I would disagree with the last part of your statement. Most major human civilizations in many parts of the world have had staple grains that were and are eaten as a major dietary component.
> Humans need protein and fat to survive, and fat
> plays an important role in many body
> processes--including making your food easier on
> your digestive tract (compare whole milk and the
> ravages of lowfat on your gut if you are lactose
> intolerant).
Certainly I wasn't suggesting that humans not eat protein and fat; cutting either out of one's diet could be extremely dangerous. What I was responding to initially was this IMO strange notion that carbohydrates are what's wrong with our diets, not the refining processes that strips the vitamin and mineral content out of just about everything we eat. If anything, I think we should be encouraging more grain consumption in better forms as an alternative to the current American processed diet.
> Seriously, just try it for a couple of weeks, if
> you can (since it's so hard to do, so geared to
> carbohydrates is the modern diet). Eat protein
> and some fat, and stay away from carbs of the
> most typical sorts and see how much weight you
> lose
Heh. I think I might vanish completely if I lost any weight. I'm not sure that I'd want to lose any of what I've got; that would probably mean my body would be eating its own muscle as I have hardly any fat at all. And my diet is probably 70% carbohydrates.
The reason I started to eat this way was to try to cut down on overall food costs (whole grains, vegetables, and legumes are very affordable), to try to avoid getting colds and flus and sore throats, and to give myself a more even energy level throughout the day. I accomplished all of those goals by cutting out refined foods and increasing my carbohydrate intake.
I suppose we could sit here all day and trade dietary stories, and I don't like to be preachy about my diet. I just really don't understand the backlash against carbohydrates.
-- Matthew Snyder Philadelphia, PA