Why No Grains?

Why No Grains?

I know for those of you doing #FatBlast50 with us giving up grains has probably been the hardest thing to do.

Our culture today truly is a grain culture – we eat cereals, toast, bagels etc. for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and grains in many of their other forms for dinner. They are probably one of the most over consumed foods (next to sugar) in our day-to-day lives.

Maybe you are wondering why we’ve said NO to grains for this 50-day challenge. If that’s the case then this post is for you. Check out this list of why grains might not be as good for you as think (Big thanks to a fellow blogger Jenny over at the Nourished Kitchen for breaking it down so wonderfully for us)…

If you can get it from grain, you can get it elsewhere:

“One of the big reasons that grains are touted as heroes is their nutrient profile which boasts dietary fiber and B vitamins – each grain is different and different grains offer different nutrient profiles.  Yet, one thing remains constant if you can find the nutrient in grain, you can find the nutrient in better quantities of other foods” (Against the Grain).

Jenny goes on to describe how some veggies and meats measure up to their whole grain and whole-wheat partners.  In fact, in some cases, especially that of dietary fiber, veggies beat out the competition each time! So make sure to add in tons of greens and veggies to fill your body with that nutritional goodness!

Grains aren’t good for your gut:

Your intestinal health is critical to your overall health. If you’re gut isn’t healthy, you can’t absorb the nutrients from the foods you eat, and if you can’t absorb nutrients from the foods that you eat, your body is malnourished and is more prone to disease. Grains are associated with a condition called “Leaky Gut,” I know it sounds terrible right? Basically what it means is that the tiny particles of grain that you eat are able to slip through the walls of your intestines, because the grain is so foreign to your immune system your body attacks it as if it were an invader! Because your body is so focused on destroying the invading grains it can’t effectively fight against true threats to your immune system like colds, or flu’s, or other pathogens. (Against the Grain). Who would have thought!?

You are probably Gluten Intolerant:

If you are Caucasian, there is a good chance that you are gluten intolerant to some degree.  Some research on Gluten and Celiac disease indicate that while on 1% of the general population suffers from celiac disease; they also estimate that 30%-40% of people of European descent are gluten intolerant to some degree.  That means that on a regular basis people who may not even know it are consuming a food that is making them sick.

Grains cause inflammation:

Grains are super high in starch and as a result of this high starch content grains are inflammatory foods.  The more refined the grain, the more inflammatory it is. Chronic inflammation is linked to a number of degenerative, modern diseases including arthritis, allergies, asthma, cardiovascular disease, bone loss, emotional imbalance and even cancer. This really makes you think about how the food that we put into our mouths really affects our bodies long term. 

Grains aren’t good for you skin:

Grains have a very high carbohydrate content, and even though the carbohydrates in grain are complex they are still broken down into sugars.  These sugars force your body to produce more insulin, and elevated insulin levels create all kind of hormonal responses – including encouraging the glands in your skin to produce more oil. Before you know it, you may feel like a pre-pubescent teenager all over again…

Eating grain makes you crave grain:

Like we said before, grains have an extremely high carbohydrate content.  Foods rich in carbohydrates give you quick energy, but unfortunately that energy wears off just as quickly as it came.  Since grains break down into sugar, they raise your blood sugar and when your blood sugar dips down again you crave more grains. It’s a vicious cycle my friends! That’s why your trainers at iluvthis Bootcamp talk about maintaining your blood sugar throughout the day, so that you don’t have those intense cravings for all those delicious but oh-so-bad-for-you goodies…

These are all amazing reasons to go grain free, but my favourite one happens to be this last one right here…

Ditching Grains will help you regulate your Blood Sugar… Resulting in Fat Loss!

Our bodies become desensitized to insulin and so need to produce oodles more than we actually need! When you have super high insulin levels your body is unable to burn fat. By maintaining a stable blood sugar through eating lean proteins, omega 3’s, veggies and all that healthy goodness, we are reprogramming our bodies and enabling them to use stored sugar (stored as fat) into energy for our bodies to use! If you are trying to loose weight this is great news for you, because as you begin to re-sensitize your body each of these processes will begin to work in the way that they are intended to work, your insulin levels will stabilize, you will produce more glucagon – and you will drop those extra pounds!

Hopefully all of this helps you understand why we’ve decided on NO grains for our challenge. We’ve heard tons of feedback that you are feeling amazing, and I’ve even heard that one woman is off of a medication that she has been taking for years for asthma! It really is quite amazing what changing your diet can do for your body!

Keep it up, and keep #FatBlast50-ing my friends!