Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Hi. I am putting together nutrition guidelines based on paleo concepts. I am trying to debunk this CW: "Complex carbohydrates are broken down more slowly in the body, help provide more energy throughout the day and make you feel fuller a longer period of time. Grains also contain fiber, which has been proven to be good for the heart and promotes proper bowel function."

I would like to find articles (with proper references) that show that fiber found grains is different from that in fruits/vegetables, and any other articles that oppose the USDA-based guideline above. Thanks.

flag	asked May 24 at 13:33 coffeesnob 2,579●4●17

Well, Taubes and some other low-carbers claim that Asians avoid obesity by really eating brown rice instead of white rice, so apparently whole grains are good for avoiding obesity if even non-CW people like Taubes claim it. – Paleo2.0 May 24 at 13:44

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But, the reality is that Asians typically don't eat brown rice. – Alex May 24 at 14:04

Alex - yeah, I know, that's why it's doubly funny. The guy who bashes scientists for not being up to his own level of scientific professionalism is just making sh!t up here, and even then he still has to fall back onto a CW staple about "healthy whole grains." – Paleo2.0 May 24 at 14:23

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I am skeptical that Gary Taubes would claim that Asians avoid obesity by eating brown rice instead of white rice. – Nasty Brutish and Short May 24 at 18:50

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“So the more refined a carbohydrate is, like white rice, we digest quicker than brown rice because brown rice still has the fiber and the shell, the carbs are bound up in such a way that they take longer to digest. So far the first thing is the Asians didn't eat in Asian they didn't eat refined, you know the ones who are eating really high carb diets weren't eating white rice, they weren't eating highly refined wheat.” kpbs.org/news/2011/jan/04/… – Paleo2.0 May 24 at 20:22

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Jeff · Answer 1 · 2012-05-24 14:30:48Z UTC

Well the 'provide more energy throughout the day', which is a subjective marketing term, but complex carbs are broken down more slowly than simple carbs and grains do contain fiber.

You have to look at insoluble vs soluble fiber (non-viscous vs viscous), as well as resistant starches, waxy starches, amylose:amylopectin ratios, and amylopectin patterns.

The 'good for the heart' part about fiber comes from the fact that soluble fiber binds bile acids and reduces cholesterol, therefore anything that lowers cholesterol must be good for the heart.

To find articles google scholar is the best place to start. You may be better off suggesting that wheat causes an immune response in all people, which may be a bad thing. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1954879/

Help me find review/research articles about whole grains!

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