Monday, January 19, 2009

Overweight but Malnourished

I heard Oprah's recent confession about weight gain. I wonder if eating carbohydrate-rich food is a factor for her. Carbohydrates are nutrient-poor - the more processed the carbohydrate, the less nutrition it has (refined flours, sugar and corn syrup). Carbs act by feeding the fat cells and starving the rest of the cells in the body. The reason for this is that carbs have no nutrition - they "trick" the body into thinking it's starving, and the fat cells end up hoarding all the calories from the carbs, without providing any energy to the rest of the cells. That is why an overweight person (who probably is eating a lot of carbs) feels hungry and tired all the time. They are overweight, and eating a lot of carbs, but are starving and malnourished. And since the mainstream media and medical community tells us to cut down on fat, we have no choice but to substitute fat with carbs. This explanation is greatly simplified - for in-depth coverage of this topic, read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

Take a look at the research done by Dr. Mary Enig, co-author of Eat Fat Lose Fat – she is an international expert on the biochemistry of food and fat. Also take a look at what Sally Fallon and the Weston A. Price Foundation have to say about the nutrition of traditional, non-industrialized cultures vs. the nutrition of our “modern” societies. From these sources, you can learn how our current “modern” beliefs about fat and nutrition have led to soaring rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and thyroid disorders, not to mention malnutrition and other health problems. It’s hard to believe that it's possible to be over-weight while suffering from malnutrition, isn’t it? See this article on fat. It answers questions such as: "Is fat fattening?"

Thursday, January 1, 2009

A handmade jacket using my yarn!



This lovely felt jacket was embellished using my handspun yarn - the yarn was needle-felted onto the jacket! I can't imagine all the work that involved. Liz is my customer on Etsy and she is the artist who created the jacket. Marianne (shown in the photos) is the lucky recipient of the jacket! Marianne also has a shop on Etsy, and makes sweet bags, hats and stuffed animals.