real food

I want to take a moment to clear up some misconceptions that I think are out there regarding not only myself, but other people who are trying to educate the public on the benefits of real foods as well as lower carb eating plans.

Let's go through a few points, simply.

I believe in real food. I think that most of the food that's commonly consumed by people the world over is not good for us. I think refined grains and sugars have damaged the health of many individuals in irreparable ways that we have only started to understand.

What's worse, however, is that people do not yet realize exactly how damaging these foods can be. In my case, had I not done my own research, I would be crippled and confined to a wheelchair today. I truly believe that.

One diet does not necessarily fit all. While I do believe that most people should be dumping grains and sugars into the garbage can where they belong, I realize that for some people, their health, weight, and state of functioning is not adversely affected by a high carb way of eating. Some people are genetically lucky. Some people will not have problems at all until late in life.

But there are many people who will have problems long before that. And doctors then do those people a disservice by telling them to continue following a high carb, low fat diet plan. They are putting people into early graves with this misguided advice. I hope that with my blog, I am letting people know that there are alternatives that have been proven through scientific study -- alternatives to that low fat, high carb diet -- that WILL work to dramatically lower your blood pressure, reduce your weight, and lower your triglyceride levels (which is far more important than lowering your total cholesterol).

I also believe many people suffer from undiagnosed food intolerances. It is crucially important for people to figure out for themselves which foods work for them and which do not. In my experience, the only definitive way to do this is through an elimination diet. The Pecanbread web site has an intro diet that qualifies.

Once you know what you can eat and what you can't, then you have your eating plan. It doesn't get more personalized than that!

The SCD diet is not just for autistic kids, or just for those with colitis and Crohn's. While the SCD works very well for those conditions, there are many stories from parents on the Pecanbread Yahoo! group regarding other conditions. Among them are rheumatoid arthritis (myself), attention deficit disorder, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, and multiple sclerosis.

Diets that are free from refined starches and sugars are anti-inflammatory in nature. Inflammation can take many forms throughout the body, and its role in many disorders is only just recently coming to light.

We did not evolve to eat high amounts of carbohydrates. This relates to my previous point. Most high carb foods are foods made with refined sugars and starches.

Of course, there are people who can definitely eat more carbs than others. Most low carb eating plans have a way of figuring out exactly how many carbs you can eat before you start to suffer ill effects. For some people, it's quite a lot. For others, it's not.

The point is, just because you can eat Twinkies without ill effects does not mean you should. This returns to point number one, about real food.

There's a reason that the SCD mantra is "Make it yourself!"

Be well.