Adopting an Ancestral Diet: How Modern Food Negatively Impacts Health
If the idea of adopting a full-scale Ancestral diet feels daunting, don't worry; you can still take a significant step towards improving your health by eliminating three toxins that contribute significantly to modern diseases.
Here they are:
Gluten (grains aren't superfoods)
Industrial seed oils (anything but heart-healthy)
Refined sugar (in a word, toxic)
At its core, a toxin is something capable of causing disease or harming tissues when it enters the body. Most people think of pesticides, heavy metals, and industrial pollutants when they hear the word toxin. However, even beneficial substances like water, essential for life, can become toxic in high doses.
The human body has a built-in detoxification system designed to process and eliminate toxins in small amounts. However, this system evolved over millions of years in an environment much cleaner than today's world, where we are exposed to a wide range and volume of toxins.
Understanding the role of dietary toxins in modern diseases is crucial. While eating small amounts of these foods may not immediately harm most people, consuming them in excessive quantities significantly raises the risk of developing modern diseases.
Unfortunately, gluten-containing grains, industrial seed oils, and refined sugar make up a large portion of the modern diet. Products like bread, pastries, muffins, crackers, cookies, soda, fruit juice, and fast food are loaded with these toxins. In the United States, vegetable oils, grain flour, and table sugar, along with dairy and alcohol, contribute to 70 percent of the total calories consumed daily. When the majority of daily food intake contains toxins, it's no surprise that health is deteriorating.
Let's delve into each of these food toxins in more detail.
GLUTEN:
Plants, like animals, have evolved mechanisms to protect themselves. Unlike animals that can escape predators, plants produce toxins to defend themselves, including ones that damage the lining of the gut, inhibit essential nutrient absorption, and bind essential minerals, making them unavailable to the body. One of these toxic compounds is gluten, found in wheat, barley, and rye.
Celiac disease (CD) was first described in the first century, but the link between CD and gluten was only conclusively proven in 1950. CD can cause severe health issues, including malnutrition, stunted growth, cancer, neurological and psychiatric illness.
Apart from CD, there's a condition called non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), which falls in the middle of the gluten intolerance spectrum. NCGS doesn't involve an autoimmune response but still leads to adverse effects from gluten consumption.
INDUSTRIAL SEED OILS:
Industrial seed oils, derived from plants like corn, soybean, and sunflower, have become widely used in processed and packaged foods. Unfortunately, excessive consumption of these oils poses several issues:
High amounts of linoleic acid (LA), an essential fatty acid, which, when consumed in excess, can be harmful.
Susceptibility to oxidation, leading to the formation of compounds associated with inflammatory diseases.
Limited evidence supporting their heart-healthy reputation, with some studies suggesting they may increase the risk of heart disease.
Given these concerns and the fact that traditional cultures didn't include industrial seed oils in their diets, it's best to minimize their intake.
REFINED SUGAR:
Naturally occurring sugars in fruits and vegetables are beneficial and don't promote weight gain. However, excessive consumption of refined sugar, such as table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, can lead to various health issues.
Added sugars promote overeating and weight gain, contributing to insulin resistance, which is associated with diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer's. They can also cause digestive problems, bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, and other issues. The list of problems caused by excess refined sugar is extensive, ranging from immune system suppression to an increased risk of breast cancer.
Removing these food toxins from your diet is a crucial step towards better health. Even if fully adopting an Ancestral diet seems overwhelming, starting with the elimination of these toxins can have a profound positive impact on your well-being. You may find yourself feeling like a different person, providing the motivation to continue making positive changes in your diet and lifestyle.
CONCLUSION:
The modern diet contains toxins that significantly contribute to modern diseases. While adopting a full-scale Ancestral diet may seem overwhelming, improving health is attainable by eliminating three major toxins: gluten, industrial seed oils, and refined sugar. Toxins can cause disease or harm tissues when they enter the body, even beneficial substances like water in high doses. The human body's detoxification system evolved in a cleaner environment and struggles with today's vast range of toxins. Gluten, found in wheat, barley, and rye, can be toxic for some, causing celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Industrial seed oils and refined sugar also pose health risks. Removing these toxins from the diet can lead to positive changes in well-being, motivating healthier choices.
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