Mind If We Play Through?

......might be better to improve your game of common knowledge!

I came across an article (mostly from Dr. Michael Eades blog) recently discussing the what the pros eat for energy while on the golf course. It’s the usual dribble about some celebrity/professional in some sport telling us what to eat; like they are nutritional experts or something. Why would we believe a sports hero telling us about nutrition? 

Why don’t we simply ask pig how to fly??? 

They have spent years developing their physical skills, in whatever sport, and not studying human physiology/metabolism. 

They are not experts in advising us what to eat.......

Here’s the setup....The magazine editor hires a woman, a registered dietician (an R.D.), to “help” us understand what each snack can do for human metabolism. The same type of person who tells type 2 diabetics to eat the majority of their daily calories from carbohydrates....like adding gasoline to a fire! Ludicrous advice from the American Diabetic Association and registered dieticians. No wonder we have so many sick Americans:

The US is:
No. 1 in the world for percentage of obese persons (30.6%)
No. 1 in the world in total health expenditures per capita
No. 22 among industrialized nations in healthy life expectancy

First we have Tiger Woods (advice on marital relations???!!! Let’s hope not!) telling us his favorite is a peanut butter sandwich. The dietician raves about the “good fats and protein” in peanut butter. (Peanuts, which are beans, have incomplete protein for humans, and the fat is pro-inflammatory, Omega-6 vegetable oil...not good for you buttercup!).

She goes on to say the bread has carbohydrates and gives you a quick burst of energy...yea...sure...

Then in about an hour your blood sugar comes crashing down as you slice that tee shot!

Next comes Mike Weir. He eats a homemade energy bar filled with grains, other stuff, and honey. The RD goes on to say honey is ok, but agave nectar is better.

WHAT???? ARE YOU IGNORANT OR JUST PLAIN STUPID???

Honey is half glucose and half fructose. Agave is 90% fructose. Countless studies demonstrate how detrimental fructose is as a sweetener (high fructose corn sweetener, HFCS ) and how it stimulates fat storage. Also it’s highly implicated in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease....cirrhosis of the liver, without ever drinking and ounce of alcohol! Wonderful...let’s all switch to fructose as sweeteners and destroy our livers.....unbelievable....

I never consume fructose....EVER!...I’d rather practice bleeding...

Ok...the article continues and gets worse....brace for impact!!!:

The next golfer is Paul Casey. He likes to snack on walnuts. I hoping for a moment of clarity on the registered dietician’s part....hoping she would come out of her carbohydrate-induced coma and say they are a good snack. (I do recommend most nuts as a snack)

It’s like I’m watching that ridiculous show, The Biggest Loser, and hoping the fat contestant will reach their goal...amidst the angst and drama in calorie restriction (FAIL), and working out in the gym to exhaustion (FAIL).

DARN IT!!! They failed again!!!

She goes on to say walnuts alone will not provide enough energy. That you need carbohydrates for energy. You will be on the course for hours and suggests adding carbs for energy. She mentions fruit, like bananas, would be a better source of energy....full of carbs by the way. Get ready for a big sugar spike, then big drop....along with your energy...as insulin pulls the glucose out of the blood stream and into the cells. 

Why do so many people wrongly think carbohydrates are the only source of energy for humans? It seems to be “common knowledge” that ONLY carbs “give you energy”. What about proteins? Fats? They can give you energy very nicely and actually do a better job at satisfying your hunger. Fueling your muscles for hours and hours without a severe lowering of your blood sugar in an hour after consuming carbohydrates. Walnuts contain over twice the energy from fats, as the same amount of fruit, from the energy in carbohydrates. The fat will digest a lot slower, providing energy on a much more stable basis, without the big crash of blood sugar from eating carbs. 

-A medium banana contains about 105 calories...from sugar.

-One ounce (extremely small amount) of walnuts contains 185 calories...mostly from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, some protein, and relatively no carbs. 

The walnuts would be a much better choice....and would sustain you a lot longer to reach the 19th Hole with enough energy to enjoy your afternoon on the links. Eating a more carbohydrate-heavy snack, will release insulin making it much more difficult for your fat cells to give up their fat stores. Insulin prevents fat release from fat tissue. Eat any carbohydrates and you will NOT be able to access your fat storage in order to burn fat. The insulin is a storage hormone and not a “give-you-energy-hormone” at all. It is a growth hormone that adds inches to your stomach and exacerbates insulin resistance and thus the development of type 2 diabetes. Thus the cycle of raising insulin, fat cells unable to release energy, more hunger, more carbs consumed, more insulin, is created.

I want you to re-read that paragraph...and read it one more time...and again...please.

Carbohydrates are not the only source of energy and if consumed in large amounts will make you fat, insulin resistant, and cause type 2 diabetes. Dietary fats and proteins will not and are much better and safer sources of energy not only for professional golfers, but for us amateur hackers as well! 

And NO, THE FATS WILL NOT CLOG YOUR ARTERIES. I’ve posted that before many times. 

And NO, THE PROTEINS WILL NOT DAMAGE YOUR KIDNEYS. I’ll talk about that soon in a future posting. 

How can any nutrition-educated person (RD) ignore millions of years of evolutionary evidence of what humans have predominately consumed for their energy needs? 

Psst...it’s NOT CARBOHYDRATES...I’ll give you a hint sweet-thang...

Try guessing other ANIMALS, with the saturated fats and protein in the tissues. That’s where we got our energy...and that’s where we should center and concentrate our nutrition today. You think suddenly today we should ignore these millions of years and eat like an herbivore? Eating large amounts of grains? Do that and you will get fat and disease will set in.  Follow the advice of ignorant nutritionists and you will (and we have become) slowly gain weight, become insulin resistant, and develop degenerative diseases. We ate other animals, filled with fats and protein, for millions of years. And we developed into the superior species on this planet....but, now we are the superior species, sick, overweight, and dying of degenerative diseases....sad...very sad...

We, YOU, can change that by eliminating grains, beans, and sugars from your diet. Eat as you evolved to eat...satisfying your genetic design by consuming fats, proteins, and very little carbohydrates. You will be much healthier and disease-free! 

What have you got to lose? (the fat around your stomach and in your liver).

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As Always...Healthful Regards,

Dr. John

drfitness@cox.net