Many fitness enthusiasts, when discussing diet and nutrition, will come to the conclusion that carbs are inherently bad, and should be excised from the diet immediately. Some will even go as far as to accuse the neolithic revolution as the point where human society went irreversibly down hill (but that of course ties into the general “noble savage” ideal you can learn about in my Manthropology videos).
Idiotic leftist anthropology aside, there is some grain of truth to this—certainly, carbohydrate consumption is rampant in the United States, and to a lesser extent the Western world on the whole. A major factor, if not the deciding factor, that causes this is the intertwining of political lobbying and agricultural business, in which corn production—to name one glaring example—is stimulated via political lobbying and reasons to eat vast quantities of corn syrup are made up after the corn is grown.
But the question remains, are carbohydrates inherently as bad for you as some have claimed?
Some Info On Grains
Let’s make something quite clear: cereal cultivation has been around for the better part of 12,000 years, and despite what some have claimed, 10 millennia is more than enough time for people to evolve the capacity to obtain nutritional value from them.
And far from being an “empty calorie”, grains can certainly be very nutritious, more so whole grains rather than refined grains—the difference being that whole grains retain the endosperm, germ, and bran layers whereas refined grains remove the germ and bran. The endosperm is mostly carbohydrate, the germ contains incomplete proteins and fatty acids, and the bran contains dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, and even more fatty acids.
Cereals, when properly prepared, are more than just a quick carbohydrate fix, and yet that carbohydrate fix alone is reason enough to eat your carbs.
Carbohydrates—more accurately, their substrate glucose—are, of course, the main energy currency of the human body. Glucose is very quickly converted to adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, and that in turn is used for purposes of cellular energy (to put it VERY simply). In addition to that, carbohydrates are stored as muscular glycogen for purposes of medium-duration exercise, which is to say the duration of time that a set of an exercise is done.
While glucose can in fact be synthesized from amino acids, and in fact this is the main working arrangement of ketogenic diets, the relatively small amount of carbohydrate content needed, and the quick dietary absorption time compared to proteins, indicates that carbohydrates should be consumed in balance with protein and fat. But then the question remains: what constitutes “balance”, exactly?
A Balanced Diet
To make something else very clear, low carbohydrate diets can get results in weight loss. In fact, studies have shown that they get the fastest results in weight loss—however, those same studies show that on a long enough timeline (the example given was one year), the results for various diet programs, measured in pounds/kilograms lost, will be largely the same: the biggest factor in successful weight loss is a consistent reduction of caloric intake. The macronutrient profile of the diet is not nearly as important.
With that being said, don’t think you can run out and live a healthy and fulfilling life by eating a calorically reduced diet of junk food. You still need the macro and micronutrients in their proper amounts for purposes of cellular energy, structural repair and growth, and other functions—and like it or not, the recommended daily allowances are adequate benchmarks, if not perfect.
Note that the food pyramid, which was for many years slanted heavily towards carbohydrates, has now been shifted to show all the nutrients in roughly equal amounts.
Despite the fact that agrobusiness is as strong as its ever been, the federal government has been more proactive in recent years towards alleviating the eternally high obesity rates of the US, if only because morbidly obese citizens are net financial losses.
And while the federal government can certainly be criticized for many things, the new revised food pyramid is actually pretty good. While certain goals (weight loss, bulking, muscle building) may require some variation to a nutrient profile, bear in mind that this should be done with caution, as an excess of various nutrients can be damaging to your health.
If you want general good health, and adequate nutrients to sustain exercise and general well being, you can’t go wrong with eating balanced amounts of all nutrients, carbohydrates included.
Read More: Are Carbohydrates Your Friend Or Foe?
People in Italy eat tons of grain, but stay relatively skinny throughout their lives. It’s about balance and reduced portions TBH.
Well Italians aren’t chugging down Pepsi and Coca Cola in super size quantities, and then chomping on Doritos and other snack foods like Americans. Also when the eat pasta, they eat in relatively smaller portions. Also Italians like most other Europeans tend to walk more than the average American.
Not all carbohydrates the same, that is why there is a Glycemic Index and also an Insulin Index.
Same thing in rice eating Asian countries, they eat clean whole foods, that is why they are slim. Their lifestyles are different too, they tend to be employed in manufacturing or some kind of labor where they are standing up and doing manual labor all day. That burns calories.
That being said I know a lot of friends who keep relatively fit limiting starchy carbs like bread, rice, and pasta and instead eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, but also have plenty of protein and good fats like butter and olive oil.
Want high Testosterone? Whole milk, Whole Eggs, Oysters, and Beef Liver are your Friends. Also Spinach and Broccoli. Also Grass fed butter, mostly because all these foods are high in Vitamin A.
Italian food in Italy tends to be much lighter than Italian food in America. Compare Chicago Deep Dish to pizza in Naples Italy.
When it comes down to carbohydrates, a cinnamon doughnut is not the same as a slice of sprouted grain bread.
Also Asians eat less rice than Americans.
And minimising refined sugar and similar as much as possible.
And not driving to eveywhere.
If I can walk to anywhere within a time frame of up to 45 minutes-1 hour then I will do so. I only drive if it takes longer.
That’s bollocks mate. Stop making stuff up. They eat far less grains than the average American.
Italy ranks second in child obesity within Europe. Guess, which country is No.1?
Here’s a list of carbs that Italians eat more than once a week:
Pasta
Here’s a list of carbs that Americans eat more than once a week:
Pasta
Soda
Cookies
Cake
Chips
Crackers
Beer
Subs
etc
etc
https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder140/72850140.jpg
This article does not address anti-nutrients and the effects of phytates, leptins, and gluten on the gut. If you had made an argument about those aspects of grains being not as bad, this would be a great article, but it settles for bland nonsense literally everyone with a modicum of health knowledge already knows. I don’t ever remember anyone saying don’t eat any carbs. Low-carb doesn’t mean no-carb, obviously. Therefore, what is the purpose of this article?
I am inclined to agree with you but I don’t know enough about phytates, leptins and gluten. Everyone has heard of gluten obviously, but I’m curious if you know of any good resources on these and why grains specifically are bad for the gut and your body. Someone else posted a video recently with a doctor chatting about glycemic index and how each carb type stacks up in it.
Another thing this article doesn’t mention is fiber. We are getting deeper understanding of fiber as we move forward. The definition of fiber is simply carbs we don’t have the ability to digest. The reason for this is that the sugars are bound in a location which we can’t break. The reason we can’t break it is we lack the enzymes encoded in our bodies to do so.
But, with the recent advances in microbiome studies, they are finding that some of these “fibers” are actually digested by bacteria in our guts and may provide nutrients to us yet. So fiber may be more than “roughage.” There’s some cool stuff here to learn about.
I recommend the whole health source blog for information on anti-nutrients in food.
His articles on a diet to reverse tooth decay are particularly interesting especially since this a little known possibility
Alright, but remember two things:
1. The average American is a sedentary fatass.
2. See number 1.
If cutting carbs out of your life for 4 days a week breaks your addiction to chips, soda, cookies, crackers, ice cream, beer, footlong subs, pizza, tacos and causes you to eat more veggies and protein, than it’s a great place to start for the average American.
You win the thread.
Portion control/self control is certainly crucial for this.
Simply looking at McDonald’s is a good example of the addiction.
The late 1950’s saw the McDonald’s meal as the hamburger, what is now a small fries and what is now a small coke.
According to the current McDonald’s nutrition guide, this meal is 620 calories/101 carbs.
Compare that to the modern version of a Big Mac, large fries and a large coke (still not the worst of the lot) at 1340 calories/189 carbs.
The 1950’s version would have been a special outing and the main meal for that day(at least it was for my family in the 1970’s). The modern version most likely is more daily with three meals of that size taken in daily, as well as snacking in between.
It is a vicious circle. The more crap one eats, the less likely one is to move around becoming a sedentary fatass.
Out of control addiction to crap food is killing us.
My portion control is basically eating as big a portion as possible.
een RAH-sha portion controls YOU
Right you are! A trip to a restaurant happened maybe twice a year for our large family. There was one pizza parlour in our neighbourhood, and the counter at the five and dime where mother ordered fruit and cottage cheese. People are woofing back 1300 calories for lunch and then consuming the same amount of calories at dinner – do the math. Of course, “snacks” are needed throughout the day to because God forbid you should be hungry. The amount of food information we can and do receive is making us fat and ignorant. Ever get a fattie standing in front of you yapping about “starvation mode”? Hilarious.
Costco just put out a giant burger in their food court, the whole media now thinks its a good thing, the behemoth has 1100 calories. Saw a video of a little girl eating it, America is raising a new generation of lardbutts. Maybe when Americans were doing hard labor and standing up for 8-10 hours a day it seemed ok to eat like that but when most Americans sit down in a cubicle most of the day its not good.
The average person is supposed to consume around 2300 calories in a day, this one burger got 1100 calories alone, you probably think that the person eating that burger is also going to drink a soda, so that will add another 300 to 400 calories. And they will eat again. Most Americans these days eat over 3000 calories a day but most aren’t engaging in frequent intense exercise or manual labor that requires that kind of caloric intake so all those calories become adipose tissue.
“Alright, but remember two things:
1. The average American is a sedentary fatass.
2. See number 1.”
Too damned funny – and true.
The cartoon series the Jetsons predicted American life to be a push button society in the 21st century, but that was a high tech utopia with a strong stable family life, the real 21st century America is a horrifying dystopia.
“The cartoon series the Jetsons predicted American life to be a push button society in the 21st century, but that was a high tech utopia with a strong stable family life, the real 21st century America is a horrifying dystopia.”
Good points. I still am amazed that cars today use a push button to start, just like George’s car – and every time I see the walk treadmills at the airport reminds me of the Jetsons.
Yeah but the other part was that the Jetsons predicted a Utopian society, not the kind we live in today.
The carbs Europeans and Asians eat are different from Americans. Saying Asians and French eat Carbs and are slim is being simple.
The bottom photo are the kind of carbs common in Asia. Eat that instead of chips soda and cookies and I am sure you will lose some weight.
Our North American wheat is imported all over the world. A carb is a carb is a carb. It is about lifestyle, cultural foods and amounts eaten. Know what your family will do in Asia if you eat like a pig and look like one? They make fun of you.
Amen.
But take traditional tacos off that list. There are almost no carbs in a thin, flat corn tortilla. The rest is meat and salsa.
The type of wheat most Americans eat is nothing like the wheat Americans used to eat 50 years ago, the old wheat crop was several feet tall. The current wheat crop is genetically modified and much shorter, is nutritionally inferior to its predecessor, that is why “ancient grain” breads are becoming very popular. They aren’t ancient, they are just grains that have not been tampered with by science and the type of wheat grains that have been consumed since ancient Biblical times. Some popular brands are known as Ezekiel bread. It can take a bit getting used to if you are accustomed to eating heavily milled and processed bread.
Its the same with oatmeal, the quick oats you find in the store is heavily processed. Steel cut oats is the real deal, and takes much longer to prepare, but is much better for you. Steel cut oats was the type of oatmeal most Americans used to eat in the old days.
This is where people start to go off the rails. I understand what you are saying, but we need to get people to eat less. Families can’t afford $4- 6 loaf of bread. The amount of sugars and junk children are eating are just astounding. I have a habit of peaking at the grocery carts in stores and I notice that the chubsters have high amounts of junk food and the thin types have vegetables. I also notice the use of the word “healthy” on everything. People really need to read food labels and learn what is in the food you eat.
Here’s the latest monster on the child lunch menu……weep. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f4d0205ca8647b1e6ccfd0349400c6021bf46f1943ca028f1a968dea6e73ebec.jpg
I have had neighbors get in their cars, pull in reverse to get their mail from their mailboxes, and this was around 20 years ago. I think people have gotten even lazier.
They were always around and we made fun of them.
Try living on whole eggs, whole milk, beef liver, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, butter, and olive oil, maybe throw in canned mackerel or salmon to keep things interesting, but eat nothing else for a month, and tell me how you feel. Feel free to buy some other veggies, and a few fruits if you want but no packaged stuff and no fast food or sugar and booze. Don’t bother with a gym membership, just go outside for a walk or a jog, do some kind of labor, and see how you look and feel. Odds are you will probably lose a fair bit of belly fat, gain some muscle mass, and look way better, if not after a month, mostly likely after 2-3 months. But no sugar and no alcohol. And plenty of water.
Forget the new age baloney, juice cleanses, Acai bowls, super expensive supplements, Whole Foods shopping, because its all going to drain your wallet.
Low carb can work but the slightest overage pushes all of it to fat. That’s the biggest risk over time…putting your body into a state of ‘atkins confusion’.
Recently fed up, I’m returning to low calorie high fiber
People should realize that there are plenty of cultures that eat A LOT of carbs, and the people stay thin. Asians eat a shit ton of rice. Italians eat a lot of pasta. I’m Arab, and grew up eating rice with every meal, and pita bread every morning.
There’s nothing wrong with carbs. Americans are fat because they’re lazy & sedentary, and consume a lot of sugar.
HFCS, not sugar.
HFCS is sugar.
Sugar is sugar is sugar. Oil is oil is oil. Overeating is overeating is overeating.
Sugar is sugar, yes. Not the same with oils. I won’t touch soybean oil or hydrogenated oils with a stick. I prefer coconut or avocado oil as they have a higher smoking point (less oxidation) and are good for your hormone levels.
Calorie dense. use very, very little. Salad greens 200 calories, tablespoon of oil 120. Most people pour oil on their food thinking that it is healthy without realizing how many calories they are adding.
Asian here, and I approve.
Refined carbs aren’t healthy. It’s just that your average Asian eats much less than your average American and moves more, which mostly offsets the harmful effects.
The issue with grains, other than the ultra refined crap served us, is that most refined foods are enriched. The enrichment has ‘B’ vitamins which will make you hungry. In other words, if you eat until content and wait a little bit you will crave more food even though you are not hungry.
The enrichment makes you hungry. Cows and pigs are fed enriched foods to make them hungry all the time.
Another issue is you will notice a lot of foods also add something wheat germ agglutinin. In traditionally prepared foods the WGA is reduced to nothing through fermentation and other means. In todays foods WGA is added. It’s major reaction in the human body is in the brain. It triggers a heroin like high. That is how people get addicted to foods. They eat and get the rush. The rush is basically the same as injecting heroin. And like all addicts you need more of the drug to sate your craving.
There are a lot of other factors but those are 2 of the biggest and most dastardly of them.
Always enjoy your articles Larsen. Thank you for making what seems to be a bold and somewhat controversial statement: OMG Carbs! Carbohydrates are not your enemy – they are a critical macronutrient – they can be used to your benefit or your detriment – it’s entirely up to you!
Over the last 10-15 years, things have become so convoluted regarding nutrition… every minute, you hear conflicting advice – it’s really all bullshit. Sure, we can delve into this a bit deeper, but there is absolutely no need to complicate things. TAKE THE TIME to develop a firm understanding of macronutrients – through education and implementation, you will learn exactly how your body responds to certain nutrients and then you adjust according to your goals. There is no magic formula.
I’ve lived the bodybuilding/fitness lifestyle for over 25-years. I personally competed in shows from 1991-1993. My wife was a fitness competitor from 1995-2002. My sister is a fitness competitor still, at 41-years old. I’m 45-years old, 6′-0″ tall, 230lbs, 11% bodyfat. I can run circles around most guys half my age, I look and feel like I’m in my early 30’s and I see no signs of slowing down. Harnessing the power of proper nutrition is No Joke. The good thing is: it’s never too late to improve the quality of your life!
Carbs are critical, grains are not. His article was about grains.
Unless you are metabolically challenged in some way (e.g diabetes, insulin resistance etc), I really don’t see the point of a low carb diet. If you put on weight easily from even a moderate carb diet it could be a sign that you are heading down a potentially dangerous path.
Reducing refined carbs is key, especially as you get older. i.e 35+. Cut down on white bread, pasta and rice and find effective substitutes. There are plenty of options.
I wish I did this earlier. It might have saved me from a pre-diabetes diagnosis, but thankfully through lifestyle changes I’ve managed to reclaim my health and maintain a healthy weight.
a “pre-diabetes diagnosis”, I worry about that myself, just know if you ruin that organ you won’t have a nice time. I was always warned not to eat too much sugar for fear of getting diabetes, never really knew if that was true or a myth.
I come from a family of diabetics. It’s usually the overall diet that triggers organ failure especially the pancreas. If the scheduled release of insulin is constantly disrupted your pancreas tend to overwork and eventually just give up. As long as you watch your nutrition and don’t shock the system with too much glucose and other shit you should be alright.
Key is also exercise.
Time of day is critical for me. I can eat a carbohydrate breakfast, have energy for work, exercise, and play, and protein dinner for recovery and muscle building while I rest.
It should be in reverse.
Eat the protein and the fat in the morning. Then eat the carbohydrates within two hours after exercise, while your glycogen is depleted. The carbs will do the least “damage” that way.
It’s interesting that when people talk about carbs they go right to grains. There are many other sources of carbs besides grains such as fruits and vegetables which contain far superior nutrients.
Sure there are some nutrients in grains but more importantly there are lots of anti-nutrients that will leech healthy nutrients from your body, destroying it over time, in a slow motion scurvy effect.
Eat all the carbs you want. Just stay away from grass (i.e grains).
Yep. Shows how brainwashed westerners are about carbs. They overlook veggies, fruits, and starches like potatoes and go right to grains.
Low or even worse no carb diet can severely slow down your metabolic rate which is then a helluva problem to reverse but grains today are the worst source of carbs.
First macron isn’t as bad as we’ve been led to believe and now carbohydrates. In fact if you think about it: macron = macaroni = carbohydrates. It’s like ROK is pushing the same line but in a slightly encrypted way
Macron is gonna give everyone in france diabeetus
I was thinking that
I’m confused. Are carbs bad or not? Half of the internet says they are, half says they aren’t. I’m not sure what to follow up other than actually reaching a nutrition professional.
Here are simple tips to avoid overeating on these sweets and starches:
1. Make sure the carbohydrates you eat are unrefined only. This alone is most helpful. This means to eat only whole grains such as brown rice, yellow corn tortillas, and only the organic blue corn tortilla chips.
Do not eat anything made with wheat flour, such as flour tortillas, white or “rye” breads unless 100% rye flour, white rice or white sugar in any form or product. This will limit your soda pop, ice cream, cookies, cakes, and much more. Also avoid anything sweetened with fruit juices, as these also count as concentrated sugars with few other nutrients in them.
2. If you must have honey or maple syrup, make sure it is 100% pure and not laced with sugar and use as little as possible.
3. Be sure to ask for what you want at restaurants. This way more restaurants will begin to offer the higher quality foods. Ask that the bread be removed from the table.
4. Eat some fats or oils at least twice daily if you are used to eating a lot of carbohydrates. This way you will not be so hungry for starches and sugars. Most people also need to eat protein at least twice daily to avoid sweet cravings.
5. If you are hypoglycemic, or just trying to reduce your carbohydrate intake, eat 4 or 5 small meals during the day of a protein food and some fat and vegetables. This will help maintain your blood sugar and prevent cravings.
6. Eat only fresh fruit or frozen berries, and very little of it. Avoid all dried fruit, all sweet fruit like dates, figs and bananas and avoid canned and baked fruit as well.
7. Eat carbohydrates with a low glycemic index. This topic is covered in the next section.
I’ll be sure to implement those tips at my current diet. Thanks!
There is no “one size fits all” prescription for nutrition. It can be a pain in the ass at first to track your macros but it is beneficial in the long run to see how your body responds. Try low carbs, medium carbs, and high carbs & see what works best for you. As long as you’re staying away from processed foods and stuff heavily filled with chemicals you’ll be doing OK.
I don’t consume processed stuff whatsoever as even people who eat it knows its bad stuff. But carbs were a topic that made me really paranoid sometimes. Each article I’ve read carried a fear mongering type of writing with a touch of argumentum ad verecundiam. I guess maintaining what I maintain (which you said medium carb diet) today is perfect for me as I can keep a comfortable 11%-12% body fat with good muscle. Thanks for clarifying, tho!
Many people rave about low carbs but anytime I’ve tried it leaves me feeling sluggish physically & mentally. Then again it’s always been hard for me to gain weight, my metabolism works best with around 20% carbs for energy & strength.
Yeah, I’ve tried the low carb thing for two weeks once. My training required a very huge amount of willpower to finish as I had no energy whatsoever. I guess one can adapt to it but it isn’t for me.
Carbs are fine. The problem most people in the West have is they eat too much carbs. I follow Mark Sisson’s guidelines of 100g carbs if you’re wanting to maintain your weight and 120g if you’re very active.
Don’t overeat. Don’t go consuming calories you are not going to burn. Nutrition is straightforward but we tend to complicate it.
Amen brother!!!!
If you’re at your goal weight, and if you’re athletic, there’s no reason to drop grains. They help athletic performance. I eat a plate of whole-grain spaghetti a couple hours before my soccer games. If I don’t, I notice a difference in my performance.
That said, there are many reasons to drop grains for *health* reasons. Inflammation, for one.
I’m not a fan of grains so I avoid them. But potatoe and sweet potatoe is one of my staples and I eat them daily.
It’s true, carbs, including sugar, are not bad for you. No macronutrient is.
What is bad for you is eating a lot of them. As others have said, it’s a quantity problem.
Exercise is fantastic for your body and general heath, but will not make you lose a significant amount of weight.
If you sit and do nothing but drink water, you’ll lose weight. If you sit and eat “snacks” that are calorically dense (carbs, dairy and sugar) washed down with liquid candy (soda), you will gain weight.
What’s the best carb? rice or potatoes?
Which one? Whichever company’s manufacturer pays the author of the article the most.
Are breakfast cereals the healthiest? Sure, they can be. Just cough up some cash.
Rice is better, it has a variety of nutrients. Potatoes are very rich in pure carbs. They are good if one is very physically active, or in cold weather. Otherwise, they should be only an occasional snack.
I would say potatoes as they have a lot of vitamins and minerals. White rice is essentially carbs with no nutritional value. I’m in the air about brown rice.
It never made sense to me how carbs could be so bad for you when things like bread and rice have been staples for centuries if not millennia across several cultures. Of course, in the Western world all foods are so far from their natural state. Then again I also am not sure how junk food and especially sugar soda is supposed to have caused the obesity epidemic when fast food joints have been around since the 1950s and Coca-Cola was invented in the 1800s, so why didn’t these things start making people fat until 1980s? Unless it’s the massive case of portion distortion we have here, don’t suppose those original glass Coke bottles came in 2 liters.
Best advice on carbs comes from Charles Poliquin – “You have to *earn* your carbs”…
I wont’t eat anything that has sperm in it.
Paleo diet is perfect for losing weight while maintaining muscle mass, its bad for body building, though.
And not conducive to athletes, functional athletes, or even your typical survivalist.
That’s because those people do not have a healthy lifestyle, pushing their bodies beyond their limits.
I have been eating an all-meat diet for awhile now and regularly stuffing my face with lean meats and feel great and look even better (reduction of body fat, increase of muscle mass).
The reason I chose to follow this is that evidence has accumulated that indicates a host of health problems result from elevated levels of insulin in the bloodstream. Included amongst these are the accumulation of arteriosclerotic plaques, a strong tendency to accumulate visceral and subcutaneous fat depositions, development of fibrotic plaques in neural tissues, improper partitioning of energy between lean and fatty tissues because of a cascade of hormonal misregulations resulting from the stimulation of the insulin system, and the kidneys’ tendency, in a high-insulin environment, to evacuate the vitamins from your body, whose deficiencies are associated with some of the diseases of micronutrient deficiencies, such as Scurvy and Beriberi, which originally were the reason for all of the ‘balanced diet’ nonsense that we are stuck with today.
Why we Get Fat: and what to do about it
The case against sugar
Good Calories, Bad Calories
Before or after the above, follow through with a proper read-through of Denise Minger’s and Colin T. Cambell’s discourse over the China Study and go read Weston A. Price’s Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Some fine-tuning and experimentation is required for everybody, as a matter of course, to find what works best, but I would argue that what I have discussed above is just about the best spot to start for >90% of people. I’m a bit extreme and have been experimenting with the all-meat option, but opting for complete elimination of junk carb foods and staying away from the heavily starchy vegetables and obtaining the majority of your nutrition from lean meats and reasonable servings of low-sugar and low-starch vegetables is an excellent way to improve your body’s regulation of nutrient partitioning.
Want to have a tiny penis? Want to have small muscles? Want to have low concentration levels? Become a vegan. Eat sugars and HFCS. Don’t eat meat and fish. Don’t consume nuts and oils with Omega 3s.
Great way to wind up diabetic is to become a lacto vegetarian. Lots of South Asians are lacto vegetarians, they got the highest rates of diabetes as well as heart disease.
Their diets are high in carbohydrates and fats and low in protein.
When you eat like that you have constant insulin spikes which makes your body store fat and also keeps you hungry.
Eating more protein and fat lowers insulin spikes.
Even worse is they rely on dairy as their sole animal protein which is full of estrogens. Americans have also moved away from traditional animal protein centric diets more towards processed foods and the results have been catastrophic. The old meat and potatoes America was much fitter.