Author & Coach Leah Salmon
The diet of West Indians at home and abroad, like many other cultures in fact, is very high in grains, which can contributes to everything from digestive complaints to the high rate of diabetes among us.
Grains, which include wheat, rice, cornmeal, barley, rye and oat, are found at every meal in a typical West Indian’s day.
Popular West Indian foods containing grains are:
- Rice and peas
- Dumplings, Festival & Cocobread
- Patties
- Soups (as a thickener)
- Cakes and puddings
- Hot malted drinks
- Cornmeal, banana or homony corn porridge
- Hard Dough bread and Bun
- Caribbean delicacy – Rice and Peas
- Seasoning
- Coated fried chicken and fish
- Roti
- Macaroni Cheese and more
Not to mention all the grain containing western foods we eat alongside them.
So what’s wrong with all these grains?
Well one of the many reasons is grains are typically high or very high in sugar (as in when you eat them, your body breaks them down into simple sugars), which raises your blood sugar level.
In a nutshell, a healthy body will secrete insulin in response to your blood sugar going up and regulate it (so it doesn’t get too high or too low), but when you are constantly giving your body high carbohydrates (that break down to sugar) foods like grains, this mechanism can become over worked, loses it effectiveness, so your blood sugar levels are no longer kept under control naturally, which leads to adult onset or type II diabetes, which is a massive killer in our community.
The medications prescribed and even the diet that’s recommended to those diagnosed with Diabetes, typically does nothing but patch up the symptoms, but does nothing to address the cause.
Medical professional would have us believe that once you have diabetes there is no cure and you’re stuck with it (and their medications, procedures and surgeries) for life, this is very far from the truth.
There are 3 things that can reverse almost any disease
- A change in diet including increased water
- Rest & Stress Management
- Exercise & proper breathing
Which have all been proven to have a significant effect in the prevention and reversal chronic life threatening disease.
I’m not suggesting that eating grains is the only cause of Diabetes, or that avoiding grains will make you immune to it, but it is a massively overlooked over indulgence in the diet of us West Indian.
I want you to ask yourself 3 questions to determine if you eat too many grains
- Do you eat more than 3 grain products a day?
- Do you every feel sleepy, sluggish or tired after eating them?
- Do you have digestive problems (constipation, diarrhoea, bloating) or diabetes (either yourself or in your family)
If you answered yes to any of these it might be time to cut back on the grain products and start enjoying more or the delicious whole natural foods mother nature has to offer
Take care and stay healthy
Leah Salmon
The Naturally You Coach
http://www.thenaturallyyoucoach.com
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