Eat better

No wheat, no problem: tips for your brain & figure

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/zinkevych - stock.adobe.com)

What is the truth behind nutrition myths such as "Athletes need carbohydrates like a fish needs water" or "Fructose is healthy"? In search of answers, we have made our way through the jungle of nutritional myths and sifted through numerous "classics" and new publications by nutrition and health experts Ulrich Strunz, Mehmet Oz, Hans-Ulrich Grimm and David Perlmutter for you on the book market.

The topic of nutrition is more topical than ever. Awareness of healthy food from species-appropriate animal husbandry and organic farming is growing, more and more people are turning to vegetarian or even vegan alternatives, energy balance, waist-to-hip ratio and ageing processes are no longer foreign concepts. A link between excessive sugar consumption and diseases such as obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer's is increasingly being established.

Why do tomatoes make you fat - and pasta makes you stupid?
If you're now wrinkling your nose in disgust, don't worry! "Frohmediziner" Ulrich Strunz takes you by the hand and dispels all kinds of prejudices and nutritional myths. For him, sugar is not only responsible for numerous lifestyle diseases, but is also the reason for people's increasing obesity and associated illnesses. Problem: sugar makes you happy, at least in the short term: "If you're in a bad mood - just eat chocolate, the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain rises - bad mood gone. Happiness there.

Read more about the kilo crisis and the sugar lie HERE!

"Messengers of happiness" that make you fat
But every bar makes your brain happy, but with sugar and fat. And that's why every additional bar also makes you fat and addicted," says Strunz. "'Carbohydrate craving' is what Americans call it. A food addiction that makes you 'happy'. Under the influence of serotonin, tiredness, sensitivity to pain and anxiety disappear. Sensitive people - and therefore more women - react particularly strongly to the happiness system ..." Typical messengers of happiness are ice cream, chocolate, cake and potato chips. They flip the chemical switch in the brain and we get fatter and fatter.

"People are what they eat"
Sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes, dumplings, muesli, sweets, fruit - carbohydrates are broken down into glucose molecules and enter the bloodstream. They provide 4.1 calories per gram and, according to Strunz in "Why does pasta make you stupid", this is completely unnecessary: "Because the body knows emergency programs to create carbohydrate substitutes from fat ... The carbohydrates that the body needs are found in vegetables, meat, milk and fruit," says Strunz. He recommends severely restricting carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates make you tired
"If you don't eat carbohydrates, you flip the switch, switching your metabolism from one energy source to another, like a petrol engine running on diesel. You get energy from fat - and that's what you want. Ketones (ketone bodies) are formed, which can also be used by the brain.

"At the beginning you can be a bit tired, have a bit of a headache - typical detox symptoms. But that doesn't last long. Do it for four weeks. Depending on your initial weight. And then slowly build more carbohydrates back into your life. As much as you burn. In your muscle," says Strunz.

How do I unmask sugar?
Caution: Sugar is not only found under sucrose or maltose in the list of ingredients. It is also hidden under synonyms such as glucose syrup, candy syrup, corn syrup, malt sugar, maltodextrin, maltose, invert or instant sugar, agave syrup, molasses, refined sugar, beet sugar, syrup, sorbitol, starch sugar, sugar alcohols, corn starch, starch, ....

Read more about the kilo crisis and the sugar lie HERE!

Food heals - Mehmet Oz
Dr. Mehmet Oz is one of the best-known health experts in the USA. He has set himself the goal of improving and prolonging the lives of as many people as possible through proper nutrition. Even simple changes in eating habits can go a long way, Oz says, because every meal and every bite can increase well-being, improve mood, cure illness and lead to weight loss. 

Three recipes from the book:

Put the "eraser" to it!
In "Food Heals", he explains the effects of food on our health and the most important nutritional basics in a clear and easy-to-understand way. The 21-day plan with over 100 healthy and delicious recipes offers a quick introduction to changing your diet and effective strategies against lifestyle diseases. The various ideas for breakfast, main courses, desserts and snacks can be individually combined. So there is something to suit every taste. In his opinion, food is like an eraser that can "iron out health-related lifestyle sins".

Food like an "umbilical cord"
"Food is the umbilical cord that provides energy and prolongs life. Science only now knows what our ancestors found out through simple trial and error (...) Food can fix it, and I'll show you how. I'll show you how nutrition can optimize your life journey. My 21-day plan with 33 recipes plus snacks will give you the chance to reprogram your body and your taste buds. I will provide you with knowledge, tools and strategies to solve or prevent problems. Nutrition can solve many health problems big and small - from obesity to heart problems or your resistance to infection," says Oz in the foreword to his book.

Real food - The anti-ageing compass - Hans-Ulrich Grimm
Super-fruits, sugar-free or just good old olive oil? What helps our bodies to age healthily and happily? Nutrition expert and bestselling author Hans-Ulrich Grimm has long been a household name among nutrition-conscious readers. He has built up a broad fan base with books such as "Die Kalorienlüge" (The Calorie Lie) and "Chemie im Essen" (Chemicals in Food) and is now following up with "Der Anti-Aging-Kompass" (The Anti-Aging Compass). In it, he takes up the cudgels for fat: "If people eat less fat, they don't necessarily become healthier - they often suffer even more than those who boldly reach for butter, almond tarts and cream. Several studies from Sweden, for example, have come to this conclusion. The result, in 2013: "Fatty dairy products are more likely to make you slim than lean ones."

Read more about the kilo crisis and the sugar lie HERE!

Living sugar-free makes you young
However, Grimm also advocates giving up smoking, getting enough sleep, drinking an adequate amount of water every day and avoiding sugar: "If someone simply cuts out sugar completely, it obviously works wonders. That's what the young woman did, who wasn't really that young anymore. She just looked it. When she was on TV again, on a talk show, and the presenter asked the audience to guess her age, most of the guessers were quite wrong. Cutting out sugar seems to be the simplest strategy for staying young," says Grimm.

Smart as shit and (never again) dumb as a rock - David Perlmutter
Since "Darm mit Charme" and other publications, the microbiome has been on everyone's lips. Brain researcher Dr. David Perlmutter also uses the latest scientific findings to show that a healthy gut flora can protect us from concentration problems and allergies and even from serious neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and others. Just a few simple measures can significantly improve the prospect of mental health and a long, fulfilling life. And you don't have to wait months for this: "Studies show that significant changes in the composition of intestinal bacteria can be seen just six days after switching to a new diet. But people are different. That's why the success of your intestinal diet depends on the current state of your gut and how quickly you follow the recommendations in full."

Never Again - Dumb as Bread - David Perlmutter
"In the next 18 minutes, four Americans will die because of their diets. One death every four and a half minutes - this seems unbelievable. Yet it is true ... In the developed nations of the West, diet-related diseases cause more deaths than accidents, homicides, terrorism, war and all other (non-diet-related) diseases combined. Overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, dental disease, strokes, osteoporosis, dementia and many cancers are all linked to diet in one way or another. Some of these have been occurring for centuries, but not on such an epidemic scale," says Perlmutter.

When was the last time you had a headache?
Think about it: when was the last time your head was buzzing? Headaches are known to be one of the most common neurological problems and are at the top of the list of health complaints: "Almost everyone has a headache now and again, but one in twenty people suffer from them every day. Around ten percent of the population struggle with migraines - that's almost as many as asthmatics and diabetics put together. Multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease in which impaired communication between the brain and nerves leads to severe disabilities, affects an estimated 2.5 million people worldwide. This makes it all the more important, according to Perlmutter, to strengthen the axis between the gut and brain and put an end to the damage to the microbiome caused by sugar and carbohydrates.

Gut flora has an influence on brain activity
Perlmutter recommends six important measures to maintain a healthy microbiome:

1. Eat foods rich in prebiotics, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli from natural sources
2. Low carbohydrates and high-quality fats (green leafy vegetables, low-sugar fruits, fermented foods, healthy fats, proteins)
3. Wine, tea, coffee and chocolate are allowed in moderation; you can drink as much tea as you like
4. Eat prebiotic foods (acacia juice, Jerusalem artichokes (raw), onions (raw and cooked), garlic, leeks (raw))
5. Drink (filtered) water (depending on chlorine content)
6. Fast regularly (such as intermittent fasting)

Wheat bulge - William Davis
Bread, pastries, pizza, pasta - wheat is omnipresent in our diet. But hardly anyone knows what a health-damaging fattening agent the golden yellow grain is. This is because in the second half of the 20th century, the grain was genetically modified in such a way that it no longer has much in common with the "original wheat". The "new wheat" makes you fat, promotes diabetes and the ageing process, damages the heart and brain and promotes insulin resistance. 

Read more about the kilo crisis and the sugar lie HERE!

"Do you still have a use for your lifebuoys?
Wheat is also bad for your skin and heart and disrupts pH regulation: "Wheat puts your health at risk," says William. Tracking down the "addict" is often like detective work, but it's worth the effort and the sacrifice. According to William, wheat should not be considered a valuable part of our diet. In his experience, the effects of increased wheat consumption include "appetite stimulation, brain contact with exorphins, massive blood sugar spikes in which short-term satiety alternates with increased appetite, the process of glycation, which promotes disease and ageing, inflammatory reactions and pH shifts", which have now also been scientifically proven.

"No wheat, no problems"
William is firmly convinced: "We are paying for this convenient, ubiquitous, cheap food with our health, primarily in the form of obesity." But whole grains don't stand up to William's judgment either: "Of all things, the advice to eat more healthy whole grains makes us even less able to control our appetite. We gain weight and don't get thinner despite our best intentions. For me, the widespread advice to eat healthy whole grains is the same as telling an alcoholic that one drink won't do any harm - and that ten times the amount would therefore be even better." "No wheat, no problems," says William: "Or do you still have a use for your lifebuoys?"

Nutritional compass against fat phobia
The nutrition compass published by C. Bertelsmann presents twelve rules for healthy eating. Bas Kast, a former junk food lover, takes the reader on a journey of discovery, guided by one question: What is really healthy? Bas Kast filters out the scientifically proven findings on a truly healthy diet from thousands of studies, some of which contradict each other. What do particularly long-lived people eat? How do you lose weight efficiently? Can typical age-related ailments be avoided? Can you "eat yourself young" with certain foods and is fat actually the root of all evil? 

Fat as a helpful slimming agent
Kast says: No, on the contrary: "As we know today, fat does not automatically make the body fat (even if high-fat snacks can contribute to this ...). What's more, many people only lose weight successfully when they ignore the 'official' dietary recommendations and increase the fat content of their diet. Particularly if you are overweight, certain fatty foods can become a helpful slimming aid."

According to Kast, eating more high-fat foods is also one of the most beneficial foods you can eat. It's just that people eat too little of it - and not too much:

• Omega-3 fats in fish, salmon, trout and herring, linseed and chia seeds protect against fatal cardiovascular diseases
• Two handfuls of nuts reduce the risk of cancer by 15 percent and the risk of cardiovascular disease by almost 30 percent. The risk of death from diabetes is reduced by almost 40 percent and the risk of death from infectious diseases by 75 percent
• High-quality olive oils contain substances that inhibit a critical ageing switch in the body - olive oil could therefore slow down the ageing process and prove to be a kind of anti-ageing medicine

Are you curious? You can order the Nutrition Compass HERE.

More articles on this topic:

• Why ready meals make you fat
• Dr. Riedl on the 80:20 principle and species-appropriate nutrition
• All about short-term fasting
• How clean eating works today!

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