You may have already heard about some of the harmful substances grain contains such as lectins, phytates, and gluten. Though these substances can be reduced by properly preparing grains and legumes by soaking and sprouting. But how does a low-carb versus high-carb diet figure into the overall health picture? Sure, you can mitigate many of the bad affects from anti-nutrient containing grains, legumes, and nuts, but does this mean its okay to live on a high-carb diet? Or is it better to stick with a low-carb diet? Well, the answer partly depends on what best suits your body and how you prepare food.
Low-carb. First, you can get carbohydrates from other sources besides grains such as legumes (beans, lentils), nuts (almonds, peanuts), tubers (potatoes), and tomatoes. And this is exactly what makes low-carb diets so difficult and too strict (in other words, no fun). You realize that your favorites foods like pizza and pasta are much harder to fix though grain flour alternatives like coconut can be used as a pizza crust. The human body is also designed to use glucose (grains is a major source of glucose) as an energy source. You may feel tired or generally out of energy after being on a low-carb diet for awhile.
On the other hand, too much glucose can lead to raised blood sugars thus setting the body up for insulin resistance or even diabetes. And in our modern world full of conveniently packaged snacks loaded with processed carbs its easy to get too many carbs. Its better to limit your intake of carbs by preparing grains and legumes at home and baking them yourself instead of buying them from the store shelves. After processed sugary snacks that contain fructose, carbs are the second biggest source of sugar. In fact, many people unintentionally subsist on a high-carb diet without even realizing it as the sugar can be addictive, not to mention that carb addiction could be due to fungal overgrowth in the gut. You may not even realize that your carb craving might be contributing to gut flora imbalance thus leading to autoimmune, neurological, and even mental problems later one.
So what does this have to do with gluten sensitivity? No, I'm not talking about celiac disease as thats different from gluten sensitivity. You can have problems with gluten in grains without having celiac disease though. With gluten sensitivity the body experiences more of an allergy to gluten-containing foods. Typical symptoms can be diarrhea, constipation, foul stool, bloating, and excessive gas after consuming gluten.
However, its best not to cave in to the mainstream gluten-free "trend" as most commercially processed gluten-free cookies, cakes, chips, bread, pasta, and sauce still contain a lot of sugar and sometimes even more than your regular processed foods. When first realizing you have gluten sensitivity its best to go on a low-carb or even grain-free diet for a month or more (see the amazing GAPS diet). After that time properly prepare your own grains at home where you can even use coconut flour to bake cookies and cakes using a natural sweetener like honey.
(Links to sources in orange.)
Low-carb. First, you can get carbohydrates from other sources besides grains such as legumes (beans, lentils), nuts (almonds, peanuts), tubers (potatoes), and tomatoes. And this is exactly what makes low-carb diets so difficult and too strict (in other words, no fun). You realize that your favorites foods like pizza and pasta are much harder to fix though grain flour alternatives like coconut can be used as a pizza crust. The human body is also designed to use glucose (grains is a major source of glucose) as an energy source. You may feel tired or generally out of energy after being on a low-carb diet for awhile.
On the other hand, too much glucose can lead to raised blood sugars thus setting the body up for insulin resistance or even diabetes. And in our modern world full of conveniently packaged snacks loaded with processed carbs its easy to get too many carbs. Its better to limit your intake of carbs by preparing grains and legumes at home and baking them yourself instead of buying them from the store shelves. After processed sugary snacks that contain fructose, carbs are the second biggest source of sugar. In fact, many people unintentionally subsist on a high-carb diet without even realizing it as the sugar can be addictive, not to mention that carb addiction could be due to fungal overgrowth in the gut. You may not even realize that your carb craving might be contributing to gut flora imbalance thus leading to autoimmune, neurological, and even mental problems later one.
So what does this have to do with gluten sensitivity? No, I'm not talking about celiac disease as thats different from gluten sensitivity. You can have problems with gluten in grains without having celiac disease though. With gluten sensitivity the body experiences more of an allergy to gluten-containing foods. Typical symptoms can be diarrhea, constipation, foul stool, bloating, and excessive gas after consuming gluten.
However, its best not to cave in to the mainstream gluten-free "trend" as most commercially processed gluten-free cookies, cakes, chips, bread, pasta, and sauce still contain a lot of sugar and sometimes even more than your regular processed foods. When first realizing you have gluten sensitivity its best to go on a low-carb or even grain-free diet for a month or more (see the amazing GAPS diet). After that time properly prepare your own grains at home where you can even use coconut flour to bake cookies and cakes using a natural sweetener like honey.
(Links to sources in orange.)
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