Chapter 2: What to use and what to avoid (How to have better health to better serve Krsna)
The 2nd part of my book about health: What exactly we should do and what to avoid?
Chapter 2: What to use and what to avoid
Almost everything in excess can become bad. For example, water is essential for life and therefore the general recommendation is to drink plenty of water. However, even water in excess can be harmful. In certain conditions (like serious dehydration), people can even die if they drink too much water!
Another example: selenium is an essential mineral that plays a critical role in metabolism and thyroid function, helping also to protect the body from oxidative stress damage. Lack of selenium can cause a multitude of problems, including even higher risk of cancer. However, too much selenium can also cause problems, such as hair loss, nail brittleness, nausea, diarrhea, skin rashes, fatigue, irritability, and so on. Similarly, many other nutrients can become toxic if the dose is too high. Thus we can understand that a balance is necessary.
Under normal conditions, it’s practically impossible for a person to get dangerously high doses of selenium from food. Theoretically, a person that would eat a huge quantity of Brazilian nuts every day, for a long period, could get a dangerous dose of it, but normally this would not happen, since a person would lose the appetite for the nuts as soon as the body would start getting too much of it. However, if someone would start taking selenium in a concentrated form, it would not be difficult to get a dangerous dose.
Similarly, many nutrients that are useful actually become dangerous when consumed in a concentrated or adulterated form. Table sugar, for example, is nothing more than the combination of glucose and fructose, two types of sugars that are naturally found in fruits. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the brain (it’s actually impossible to live without glucose: even if one doesn't eat any, the body will synthesize glucose from fat and protein) and fructose that is used by the liver to produce fat that can be used in times of scarcity. People have been eating fruits (and thus this combination of glucose and fructose) since the beginning of time and they were healthy. When however people start to eat the same in the form of sugar, which is the isolated, concentrated form, they start having problems.
Let’s start with a few things that should be avoided, and what can we use in their place:
The problem with refined vegetable oils
In the 19th century, the US had a serious ecological crisis: after extracting the fibers, cotton planters were throwing the seeds in the rivers, creating pollution. As a response, the government passed a law prohibiting the practice. This became a problem for the planters, as the cotton seeds started to accumulate in their properties. For every 100 kilos of cotton fiber that one can get from the plants, there are 162 kilos of cotton seeds, so we can just imagine the huge piles of cotton seeds sitting in the farms.
Some intelligent man developed a technique to extract oil from the seeds, using chemical solvents. This oil was not considered edible, therefore it was sold as lamp oil. Since this oil was essentially made out of garbage, it was cheap to produce and therefore his company was able to make a good profit.
Later, cheaper kerosene oil made from petroleum pushed him out of business. He had then one of these crazy ideas: Maybe instead of selling his oil as lamp oil, he could make people eat it! After perfecting the production of the cottonseed oil, and adding a hydrogenating process, he came up with something that could be used in place of butter or lard. This led to the creation of a product called Crisco, that made millions of dollars to the people involved.
Similarly, other refined vegetable oils originally appeared as ways to use the waste from other production lines. Corn oil is made out of the germ that is left after the milling. The germ is mashed, mixed with a petroleum solvent (that binds to the oil), and then separated from the solvent using an industrial process that involves bleaching and other operations. Similarly, rice oil is made out of the germ of the rice, which is discarded after the polishing process used to make white rice. In fact, most of the refined vegetable oils in the market are made out of refuse. They appeared not out of a desire for something healthy, but simply out of the desire for profit, turning rejects that could be got cheaply into something that could be sold for more.
Traditionally, the only oils used by humans were ghee (in the case of civilized societies), animal fat (in the uncivilized ones), and cold-pressed oils. Ghee has a lot of medicinal properties, but it is also very rich in saturated fats, therefore too much ghee can easily cause indigestion. Because it’s difficult to digest and expensive, people would use it in small quantities. Cold-pressed oils were also expensive, therefore also not used on a very large scale.
This changed dramatically when cheap refined oils, made from sunflower seeds, corn, soy, rice, cottonseed, etc. became available in mass. At first, these oils were marketed as healthier alternatives to butter, but gradually more and more evidence started to point that they are actually very detrimental to our health, just like margarine was for a long time marketed as a healthy product, until the evidence of it’s dangerous effects later became clear.
As mentioned, these cheap refined vegetable oils are obtained through the use of chemical solvents like hexane, which comes from petrol and is toxic. These solvents allow factories to extract almost all the oil from the seeds and grains (different from cold pressing, which extracts only a percentage), making the final product very cheap. The problem is that the final result is very unhealthy, heavily processed, devoid of useful nutrients, and containing residues of the chemicals used to extract and process them.
Even if we forget about the solvents (or find some brand that produces cold-pressed oil), most oils made from grains and seeds still have another problem: they all have too much omega-6.
One very important point when we speak about health is the balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Both omega-3 and omega-6 are types of polyunsaturated fats that, in small amounts, are essential for different functions of the body. The problem starts when one gets too much of it. Omega-3 is beneficial, but too much omega-6 is dangerous because it provokes inflammation and interferes with the normal operation of the cells. Inflammation causes pain, lack of energy, mood swings, and so on. Basically, it saps our energy and makes us feel uncomfortable. Chronic inflammation is also behind many serious diseases, including arthritis, atherosclerosis, and even some types of cancer.
Ideally, the proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 should never be superior to 4:1 (four parts of omega-6 for each part of omega-3) since they compete with each other in many bodily functions (the more omega-6 one eats, the more omega-3 he will need to compensate). The tricky part is that most lacto-vegetarian sources are imbalanced, containing a lot of omega-6 and little omega-3. Some sources, like walnuts, milk, and butter, offer more or less balanced amounts, but practically, only chia seeds, flaxseeds, and chlorella have more omega-3 than omega-6. For a vegetarian, the best is to reduce the intake of polyunsaturated fats in general, so we can keep the imbalance small.
Butter has only a small amount of polyunsaturated fats. Olive oil and mustard oil are moderated, just like most grains and seeds in their natural form. The biggest villains are the above-mentioned refined vegetable oils, which include just one constituent of the grains and seeds in a concentrated and adulterated form. They have a very detrimental effect on our health.
Sunflower oil, for example, is almost 70% omega-6, with little saturated fat and almost zero omega-3. Even refined oils that offer a little more balanced amounts (like canola oil) are not effective in balancing it, because the omega-3 becomes oxidized during the refining process, and thus loses its properties, becoming just another detrimental type of fat.
Even relatively small amounts of vegetable oils in our diet are going to create a disbalance in the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, and large amounts can create serious problems. When we take into account how much of our diet is based on these oils, we start to see the magnitude of the problem.
Not only are they prejudicial, but because these oils are light and easy to digest, we tend to eat a lot. One can eat a tray full of samosas fried in sunflower oil and live to eat another day, leaving his body to somehow deal with all this omega-6 fat.
Another problem with refined vegetable oils is that they become toxic when heated to high temperatures. It comes from the polyunsaturated fats present in them. These unstable fats produce hazardous compounds when heated to high temperatures, therefore they are not suitable for frying or for baking in high temperatures. For these uses, saturated fats like ghee or coconut oil are more recommended, because saturated fat is much more resistant to high temperatures, maintaining its molecular structure. Still, fried food is not going to be very healthy, even if fried in coconut oil, but it's much better than food fried in refined vegetable oil.
In general, oils rich in saturated fats (like ghee and coconut oil, as well as butter) are neutral, serving as a source of energy and some nutrients without harming our health. They are the types of fat recommended for most uses. A second option is cold-pressed oils, like olive oil, sesame seed oil, mustard seed oil, flaxseed oil, and palm oil. As long as they are cold-pressed, these oils preserve the nutrients and are not chemically processed. The main problem is that cold-pressed oils (especially olive oil) are expensive and thus frequently adulterated with cheaper refined vegetable oils (usually canola or soy oil). If you go this route, it's important to check if the oil you are buying is pure.
Here is a shortlist of some healthy oils that one can consider using:
Ghee: Very rarely go rancid, can be used for frying, rich in vitamin A, D, E, and K2, of which many of us are critically deficient. Also has a good amount of omega-3 in the active form (DHA), being (alongside other milk products) practically the only source of this essential fat for vegetarians. Although the body can produce some DHA from the ALA found in vegetable sources, this conversion is inefficient and many factors can suppress it.
The advantage of ghee over butter is that it has a much higher smoke point, and thus can be used for cooking or baking (or even frying). Due to the purifying process, ghee doesn't contain significant amounts of lactose or casein, therefore it can be used by people with intolerance to milk.
Coconut oil (cold-pressed): Similar to ghee in terms of fat composition, but lacks most of the vitamins and the omega-3. On the other hand, it’s rich in lauric acid, which has antibacterial properties. It’s another very healthy oil.
Extra-virgin olive oil: Olive oil is another good quality oil that has positive properties. The problem is that one has to do his research to avoid adulterated products. Recent research showed that more than 70% of the olive oil sold in the US is adulterated. In third-world countries, the percentage can be even higher. Adulterated olive oil is frequently just a blend of refined sunflower and canola oil, with a small percentage of olive oil and chemicals to imitate the taste and color. There may be also adulteration with inedible oils (like lamp oil made from rotten olives picked from the ground, a rancid oil that is then washed with solvents to suppress the bad smell). Real olive oil is expensive. Every time you see a bargain, there is every reason to be suspicious. Extra-virgin olive oil should also not be heated to high temperatures, it’s a type of oil to put on top of food at the time of serving, not to fry or cook with.
Palm oil (cold-pressed): Just like coconut oil, cold-pressed palm oil is rich in saturated fat. It’s not particularly good, but it’s still a stable, natural oil that can be used in small amounts. However, not all palm oil in the market is of good quality.
Mustard oil (cold-pressed): Common in India, mustard oil can also be used in small amounts. However, it can be dangerous if we eat too much of it due to the high content of erucic acid.
Linseed oil: Has the highest concentration of ALA (vegetal omega-3) amongst all types of oil, it’s a very important supplement. This oil goes rancid extremely quickly in contact with air, therefore it should be used only in cold preparations, just like olive oil. Once the bottle is opened it should be conserved in the freezer.
Sesame seed oil (cold-pressed): Cold-pressed sesame seed oil is another oil that may be used. The problem with cold-pressed sesame seed oil is that it can go rancid in a period of a few months, therefore it needs to be bought fresh and kept in the fridge. This oil is also not suitable for frying and has a high content of omega 6, therefore should be used in moderation.
Here is a shortlist of oils that should be avoided:
Hydrogenated fats (trans fats): Nowadays the danger of trans fats is well known, to the point their use is now restricted in most of the world. However, they are still used to different degrees in industrialized food. Although the manufacturers are forced to state the amount of trans fats in their products, there is a trick they frequently use to mask it: make the portion size so small that the amount of trans fats equals to less than one gram per portion, and then round it to zero. If you can, it’s better to stop consuming all types of industrialized food or keep it to a minimum, this way one can have a happier and longer life.
Refined vegetable oils: All the above-mentioned oils, industrially extracted from grains and seeds using chemical solvents, like soy, corn, rice, cottonseed, canola, and sunflower oils.
Refined olive oil (olive pomace oil): After passing through the cold pressing process, the rest of the oil in the olives is extracted using chemical solvents and heat, in a refining process very similar to the one used on cheap vegetable oils, and should be avoided for the same reasons. This type of oil can be sold under different names, like “pomace olive oil” or “extra-light olive oil”. This is a clear oil, that lacks the strong smell and taste present in the extra-virgin olive oil.
Rancid oils: Oils generally don’t spoil, but they can go rancid. Oils go rancid through a chemical reaction that causes the fat molecules in the oil to break down. This is a process that happens naturally (even refined vegetable oils have a shelf-life of about one year) and the process is accelerated by exposure to air, light, and heat. That’s the main reason why most oils from vegetable sources should not be used for frying: the high temperatures, combined with the contact with the air make the oils quickly go rancid. Rancid oils are very detrimental to one's health. They are known to be pro-inflammatory and cause free radical damage to the cells.
Ghee and coconut oil rarely go rancid, but most other oils do. Cold-pressed oils, like mustard oil, and especially flaxseed oil can go rancid in a period of a few months even if just sitting in the bottle. These types of oil should be bought fresh and stored in the fridge or freezer.
The problem with sugar
Few are going to disagree that sugar is bad for our health. Apart from being high-glycemic and favoring weight gain, another problem with sugar is that the body needs a lot of different minerals and other nutrients to metabolize it (it’s quite a complex process executed by the liver). Natural sources of sugar, like sugarcane and dates, are also rich in minerals, as well as fibers, therefore the body gets what it needs. When the sugar is refined, such nutrients are lost, and the body has to sacrifice its own stock of nutrients to metabolize the sugar, which leads to deficiencies. In other words, nature created fruits and vegetables rich in sugar as a package that contains what the body needs to metabolize it. The problems start when we dismantle the package and take only the sugar.
If we eat a little bit of sugar in some preparation rich in nutrients (like when we take a small piece of milk sweet after a meal, for example), it’s probably not going to do any harm, but if we consistently exaggerate in foods that have a lot of sugar and little nutrients, we may face serious problems later.
The worst possible way to consume sugar is when you take something very rich in sugar by itself, as a snack or drink, and not as part of a meal. For example, many have the habit of drinking soda, coke, or other soft drinks. Soda is basically just a combination of sugar and citric acid. A 600 ml bottle has about 60 grams of sugar, which is already far more than we are supposed to consume in a day. Someone that got the habit of drinking it when he feels thirsty, can end up ingesting more than 100 grams of sugar per day just from the sodas!
Sugar can very easily cause weight gain. Most of the obesity we see all over the world is because of the increase in the consumption of sugar. Why does sugar cause more weight grain than a plate of rice and beams, for example? The answer is in the composition.
Table sugar is composed of a combination of fructose and glucose. Although considered a type of sugar, fructose is metabolized by the body in a quite distinct way. No cell in the body can use fructose directly, therefore it needs to be converted into glycogen or into fat by the liver. This is quite a long and complicated process.
The first problem is that in order to convert fructose, the liver has to execute a complicated process that involves the use of minerals like magnesium and zinc. Sugar contains only trace amounts of such minerals, therefore the body has to use its own minerals in the process, causing deficiencies. Minerals are one of the biggest deficiencies in modern diets because commercial agriculture depletes the soils. To eat foods that deplete minerals that are already in short supply in the body is not a good idea.
The second problem is that the liver can store only a very small amount of energy as glycogen, about 300 to 400 calories in total. In practice, it is much less, since (unless one is fasting for several days) the storage will be always partially full. Most of the time the liver will not have space for more than 100 or 200 calories. All the fructose that exceeds this amount is going to be stored as abdominal fat (which is the most dangerous type of fat, stored in the belly, around the vital organs). Not only does too much fructose causes accumulation of abdominal fat, but it also may lead to fat liver, and even non-alcoholic cirrhosis, a dangerous condition.
When one eats a small quantity of fructose, like in a fruit, for example, this is not a problem, since the body would just use it to replenish its reserves of glycogen or store it as a very small amount of fat that would just be used later. Sugar, however, is usually eaten in much bigger portions, resulting in the accumulation of visceral fat.
The third problem is the associated glucose. Sugar contains glucose in its refined form, therefore the absorption is extraordinarily fast. When one drinks a bottle of soda, the glucose is very quickly absorbed and injected into the bloodstream. This forces the body to release a huge amount of insulin so it can be absorbed by the cells. Insulin increases hunger, and at the same time blocks the burning of fat. These two factors in combination assure that whatever you eat alongside the sugar will be stored as yet more fat. Over time, the fat accumulates and one becomes obese. Most cases of obesity are associated with excess sugar.
There is also a fourth factor, which is perhaps even worse: high glucose in the bloodstream is highly oxidative. In other words, it basically rusts our body from the inside. Not only does it cause premature aging, but it also attacks our veins and arteries. We can see practically that people with diabetes usually have serious problems related to the vascular system, which results in damage to the kidneys, and eyes, circulatory problems in the hands and feet, etc., problems that are directly caused by high levels of glucose in the blood, a serious problem for diabetics. A non-diabetic person will not face such serious problems because the body can respond to the increase in the glucose levels by releasing more insulin. Still, the glucose can cause a lot of damage, especially to the arteries, which over time result in clogs. Many think that clogs in the arteries are caused by cholesterol, but actually, the cholesterol is a response from the body to the damage caused by the glucose, just like firefighters are a response to a fire and not the cause of it.
The antidote for the oxidative damage caused by glucose is antioxidants, which are found in fruits and vegetables. Therefore, to reduce the damage caused by the glucose, we need to act on two fronts:
By making it be absorbed by the body slowly, which means to consume foods with a lower GI, where the starches and sugars are combined with fibers and other nutrients.
By eating plenty of antioxidants, which implies a diet rich in vegetables and fruits.
By doing these two things in combination, the damage is contained and the glucose can feed our cells instead of poisoning our body.
We can see that sugar is both high-glycemic (being absorbed very quickly) and completely devoid of antioxidants. This combination makes it very damaging to the body. It’s better to limit our consumption of sugar to natural sources, like fruits. Different from table sugar (which is the concentrated, isolated form) fruits are a package that includes fibers, vitamins, minerals, and a good amount of the all-important antioxidants. Two observations about fruits: it is always much better to eat fruits whole, instead of making juices (which takes out the important fibers), and although fruits are generally healthy, they can still have adverse effects if we eat too much of them.
If you are going to take juices, another alert is that the only acceptable fruit juices are the ones you make at home. Industrial fruit juices are stripped from all the fibers and most of the nutrients are destroyed by the pasteurization process and contact with the air. In fact, orange juice loses its taste and color completely during the processing, becoming a white liquid that has to be mixed with citric acid (which is actually produced from black mold) and other flavoring and coloring agents so it can again look and taste like orange juice. Industrial fruit juice is not much better than soda or coke. If you don't drink soda, you are also not going to want to drink it.
Apart from fruits, there is also the option of using honey (provided you can get “real” honey, not the processed, adulterated type that is sold nowadays under many brands). Chemically, honey may be similar to sugar, but the way it acts in the body is very different. Many recent studies point out that honey has a positive effect on the body and traditional Ayurvedic medicine recommends it as a means to preserve health and increase longevity. Different from white sugar, honey contains significant quantities of antioxidants, enzymes, and minerals, as well as an antibacterial agent that acts against microbes and germs, preventing different diseases (if you put honey in an open wound and cover it with a bandage, it will cure much faster, for example).
If you are a vegan and don't eat honey, two other options are molasses and dates. Molasses are the “good” part of the sugar cane, which is left after the white sugar is extracted. Molasses concentrate practically all the minerals and most of the vitamins of the original sugar cane. The problem is that molasses have a strong taste that many don’t appreciate, therefore many brands mix table sugar on it, selling a concoction that often contains very little molasses. The same applies to brown sugar, which is almost always a combination of white sugar and a small proportion of molasses. If you want to try, you should do your research first. Real molasses is very dark, has a strong taste, and is only mildly sweet. It's usually sold as "blackstrap molasses".
Another good option is dates. They are so sweet that can also be used as a natural sweetener in many circumstances. However, just as honey, they contain several important nutrients, which (in the right quantities) make them beneficial for our health. By using small quantities of honey, dates, or molasses instead of sugar, we are taking out something that is harmful to our health and adding something that (in moderate amounts) can actually be beneficial.
Not only is sugar unhealthy, but it is highly addictive, messing up with the chemistry of our brains. Every time we eat sugar, opioids, and dopamine are released. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a key part of the reward circuit of the brain. Every time we eat sugar, dopamine is released and we experience pleasure, which in turn leads us to want to re-experience it. Research shows that sugar can be as addictive as drugs like cocaine, leading to cravings and compulsive behavior. We can practically see that many become addicted to oreos, milkshakes, soda, and so on, and for most it’s very difficult to stop.
Human beings are accustomed to consuming sugar in the form of fruits and honey since antiquity. The point is that, as explained, the sugar in fruits is not concentrated like white sugar, and therefore the effects are mild. Although many people like to eat fruits, we don’t see people addicted to apples or oranges, for example. Fruits are natural foods, while white sugar is actually a chemical substance. In this case, the problem is not so much in the substance, but in eating it in a concentrated form.
The addictive nature of sugar started to be debated in the 1970s, with the publishing of the book "Pure white and deadly" by John Yudkin. From there, more and more evidence piled up. Fortunately, unlike heavier drugs, consumption of sugar doesn't result in permanent changes in the function of the brain. Just as it's easy to become addicted to sugar, it's also not so difficult to break one's addiction. As soon as one stops completely with white sugar and changes to a diet rich in nutritive food (vegetables, beans, nuts, low-glycemic carbohydrates, milk, and butter, etc), the cravings for sugar diminish or even completely disappear in a span of a few weeks. One just needs to have the willpower to go through this withdrawal period.
The problem with wheat flour
Wheat has been a staple food in many societies for millennia. People were used to eating a lot of wheat in the form of bread, biscuits, pasta, etc. Some populations, like in many states of north India, had diets based on wheat (in the form of chapatis and rotis) and not much more. Still, until the 1950s people were relatively healthy, with few cases of diabetes, gluten intolerance, and cancer. This changed since then.
The fact is that the wheat we eat changed radically in the last century. The first modification was an aggressive process of selection and hybridization of the wheat seeds. The plants became much shorter and the grains much bigger. While this resulted in great productivity gains (leading to the so-called green revolution), the resulting grains became very different from what people were eating in the previous centuries. The wheat became very rich in simple starches and the gluten content skyrocketed. At the same time, the content of vitamins and minerals became much lower.
The second change was the way the grains are milled. Traditionally, the wheat would be ground whole in stone mills. The resulting flour would be relatively rough, with much bigger particles than we see in wheat flour today. This would bring two advantages: a) The flour would preserve all the nutrients of the grains, since it would include the bran and fibers, and b) the flour would be relatively low glycemic. Combined with the much higher nutritional content of these ancient varieties of wheat, the final product would be relatively nutritious.
During the last century, the milling of wheat was progressively changed to roller mills, a modern process that results in very fine flour, that is very high glycemic. To make matters worse, the grains are stripped from the germ and the aleurone cell layer, resulting in the loss of fibers, essential amino acids, and most of the vitamins. To add insult to injury, the product passes through a bleaching process (that increases the shelf life and makes the flour white) that destroys much of the little vitamins that are left. The result is a very fine white powder that has a GI higher than white sugar and is devoid of practically any nutrition. Just like white sugar, the white flour we get from the supermarket is more like a chemical product than food.
As discussed before, foods with a high GI make blood glucose rise very quickly. In the case of wheat flour, this is combined with a high glycemic load (not only the glucose rises fast, but stays high for a long time). This forces the body to release a high dose of insulin, which in turn makes it store all this energy as visceral fat. Not only this makes us gain weight but leads to the accumulation of the most dangerous type of fat. Over time, this is also a strong risk factor for the development of insulin resistance and even type 2 diabetes.
To make matters worse (nothing is so bad that can’t become worse), there was the introduction of transgenic wheat by Monsanto. The whole purpose of the genetic modification was to make the plants more resistant to the pesticide Roundup. Due to this resistance, farmers can use much higher doses of the pesticide, making the crops much less susceptible to pests, increasing the production. Not only that, but it became popular among the farmers to drench the plants in pesticide close to the harvest, an operation to dry out the plants, making the harvest easier. The result is that the final product is heavily contaminated with glyphosate, which can cause several problems.
Not only glyphosate is a well-known cancerogenic, but it also interferes with the operation of the intestinal barrier, exacerbating the problems caused by the excess of gluten in the grains. Did you notice that nowadays more and more people have become gluten-intolerant? What was a relatively rare occurrence in the previous centuries became almost like a pandemic. It’s not clear if the intolerance is caused by the higher gluten content, by the glyphosate, or by the combination of both, but the fact is that there are negative consequences even for people that are not gluten intolerant. One of the most serious is the increase in the permeability of the intestinal barrier, allowing the passage of bacteria and toxins, which in turn triggers inflammation and other dangerous immunologic responses.
The result is that wheat flour has become one of the most unhealthy foods one can eat. The problem is that because it's so rich in simple starches and so high glycemic, it acts in the rewarding centers of the brain, making it addictive, especially when combined with sugar and oil. Once one is hooked, it's difficult to stop, especially nowadays, when wheat flour is used in practically everything.
At the beginning of my research, I was thinking that sugar was the main problem in the modern diet. I was surprised to discover that wheat flour is at least as bad as sugar, if not worse! The fact that it is usually combined with sugar and refined vegetable oil in many preparations doesn't help either. It’s difficult to talk about a healthy diet without first removing, or at least reducing the use of these three ingredients.
The first option most would consider is whole-grain wheat flour. Compared with white flour, it is indeed better, with more fiber and vitamins. However, it is also very high glycemic, and still has the same problem with gluten and glyphosate, therefore it also can’t be recommended.
It’s possible to go back in time with einkorn wheat, a variety that is very close to the wheat people used to eat in ancient times. Compared to modern wheat, it is very low on gluten and much higher in nutrition. The problem is that it is a specialized product that is expensive and hard to find. Much more affordable options would be organic barley and rye, two options that are also similar to the ancient wheat but are much more affordable.
If you can buy a grinder and make your own flour at home from organic barley or rye, you will have a healthier substitute for wheat flour that can be used to make flatbreads, pancakes, pies, or even some types of cakes.
From a health perspective, a rough or coarse flour is much better than a very fine powder. What makes the commercial wheat flour so high glycemic is exactly the fact that the fine particles are very quickly digested in the intestines, while bigger granules are absorbed more slowly.
Apart from grains, there are a few other healthy options to use as substitutes for wheat flour. Two particularly good options are coconut flour and almond flour. Coconut flour is a byproduct of the production of coconut milk. It's basically the fiber that is left after the milk is removed. It's not particularly nutritious, but still has a good deal of protein, some healthy fats, and a good supply of iron. The main advantage however is that it's very low glycemic, relatively low cost and it can be combined with other flours. Coconut flour has a different taste and consistency than wheat flour, however is possible to achieve good results by mixing it with other flours.
Almond flour is nothing more than powdered almonds. It's very tasty and very nutritious, rich in healthy fats and proteins. Due to the low carbohydrate content, it's still very low glycemic, despite being a fine powder. As strange as it may sound, it can directly replace wheat flour in many recipes: you can use it to make cookies or even some types of bread. The only problem is that it is very expensive.
There are also many other types of flour from different seeds and millets. Nowadays it’s possible to buy buckwheat flour, ragi flour, amaranth flour, besan (chickpea flour), and so on most parts of the world. They have different tastes and properties but are also healthier options that can be used in many recipes.
Another option to consider is rolled oats, which can be mixed with other flours in many recipes. Oats are rich in fibers and thus low glycemic, which makes it a good addition to most recipes, adding fibers and reducing the GI. It can be used to make cookies, cakes, pancakes, and so on.
One observation about oats is that despite the hype, oats are a mixed bag in terms of nutrition. They can be good, depending on what you compare to, but they are not the nutrition powerhouse that some want you to believe. Oats look nutritious on paper, but they are also rich in the protein avenin, an antinutrient that prevents the body from absorbing most of it. The fact that the grains are processed also doesn't help. They are not bad, but not so good either. You should see oats more like comfort food than as something that can really improve your health. The main point is to avoid instant oats and specially flavored oatmeal (that contains sugar and other additives). The general rule is that the more processed a food is, the less nutritious and the higher glycemic it becomes: steel-cut and rolled oats are ok, but instant oats are not such a good idea.
Rice: good or bad?
In the previous parts, we saw the problems with sugar and wheat flour, both of which can be quite bad for our health when consumed in excess. What about rice?
Rice is much better than white flour, but it also demands some consideration. The first point about rice is that not all rice is the same. There are two basic types of rice: long-grain rice (like the basmati and jasmine types) and short-grain rice (which is cheaper and more common). Long grains are rich in resistant starch and therefore have a much lower GI. They can be easily recognized by the fact they remain firm and separate after cooking.
Short-grain types of rice, on the other hand, are rich in simple starch, and therefore are digested very quickly. They have a very high GI and therefore are not so recommendable, since they make the insulin spike. This type can be classified amongst other types of refined carbohydrates. It can be easily recognized because the rice sticks together in clumps when cooked.
Basmati rice is one of the best types of rice, since not only does it have a lower GI (at least compared to other types of rice) but also has a better vitamin and mineral content. That explains why it is considered top-quality rice.
Brown rice is better than white rice in most respects since the GI is a little lower and it has more nutrients. However, there is a problem. Most rice nowadays is cultivated in soil contaminated by arsenic, and because the rice is cultivated on flooded paddies, a strong concentration is found in the grains, especially in the bran and germ. In the case of white rice, both the bran and germ are discarded, and therefore the arsenic concentration is drastically reduced. Whole grain rice, on the other hand, contains everything, and therefore often the arsenic concentrations are often well beyond the safe limits. It’s not something that will kill you or make you sick instantly, but it may have some long-term effects if eaten regularly, since the arsenic accumulates in the body. Because of this, regular consumption of brown rice can’t be recommended.
Another option is parboiled rice (or converted rice), the “Uncle Ben's“ rice, the type that doesn't clump together when cooked. This type of rice goes through a vapor treatment that converts the simple starches in the short-grain rice into resistant starch, also transferring more of the nutrients from the husk to the grain. The problem with parboiled rice is that it goes through a heating process, which can be considered a type of cooking. Because of this, many devotees may prefer to avoid it. If we consider only the health perspective, however, it is a better option to regular short-grain rice when we don't have basmati or another type of long-grain available. You can do your own research and decide what type to eat based on the time, place, and circumstance.
In any case, the rice should be always combined with other ingredients. A good combination is rice and legumes (like beans, lentils, chickpeas, or even peanuts). Most legumes are very low glycemic and they form a complete protein when combined with rice. To eat rice and beans, or rice and chickpeas, for example, is far better than eating rice alone. We can see that most populations of the world were following this over the centuries. The way we combine different foods is important since certain combinations balance the pros and cons of different options. The basic rule is that our food should be a package of different ingredients.
Two alternatives to consider are pearled barley and steel-cut oats. Both are inexpensive, low glycemic, and more nutritious than rice. Cooked pearled barley, for example, has a GI of just 35, and cooked steel-cut oats are even lower, at just 30. The taste is different and they take a little longer to cook, but from a health perspective, the change will bring a lot of benefits. Just as rice, they also form a complete protein when combined with legumes.
Other options are millets, like jowar, amaranth, foxtail, bajra, ragui, little millet, and so on. They are of course very different from rice, but they are also low-glycemic and extremely nutritious (much more than oats). You will probably not be able to adapt to eating only millets, but you can try to cook a mixture of half rice and half millets for example, which will already make your meal much healthier.
Buckwheat and quinoa are two other good alternatives. Both combine a good mix of nutrients and offer complete protein, combining all essential amino acids. They have a GI of, respectively, 51 and 53, higher than the other options I mentioned, but still lower than rice.
One tip in regards to buckwheat is that it doesn’t have to be cooked. You just have to soak it in warm water for four to six hours to have perfectly soft buckwheat, ready to serve. I usually soak it overnight in three parts of water, and then add some hot water, salt, a little butter, and spices before serving. Soaked buckwheat has a GI of around 30, much less than cooked buckwheat, and even less than rice. Considering it has complete protein and a good amount of nutrients, it’s probably the best rice substitute of all.
Pearled barley can also be soaked in water overnight and eaten raw with milk or yogurt, or even with cut fruits, as a kind of breakfast cereal. When eaten raw, soaked pearled barley has a GI of just 22, the lowest GI of all grains (much lower than even rolled oats). If you like to eat cereals in the morning, this is the healthiest option around: very low glycemic, packed with nutrients, and also inexpensive. Apart from barley, soaked rolled oats are another option. They are not so nutritious, but they are still an acceptable option. We can’t always label ingredients as “good” or “bad”, because it always depends on what we compare them to. Rolled oats are less nutritious than amaranth or barley, but they are better than wheat for example.
Commercial cereals, like Corn Flakes and Cheerios, are the precise opposite: very high glycemic, made out of GMO ingredients, and devoid of nutrients (apart from the added synthetic vitamins). They are just another band of industrialized products that should be strictly avoided.
Why fried food isn’t such a good idea
To eat food fried on refined vegetable oil is not a very wise idea. One reason is that we end up eating a lot of refined vegetable oil, which will produce inflammation and other problems. On top of that, there are the toxic compounds produced when the oil is heated to high temperatures.
Different from ghee and coconut oil, refined vegetable oils are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Research shows that these unstable fats produce aldehydes (chemicals that are highly cancerogenic) as well as trans fats and other dangerous compounds when heated to high temperatures (Health effects of oxidized heated oils, Foodservice Research International 13(1):41 - 55 · June 2006). A simple portion of french fries prepared on refined vegetable oil can contain up to 100 times the safe daily limit of aldehydes set by the World Health Organisation.
Fried preparations made in coconut oil or ghee are much better: not only are these fats not detrimental for the body, but it's very satiating due to the high concentration of saturated fat. This makes it a kind of self-limiting food, since one will naturally feel full and stop eating. It's more difficult to overeat.
Although foods fried in ghee or coconut oil are better, there are still reasons to be careful. The first problem is that most of the time we fry something made out of white flour. Or the white flour is the main ingredient, or it's close to it. To make matters worse, we frequently also add sugar. It’s exactly this combination of refined carbohydrates and fat that makes these preparations so palatable. The main problem with this combination is that it's very fattening. And we are not just talking about the calories, but the way the body metabolizes the fat when it's consumed in combination with refined carbohydrates.
Normally, when we eat fat the body burns it for energy. There is a limit on how much fat the body can process at a time, therefore one feels full quickly, and thus stops eating. Ironically, eating fat does not usually make one fatty. However, when fat is ingested in combination with refined carbohydrates, the spike in insulin caused by the carbs makes the body store the fat (as well as most of the carbohydrates), instead of burning it. Although fat reduces the GI of the food, still the presence of refined carbs will trigger the release of insulin, leading to the accumulation of fat.
Another problem is that when starches are combined with fat and heated to high temperatures (imagine a puri, for example), they form stick molecules that are difficult for our body to absorb. It ends-up clogging the arteries, which is not good for the heart. Most people have the impression that saturated fat causes heart disease, but recent studies show that it is not exactly the fat, but the combination of fat and refined carbohydrates. One who eats too much refined carbs will end up overweight, with insulin resistance and eventually with type 2 diabetes. One who eats too much refined carbs in combination with a lot of saturated fat may be better in terms of insulin resistance and diabetes (since the fat blunts the insulin spikes caused by the carbs and sugar), but on the other hand he may end up obese and with heart problems, especially if he indulges in unhealthy fats.
Healthy fats in themselves are not bad. The problem is this combination of fat and refined carbs. You don't need to take fat away from your food. The answer is to combine it with vegetables and low-glycemic foods, instead of sugar and refined carbs (one can make some sauteed vegetables on ghee and add some nuts, or make cookies using coconut oil, rolled oats and dates, for example). Naturally, another point is to avoid using refined vegetable oils.
An occasional fried samosa will not kill you, the problem is if we make fried preparations a staple in our diet, like it’s unfortunately common in many of our communities. Fried preparations should always be made in ghee and reserved for the deities and to festivals and other special occasions. It's ok to eat one or two samosas fried in ghee on festivals, the point is just to not make it a daily habit. If there is no money to buy ghee, it's much more intelligent to avoid the idea altogether and make some simpler, non-fried preparations.
Soy: good or bad?
In recent decades the production of soybeans increased at a very accelerated pace. Most of it is used to feed livestock, but there is also a strong push to human consumption from the food industry. Soy is being marketed as a healthy protein, soy milk is being promoted as a healthier alternative to cow's milk, and so on.
The business of the food industry is based on converting the cheapest ingredients in products that people will buy. Alongside wheat flour, sugar, corn, and refined vegetable oils, soy is one of the cheapest options, therefore it is not difficult to understand the great interest behind it. Economic interest also influences science, since the industry sponsors the research done by the scientists. As soon as the industry is interested in marketing a particular ingredient, money pours down into researchers that can produce studies that make it look good in the eyes of the public and can convince the regulatory agencies. This was the same strategy used in the past to demonize butter and promote hydrogenated fat, to sustain that sugar is not dangerous, and so on. Even the tobacco industry used it to try to sustain that smoking was not a health hazard.
Although people in Japan were cultivating soy for millennia, they were consuming it almost exclusively in the form of fermented products. They would not eat the grains directly unless in case of a great famine. We tend to think that people from the past were stupid, but actually most of the time they were extremely ingenious in observing cause and effect and thus finding the best solutions for their problems. If people were doing something for centuries, there was probably a good reason for it.
In the case of soy, the main problem resides in the isoflavones, compounds that mimic the function of the hormone estrogen in the body. In women, they contribute to weight gain and some types of cancer, but the effects are much more expressive on men, causing a reduction in testosterone levels, which in turn can cause all kinds of problems, including persistent fatigue and apathy, brain fog, loss of muscular mass, weight gain, depression, sleep disturbances, enlarged prostate, infertility and so on. If you are a man, especially over 40, soy products are definitely something to avoid. By consuming too much soy, a man can completely mess up with his body, up to the point of (literally) starting to develop breasts. The dangers outweigh any potential benefit.
Even if we would disregard the potential hormonal problems, soy is too rich in anti-nutrients, like phytates and saponins. They bind with other nutrients, preventing our body from absorbing them. Most of the soy cultivated nowadays is also genetically modified, which implies an increased risk of allergies and the massive use of glyphosate, which comes with its own risks.
Fermented soy products, like miso and tempeh, are better since the fermentation process breaks down the isoflavones and anti-nutrients. From a health perspective, the consumption of small amounts of fermented organic soy products can be actually beneficial. People in Japan discovered this long ago, that's why they were consuming soy mainly in this way. An important observation however is that tofu is not fermented, therefore it’s better to avoid it, just like other unfermented soy products. Much of the tofu sold nowadays is not even made out of soy grains, but from soy flour, which is already a processed product.
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