Unlike the fruits found in nature — which have a full ensemble of nutrients — processed carbohydrates (such as bread, pasta, and cake) are deficient in fiber, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals, all of which have been lost in processing.
Compared with whole wheat, typical pasta and bread are missing:
• 62 percent of the zinc
• 72 percent of the magnesium
• 95 percent of the vitamin E
• 50 percent of the folic acid
• 72 percent of the chromium
• 78 percent of the vitamin B6
In a six-year study of 65,000 women, those with diets high in re fined carbohydrates from white bread, white rice, and pasta had two and a half times the incidence of Type II diabetes, compared with those who ate high-fiber foods such as whole-wheat bread and brown
rice/' These findings were replicated in a study of 43,000 men.7 Dia betes is no trivial problem; it is the fourth-leading cause of death by disease in America, and its incidence is growing.8
Walter Willett, M.D., professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of those two studies, finds the results so convincing that he'd like our government to change the Food Guide Pyramid, which recommends six to eleven servings of any kind of carbohydrate. He says, "They should move re fined grains, like white bread, up to the sweets category because metabolically they're basically the same."
These starchy (white flour) foods, removed from nature's pack
aging, are no longer real food. The fiber and the majority of minerals
have been removed, so such foods are absorbed too rapidly, resulting in a sharp glucose surge into the bloodstream. The pancreas is then forced to pump out insulin faster to keep up. Excess body fat also causes us to require more insulin from the pancreas. Over time, it is the excessive demand for insulin placed on the pancreas from both refined foods and increased body fat that leads to diabetes. Refined carbohydrates, white flour, sweets, and even fruit juices, because they enter the bloodstream so quickly, can also raise triglycerides, in
creasing the risk of heart attack in susceptible individuals.
have been removed, so such foods are absorbed too rapidly, resulting in a sharp glucose surge into the bloodstream. The pancreas is then forced to pump out insulin faster to keep up. Excess body fat also causes us to require more insulin from the pancreas. Over time, it is the excessive demand for insulin placed on the pancreas from both refined foods and increased body fat that leads to diabetes. Refined carbohydrates, white flour, sweets, and even fruit juices, because they enter the bloodstream so quickly, can also raise triglycerides, in
creasing the risk of heart attack in susceptible individuals.
Every time you eat such processed foods, you exclude from your diet not only the essential nutrients that we are aware of but hun dreds of other undiscovered phytonutrients that are crucial for nor mal human function. When the nutrient-rich outer cover is removed from whole wheat to make it into white flour, the most nutritious part of the food is lost. The outer portion of the wheat kernel con tains trace minerals, phytoestrogens, lignans, phytic acid, indoles, phenolic compounds, and other phytochemicals, as well as almost all the vitamin E in the food. True whole grain foods, which are associ ated with longer life, are vastly different from the processed foods that make up the bulk of calories in the modern American diet (MAD).9
Medical investigations clearly show the dangers of consuming the quantity of processed foods that we do. And because these re fined grains lack the fiber and nutrient density to turn down our appetite, they also cause obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and signifi cantly increased cancer risk.10
One recent nine-year study involving 34,492 women between
the ages of fifty-five and sixty-nine showed a two-thirds increase in
the risk of death from heart disease in those eating refined grains." Summarizing fifteen epidemiological studies, researchers concluded that diets containing refined grains and refined sweets were consis tently linked to stomach and colon cancer, and at least twelve breast
cancer studies connect low-fiber diets with increased risks.12 Eating a diet that contains a significant quantity of sugar and refined flour does not just cause weight gain, it also leads to an earlier death.
cancer studies connect low-fiber diets with increased risks.12 Eating a diet that contains a significant quantity of sugar and refined flour does not just cause weight gain, it also leads to an earlier death.
Refined Foods Are Linked To
• Oral cavity cancer • Thyroid cancer
• Stomach cancer • Respiratory tract cancer
• Colorectal cancer • Diabetes
• Intestinal cancer • Gallbladder disease
• Breast cancer • Heart disease'3
If you want to lose weight, the most important foods to avoid arc processed foods: condiments, candy, snacks, and baked goods; fat-
free has nothing to do with it. Almost all weight-loss authorities agree on this — you must cut out the refined carbohydrates, includ ing bagels, pasta, and bread. As far as the human body is concerned, low-fiber carbohydrates such as pasta are almost as damaging as
white sugar. Pasta is not health food — it is hurt food.
free has nothing to do with it. Almost all weight-loss authorities agree on this — you must cut out the refined carbohydrates, includ ing bagels, pasta, and bread. As far as the human body is concerned, low-fiber carbohydrates such as pasta are almost as damaging as
white sugar. Pasta is not health food — it is hurt food.
Now I can imagine what many of you are thinking: "But, Dr. Fuhrman! I love pasta. Do I have to give it up?" I enjoy eating pasta, too. Pasta can sometimes be used in small quantities in a recipe that includes lots of green vegetables, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Whole-grain pastas and bean pastas found in health-food stores are better choices than those made from white flour. See chapter nine for tasty ideas. The point to r e m e m b e r is that all refined grains must be placed in that limited category — foods that should constitute
only a small percentage of our total caloric intake.
only a small percentage of our total caloric intake.
What about bagels? Is the "whole-wheat" bagel you just bought at the bagel store really made from whole grain? No; in most cases, it is primarily white flour. It is hard to tell sometimes. Ninety-nine per cent of pastas, breads, cookies, pretzels, and other grain products are made from white flour. Sometimes a little whole wheat or caramel color is added and the product is called whole wheat to make you think it is the real thing. It isn't. Most brown bread is merely white bread with a fake tan. Wheat grown on American soil is not a nutrient-
dense food to begin with, but then the food manufacturers remove the most valuable part of the food and then add bleach, preserva tives, salt, sugar, and food coloring to make breads, breakfast cereals, and other convenience foods. Yet many Americans consider such food healthy merely because it is low in fat.
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