By Jack Riess, NASM, Certified Personal Trainer, and Author of The Back Fix, The Hip Fix, and Perfect Posture.
A startling insight from a distinguished nutrition guide made me pause in surprise…
However, before we delve into the details, here’s a fascinating fact that needs your attention. Our ancestors have historically derived nourishment from nearly 80,000 distinct species of edible plants, animals, and fungi. Around 3,000 of these have served as the crux of our diet.
Now, prepare yourself for an astounding revelation…
In the present era, an average adult following a typical Western diet in nations like the US, Canada, Australia, and others, gets about 65% of their total caloric intake from just three food items—Wheat, Soy, and Corn.
What should be the ideal consumption of corn, soy, and wheat for a balanced diet?
Our ancestral dietary habits and our digestive system’s natural design provide us with an understanding of what we’re truly adapted to consume. Historical evidence suggests that just about 1-4% of our total caloric intake should originate from corn, soy, and wheat.
Compare that with the fact that contemporary humans derive a whopping 65% of their total calories from these three food sources… the root cause behind the prevalent health concerns and obesity epidemic becomes transparent!
The increasing prevalence of food intolerances and allergies, especially to soy and wheat (including gluten intolerance), no longer seem unexpected… It’s evident that our digestive system isn’t designed to metabolize these food items in such colossal quantities.
The extraordinary dominance of corn, soy, and wheat in our contemporary diet is primarily the result of the considerable economic influence of these industries. It seems that the focus here has been majorly on generating revenue… NOT on safeguarding our health!
When we mention “derivatives” of corn, soy, and wheat, we’re referring to food additives such as: Corn-based sweetener (High fructose corn syrup) Corn extract (Corn oil) Processed or hydrogenated soybean oil Soy protein concentrate Processed wheat flour And a host of other food additives like maltodextrin, starch derived from corn or wheat, soy lecithin, mono and diglycerides, among others.
Given the enormous quantities of sweetened drinks (loaded with HFCS) that an average individual consumes daily, it’s evident that a large chunk of our calorie intake comes from this single derivative of corn. Besides, HFCS finds its way into a myriad of other food items such as dressings for salads, ketchup, bread, and more, leading to belly fat accumulation!
Consider the vast array of processed foods we regularly consume, many of which are cooked in soybean or corn oil… Even when they’re not fried in these oils, these oils are present as additives in nearly every processed food item. This includes snacks like chips, candies, pastries, and even seemingly innocent food items like dressings, tomato sauces, taco tortillas, chips made from corn, and chicken thats been breaded. That’s an enormous volume of calories coming from these two derivatives of corn and soy… and both are NOTORIOUSLY UNHEALTHY!
Further, the pastas, muffins, breads, cereals, and other overly processed wheat products that most people eat daily introduce countless unhealthy, spiking of your blood-sugar, nutrient-deficient calories, to which over half the population has a level of intolerance.
But the problem is deeper!
We’re not just consuming 65% of our total calories from corn, soy, and wheat… Due to economic motivations (especially with cheap corn and soy), these same food items are fed to the majority of our farm animals as well… which further increases the amount of corn and soy that ends up in our food chain and indirectly in our bodies.
Factory-farmed cows and chickens are prime examples of this flawed food management.
Cows in factory feedlots are predominantly fed corn, even though their digestive systems are naturally adapted to process grass and other fodder. This unnatural diet leads to unhealthy cows (Remember the E-coli outbreaks?), unbalanced fat ratios, and decreased levels of beneficial CLA fats found in grass-fed beef. All these problems could be mitigated if we simply allowed our cows to eat what they’re naturally intended to—grass and other green fodder!
Likewise, chickens are mostly fed corn and soy and kept in crowded spaces under appalling conditions. In their natural habitat, chickens would roam free, consuming a diverse diet of greens, insects, worms, seeds, etc. When confined and fed only grains, the resulting meat and eggs are nutritionally inferior to those from free-range chickens.
Sadly, the problem extends even further…
The administration of our food supply is so skewed that even our salmon and other farmed fish are fed corn and soy, primarily for economic reasons. This practice is preposterous, considering fish are designed to eat a mixed diet of smaller fish, worms, insects, etc. The result? Farm-raised fish that are nutritionally substandard to their wild counterparts.
Therefore, when you consume chicken, beef, and fish, you’re essentially ingesting MORE corn and soy, considering these animals were mainly nourished on these grains.
So, the actual situation is EVEN WORSE than just the 65%, isn’t it?
Why is deriving 65% of our calories from corn, soy, and wheat destructive to our health?
This issue is complex enough to be the subject of an entire book, but here’s a brief overview…
The omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratio in our diet is disproportionately high, sometimes reaching 30:1, whereas a natural ratio of 1:1 to 2:1 is deemed healthy. This imbalance results in chronic inflammation in your body, a key contributor to numerous diseases, cancer, and even weight gain.
We’re seeing increased problems with gluten intolerance due to the excessive consumption of wheat and the hybridization of wheat crops, which have led to the introduction of unfamiliar gluten proteins.
Excessive intake of refined corn and wheat flours, as well as HFCS, is causing problems with weight gain, blood sugar instability, and decreased insulin sensitivity (leading to progression towards diabetes).
The most genetically modified crops are soy and corn, which leads to higher use of pesticides and herbicides. These function as “xenoestrogens”, disrupting hormones in women, causing “man boobs” in men in certain cases, and contributing to stubborn belly fat in both sexes.
Soy products and derivatives come with a double hit of xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens, creating a fat promoting environment in your body, cancerous effects, and in severe cases, “man boobs”.
And the list goes on…
So, how can you counter the deceitful marketing in the food industry and reclaim control over your weight and health?
The following link will provide the SOLUTION to prevent falling for the tricks of the food industry and start taking steps to achieve a lean body, a flat stomach, and prevent diseases like cancer and diabetes.
In this link, I’ll unveil A BREAKTHROUGH for optimal health and a flat stomach. I’ll also show you how to naturally suppress your appetite, reduce anxiety and boost mood, and even improve sleep. All with this one thing!
