The Complete Ayurvedic Cookbook - The Eumundi Medicine Man

“Milled or processed grains are stale”, I explain to the class. “The natural oils are
rancid because of storage and the fibre has been tampered with. In short, all
processed grain products are nothing but simple carbohydrates or sugars with
damaged fat and incomplete fibre. Since the fibre has been changed or removed and
the starches simplified, the complex carbohydrates in the grain are transformed into
simple carbohydrates.” An example I give is the great Australian cereals that are
mostly 30% sugar, readable on the majority of packets. And what is the other 70%?
Stale, denatured, processed grain, which has become and will be processed by the
body as nothing but simple sugar. The reason why the 70% simple carbohydrates or
sugars has 30% added table sugar is that the grains are so denatured that they are not
palatable otherwise. Additionally because 90% of the fat, protein, minerals and
vitamins are removed along with the fibre and germ of the grain, many cereal
companies add a few synthetic B vitamins, which a chemical plant has produced
through an artificial process. And that is considered the healthy breakfast of the
nation! But biochemically speaking it is 100% simple carbohydrate or sugar. In 1980
we were told diabetes was number 12 disease, in the 90’s number 7 and now in 2002
the latest figures call diabetes the number 3 disease.
We want holistic balance, both mentally and physically. This can be achieved by
eating complex carbohydrates and not consuming simple carbohydrates or processed
grains. Why are 750,000 Australians taking anti-depressants, as the latest statistics
show? Any herbal help a person is seeking for depression and related problems is
greatly enhanced by a change in diet, switching from simple carbohydrates to
complex carbohydrates. Weight control also becomes feasible. Insulin is sometimes
known as the fat hormone but since complex carbohydrates are within “the insulin
zone”, they do not aggravate the pancreas with excessive insulin production, or
increase weight as sugar does, or ultimately cause diabetes. The liver when
confronted with simple carbohydrates, process this simple energy quickly and stores
the excess sugar as fat, which is called lipogenesis.
10