next to our ancestors was pervasive tooth decay, nutrient deficiencies like iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and folate; reduction in height, and scurvy. Anthropologists have known this fact for years.
Fast-forward to today, a trip down the center isles of a grocery store, and you will see countless products made with the so called “healthy whole grains”. The seeds of wheat, corn, and rice combined make up 50 percent of our diet; they have been puffed, sugar coated, flaked, dried, sprouted, or crisped like widgets on a factory line. In his book Wheat Belly Total Health, Dr. William Davis states “we have become a grass seed-consuming species, a development enthusiastically applauded by agencies such as the USDA, which advises us that increasing our consumption to 60 percent of calories or higher is a laudable dietary goal.” But as we’ve discussed before, our digestive system was developed over 2.5 million years ago to process fruits, vegetables, nuts and meat. We have evolved very little to properly handle the consumption of seeds from grasses. These seeds wreak havoc on our digestive system as they contain proteins that open the tight junctions between the cells of the intestinal lining (“leaky gut”) allowing parasites, bacteria, viruses, food particles, etc. to enter our bodies causing inflammation (more) and possibly falling victim to one or more of the approximately 160 autoimmune conditions.
“One-quarter of what you eat keeps you alive. The other three-quarters keeps your doctor alive.”
– Ancient Egyptian Proverb
In addition, grains have proteins called lectins which by design sicken or kill creatures like insects, molds, and fungi that feed on them. Most plant lectins are harmless to humans but not those from the seeds of grasses. According to Dr. Davis, “if you have inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease, grain lectins intensify the inflammation, making cramps, diarrhea, bleeding, and poor nutrient absorption worse.” The lectins from rye, barley, bulgur, triticale, and sorghum also fit into this category of being harmful to humans even if you don’t have an inflammatory bowel condition.
Grains also contain a type of opiate that can cause us to eat up to 1,000 calories more per day and cravings for the carbohydrates found in cookies, corn chips, pretzels, and other processed snacks. Eliminate the grains and you eliminate the calories, cravings, obesity and modern health concerns. This is not the teachings from Dr. William Davis alone, but from the books of many who can be found listed under the heading Inspiration on this website.
Click here for post references.
For my next post, we will look at obesity’s tandem partner: diabetes.
Click here if you wish to see how your state ranked on the map of obesity prevalence.
Click here to watch the trailer for Food, Inc. and see how corporations are contributing to the obesity epidemic.
Click here to watch the trailer for Food Matters. Uncovering the sickness industry.
Click here to watch Jamie Oliver’s Ted Prize wish: Teach Every Child About Food
“Obesity Rates Decline As Kids Gain Access to More Fruits and Veggies” Click here to learn more.
Click here to review Brazil’s new dietary guidelines emphasizing nutritious whole foods.
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