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Combating health fads; Local experts: fats, carbs not the enemy
By Shelley Doggétt, Staff Writer
“You are what you eat” may be gaining credibility in the medical community, according to Dr. Ronald Morton of NeuroSensory Centers of America in Trophy Club.
Physicians are starting to pay more attention to nutrition, what we do or don’t put into our bodies, and how it affects nerve function, brain chemistry and cholesterol, Morton said.
Local experts said, eating carbohydrates and some fat is essential to being healthy.
“As we age, our bodies don’t work the same as when we were younger,” Morton said. “Nutrition can play a role in keeping our bodies functioning.”
When the brain gets bombarded with inaccurate information, people experience symptoms such as dizziness and imbalance, irregular vision and trouble remembering things, Morton said.
“We have to have a balance in our body to be able to heal nerves and keep them healthy,” Morton said. “We now use a lot of nutritional aspects to stabilize the body.”
He said the medical community has gotten caught up in scientific treatments and forgotten the basics of health.
“We lose the focus on keeping people well,” he said. “But, holistic medicine is becoming more recognized by medical physicians.”
James Charles, a nutritionist and trainer at Southlake Fitness Center, agrees. Charles studied nutrition for 12 years and said when the body doesn’t get enough carbohydrates and fats, energy levels drop and the brain does not function normally.
Many “fad” diets today advocate eliminating carbohydrates and fats, therefore depriving the body what it needs to work and perform everyday tasks, Charles and Morton said.
“We all need carbs, we need cholesterol and we need fats,” Morton said. “Anybody who says they know it all or they have quick fix is lying.”
Gary Kaposta, a Southlake resident who studies nutrition, said the diets on the market today offer “solutions” for weight loss — which do not promote balanced health.
“A trip to the mall will show you that these low-fat or no-fat approaches has been a miserable failure,” Kaposta said. “People just don’t have an understanding of how the body works, and there’s so much information out there that it can become confusing.”
Eliminating fat and/or carbs from diets creates serious problems, Kaposta, Charles and Morton all agreed.
There are “good fats,” and there are “bad fats,” they said.
“We have to have fat and protein to deliver to nerves and keep them functioning on healthy levels,” Morton said. “It’s been shown that in some cases, omega 3 fatty acids can help slow dementia.”
When the nerves aren’t functioning properly, patients begin having problems with everyday tasks, he said.
According to Kaposta, eating healthy fats are essential to weight loss. When food is digested, at some point it is converted to blood sugar. When it turns to sugar too quickly, it gets stored as fat cells, he said.
The problem with cutting carbs out of diets completely is carbohydrates are a source of energy, Charles said. But, if they are not used, they are converted to fat. The time of day you eat carbs and fats is more important than how much you eat, he said.
“If you don’t have simple and complex carbs in your diet, you begin having problems with basic body functions,” Charles said. “It’s good to eat complex carbs like potatoes earlier in the day to sustain energy. That way, you’ll be able to remember where you put your keys.”
Another aspect nutrition plays a part in is maintaining a healthy pH level, Morton said. When pH levels become too low, people may experience more fatigue, and the body’s “protective mechanisms” aren’t as effective at warding off disease, he said.
Both Morton and Kaposta also said statin drugs to lower cholesterol can be problematic to a balanced body. There are five statin drugs currently on the market including Mevacor, Lipitor, Lescol, Zocor and Pravaschol.
“They lower fat, but sometimes it’s lowering good fat,” Morton said. “We’re discovering that there may be safer and just as effective ways to lower cholesterol naturally.”
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