Carbohydrates not essential !

Over the years this post from August 2011, has had quite a number of reads, and interestingly still does 

So I thought it may be worth repeating!

Carbohydrates not essential. 

"There are three kinds of foods--fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. All of these provide calories. But the carbohydrates provide calories and nothing else. They have none of the essential elements to build up or to repair the tissues of the body. A man, given carbohydrates alone, however liberally, would starve to death on calories. The body must have proteins and animal fats. It has no need for carbohydrates, and, given the two essential foodstuffs, it can get all the calories it needs from them." 

Sir Heneage Ogilvie, former vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons, England. 

The earliest and primary proponent of an all animal-based diet was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian explorer who lived with the Inuit for some time, and who witnessed their diet as essentially consisting of meat and fish, with very few carbohydrates - berries during the summer. Stefansson and a friend later volunteered for a one year experiment at Bellevue Hospital in New York to prove he could thrive on a diet of nothing but meat, meat fat and internal organs of animals. 

His progress was closely monitored and experiments were done on his health throughout the year. At the end of the year, he did not show any symptoms of ill health; he did not develop scurvy , which many scientists had expected to manifest itself only a few months into the diet due to the lack of vitamin C in muscle meat. However, Stefansson and his partner did not eat just muscle meat - they ate fat, raw brain, raw liver (a significant source of vitamin C and others), and other varieties of offal. The no-carbohydrate and low carb diet often reverses type two diabetes. 

We do not advocate a no carb diet, although this has been proved to be safe, it would be a very boring way to live. Some of us think of our way of life as being meat eating vegetarians. No, we are not trying to wind up vegetarians, but we base our food on fresh vegetables, then add high quality protein, then good fats. If you are consuming around 30-50 carbs per day, all from non starchy vegetables, you have a very large range to choose from. By eating the colours of the rainbow, and eating small portions, of many different types, you can get all the nutrients you need to stay healthy." 

Eddie

N.B. Added comments on original post

1) Here is Stefansson's own story -- he died of a stroke, which vegitrollians love to point out... they forget to mention that he was aged nearly 83!

Born November 3, 1879 – died August 26, 1962

http://www.biblelife.org/stefansson1.htm

---

And here is a letter to the Editor of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition from Eric C Westman MD, MHS - "Is dietary carbohydrate essential for human nutrition?"

http://www.ajcn.org/content/75/5/951.2.full

2) Eddie I think your description 'colour of the rainbow' just hits the spot. Since being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and finding your blog all of the family eat much healthier now and feel much better for it.

Thanks to you and fellow low carbers my numbers improved dramatically.

Doug

The above first posted in August 2011

Lifestyle, what we eat, how we exercise etc. is of course a personal choice … readers may also find our post 'Introduction to low-carb for beginners.' of interest. Find it here

Thanks for reading, and do please share any thoughts/comments you may have.

… dear reader, we bring a variety of articles, studies etc. plus recent news/views and recipe ideas to this blog, we hope something for everyone to read and enjoy. Please note, not all may be suitable for you.

If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan