Here are a few things we learned from making the film: Carb-Loaded: A Culture Dying to Eat…
Adopting a low carb lifestyle can truly change your relationship with food. Food has many healing properties and people who eat low carb diets quickly replace cravings for sweets or processed foods with cravings for whole foods that fuel the body and make you feel healthier and happier. Here are just some of the ways that a low carb diet can improve your health.
Chronic inflammation is becoming recognized as an underlying cause of many common health problems. Chronic inflammation is different than inflammation that results from a healthy immune response; chronic inflammation occurs when your immune system flares up and does not calm down. This flare up can be caused by any number of factors and varies from person to person; underlying infection, obesity, or diet can trigger chronic inflammation in the body. Eating a healthy low carb diet is a great way to naturally reduce and control inflammation. By nature, many of the foods that are part of a low carb diet are anti-inflammatory. Here is a quick guide of foods to avoid and to consume to keep inflammation at bay:
Inflammatory foods include: Sugar, refined grains, alcohol, and ‘bad’ fats.
Anti-inflammatory foods include: Vegetables and fruits (dark leafy greens and berries), ‘good’ fats (avocados, omega 3s, olives and olive oil), grass-fed meats and wild caught fatty fish.
Learn more about the actual cause of high cholesterol here.
Many people embrace the idea that if you eat less, you lose weight. While this may be a short term way to shed some unwanted pounds, restricting your calorie intake is not a sustainable or healthy weight loss option. A low carb diet is not about restricting calories, it is about removing food that your body does not need and replacing it with whole, healthy ingredients that nourish your body. Weight loss is a pleasant side effect of this lifestyle choice. You will find that by removing unnecessary foods like refined grains and sugars, the pounds will drop off. You will feel more lean, have more energy, and feel more in tune with your body.
Unless you suffer from a blood sugar related disease like diabetes, you may have never thought about how blood sugar (the amount of sugar in your blood) can affect you. The reality is that there are many foods that can cause spikes and falls in blood sugar which can affect your health in many negative ways. Typical American diets are full of these foods: sugar and processed carbohydrates. Eating these foods causes a temporary spike in blood sugar levels, which increases energy for a short amount of time, followed by a crash in blood sugar levels leading to fatigue and food cravings. Not only does this diet drain your energy, but it is a precursor to serious illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease. Eating a low carb diet is a natural way to regulate your blood sugar and maintain healthy glucose levels.
Have you ever eaten a seemingly heavy meal and felt hungry again after a short period of time? This is a sensation that many people experience and it happens when you fill up on empty calories rather then healthy, nutrient dense food. Carbohydrates make you feel full and give you energy in the moment, but leave your body depleted of essential vitamins, nutrients and craving more food. What the body really needs is healthy meals that will nourish your body. You will find that by eating meals full of protein, healthy fats, and fresh vegetables, you will experience lasting energy and feel full and satisfied until it is time for your next meal.
Improving your health by eating healthy foods is a long term project. Jumping on and off of the dieting bandwagon is a surefire way to make yourself sick, and break your desire to continue. A sustainable healthy way of eating will protect your health for the future. Reducing inflammation, keeping your blood sugar levels in check and healthy weight loss, are all ways to safeguard your health for the future. Pick something healthy that you can do today, add new (healthy) behaviors as the old ones become habit. Remember slow and steady wins the race!
Why is this low-carb website named CARB-LOADED?
Because we made a documentary about modern food culture (see it here)!
