Hawaii's support for a high protein/low carbohydrate diet.
What is a high protein/low carb diet?

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1. Overview
2. Brief History
3. The Players
4. The Theory
Overview

In a nut shell
According to most of the high protein/low carbohydrate authors such as Atkins or Eades the diet has one simple goal: control your insulin. Many of modern man's diseases such as accumulated fat along the waistline, elevated cholesterol (and other blood fats), type II diabetes, and high blood pressure are all related to excess insulin. All carbohydrates (sugar, starches, grains, etc.) stimulate our body to create insulin. A normal healthy body creates just enough insulin to transport the carbohydrates into its cells. However, due to the aging process, and possibly years of a high carbohydrate diet, the insulin system becomes less sensitive, and tends to create too much of the hormone. By controlling the amount of carbohydrates we ingest, we can control the amount excess insulin we create, and we can control our weight, blood fat levels, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure.

Carbohydrate: friend or foe?
All carbohydrates are sugars. Even complex carbohydrates, such as rice, whole wheat bread, and lettuce from a green salad (yes, I did say lettuce), will convert into sugar in our body. Does this mean you can never eat these things? Absolutely, not. The trick here is to control the amount of carbohydrates. While the authors (Atkins, Eades, or Heller) may disagree on the level of carbohydrates that one should consume, they all agree that that control is the key.

A Lesson from the Eskimos
Do you need carbohydrates to live healthy? According to Eades, in his book Protein Power, Eskimos eat very little carbohydrates and no carbohydrates during winter. Their diet consist of large quantities of protein and fat, and yet the Eskimos suffer very little from heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.

It would be pretty difficult to never eat carbohydrates ever again. It's not that you need it to survive, but rather it would be a very boring diet to maintain. Additionally, some complex carbohydrate foods such as broccoli, spinach, nuts, fruits, and lettuce provide other dietary benefits such as fiber and other micronutrients. On the other hand, simple sugar foods (such as candies, non-diet sodas, and most sugary deserts) provide very little. Carbohydrates can be your friend, but you must limit yourself, and you must choose wisely.

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