Enter into Your Own World of Optimal Health and Wellbeing with the Right Combination

Saturday, August 15, 2009 by: Gregory Hollings
Tags: optimal health, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) Over the last 10,000 years the vast majority of the inhabitants living in the modern Western World have turned from being healthy, mindful and active hunter-gatherers to sedentary slouches who are spoilt for food choices. For decades food industry giants, backed by multi-million dollar marketing campaigns, have fed our insatiable desire for the dietary magic bullet that we hope will give us the super-charged energy boost and the slim body shape we so desperately crave. Today, we have an over dependency on refined carbohydrates such as sugar, flour and alcohol that has led us unwittingly into unconscious eating patterns, erratic moods swings and 140 character length attention spans.

To counteract the steady rise of degenerative diseases and conditions such as diabetes, depression and obesity we must discard standardized "conventional wisdom" as dictated by the Government's Food Pyramid and instead discover our individual biochemical need for different foods and food combinations. Optimal health and wellbeing will only come when we're eating the right combination of carbohydrate, proteins and fats.

Too many carbohydrates

There are a variety of symptoms that will indicate whether you have eaten too many carbohydrates. In the short term i.e. two to three hours after the meal one tends to experience the following:

-Headaches
-A jittery mind
-Excessive yawning
-Nervous energy
-Anxiety

In addition to this you might not feel completely satisfied and you may crave something that contains protein and fats. The habit of eating too many carbohydrate-based meals such as pasta, pizzas, pancakes and other fast foods will lead to longer-term responses such as:

-Depression
-Low-back pain
-Constipation
-Pimples
-Immune suppression
-Adrenal stress

Should you experience the short-term symptoms it's best to eat a snack, which is high in protein and fat, increase your water intake and do a little exercise. This will help to counteract your body's increased production of insulin and cortisol as a result of having eaten too many carbohydrates.

Too much protein or fat

Given that many meals in a variety of different cultures across the globe are not predominantly protein based the symptoms of having eaten too much protein or fat are not as commonly experienced as those when we eat too many carbohydrates. That said the short-term symptoms are pretty similar - there's usually the onset of lethargy, the feeling of being full but still hungry and a heavy gut. You might crave something sweet such as a dessert or coffee.

Over the long term too much protein or fat on a daily basis can lead to:

-Rapid ageing
-Foul body odor
-A poor response to aerobic exercise
-Pain in the neck and shoulder

The short-term solutions to the short-term symptoms include drinking a cup of tea, or eating a high glycemic fruit such as a banana. It's important to note that it only requires a small portion of carbohydrate to bring your body back into balance.

The relationship you have with your body and the food you eat is often an intricate and complex one. It may be tempting to follow a well-known standardized diet, which may prove to be successful for many people, but is by its very nature short term. However, by understanding how the right combination of carbohydrates, proteins and fats can dramatically affect your health, body shape or emotional wellbeing you are taking the first important step to breaking free from the topsy turvy world of dieting.

Sources

The Nutrition Solution by Harold J. Kristal and James M. Haig
The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Wolcott and Trish Fahey
How To Eat, Move And Be Healthy by Paul Chek

About the author

Gregory Hollings is a health writer and interviewer of Complementary and Alternative medicine practitioners. He is based in the UK. For further information please see www.greghollings.com