So, what's so bad about carbs?
Basically, all nonfibrous forms of carbohydrates are sugar once they are metabolized by the body. For many health reasons, we don't want sugar to be our primary source of fuel! We need our fuel source to be fat, not sugar.
Adding Fuel to the Fire
This is where saving time comes in. Consider a "fire as a source of heat" analogy.
Sugar is an incredibly volatile source of fuel. It burns quickly, much like paper and kindling when you are trying to start a fire. If you were going to heat your home with the fire in your fireplace, you would not want to keep the fire going with just paper and kindling. You would want to add some slow burning logs, so you could enjoy a steady source of heat, without constantly tending to the fire. Needing to add kindling every few minutes to keep the fire going is time consuming! It leaves time for little else if you want to stay warm.
When carbohydrates are your major source of fuel, you become pre-occupied with keeping the fire burning, as your source of fuel is being burned so quickly. Utilizing sugar as your body's primary source of fuel requires a constant supply of carbohydrates. (Does the term "grazing" come to mind? Grazing is a continual search for nourishment. It can also manifest itself as a constant craving for carbohydrates.) You are constantly experiencing blood sugar spikes and dips. Your body becomes obsessed with trying to maintain a balanced blood sugar level. True endocrine balance can never occur if sugar is out of balance!
Using fat as your primary source of fuel on the other hand, allows you to adopt a ketone based metabolism (more on this in a future post). Dietary fat burns in a prolonged and sustained manner. This allows for more time to do other things besides think about how you are going to stave off hunger, feel satiated, become less anxious, etc. A steady, long-burning, efficient fuel, it's like adding a large log to the fire before going to bed.
Switching from carbohydrates to fats as your major source of fuel frees you up to do other things besides think of what you need to eat in the next hour or so, when you are once again starving and/or anxious!
Consume healthy fats helps to ensure that your are getting the necessary essential fatty acids: EPA, DHA, and GLA, as well as the correct ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Eat foods from a variety of natural sources.
Healthy Fats
It is important to use an optimized macronutrient ratio of the following:
- grass-fed meat
- pastured poultry and their eggs
- wild-caught seafood
- coconut oil
- avacado
- grass-fed butter or ghee
- heavy cream (raw)
- olive oil
- sesame oil
- tallow
- organic lard
- nuts
- seeds
- evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil and organ meats
- high quality cod liver oil and krill oil
Consuming a higher percentage of healthy fat- eating only as much as you really need to satisfy hunger- can play a significant role in your health and vitality. The more that dietary fat serves as your primary source of fuel, and not carbohydrates, the better you will become at fat burning!
What about Protein?
High-protein diets are not necessary to be healthy. Consuming as little as 6 to 7 ounces of high-quality, nutrient-dense complete protein (grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs) each day may be enough for most adults. In fact, amounts more than this will likely suppress ketosis.
Source: Nora T. Gedaudas, CNS, CNT, Presenter at Wise Traditions 2010: Taming the Carb Craving Monster