6 min
Episode 24 - Carbophobia Vegan Jesus Followers Podcast
-
- Nutrition
Do you have a fear of eating too many carbohydrates? Do you think carbohydrates make you gain weight? If you do, you have Carbophobia.
Where did this fear of carbs come from? In his book, “The Low-Carb Fraud”, T. Colin Campbell, PhD tells us. Back in 1972, Dr. Robert Atkins wrote a book called, “The Atkins Diet Revolution”. It wasn’t very popular, so several years later, in the 1980’s when there was a lot of talk about obesity, especially obesity in America, Dr. Atkins decided to re-market his book. In 1988 he revised and republished it with the title, “Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution”. In this book, he proclaims that obesity is not caused by eating fat, it’s caused by eating too many carbs. He advocates severely restricting carbohydrate intake and getting most of your calories from fat and protein.
I’ve never had a fear of eating carbohydrates, but even as a child when I had a hamburger if I didn’t want to finish my hamburger my parents told me to eat the meat and leave the bun. Today it is common for people to eat high fat, high protein and restrict and even avoid carbohydrates altogether because they believe carbs will make you fat. Modern versions of what started as the Atkins diet are the South Beach Diet, the Paleo Diet and the Zone Diet.
For a person who has been eating a lot of processed carbs as well as a high fat, high protein diet, to severely restrict the amount of processed carbs that they’ve been eating can result in quick weight-loss. But what’s wrong with this approach?
1. Low carb diets are very unhealthy and have long-term health consequences.
2. Low carb diets lumps all carbohydrates into the same category, whether they are whole foods plant-based carbs or processed carbs. By doing so, it confuses people and leads them to believe that all carbs are the same and all are bad and should be avoided. That simply is not true.
3. Low-carb diets emphasizes fat and cholesterol and proclaims them as nutritional heroes that should be increased in a person’s diet. In reality, fat and cholesterol are the cause of many of our modern day health problems such as cardiovascular disease, arteriosclerosis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to name a few.
4. A very restrictive diet of any kind, low-carb diet or otherwise is simply not sustainable. Whatever weight is lost from such a restrictive diet is ultimately gained back along with even more weight.
In contrast, a whole-foods, plant-based lifestyle isn’t restrictive. We don’t count, weigh or measure our food and we eat until we’re satisfied.
Dr. Michael Greger says low carb diets cripple people’s arteries. Wow! That’s enough of a reason right there to not eat a low-carb diet!
By definition, a low-carb diet emphasizes animal based foods, whereas a low fat diet emphasizes a plant-based diet. The healthiest way to fight obesity is to eat a whole foods plant-based diet that emphasizes whole foods that are high in nutrients, high in fiber, low in sodium, low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol, while at the same time steering clear of processed foods. Note the word “processed,” because these foods are low in nutrients, low in fiber, high in sodium, high in saturated fat and high in cholesterol.
We highly recommend the book, “The Low Carb Fraud” by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Howard Jacobson, PhD which fully explains the danger of a low carb diet.
Do you have a fear of eating too many carbohydrates? Do you think carbohydrates make you gain weight? If you do, you have Carbophobia.
Where did this fear of carbs come from? In his book, “The Low-Carb Fraud”, T. Colin Campbell, PhD tells us. Back in 1972, Dr. Robert Atkins wrote a book called, “The Atkins Diet Revolution”. It wasn’t very popular, so several years later, in the 1980’s when there was a lot of talk about obesity, especially obesity in America, Dr. Atkins decided to re-market his book. In 1988 he revised and republished it with the title, “Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution”. In this book, he proclaims that obesity is not caused by eating fat, it’s caused by eating too many carbs. He advocates severely restricting carbohydrate intake and getting most of your calories from fat and protein.
I’ve never had a fear of eating carbohydrates, but even as a child when I had a hamburger if I didn’t want to finish my hamburger my parents told me to eat the meat and leave the bun. Today it is common for people to eat high fat, high protein and restrict and even avoid carbohydrates altogether because they believe carbs will make you fat. Modern versions of what started as the Atkins diet are the South Beach Diet, the Paleo Diet and the Zone Diet.
For a person who has been eating a lot of processed carbs as well as a high fat, high protein diet, to severely restrict the amount of processed carbs that they’ve been eating can result in quick weight-loss. But what’s wrong with this approach?
1. Low carb diets are very unhealthy and have long-term health consequences.
2. Low carb diets lumps all carbohydrates into the same category, whether they are whole foods plant-based carbs or processed carbs. By doing so, it confuses people and leads them to believe that all carbs are the same and all are bad and should be avoided. That simply is not true.
3. Low-carb diets emphasizes fat and cholesterol and proclaims them as nutritional heroes that should be increased in a person’s diet. In reality, fat and cholesterol are the cause of many of our modern day health problems such as cardiovascular disease, arteriosclerosis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to name a few.
4. A very restrictive diet of any kind, low-carb diet or otherwise is simply not sustainable. Whatever weight is lost from such a restrictive diet is ultimately gained back along with even more weight.
In contrast, a whole-foods, plant-based lifestyle isn’t restrictive. We don’t count, weigh or measure our food and we eat until we’re satisfied.
Dr. Michael Greger says low carb diets cripple people’s arteries. Wow! That’s enough of a reason right there to not eat a low-carb diet!
By definition, a low-carb diet emphasizes animal based foods, whereas a low fat diet emphasizes a plant-based diet. The healthiest way to fight obesity is to eat a whole foods plant-based diet that emphasizes whole foods that are high in nutrients, high in fiber, low in sodium, low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol, while at the same time steering clear of processed foods. Note the word “processed,” because these foods are low in nutrients, low in fiber, high in sodium, high in saturated fat and high in cholesterol.
We highly recommend the book, “The Low Carb Fraud” by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Howard Jacobson, PhD which fully explains the danger of a low carb diet.
6 min