A SAD State of Affairs

Wow, I'm so excited! I get to answer my first follower question! So, here goes...

Let's start at the beginning though... what is the SAD?

·         SAD stands for the Standard American Diet. In a nutshell the diet that Americans typically eat is carb heavy, fruit and veg low, and very moderate on protein.

Why is this bad for us?

·         It all comes down to one major issue: insulin! When we load up our bodies on carbs (complex man made or man raised) they are broken down into glucose. Our body responds by dumping insulin into the bloodstream. This is turn takes the glucose from our bloodstream and converts it (through a process that I do not really wish to go into depth with) into fatty acids which are stored in adipose (fat) tissues in the body. The body does this by regulating our body’s cells. Just like a key and lock, insulin (the key) finds little locks (called receptors) on body tissue cell surfaces and 'opens' them to receive the sugar (so it can be converted to fat) and store it. The major problem here in NOT that the body does this but that the MAN MADE CARBS make insulin release and receptor binding go into hyper-drive and the body essentially stores much more fat than it needs to.

But fat storage sounds like a good thing, right?

·         Well, it is! The difference though s that on the SAD theconstant release of huge amounts of insulin has 2 effects. 1) more fat is stored than necessary (even when we don't need it for future energy) and 2) extra blood insulin results in an over-expression of the insulin receptor on body tissues. When we eat all these carbs the body basically says to itself, "know what, I get a lot of this sugar so I am gonna make sure I can store every last bit for a rainy day". The body does not know that you don't want it to. It only knows how to store the sugars as fat!

OK, but why does it really matter?

·         One word... DIABETES! Look, the body really isn't designed to be constantly spiking its insulin levels. When it does 2 things happen 1) the cells express more receptors in anticipation of the sugar and 2) insulin gets released more easily. But eventually the system breaks down. Insulin keeps getting released but the cells stop being sensitive to it. Then the cycle begins... the cell expresses more and more receptors until eventually they just don't work and no matter how many keys you have the lock just won't turn. Now sugar stays in the blood, you develop type 2 diabetes and you need medication to control it. Just like any disease this one IS avoidable. How? BY NOT EATING THE VERY THING THAT IS KILLING YOU!

So if we know these things are essentially killing us and that they work AGAINST our body why do we keep eating them?

·         New research from UCSF has definitively shown that refined carbs and starches (such as potatoes and rice... which our paleo ancestors certainly DID NOT have access to in great quantities) are actually addictive! Yes, just like a drug, they activate the same chemical/emotional responses that keep us hooked to them. THIS is what makes breaking the SAD so difficult! Essentially, every day, we are eating an addictive substance that is 1) bad for us, 2) contributes to the #1 fastest growing US epidemic (diabetes) and 3) just plain are not good for us and have virtually zero nutritional benefit to us. Just think about not eating these for a moment... crappy, right? It is, but only at first. When we stop eating these nasty killers our body immediately begins to adjust. We no longer spike our insulin levels and the keys (insulin) are released less and the locks (receptors) are expressed less on cells. Essentially, we fix ourselves at the cellular level. We stop storing fat inappropriately and we begin to actually use the nutrition we put into our bodies. Think about it... if the body is constantly given easy sugars to burn then it doesn't need to burn ANYTHING ELSE! But by stopping this horrible, society driven, habit, we can fix our biochemistry and stop the disease process.

What makes it hard?

·         Many things. First off, society. We are trained to eat this crap. Think about it... what comes to mind for breakfast? Pancakes! What can't you eat a steak without? Mashed potatoes! It is ingrained within us, from childhood, that these foods are what we are EXPECTED to eat! Furthermore they are the very food that the food companies and even the government push on us! This is because our economy is RUN on corn and grain! Think about it... the US, alone, is the highest produces of wheat and corn in the world and if we buy American, the economy is boosted! I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist but just take some time to think about this and you will see that it is a FACT! Just try and find a single 'healthy' soup that has zero high fructose corn syrup in it... I bet it will take the better part of day and many different stores! Note: HFCS is the NUMBER ONE WORST insulin spiker out there and should be avoided at all costs!

But I promise there is light at the end of the tunnel. When you cut these things out you WILL stop craving them and, with time, your body starts fixing itself and becomes what it is meant to be, A CAVEMAN!

So that’s the sugar story, very simply albeit. But there is more. Specifically, fats! But I will talk about these later! Gotta keep you hooked, right? Please know that this is a very small part of the story… there is so much more, but, as with all things, more is yet to be revealed!