Hi all,
I had a long holiday in Finland this summer and just a few days before leaving the country I noticed a very interesting piece of news in the local newspaper. The story was about how the cholesterol levels in Finland have suddenly increased after a couple of decades' decrease. Researchers believe that the reason for the new development is the popularity of low-carb diets, in which protein and fat make up most of the diet.
Carbohydrates are the main energy source of the body. Protein and fat have to be processed by the body before they can be used as energy, thus expending more energy. The idea behind a low-carb diet is that when carbohydrates are avoided, body has to work harder to produce its fuel and thus, more calories are burned. The article states that the reason why people avoid carbohydrates is that they feel lighter and more alert, and they have even been able to lose weight.
Unfortunately low-carb diets are not perfect: as fat - especially animal fat - is used in abundance, cholesterol levels increase giving rise to cardiovascular disease. In Finland, where cardiovascular disease is a national problem, low-carb diets are not ideal for the national health - researchers believe that heart attacks will become more common in the coming years because of these diets. I believe that because Finnish people like to eat a lot of meat contributes to the problem as the fats eaten are most likely animal fats that tend to increase cholesterol in blood.
In my opinion, leaving out all carbohydrates is inadvisable for the above reason. Moreover, a wide array of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber that are found in complex carbohydrates will be left out. Therefore, a better option for a low-carb diet would be a low simple carb diet, which leaves out refined sugars and substitutes white bread and pasta with wholegrain bread and pasta. (Check out more on carbohydrates from my post about sugar.)
I encourage everyone to try out avoiding simple carbohydrates. I have tried it and for me it works!
I hope you all had a wonderful summer!
Love,
Anna-Kaisa
Source: Daily newspaper Itä-Savo on September 9 2012
I had a long holiday in Finland this summer and just a few days before leaving the country I noticed a very interesting piece of news in the local newspaper. The story was about how the cholesterol levels in Finland have suddenly increased after a couple of decades' decrease. Researchers believe that the reason for the new development is the popularity of low-carb diets, in which protein and fat make up most of the diet.
Carbohydrates are the main energy source of the body. Protein and fat have to be processed by the body before they can be used as energy, thus expending more energy. The idea behind a low-carb diet is that when carbohydrates are avoided, body has to work harder to produce its fuel and thus, more calories are burned. The article states that the reason why people avoid carbohydrates is that they feel lighter and more alert, and they have even been able to lose weight.
Unfortunately low-carb diets are not perfect: as fat - especially animal fat - is used in abundance, cholesterol levels increase giving rise to cardiovascular disease. In Finland, where cardiovascular disease is a national problem, low-carb diets are not ideal for the national health - researchers believe that heart attacks will become more common in the coming years because of these diets. I believe that because Finnish people like to eat a lot of meat contributes to the problem as the fats eaten are most likely animal fats that tend to increase cholesterol in blood.
In my opinion, leaving out all carbohydrates is inadvisable for the above reason. Moreover, a wide array of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber that are found in complex carbohydrates will be left out. Therefore, a better option for a low-carb diet would be a low simple carb diet, which leaves out refined sugars and substitutes white bread and pasta with wholegrain bread and pasta. (Check out more on carbohydrates from my post about sugar.)
I encourage everyone to try out avoiding simple carbohydrates. I have tried it and for me it works!
I hope you all had a wonderful summer!
Love,
Anna-Kaisa
Source: Daily newspaper Itä-Savo on September 9 2012
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