than you would of whole milk, just to get a little flavor. Or that you feel fuller
and more satisfied after eating eggs with cheese than after eating Figure 1.1: Bad
Carbohydrates, a Staple of the Western World
a big bowl of low-fat, commercially produced breakfast cereal. In the end,
despite your best intentions, when following a low-fat diet you will end up
consuming more empty calories from sugar, making more insulin, and gaining
more weight. Willpower does not exist when insulin is high, and you just can’t
overcome this genetic wiring.
A Nation on the Wrong Dietary Track
I don’t want to scare you with the prospect of never eating another piece of cake
or your favorite breakfast cereal, but I want to open your eyes to the dangers of
being a carbohydrate addict or following a low-fat diet. The relationship between
obesity and excess sugar in our diet is just the tip of the iceberg. Although you
can see the effects on your waistline of too much sugar from increased insulin
secretions, you can’t see the damage it’s doing to your cells and organs.
If you’ve ever dropped some jam or honey on your kitchen table, you know
how sticky and difficult it is to clean up. The same thing happens inside your
body when you eat sugary foods or follow a low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet. The
metabolized sugar from excess carbs adheres to tissue and cells and destroys
collagen. This leads to premature aging, among other things. Sugar also makes
the cholesterol stickier, which in turn makes it adhere to the arteries. This leads
to stiffening of the arteries and predisposes one to early cardiovascular disease.
This is why diabetics are more likely to age rapidly and have an increased
incidence of heart attack and stroke. When you follow a low-fat diet, you are, in
essence, signing up for diabetes, since you will have an elevated sugar level in