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Part 1 Diseases of the Civilized mankind
My friend has been suffering from Diabetes for the past 25 years. His doctor is also
a diabetic. Both of them underwent the same treatment, went for walks together.
But no cure was to be seen. Like the Western countries, in India also we are seeing
widespread occurrence of diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity, Cancer,
Heart attack. Nobody seems to know how to cure these diseases. So the only option
left is to keep these under control. The doctors firmly believe that Diabetes cannot
be cured. Hence the patients also believe so.
Matters are worse when it comes to Hypertension. In this case, the first and
foremost advice given by doctors is : Reduce salt consumption. People suffering
from this disease start following a diet with less salt. Unable to sustain the diet,
they come back to the doctor for the medicine. Here too, there is no sign of cure for
this disease.
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Few others try to eat healthy grains like brown rice, millets, ragi to get relief. But
these grains only reduce the severity – but do not offer complete cure.
We do not hold tribal people in high esteem because we consider them as
uncivilized. But scientists who have done extensive research on their health and
wellbeing have disclosed that they do not suffer from any ailments like obesity,
cancer, diabetes, hypertension, psoriasis or sinusitis. They surprised the scientists
by claiming that they didn’t even know about the existence of such ailments. There
are lots of lessons to be learnt from these folks.
This picture depicts tribal folks living in Tokelau islands. It can be seen that all of
them are thin and fit.
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Puka Puka Island and girls at a cultural night.
Tribal people living here, have been following ancient caveman lifestyle with no
civilization at all. These islands are filled with sand – which is not suitable for any
form of agriculture. Only coconut trees can grow in a place which has no soil and
only sand. They relied only on fish, coconut, pigs, hens and tubers which were
seasonal, for their food. Even the pigs were fed only with coconut. Their diet is
considered to be very uninteresting. Though they bred hens, because of some
superstition they did not feed on the eggs.
Later, the modern world discovered them. Captain James Cook who travelled to
these islands saw that men and women were fit, healthy with a divine beauty. The
islands were captured and ruled by the Whites. Even then there was no change in
the diet of these tribals.
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In the middle of 20 Century, scientists conducted research on these tribals. They
were surprised to see that though their diet was rich in fat, none of them had any
diseases like heart attack or diabetes. They named this phenomenon as ATALL
paradox. French paradox, Italian paradox etc are similar phenomenon.
These islands were later conquered by the Kiwis. The Government of New Zealand
showed mercy to the inhabitants of the islands. So they sent consignments of rice,
bread, tinned meat, cake, biscuits to the island. After consuming these food items,
the tribals in these islands slowly started becoming obese. Their health declined
and diseases became very prevalent. No one had a clue about the cause of this
situation. The very first hospital was built in the islands to treat the sick people.
In the year 1966, since the weather was stormy, ships with the consignments could
not reach the islands. The tribals in these islands reverted back to their good old
diet. Slowly, improvement was seen in the health of the inhabitants. Once the
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storm subsided, again the ships with the consignments landed in the islands. The
tribals started consuming processed food sent by New Zealand government. Their
health started declining and diseases started looming again.
Now, what about the tribals living in other islands? Dr. Weston Price travelled to
the Cold mountains in Central Canada during 1930. Please find below an extract
from his report :
Dr. Weston A Price
It is very difficult to travel to these Cold mountains. Because of the nature of the
terrain, aero planes cannot land there. There are no good roads. With great
difficulty, we went there on a boat sailing on a frozen river. According to the pact
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these tribals have with the Canadian Government, they are entitled to
compensation. In addition to that, the Government also supplies food, clothes
and other essential articles. But half of the tribals refused to accept the
compensation and articles supplied by the Government, and the rest of the
Tribals accepted them. So Dr Weston was able to meet people from both the
categories.
In the subzero temperature, no plants can be grown. Even cattle rearing is not
possible because of low temperature. Since the rivers are frozen, fishing is also
impossible. The only food they get to eat is the animals they hunt.
This region has a good population of bears. So bear hunting is very common
here. Insufficient vegetable intake in the diet causes a disease called Scurvy
(Vitamin C deficiency). I was surprised to see that none of them had Scurvy. So I
explained the symptoms of this disease and asked an old man if anyone known to
him suffered from this.
He thought for a while and replied “None of us (Tribals) get that disease. But the
Whites living here do suffer from this.” “The Whites consider us as uncivilized
Tribes. So they do not want to consume the medicine which we suggested to
them”
He offered to show me the medicine for treatment of Scurvy. He said, “We do not
buy anything from the Canadian Government Grocery shops”. He took me to a
place where a deer had just been hunted. “Meat rich in fat, situated above the
kidney of the deer, when consumed is a good cure for Scurvy” he stated.
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During those days, it was unknown to the field of Medicine that raw meat is rich in
its Vitamin C content. Even without this knowledge, the Tribals had somehow
realized that it was a good cure for Scurvy. Dr.Weston found that only 4 out of
2464 people in the Tribal community had Tooth Decay and Cavity – which is
0.16%. When the same survey was conducted in the City of Point Creek, he found
that 25.5% of the people had tooth decay and Cavity. Diseases like Tuberculosis,
Arthritis were also commonly found among the people living in the city of Point
Creek. However none of the Tribals living in the mountains had these diseases.
The diet of the Tribals comprised of meat laden with fat, which helped them to stay
healthy. They did not consume Low fat milk, Oatmeal, grains, cereals, legumes
which are considered to be healthy food in today’s world.
Not just these two case studies, but most of the Tribals lived only on fat, which
came from the meat of the animals they hunted. Their diet also comprised of very
few vegetables, and rare fruits which were available in the summer. Dieticians of
the Modern world would be shocked to know about their diet. But the Tribals
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stayed very healthy with the help of this diet. They did not need the help of
medicines, doctors or dieticians.
The socalled healthy food consumed by the current generation – for ex. Corn
flakes, Oatmeals, Skimmed milk, egg white are not meant to be eaten by human
beings. They are used to feed the pigs and fatten them up before slaughter. I have
interviewed people who raise cattle and pigs. The follow the below mentioned
technique to fatten up these animals before slaughter :
Pigs are fed with skimmed milk. The Agricultural college, Oregon recommends
that skimmed milk be fed to pigs to fatten them up. If fat content is more in the
milk, it subsides hunger and hence skimmed milk was fed to the pigs to increase
their appetite.
Corn aids in weight gain. If a pig consumes 3.5 kilograms of corn, its weight
increases by 1 kilogram. This is the same corn which is used in making corn flakes
– which is a popular breakfast among the urban folks.
Slaughterhouses adapt a profitable strategy of increasing the weight of the pigs
before killing them. They are fed with Molasses, chocolates (remains discarded by
the chocolate manufacturers), the day of slaughter. Because of carbohydrates
intake, their liver expands by 34% & the pigs’ appetite increases, thereby leading
them to consume more corn again leading to weight gain leading to better profit.
The last few days before slaughter, the pigs are kept in shade, away from sunshine
– again aiding in weight gain. Deficiency of Vitamin D leads to weight gain. This
is the reason why couch potatoes, who are not exposed to sunshine, become obese
very soon.
Lets think for a while. The same food which is used to fatten up and cause weight
gain in pigs and cows, is sold in the grocery shops these days as healthy food. After
consuming these, how can we expect our weight to reduce?
We can easily conclude that dietary habits followed by the current generation and
also the food consumed by village folks – ragi (type of grains), unpolished rice etc,
cannot keep us in the best of our health. Only tribals who continue to follow their
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ageold dietary habits stay healthy and fit. The reason for this is not the physical
exhaustion alone.
Even people who do hard work physically seem to be affected by diseases like
Diabetes, Asthma and Hypertension.
These diseases are not incurable. It is a myth that they cannot be cured and hence
need to be kept under control. Many people console themselves thinking that “On
reaching 40 years of age, everyone is bound to get diabetes”. Even infants who are
6 months of age are affected by Type – 2 diabetes. The main cause for this is the
consumption of artificial milk like Lactogen. These contain sugar, rice, wheat, soya
bean and artificial vitamins. Babies which are breastfed by their mothers never
contact such diseases.
Let us see the harmful effects of the food grains like rice, wheat, ragi, millets
which are used as our staple food.
Unfortunately staple food consumed by Tamilians (South Indians) are all rich in
carbohydrates. Idli which is the most popular breakfast food item in South India –
is very rich in carbohydrates. One idli contains 15 grams of carbs. Eating one idli is
equivalent to eating 4 spoons of white sugar. Eating 5 idlis along with sambar is
equivalent to eating 75 grams of sugar.
Many of you may think, that it is unfair to compare idlis with white sugar. Actually
eating idlis is worse than eating white sugar. Because of the glucose present, these
food increase the sugar level in our blood.
Consuming typical diet followed by South Indians which is dominated with rice,
wheat and other grains which are rich in carbohydrates is bound to lead to diseases
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like Diabetes for sure. Eating food consisting of typical south Indian diet is
equivalent to eating 500 to 750 grams of sugar per day. No wonder people eating
such food get diseases like Diabetes and Obesity.
Replacing rice with ragi, reducing the number of idlis only provides consolation to
the minds of the consumers, but in reality the danger stays.
How do we get full freedom from these diseases? The only solution is to adapt the
Caveman diet. I am sure the readers of this article have a lot of questions like :
If I eat meat every day, will my cholesterol level increase?
If the diet is rich in fat, will it not lead to heart attack?
Can these diseases be cured completely by following the Caveman diet?
Let us discuss these in the next episode.
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Part 2 The villain makes an entry
According to the law of evolution, human beings came into existence 2.6 million
years ago. However humans discovered agriculture and started growing crops only
10,000 years ago.
Reports from the Scientists who are conducting the research on the evolution have
this to state :
99.99% of Human genetic patterns were formed before discovering agriculture.
The modification over the last 10,000 years (i.e., after agriculture) is only 0.01%.
Our genes do not identify with the modern day food items like Noodles, Corn
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Flakes, Coke, Pepsi, Burger. They are familiar only with the food which ancient
human beings ate – meat, fruits and vegetables.
It has been well proven that primary food consumed by human beings was meat.
Archaeologists have found evidence dating back to 3.2 million years ago, which
show that humans have consumed only meat – with the help of stone age weapons.
The Stone Age weapons discovered, show that they date back to 2.6 million years
ago. Homo erectus species were ancestors to Homo sapiens (Human beings). It has
been clearly proven by Research teams that our ancestors like Homo erectus were
primarily meat eaters. Meat, fruits and vegetables were the only available food
then.
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Later during the process of evolution, man advanced himself in his way of living
by cooking the meat rather than eating raw meat.
Human beings advanced leaps and bounds in the process of evolution mainly
because of one reason : Eating cooked meat. Raw meat took a long time to digest.
But cooked meat was easily digestible and hence provided the much needed
nutrition for the body. Cooked meat could be consumed in more quantity and also
provided Proteins, Vitamins and Minerals needed for the humans during those
days. The human brain went through a great process of evolution and the thinking
ability of human beings improved. This was an important phase in the process of
evolution. Eating “cooked meat” differentiated human beings from the animals.
Hypothetically, if man were allowed to eat only one type of food and he had to
sustain, then that would be “meat”. No other single food is capable of providing
him all the nutrients. Rice, wheat, legumes, coconut, banana … If man has to eat
only one of these foods for several days; he would die because of nutrition
deficiency. Even mother’s milk – which is considered to be the safest food on
earth, does not have all nutrients for a grownup man to sustain on.
However if a man consumes only meat, it provides all the required nutrition for his
well being. In addition to that, meat food also cures him of all his diseases and he
would become healthier. Meat is the only food which contains all the required
vitamins, minerals and nutrients for a human being to live on.
Paleo diet is not something which was invented by a dietician or a scientist. This
has been the primary food of human beings and has laid the foundation of the
evolution of human beings.
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Let us time travel to 1962 and meet the first member of the Paleo diet family to
understand more about this diet. Let us remember that during those days, words
like “diet”, “gymnasium”, “treadmill” did not exist. During such days, a cook by
name William Banting lived in England. He rendered his culinary services for the
members of the royal family. He prepared rich and tasty food according to their
desire. He also ended up eating all the rich food he cooked. Slowly he became very
obese when he was 30 years of age. He was so stout that he could not even bend
down and tie his own shoe lace. He panicked and consulted a doctor. The doctor
gave him the regular advice asking him to exercise. William exercised hard, he
practiced rowing for 2 hours in a nearby lake. He became even more hungry and
ended up eating more. He gained more weight and hence there was no solution to
his problem.
William was distressed and this time he was advised to eat low calorie food. He ate
only vegetable salads and he exercised hard. This drove him to exhaustion and he
was hospitalized. He continued the regime of exercising hard and eating low
calorie food and after a year he had lost only 3 kilos weight. His hearing ability
also started deteriorating.
In 1862, William consulted yet another doctor by name Dr. Harvey. Glucose sugar
(Carbohydrates) had just been making news then. Dr. Harvey advised William to
avoid any food which contained carbohydrates since it was the main cause for
weight gain. He recommended that William eat only meat, fish, eggs and cheese
which had no carbohydrate content in them.
William asked the most obvious question to Dr. Harvey : “If I eat meat, fish and
eggs I am bound to put on more weight. How will I lose weight?”
William was convinced and adapted the diet recommended by Dr. Harvey. He ate
only meat, eggs and fish for all his three meals. He would consume some fruits
along with his evening tea. He completely avoided bread, milk, sweets and all food
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rich in carbohydrates. He ate huge servings of his food. He lost 30 kilos of weight
in 2 years. He regained his hearing ability and also his good health.
He was very excited to see the results and hence wanted to share his diet details
with the rest of the world. He wrote a book about his new diet in 1863 and since it
contained revolutionary ideas, it became very popular.
The word “Banting” was synonymous to the current world’s word “Dieting”.
During those days, there were no practices like processing corn, oats to get corn
flakes and oatmeal respectively, skimming milk to remove the fat, and eating only
the egg white. Strangely in today’s world, people who want to stay healthy resort
only to these food items.
Thus “Banting diet” was the first form of Paleo diet.
The book written by William became not just popular but also controversial.
Doctors posed a lot of questions about the Banting diet :
“What is the fundamental principle behind this diet”
“How does this diet work?”
Since William did not have answers to these questions, he was mocked at by the
doctors. They criticized his book and completely ignored it. But people reacted
differently. They placed trust and faith in this diet and started accepting it in their
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lives. People who followed this diet saw benefits coming out of it. Obese people
lost weight and this diet also cured people from a lot of ailments. However this did
not get acceptance from the doctors.
If Scientists analyze the anatomy of a bumblebee, they would come to a conclusion
that it would never be able to fly. Its body structure is against the philosophy of
aeronautic engineering.
In 1890, Dr. Helen Densmore started recommending Banting diet to her patients.
Her instructions were to eat more meat and vegetables and avoid tubers like
potatoes, sugar and bread. Patients who followed this diet, lost weight within a
short period of time. This was a big turning point in the history of paleo diet.
Let us see what caused people to move away from healthy Paleo diet to Low
calorie diets.
What made people think that Banting diet would cause weight increase in people?
Why did people stop following this diet?
Who created the twist in the tale?
Who is the villain in this movie?
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The villain in this story made an entry in 1956. His name was Ancel Keys.
(
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancel_Keys )
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Dr.Ancel Benjamin Keys
In the 1950s, Kelloggs brothers invented the process of manufacturing Corn flakes
from Corn. It was widely advertised by Cereal manufacturers that cereals and
skimmed milk would form the ideal breakfast for a healthy life. But Americans and
Europeans shunned this recommendation. After Keys’ postulate was published and
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accepted by the American Government, people slowly started moving towards the
“Cereal and milk” breakfast.
Manufacturers of Cereals and skimmed milk started advertising widely and hence
got a wide market share. Meat and egg sellers were small merchants and hence
they could not match up to the publicity and advertising campaigns of the cereal
makers. So they lost out their market share and customers.
However lot of debate and discussion was going on among the scientists about the
impact of Cholesterol on Heart diseases. The American Government formed a
committee under the leadership of Senator George McGovern. McGovern used to
follow a low cholesterol, vegetarian diet called “Pritikin diet”. He had no idea
about food and nutrition concepts. He was born in a state where corn was
extensively grown. He spoke to scientists belonging to both the schools of thought
and submitted a random report to the US government. He stated that high
cholesterol did have an impact on heart diseases. He also recommended a low
cholesterol diet as a healthy diet.
This report was accepted by the US Government. Health bodies like American
Heart Association and American Diabetes Association also announced low
cholesterol diet comprising of corn flakes, skimmed milk, oatmeal as healthy diet.
These Associations received lot of funding from the manufacturers of these low
cholesterol food products. Medical college textbooks and Medical journals were
rewritten based on this.
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Europe and USA are the pioneers in the world for all health and fitness related
decisions. The rest of the world also jumped into the “low cholesterol diet”
bandwagon and started following the same blindly.
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The only reason junk food like Pizza and burger are so popular across the world is
that they are consumed by people in USA and Europe. Asians like to follow
Western lifestyle and it is evident from prevalent practices in Asian countries like
smoking.
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Eggs and meat were shown the door, corn flakes and skimmed milk occupied their
place in the dining tables.
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Part 3 What we need to learn from history
In 1931, Albert Schweitzer, a Christian Preacher travelled to Africa to spread
Christianity. He was also a Philosopher and a social reformer. He built a hospital in
one of the Western African villages to serve people. He cured the illnesses of about
2,000 people in a year’s time.
After 41 years, one of the village men came to him with a problem in the appendix.
Schweitzer expresses surprise that during those 41 years, he never came across
even a single patient with cancer. Later he encounters people suffering from cancer
in the villages and reports that the main cause for the disease is “Africans also
started following the Western diet”
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are the diseases of the modern man, whose diet had wavered away from the
Caveman diet.
(VilhjalmurStefansson) (Albert Schweitzer)
Eskimos lived in snow filled region where there was absolutely no vegetation.
They could not even light fire to cook food. So the Eskimos ended up eating only
raw meat as their food. The survived on the meat of seal, walrus, whale and polar
bear – whose meat had high fat content. During summer, very rarely some
vegetables would grow. Even these vegetables were consumed after dipping them
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in animal fat. For 11 months in a year, these Eskimos lived on animal meat which
was rich in fat content.
Scientists were puzzled about how Eskimos were healthy without eating
vegetables. There was no awareness about VitaminC. People travelling long
distances using ships suffered from Scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency) when they did
not eat vegetables for a long time. Scientists also knew that Lemon juice was an
ideal cure for Scurvy. But Eskimos did not eat vegetables for the whole year, yet
they were healthy.
Stefansson lived along with the Eskimos for five years and studied their lifestyle
and diet extensively. After fishing, they had to wait for the frozen fish to thaw and
become soft. Then the cooking process would begin.
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However, he also states that food of Eskimos did not have salt. During August and
September (Summer) the fish are caught. Since they cannot be preserved during
the summer, they become stale. Eskimos considered eating stale fish as a delicacy.
This was considered something similar to eating Vintage cheese. Stefansson writes
that he also enjoyed eating stale fish.
Extract from his notes :
“During my stay with the Eskimos for five years,I saw that none of them had
dreaded diseases like cancer.Each woman gave birth to at least seven or eight
children. A hospital was established to provide healthcare services to the Eskimos.
But even before the doctors could arrive, the women would deliver children
through normal delivery. The woman who delivered a child would offer hospitality
to the doctor and team herself. They would be so fit even after the delivery of a
child. None of the women underwent C section or there was no case of maternity
mortality.He says he has met women who have delivered up to ten children and
were still fit and healthy.”
Rice, wheat, fruits, white sweets, sugar do not have any cholesterol in them. But
they are rich in carbohydrates. This is the cause for obesity and not the cholesterol
in the food. Let us understand this better :
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Based on the body weight, scientists came up with the “Calorie equation”.
According to this, if we eat more calories than we can burn, then we gain weight.
We lose weight if we can manage to burn more calories than we consume. Some of
the deficiencies in the calorie based postulate are :
1. There is no mechanism using which we can compute the exact number of
calories we manage to burn. Since this variable in the equation is not known,
the “Calorie equation” becomes useless.
2. Again, there is no mechanism to measure the exact number of calories we
consume. It is not practical to weigh the food before we eat. So, this also
becomes an unknown parameter in this equation.
3. Without knowing the calorie intake and calorie burn accurately, this
equation is rendered useless, when it comes to weight management
4. What is misleading in this Calorie equation is : One chocolate has lesser
calories than an egg, which means to state that eating a chocolate is healthier
than eating an egg. This is incorrect.
Using Calorie equation misleads people in weight management.
Let us understand what causes our weight to increase:
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Once the sugar level in our blood reduces, it causes hunger in our body which
forces us to eat again. When we eat food rich in carbohydrates again, the whole
process repeats which adds more and more fat to our abdomen.
This continuous insulin secretion also causes the Beta cells in our liver to get worn
out. This impacts secretion of insulin in our body and slowly leads to Diabetes. If
we eat food rich in cholesterol, there is no need for insulin secretion since the food
does not contain any carbohydrates. If people suffering from diabetes consume
only meat (which contains no carbohydrates) their blood sugar level will not
increase and their body weight will not increase.
The secretion of insulin is a preventive mechanism deployed by our body. The
main responsibility of Insulin is to reduce the blood sugar level. It also issues
commands to our body to move from “Fat burning mode” to “Fat Storage mode”.
The excess sugar in our blood stream has to be converted to Fat and stored. So our
body cells also start conversion of Carbohydrates to Fat and then store fat in the
abdomen region.
Though we eat Low calorie food, the reason for weight gain is the presence of
Carbohydrates in the food.
Insulin causes Internal injuries and is also the cause for Heart attack, Ulcer,
Obesity and other diseases. But Insulin is not a villain in our body. It is very much
essential – else we would die. Insulin has an important role to play – “To keep our
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blood sugar level under control”. But excessive secretion of insulin because of the
presence of carbohydrates in the food causes diseases and also Obesity.
Any diet mechanism which does not control insulin secretion does not succeed in
controlling the body weight. Let us see the difference between eating 5 idlis (south
indian breakfast steamed rice cakes.) and 4 eggs for breakfast.
It is accepted by many people that Idlis are healthy for us. It is a actually a myth. If
we are asked to eat white sugar equivalent to the amount present in 5 idlis, would
we agree to eat it? Snacks prepared from rice and wheat also cause increase in
insulin levels in our blood, just as white sugar does. Eating grains like rice and
wheat regularly as staple food only causes high insulin secretion, leading to fat
storage and hence increase in body weight.
This is like a chain process. Once blood sugar level increases, Pancreas secretes
insulin, which leads to fat conversion of the Carbohydrates and storage in the
abdomen area. The abdomen fat is stored in the form of Triglycerides. This is why
people who eat grain based breakfast feel hungry in the mid morning, leading to
the consumption of more carbohydrates based snacks. This leads to further increase
of body weight.
What happens when we eat four eggs for breakfast?
Eggs have zero carbohydrates. So there is no increase in the sugar level in the
blood. After fasting through the night, when we eat zero carbohydrates eggs for
breakfast, our body switches to fat burning mode, burns abdomen fat to get energy
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for our day to day activities. This also causes the cholesterol in the eggs to be burnt
up and hence there is no fat accumulation in our body. This also causes the
reduction of fat in our abdomen, hence leading to weight loss.
Hence it is highly recommended to have food with zero carbohydrates like eggs
and meat – which directly help in less insulin secretion and reduction of body
weight.
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Part 4 “Slim is beautiful” The 20th century slogan
We now clearly understand how Insulin plays a key role in weight gain.
Unfortunately many people, who want to reduce their weight, do not understand
the role of Insulin. Their dieticians and doctors are repeatedly advising them to eat
low calorie food and exercise well for weight loss. This is derived from the
“Calorie equation” : “Burn more calories than you eat”.
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Obesity being prevalent even among children, everyone is advised to exercise well
to lose weight. People have started practicing morning walks in beaches and
nearby parks in large numbers. Some people have resorted to cycling, to get to
their workplace. Gymnasiums are mushrooming all over the place. People enroll
themselves in these gyms and sweat out using modern exercise equipments like
treadmills, stationary cycle…. Few others practice yoga with great enthusiasm.
People believe in investing large amount of money in buying these exercise
equipments and these have grown to be a good market in the industry.
All this sweat is absolutely unnecessary. If people who want to lose weight
understand the philosophy behind this, they would be shocked. Exercising hard is
actually harmful to the body. People need to realize this.
Let us now try to recollect the mode of exercise of our ancestors. They did not
exercise using treadmills nor did they participate in marathon races. Cavemen did
not indulge in hard practices like weight lifting or cycling away to long distances.
No, they were aware of the harmful effects of such hard forms of exercise. The
anatomy of human being is not designed for running fast. He cannot chase animals
like deer, rabbit which can run at a fast pace. Wild animals like lions and tigers
would manage to outsmart humans, when it came to running. So, it is very clear
that running fast was not one of man’s strengths. Basically running is against the
nature of human beings.
The only exercise, which the cavemen did was – walking with spears and stones in
their hand – in search of animals to hunt for food. The womenfolk went around
gathering fruits, eggs and vegetables. In villages, even today the women folk walk
long distances to fetch water. It is evident that cavemen did not run or exercise
hard.
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If we walk for 6 kilometers, we burn about 300 calories. We need to understand
that this will not lead to a great weight loss. Our body burns the same number of
calories in a day, whether we exercise or not. If our body burns 2000 calories in a
day, then with exercise also the total number of calories burnt will be 2000 only.
So, there is no scope for weight loss here.
Then why is exercising so popular? It is a game of Politics played by Soft drink
manufacturers. Coca Cola and Pepsi together have formed an association called
“Beverage Institute”. There was widespread criticism that these two soft drinks are
one of the reasons for obesity among people. They started this association and later
started promoting the philosophy that “Exercise can lead to weight loss”.
This association also proclaimed that sitting in one place for a long time is the
cause for obesity. They released an advertisement titled CHAIRS (link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMLjHwwpAdg ) which clearly explains this
message. (short link : http://bit.ly/1JUmdGt )
The Beverage Institute and Fast food manufacturers joined hands and started
spreading the message that “Eating high calorie food and lack of exercise” is the
main cause for Obesity. Hence people should start exercising to lose weight. After
repeated broadcast of this message, people slowly started accepting this and
resorted to exercising so that they can consume more junk food and aerated drinks
like Pepsi, Coca Cola which contain high Carbohydrate levels. They conveniently
put forth the Calorie equation as an explanation.
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These organizations spend lot of money lobbying for sales of their products. They
sponsor Olympic Games and hence promote sports and physical exercise. People
are made to believe that junk food and aerated drinks are not cause for Obesity.
World health Organization published their norms that only 10% of the total
calories consumed should be from carbohydrates. Later they decided to modify it
to 5% but this was not officially announced.
Organizations manufacturing soft drinks and junk food contribute to a great
amount in the form of Election Funds. They influenced the beneficiaries of these
funds (Politicians) to write to the World Health Organization to withhold the
revision to 5%. If the revised figure of 5% had been published, these organizations
would have suffered a great dip in their sales, doctors would be recommending
people not to consume them.
Let’s understand the pitfalls of Calorie equation better ….
It is incorrect to compare just the number of calories to arrive at the right
conclusion. The equation is not as simple as that.
The metabolism of human beings is different from that of animals. Human brain
itself burns up 20% of the total calories burnt during the day. Even if there is no
physical activity, on an average a human body burns up 2000 calories per day.
Assuming that we burn 500 calories during exercise workout, our body would still
burn 1500 calories more and the total would only by 2000 calories. Whether we
indulge in physical exercise or not, we end up burning the same amount of calories
during the day.
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When we try eating lesser calories, proportionately lesser calories are burnt. For
example if we consume 1500 calories instead of 2000 calories, then instead of
burning 1500 calories, our body burns only 1400 calories. This is because human
metabolism is designed to save fat. There is an “evolution based” reason for this
process.
Till the great Agricultural revolution in 1970, there was a lot of famine and
starvation among the mankind. Caveman did not have the luxury of timely food,
thrice a day. They would feast when they find a good prey – else fast if hunting is
unsuccessful. Only people who had large fat deposits in their body survived long
fasting periods. The rest of them perished.
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In the 20 century, being slim is considered fashionable. Being fat or stout was
earlier considered as a sign of prosperity. In earlier days, diabetes was considered
as a disease of the rich. Even Gout (which is an indication of high uric acid level
in the blood) was considered as a royal disease.
In the 1950s and 60s, dream girls from the world of south indian / tamil cinema
looked much different from the current ones.
During those days, people who were slim were considered to be suffering from
some disease and they were recommended to get some medical treatment as shown
in the picture below :
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Even the male actors did not sport six packs or athletic bodies. They were not thin
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either. So, we understand that “slim is beautiful” is the slogan of the 20 century.
This is the price we pay for modernization of the current world.
Beauty contents which claim to crown the most beautiful people, publicize that
winners had to undergo a lot of starvation and tough workouts. The winners of the
male beauty pageants have even fainted and died on the dais during the prize
winning ceremony. This is because of diuretics they consumed which would
reduce the water content in the body.
Insulin is a key player not only in weight gain but also in diseases like
Hypertension and Type 2 diabetes. Doctors do not explain about the role of Insulin
to the Hypertension patients. Even dieticians blame “salt” as the villain for
Hypertension. In reality, salt has no role to play in this disease.
Once diagnosed with hypertension, patients are advised to eat their food without
salt. The patients try eating bland food, then unable to bear this, come back to the
doctor and decide to take tablets instead of controlling the disease with the help of
diet. Doctors are also too happy to prescribe medicines for the same.
Let’s see what role insulin has to play in this game.
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Insulin causes increase in the Blood pressure in three different ways.
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Part 5 What to eat & What to avoid
We read about the origin and basic details about Paleo diet. Let us discuss more on
the diet related detailed of Paleo. What to eat and what not to eat ….
There are two subcategories in the Paleo diet :
NonVegetarian Paleo & Vegetarian Paleo
Vegetarian Paleo diet has been exclusively designed by our Facebook group after a
lot of study and research to benefit the vegetarians.
Recommended diet for Non vegetarian Paleo :
Breakfast :
100 almonds (either fry them or soak them for 12 hours and then eat with the skin).
Eating raw almonds is not recommended
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Folks who need an alternate for almonds can have “Tibetan Butter tea”. Video link
for preparation of Tibetan Butter tea is shared below
Evening snack : One glass milk, 250 grams of paleo vegetables. Vegetables may
either be eaten as salad or fried in ghee.
Dinner :
Fish, Meat of cows, sheep, pigs, chicken, and duck can be eaten to one’s heart fill,
unlimited quantity.
Meat to be avoided :
Fatfree meat should be avoided. Meat should be consumed with full fat content.
Meat which is deep fried in oil, sold in fast food joints should be avoided. Usage of
additives, preservatives or any kind of chemicals should be strictly avoided.
Dried fish (Karuvaadu in tamil) can be consumed in moderate quantity but not
every day.
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Eggs should be eaten fully – both white and yellow part. Deeping frying of food
should be strictly avoided.
Recommended diet for Vegetarian Paleo :
Breakfast / Lunch / Evening snack : 100 almonds / eggs may be taken for these
three meals as mentioned above.
Dinner : Instead of meat, Paneer dishes (Paneer Manchurian, Paneer Tikka, Paneer
butter masala) may be consumed. These can be taken upto one’s heart fill –
unlimited quantity. (Paneer – cottage cheese)
Food to be avoided in Paleo diet :
Potatoes, Beans (all legumes), green peas, sprouts, groundnuts, soya, tofu (soya
paneer), soya chunks meal maker, all tubers like sweet potatoes, Jackfruit, Raw
banana. All fruits are to be avoided [except avocado(butter fruit)]
If you are wondering, “These are a part of one’s daytoday life, how can we avoid
them?” it is time for us to decide between our health and our wishes.
Food to be included in Paleo diet :
Avoid :
It is recommended to use ghee, butter, virgin coconut oil for cooking. Virgin olive
oil may be used for salads only.
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These are the dietary guidelines to be followed for Paleo diet. This provides cure
from obesity, Hypertension, Diabetes…. Vegetarians who do not wish to consume
eggs can eat Paleo vegetables instead.
Tibetan Butter Tea :
Ingredients :
Milk – 125 ml
Water – 125 ml
Butter – 30 gm
Sugar – ½ tea spoon
Tea powder – 1 ½ tea spoon
Mix all the ingredients, boil for a few minutes and delicious Butter tea is ready.
Here is the link to the video which demonstrates Butter tea preparation :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnPLBPYCG4M
Also understand that the definition of this diet is based on cholesterol. It is quite
possible that your cholesterol levels may shoot up. But there is no need to worry.
Cholesterol is good for our heart & is very essential for our well being.
It is very popular belief that Obesity is the root cause for diseases like Diabetes and
Hypertension. This is incorrect. In fact, all the three diseases share a common root
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cause. We have already understood that Insulin is the culprit in all the three cases.
Paleo diet helps in keeping Insulin secretion under control and hence eliminates all
these three diseases.
If you are suffering from Diabetes, while following Paleo diet, your Blood sugar
level may suffer a fall, thus leading to Hypoglycemia. It is hereby advised that such
people monitor their blood sugar levels continuously and adjust the medication
level appropriately.
For example, assume that your fasting blood sugar level is 140, and after
consuming breakfast items like idli, dosa (with carbohydrates), it increases to 200.
SUCCESS STORY :
Let's read the success story of Ms. Dolly Bala, 54, who lives in Bangalore, India.
She followed vegetarian Paleo diet (with eggs) and managed to get cured of her
Hypertension problems. She also managed to lose 17 kgs weight by following
Paleo diet. Let's read about her experience in her own words ….
I was very frustrated and had given up on my health problems and increase in body
weight. Though I lost some weight through some alternate medication, there were
side effects. So I stopped all medication. That’s when the turning point in my life
happened.
I got to know about the Tamil Facebook group “ஆேரா கிய & ந வா ”. I started
reading the posts published by Neander Selvan on how this diet helps in Weight
loss and also the need to avoid grains. After reading them, I started getting doubts
about how effective it would be for a vegetarian. Vegetarians do not have too much
choice when it comes to low carbohydrate and high cholesterol diet. Since I did
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not have much to lose, I started following the Paleo diet – much against the wishes
of my family members.
I started my Paleo diet regime with minimal variety: Eggs, almonds, paneer, &
Paleo vegetables. Selvan has advised on avoiding grains (rice, wheat), sugar,
starch. It was not difficult for me to avoid sugar in my coffee. But drinking tea
without sugar was initially difficult. Later I got used to that too. Selvan advised me
against drinking coffee, since it causes an increase in Blood Pressure.
I was able to see the benefits (changes) right from the first week. There was a
reduction in my weight. My Blood pressure also started stabilizing gradually. At
the end of the first month, I got a blood test done. There was lot of improvement
seen. I stopped taking Statin tablets, which was for cholesterol reduction. Within a
time span of about seven months, I lost ten kgs. weight. At my age, this level of
weight reduction was a boon. Hence, I was able to walk easily. So I started walking
6 kilometres everyday.
Let me list down the benefits I reaped from Paleo diet :
(Vegetarian paleo diet – with eggs, my age – 57 years)
1. Weight loss of 17 kilos
2. My Blood Pressure level was 140 / 90 – in spite of taking three tablets. Now
it has reduced to 110/70. I still continue to take one tablet – because of my
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doctor’s advice to stop the medication gradually. My Blood Pressure level is
normal now.
3. My heartbeat was very fast and I was taking medication for that too. Now I
have stopped that medication.
4. I was taking Statin tablets for Cholesterol reduction. With the confidence
Paleo diet gave me, I stopped taking that medication too. After seeing the
blood test reports, my doctor also gave his consent for stopping the
medication.
5. My friends compliment me that my skin has got a new glow.
6. I am able to walk for 6 kilometres now. Earlier walking for even one
kilometer was difficult.
7. Earlier I had hormone imbalance. This problem also has been solved now
8. I don’t get tired at all. I feel active all the time during the day
9. I used to get muscle catch earlier. I don’t get it nowadays
10. I used to have some issues with my teeth. Now I am able to eat 100 almonds
comfortably. No issues at all.
There are many other benefits also. Now Paleo is not only a diet regime – It is a
lifestyle.
Please take a look at Ms. Dolly Bala’s pictures taken before and after following Paleo diet. The
first picture was taken in February 2013 (before Paleo) and the second one was taken in July
2015. The results are here to speak.
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Part 6 Cholesterol is a good friend
If our heart comes to know about our false belief that Red meat and saturated fat
are bad for our heart, it would have a hearty laugh!! Our heart is a big piece of red
meat along with saturated fat. Our brain is a big ball of cholesterol. The human
organ which has stored the maximum amount of cholesterol is our brain. Human
brain has ten times more cholesterol than any other organ in the body.
Let us realize that Cholesterol is our good friend who protects us from heart
attacks. The role of cholesterol is similar to the role Lord Krishna played to Arjun
in the war of Kurukshethra (Indian Epic Mahabaratha). Cholesterol plays a key
role in the reproduction of human beings and survival of mankind.
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Cholesterol is a sticky paste kind of substance. It is a myth that cholesterol contains
lot of calories. It is an important ingredient in the human body. Let us understand
more about this.
Similarly, “Estrogen” is the hormone which is plays an important role in women
during developments of the puberty phase and is essential for fertile production of
eggs.
The relationship between these hormones and cholesterol is similar to that between
butter and ghee. Another way of describing this relationship would be to say that
“cholesterol is the raw material / source for these hormones”. Shortage of
cholesterol in our body will impact the secretion of these hormones very badly,
bringing the entire metabolism process to a halt.
Human body is capable of generating cholesterol by itself. Every cell of the human
body can generate cholesterol by itself. However, the food we eat can also be the
cholesterol supplier for our body. Food items like meat, fish, milk and eggs have
cholesterol present in them. Please note that none of the vegetables have
cholesterol present in them.
Generation of cholesterol from the food we eat is not an easy process. It is a 30
step process and this puts considerable load on the liver. Rather than generate
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cholesterol, isn’t it easy to get it directly from the food we eat? This will reduce the
load on the liver and so that it can be involved in the digestion of proteins and
secretion of Bile acid.
The more the cholesterol in our food, the more healthy our liver will be.
A suitable analogy would be the usage of Washing machine to wash clothes rather
than wash it manually.
There is absolutely no difference between the cholesterol our liver generates and
the cholesterol we obtain from the food we eat, directly. If eating food items like
red meat, eggs are harmful because they contain cholesterol, then why would our
body generate the same cholesterol? Let us think ….
An average American gets about 400 mg of cholesterol from his daily food.
(American government recommendation is 300 mg) Indian Government
recommendation is only up to 365 mg. These recommendation levels are very
absurd.
Is it possible to get the required 2000 mg cholesterol only through the food we eat?
It may not be possible for many of us. The cholesterol vegetarians get by drinking
2 cups of milk is only 50 mg. If we consume 4 eggs in our diet, we get 800 mg
cholesterol. An additional 500 grams of chicken meat would provide 500 mg
cholesterol more.
Nonvegetarian food has more cholesterol compared to vegetarian food. This is the
reason why vegetarians are more prone to problems like hormonal imbalance and
fatty liver.
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When you get your lipid profile test done, if the LDL presence is high, the doctor
would tell you that “Bad cholesterol has increased”, causing some worry in your
minds. Though LDL is termed as bad cholesterol, it is not cholesterol at all. It is
only a form of protein. Cholesterol is not soluble in water. Hence the liver uses
LDL as a carrier to transport cholesterol to all the body cells and internal organs
through blood circulation.
The transportation of cholesterol to all body cells ensures the secretion of all the
essential hormones in our body. LDL acts as carrier to Vitamin A, Vitamin D and
antioxidants, which are soluble in cholesterol, and ensures that they reach all the
cells in the body. If the presence of cholesterol in the body reduces, it may lead to
diseases like Depression, Suicidal tendency, Hormone imbalance, Impotence,
Cardiac arrest.
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If every doctor, scientist and dietician knew the importance of cholesterol, why do
they warn patients about cholesterol intake? Let us understand this with the help of
an example.
We have seen several movies where the “Villain” stabs a person and absconds. The
Hero of the film appears in the scene, removes the knife from the wound. An
observer, who sees this, concludes that the Hero is the culprit and also complains
about the incident to the Police. The Police find the Hero’s fingerprints on the
knife conclude the Hero is the criminal and arrest him.
Cholesterol getting penalized is also a similar story. The victim is our heart.
Cholesterol is the Hero which is wrongly identified as the culprit initially. Now it
is time for us to realize who the real culprit is….
Inflammation (Internal injury) is the real culprit. Let’s see how cholesterol is
wrongly framed as the culprit for this.
In reality, a layer of cholesterol is deposited on the walls of the arteries as a
protective mechanism.
Internal injury called as inflammation occurs on the walls of the arteries. LDL
cholesterol layer is needed to protect the arteries from inflammation. Once there is
an inflammation, another layer of LDL cholesterol is formed. As more injuries
occur, more layers of LDL cholesterol are formed as protective layer. These layers
block blood flow and hence cause cardiac arrest.
Hence cholesterol is not the main cause for cardiac arrest. It is our well wisher.
Now let us try to understand what causes these internal injuries.
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Eating food items with Carbohydrates (like rice, sugar, maida) is the main cause
for these internal injuries. Using Trans fat for cooking also causes internal injuries.
The smoking point of virgin sunflower oil is very low and hence cannot be used for
cooking purposes.
Since the smoking point of the virgin oils is very low, it causes inability to use
them for cooking. So these oils are subjected to a process called Hydrogenation.
One atom of hydrogen is introduced in the fat of these virgin oils which causes
them to become Trans fat. Now these oils are ready for use in cooking as their
smoking point is now high.
After consumption of the Trans fat, Liver & our body are unable to handle the
digestion of these. This is one of the main causes of Inflammation.
It is unfortunate that many people still (wrongly) believe that Cholesterol is the
cause for cardiac arrest and other ailments. Let us be aware of the harmful factors
in our diet and avoid them to gain good health.
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Part 7 Grain grain go away ...
Let us see why grains are harmful to our body. The word “grain” here refers to
rice, wheat, ragi, corn and also includes the ones from the Western world like
quinoa, oats and barley.
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Though doctors recommend idli, chapathi as health food, we need to realize that
they are not good for our health. They cause a lot of harm and become the root
cause for many ailments.
Humans have been eating food grains only for the past 10,000 years. But the
history of human beings being in existence dates back 1.6 million years ago. Of
these 1.6 million years, we have started eating rice, wheat and other grains in the
last 10,000 years only. 99.99% of hereditary patterns of humans were formed
during the time when we were eating only meat.
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We cannot help wondering if 10,000 years is not long enough for the human
genetic patterns to change and include grains in them. But in reality, only few
minor changes have happened to the human genetic pattern.
Let me explain this with the help of an example.
Till about 4.2 million years ago, we were all fourlegged animals. Our ancestors
using all the four legs were jumping from one tree to another. The reason because
of which man started walking on two legs and used his other two legs as hands
could be “evolution”. After this, man became a twolegged being.
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Though we became two legged 4.2 million years ago, our genes have not got
accustomed to this change. You may find this hard to believe.
As man started walking on two legs, the woman’s pelvic bones went through a
change which causes difficulty in delivering the child. Our ancestors like monkeys,
chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas do not have this problem since they continue
to be fourlegged. A chimpanzee delivers its offspring within a few minutes time,
without any complication or pain. Immediately, the mother starts feeding the child.
There is no need for any hospital or nurse for its delivery.
A change which happened 4.2 million years ago, has not been registered in the
genetic patterns of mankind. Imagine how many more years it would take for the
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change of “eating grains” to register in the genetic patterns. So, let us be convinced
that human genetic patterns still consider meat and vegetables as their food. They
have not got used to eating grains. This is the main reason for many of the ailments
and diseases mankind is facing today.
The main reason why grains are harmful to our body is the carbohydrates they
contain. They spike up the insulin level in the blood hence causing the body to
switch to fat storage mode rather than fatburning mode. According to the statistics
issued by the Indian Government, an average Indian consumes 166 kilogram of
grains (rice, wheat…) annually. This translates to 400 grams of grains consumption
per day. These levels match with the World level average statistics of 170
kilograms.
In Western countries like Europe and USA, people consume more meat. Hence the
average annual grain consumption is only 120 kilograms. Meat is an important
ingredient in every meal of theirs. An average European consumes 100 kilograms
of meat and fish annually. On the contrary Indians consume only 7 kilograms of
meat and fish annually. India is the lowest consumer of meat among all the
countries in the world. Indians rely on pulses for proteins. On an average, an Indian
consumes 14 kilograms of pulses whereas that of an European is only 2 kilograms
annually.
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Asians / Indians get most of their calories from the grains they eat. Everyday about
400 grams of rice, wheat are consumed by Indians typically in the form of Idli,
dosa or chapathi. 400 grams rice contains 112 grams of carbohydrates. Let us
understand that eating 400 grams of rice (containing 112 grams of carbohydrates)
is just as harmful as eating 112 grams of white sugar. Once the carbohydrates in
rice get converted to glucose and mix with blood stream, this glucose is the same
as the glucose we get by consuming white sugar. Both result in increasing the
insulin flow in our body.
Carbohydrates are not the only problem with respect to grains. These grains
contain Goitrogens which prevent the secretion of Thyroid. Human body finds it
very difficult to digest the proteins contained in dry crop grains like ragi, millets
and sorghum. The Goitrogens present in these cause a disease called
“Hypothyroidism”. This causes fatigue, obesity and memory loss. It may even lead
to huge lumps in the neck as shown in the picture below :
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A few years ago, we would have seen many people residing in villages suffering
from Goiter. This is caused by the inflammation of thyroid glands, the reason for
which is Iodine deficiency. Goitrogens present in the dry crop grains prevent the
absorption of iodine into the body – hence causing this disease.
This disease is common even among the people residing in cities because
Goitrogen is present in groundnuts and wheat. Usage of peanut butter is one of the
reasons for the occurrence of this disease among the people living in cities.
The best possible diet recommended for people suffering from Diabetes is Chapati,
which is made out of wheat, which is the most harmful grain. Whole wheat, rice,
maida, sugar – all these spike up the sugar level in our blood stream.
In Addition to Carbohydrates and Goitrogen, another harmful ingredient present in
wheat is “Gluten” a form of protein. Gluten is also present in barley and oats.
Research has shown that Gluten is harmful to all organs of the body.
We read earlier that the main cause for cardiac arrests is “Inflammation” or
“Internal injuries”. Research has proved that 80% people who die of cardiac arrests
were affected by Inflammation. These internal injuries harm the nerves in our heart
and large intestine and cause diseases like indigestion, damage of the stomach wall,
stomach ache finally leading to ulcer.
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High blood sugar level causes great damage to the brain. Research has proved that
high blood sugar level is the main cause for diseases like Alzheimer's. Eating food
that is rich in carbohydrates for all the three meals a day is dangerous and may
cause great damage to the functionality of the brain.
Scientists compared the skeletal remains of the people (who lived about 10,000
years ago) who ate only meat with those of the people who had started eating
grains also. The average height of the people who had started eating grains reduced
by half a feet, size of the brain reduced and the teeth were damaged. The teeth of
people who ate only meat were strong and healthy and no cavities were found. The
cavemen did not brush their teeth using a variety of toothpastes.
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Popular Swedish Model Ellinor Bjurstrom with Psoriasis.
Gluten also causes Autoimmune diseases like Psoriasis which cause blisters on the
skin. Red patches are formed on the skin and it spreads more on scratching and is
very painful.
The main cause for Psoriasis is our body does not want to accept the proteins
present in the grains. Immediately our immunity system starts action on our body
itself thus causing more damage. A good analogy would be to think that the
security guard of the house falsely thinks that the house has been burgled and starts
shooting the house. This causes internal injuries and blisters all over the body and
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leads to Psoriasis. People spend a lot of money, get different types of medication
and apply ointments. But these do not cure this problem at all.
Many people think diseases like Psoriasis are incurable. If eating grains are
stopped, this disease can be cured. For many of the present day diseases, the root
cause lies in the consumption of grains. So, it is very apt to name these grains as
“dangerous and deadly”.
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Part 8 Diabetes is curable
Indian medicine Ayurveda literature has named Diabetes as “Madhumegam” . The
term “madhu” means “honey”. Since the urine of the diabetes patients tasted sweet,
the disease got this name. Detection of diabetes was done by tasting the urine of
the patient. This method was discovered by the Indians and widely used till the
th
beginning of 20 century.
The main causes for diabetes are sugar and carbohydrates. This fact may not be
known to the patient's, Indian Diabetes Association and American Diabetes
Association. In 1913, a doctor by name Frederick Allen had stated that ancient
Indian doctors were aware of this and it was indeed a fact.
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In the beginning of 20th century, books and medical journals written for diabetes
patients had clearly mentioned this fact that grains, pulses, sweets, food items with
carbohydrates like bread and fruits need to be strictly avoided. Recommended food
was meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. During those days, patients were not advised
to eat chapatis.
Please find below the link for the journal :
https://archive.org/stream/diabeticcookeryr00oppeiala#page/n0/mode/2up
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Insulin was discovered in the beginning of the 20 century. It was also discovered
that Insulin is the hormone which can manage blood sugar levels. It was also
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known in the beginning of 20 century that eating food that is high in
carbohydrates causes a spike in blood sugar level.
Doctors of those days knew well that administering insulin and stopping
carbohydrate intake – both have the same effect. Their treatment for diabetes was
based on this philosophy. One question that immediately comes to our mind is :
Why has this knowledge not been passed on to the next generation doctors?
There is a common belief among people now that Diabetes is incurable. Medical
Organizations and doctors have been spreading the same message across all their
patients.
What is the best way to be profitable while running a pharmaceutical company?
The first step is to convince the patient that the disease cannot be cured; it can only
be controlled with the help of the medicine. Patient should be alive, yet the disease
should not be cured. This is the business model which will earn the pharmaceutical
companies great profit. Diabetes and Hypertension patients are the cashcows for
major pharmaceutical companies.
63
have seen great improvement within a few weeks itself. They have stopped the
medication they have been taken for several years. Their fasting (before food),
postprandial (after food) and A1C sugar levels have been restored to near normal
values.
Diet recommended for Diabetes patients in our Facebook group :
Non Vegetarian diet :
Morning breakfast : 4 eggs
Lunch : Cauliflower rice and 250 grams of Paleo vegetables
Evening snack : Salad of Paleo vegetables and one cup full fat milk
Dinner : Unlimited quantity of meat (Mutton, chicken, fish)
Vegetarian diet (with eggs) :
Morning breakfast : 100 almonds or butter tea
Lunch : Cauliflower rice and 250 grams of Paleo vegetables
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Evening snack : Salad of Paleo vegetables and one cup full fat milk
Dinner : 4 eggs
Vegetarian diet (without eggs) :
Morning breakfast : 100 almonds or butter tea
Lunch : Cauliflower rice and 250 grams of Paleo vegetables
Evening snack : Salad of Paleo vegetables and one cup full fat milk
Dinner : Dishes made out of Paneer, prepared from full fat milk, like Paneer
Manchurian, Paneer tikka or Palak paneer may be consumed.
IMPORTANT NOTE : Vitamin D is very essential for curing Type 2 diabetes.
Hence people suffering from Diabetes should expose themselves to sunlight for 15
to 20 minutes between 11 am and 1 pm. It is advisable to wear a cap as a protective
head gear. Take care to ensure that sunlight falls on the body.
Vegan diet (without milk and eggs) :
Sorry, wrong number.
What is Cauliflower rice?
Since eating rice is prohibited, cauliflower rice may be consumed along with
vegetable gravy. Cut cauliflower into small pieces, grate in a mixer or grater till it
gets cut into small pieces to the size of rice granules. Now steam these cauliflower
rice granules for a few minutes and cauliflower rice is ready. This is very tasty
when eaten with vegetable gravy. Since the carbohydrates present in this is very
less, it does not lead to increase in blood sugar level.
Lets come to the most important question : How does Paleo diet cure diabetes?
It is very well known that eating food with carbohydrates is the main cause of Type
2 diabetes. If one continues to eat such food, how can the disease be cured?
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As soon as one eats food containing carbohydrates like Idli, Dosa or chapathi,
blood sugar level spikes up.
Let us now see what happens after the patient moves over to Paleo diet :
His lunch would be cauliflower rice or 100 almonds. Let’s assume he consumes
paleo food for dinner also.
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His blood sugar level would keep dropping since he is not consuming
carbohydrates in any form. Gradually his medication level for diabetes would be
reduced and later his blood sugar level would stabilize to normal levels.
Many medical journals have opined that Paleo diet can be recommended for
Diabetes patients to reduce blood sugar levels. Any new concept is well researched
upon, discussed and debated before they are published in Medical journals. Later
these concepts are incorporated in Medical education books to be practiced by
doctors all over.
In the year 2011, Professor Busetto, wrote an Research paper in Diabetes
Metabolism Research and Reviews. In that he mentions that though low cholesterol
food has been recommended for diabetes patients, high protein, low carbohydrate
diet like Paleo is also effective in weight reduction and blood sugar level reduction.
It is also beneficial to one’s heart he adds on.
(Link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21309052
)
In the year 2008, Professor Eric Westman’s research paper was published in the
London based Medical journal called “Nutrition and Metabolism”. A study was
conducted to compare low carbohydrate based paleo diet and slightly high
carbohydrate based low glycemic index diet.
Dr. Eric Westman
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All the 49 people who participated in this study had high blood sugar and were
obese too. Paleo diet was recommended to one half of them and low glycemic
index diet to the other half.
Results : After six months, it was noticed that patients who followed Paleo diet saw
1.5 point reduction in HBA1C. They also lost 11 kilograms body weight. HDL
cholesterol (which is called as good cholesterol) values increased by 5.6 points.
Hence the inference that Paleo diet is the most suitable diet for Diabetes patients
was drawn. (Link :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2633336/ )
A Research paper was published in the “Journal of American College Nutrition”. A
study was conducted on the impact of Paleo diet on 14 diabetes patients who were
also obese. The effect caused by insulin injections on their health, blood sugar
level and impact on their heart was studied. This study was conducted in 2013
under the leadership of Dr. Krebs.
Dr. Ernst T. Krebs
All the 14 patients followed Paleo diet meticulously.
Results :
1. All of them lost ten kilograms of body weight
2. HBA1C had reduced by 11 points
3. There was a considerable reduction in the blood sugar level
4. Blood pressure had reduced by ten points
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5. HDL had increased by 10 points
6. HDL : Triglycerides ratio showed considerable decrease
7. Improvement was seen in their cardiac activity
Link : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24015695
:
Research has time and again proven that Paleo diet is beneficial to Diabetes
patients. This diet has helped in the reduction of blood sugar and it has a positive
impact on the heart
Though this is being discussed and debated in many medical forums, this has not
been incorporated in Medical text books for doctors to practice. The only reason
for this could be : It would prove their earlier recommendation that low cholesterol
diet is beneficial would be proven false. Many fast food manufacturers have been
making their products based on the “low cholesterol” mantra. Companies
manufacturing corn flakes, oats would also be impacted. This could the only reason
why paleo diet is not being officially recognized as a healthy diet and
recommended diet for diabetes.
The myth that Type 2 diabetes is incurable should be broken. We need to work
towards liberating people from this dreadful disease.
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Part 9 Diabetes and Nephropathy
It has not yet been proved scientifically that Type – 2 Diabetes is hereditarily
transmitted. The main cause for this disease is only diet and not how our previous
generation was. It is a coincidence that we also eat the same type of food that they
were eating and hence we get the same disease. We need to understand that “the
same diet being followed across generations causes the disease – making it look
like the disease is transmitted hereditarily”. We need to understand this very
clearly.
Let classify the genes in our body as “good ones” and “bad ones” for the sake of
our understanding. The good genes get activated when we eat healthy food and the
bad ones get triggered into action when we eat nosohealthy food. Our health
quotient and the diseases we get are directly linked to the food we eat and have
nothing to do with our heredity.
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Paleo diet offers relief from Type 2 diabetes and the other diseases caused by Type
2 diabetes. Kidney and eyes are two body organs which are prone to be affected by
Type 2 diabetes.
If the blood sugar levels are not kept under control, it is likely to affect the Nervous
system, Arteries, Kidney, Heart, eyes of the patient. When the blood sugar level is
consistently high, it damages the kidneys by affecting their functionality. The
Nervous system being affected is called Diabetic Neuropathy and eyes being
affected is called Diabetic Retinopathy.
A study was conducted on the relationship between Paleo diet and Diabetic
Nephropathy by Medical Professor Jorgen Nielsen and his team. The results were
published in the Medical Journal “Nutritional Metabolism” in the year 2006.
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Swedish Professor Jorgen Vesti Nielsen
Prof. Nelsen states the following :
The link between HBA1C levels and Diabetic Nephropathy is being proven.
Unfortunately even patients with high blood sugar level are being recommended
diet with carbohydrates. Because of this, their blood sugar level further increases,
leading to hyperglycemia (very high blood sugar levels), they become obese and
these impact the functioning of the kidneys.
During this phase, his body weight ranged between 85 and 89 kilograms. He was
following regular diet with carbohydrates. When he consumed lesser calories his
weight reduced, and when the calorific value of the food increased, his weight
increased.
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Professor Jorgen Nielsen concludes that Paleo diet should be recommended for
patients with diseases like High blood sugar, Diabetic Nephropathy, Obesity
Link :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1523335/
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Let us understand more about HBA1C tests. The food we eat is converted to
glucose and mixed with the bloodstream. Liver also generates glucose. The glucose
is mixed with blood so as to provide energy to the cells. Our blood contains Red
blood corpuscles (RBC). The glucose sticks to these RBC cells & stays for 8 to 12
weeks. Hence by testing the RBCs, we can find out the glucose level in one’s
blood.
One of the esteemed Medical journals by name “Annals of Medicine” conducted a
research to compare Paleo diet and diet comprising of Carbohydrate and low
cholesterol. This research was headed by Medical Professor Lena Jonasson.
Patients suffering from diabetes are prone to internal injuries called as
“Inflammation”.
This research brought out a few facts like, the impact low cholesterol diet has is
only on a person’s weight reduction – it does not cure inflammation, it does not
reduce the blood sugar levels. On the contrary, while following Paleo diet, all three
benefits were seen : Weight reduction, Reduction in blood sugar levels and curing
of Inflammation.
Link :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4025600/
These Research papers prove well that Paleo diet just doesn’t cure people of
Diabetes but it also cures diseases caused by Diabetes like Diabetic Nephropathy
and helps in reducing body weight. It also revives kidneys which are almost about
to stop functioning because of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
With all these benefits, it is unfair and unnecessary to fear whether Paleo diet is
harmful to the heart. Many a times, research studies have proved that Paleo diet is
beneficial to mankind in many ways. It is equally meaningless to recommend
carbohydrate based diet for people suffering from type 2 diabetes and diseases
caused by this.
Let us understand more about Type 1 diabetes.
Medical science does not have clear cut answer for the cause of this disease.
People suffering from this disease are affected right from their young age. Their
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bodies are not able to digest carbohydrates and hence they have to take insulin
injections right at a very young age.
“
I have been taking insulin injections for the past 29 years to manage my Type 1
diabetes related problems. In 1986, while I was 12th standard, it was detected that I
have Type 1 diabetes. I was dogged by fatigue and I found it difficult even to walk.
I went through continuous weight loss and when I was admitted to the hospital, my
weight was 37 kilos. During the two months that I stayed in the hospital, I took five
injections every day and my body weight went up to 39 kilos.
With the guidance from a friend of ours, we approached “Diabetic Research
Center” in Ramnagar, Coimbatore. Dr. Munirathnam Chetty, was a kind hearted,
service oriented person and I owe my existence to him. The food items, their
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ingredients and calorific value were displayed in there. He created lot of
awareness about Diabetes. They also explained that people suffering from this
disease need to take injections throughout their life. They also taught us how to
administer these injections ourselves in the thigh and stomach region. I never ate
sweets, yet I would take 70 units insulin in the morning and 60 units in the evening
every day. After a month’s treatment my weight increased to 55 kilos.
I continued my education, got married and had children.
and got to know more about Paleo diet. Initially it seemed like a totally
and Wellbeing)
wrong diet but after continuous reading and better understanding, I was convinced
about this low carbohydrate high cholesterol diet and its benefits.
One fine Sunday morning I also started following Paleo diet. In the morning I took
regular dose of insulin injection, 70 units and took 100 almonds for breakfast. My
fasting blood sugar level was 145. The calorific value of 100 almonds is 700
calories which is equivalent to eating 5 idlis along with chutney and sambhar. This
breakfast should hold me for about 4 hours (till my next meal) In about 30 minutes,
I started experiencing symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) and I
checked my blood sugar level, it showed 64. So I ate some chocolates and helped
increase my blood sugar level. I should have reduced my insulin intake when
starting on Paleo diet. I consulted Neander Selvan to get my doubts clarified.
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My Insulin intake has reduced to half its initial usage. After few more days, my
insulin intake reduced to one third of its initial usage. After three months, when I
tested by blood sugar levels, there was no major cause of concern. My cholesterol
levels had increased. After few more months of following Paleo diet, both my
cholesterol and blood sugar levels came under control.
In the morning I take almonds, afternoon I eat eggs and in the night I include
meat, vegetables and milk in my diet. Only once or twice in a week, I resort to
eating South Indian food. I am aware that Type 1 diabetes cannot be cured, but it
feels great that I am able to reduce my insulin intake to one third its initial amount.
I am not worried that my weight would increase. Based on my learning and
experiences I am writing a few articles in tamil about how to manage diabetes
using Paleo diet called “உைன ெவ ேவ நீரிழிேவ” (English : I will win over you diabetes)
. And my journey of life continues with the help of Paleo diet …..
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