THERE IS TREMENDOUS NEED FOR A HEALTHIER DIET
HEART DISEASE PATIENTS
1 in 3 adults (80 million) in the U. S. have some form of heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in U.S.
29. 1 million or 9.3% of U.S. population
CELIAC AND GLUTEN SENSITIVITY POPULATION
1.8 million Americans have Celiac. An additional 18 million or 6 percent of the U.S. population is gluten sensitive
FOOD ALLERGIES POPULATION
4% of adults and 4-6% of children have food allergies
LOW-CARBOHYDRATE DIETS & HEART DISEASE
The number of people in the United States with heart disease is staggering.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. has some form of heart disease, stroke or other blood vessel diseases. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Heart disease kills roughly the same number of people in this country each year as cancer, lower respiratory diseases (including pneumonia) and accidents combined. Heart disease and strokes cost the nation $312.6 billion per year (as of 2011) in direct health care costs and lost
Studies show that a diet moderately low in carbohydrates can help the heart as long as protein and fat selections come from healthy sources. "The Nutrition Source, " a publication of Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, cites two recent studies in coming to this conclusion. One study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed 82,802 women over a 20-year period to look at the relationship between lower carbohydrate diets and heart disease. A subsequent study written up in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at lower carbohydrate diets and the risk of diabetes. The studies concluded that women who ate lower-carbohydrate diets that were high in vegetable sources of fat or protein had a 30% lower risk of heart diseases and about a 20% lower risk of Type 2 diabetes compared to women who ate high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. But women who ate low-carbohydrate diets that were high in animal fats or animal proteins did not see any such benefits.
More evidence of the heart benefits from a lower-carbohydrate approach to diet is noted in an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It comes from a randomized trial known as the Optimal Macronutrient Intake Trial for Heart Health (OmniHeart). In it, researchers found that a healthy diet that replaced some carbohydrates with protein or fat did a better job of lowering blood pressure and "bad" LDL cholesterol than a healthy, higher-carbohydrate diet.
Similarly, a small "EcoAtkins" weight-loss trial compared a low-fat, high-carbohydrate vegetarian diet to a low-carbohydrate vegan diet that was high in vegetable protein and fat (JAMA Archive of Internal Medicine). It came to the conclusion that, while weight loss was similar in the two diets, study subjects who followed the low-carbohydrate "EcoAtkins" diet saw improvements in blood lipids and blood pressure.
These studies suggest that a moderately low-carbohydrate diet that is high in plant sources of protein and fat is healthier than a low/no carbohydrate animal protein diet or a high-carb vegan diet.
LOW-CARBOHYDRATE DIETS & DIABETES
The current U.S. diet of highly-processed carbohydrates and the lack of exercise has literally created an epidemic of Type 2 diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 29.1 million people or 9.3% of the U.S. population had diabetes as of 2012. That same year, 86 million Americans age 20 and older had pre-diabetes. The ADA predicts that as many as 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2050 if present trends continue. It has long been known that patients with Type 2 diabetes have higher levels of inflammation than those who do not have the disease. It is believed that this may contribute to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other complications. As reported in 2014 in Science Daily, a low-carbohydrate diet, not a low-fat diet, reduces inflammation in patients with Type 2 diabetes. In a clinical trial performed at the Linköping University in Sweden, a low-carbohydrate diet was compared with a traditional low-fat diet in 61 patients with Type 2 diabetes. It found that only patients in the low-carbohydrate group exhibited reduced levels of inflammatory markers in blood, despite the fact that weight loss was similar in both groups.
Gluten-free products are not the answer to the problem of diabetes. Most gluten-free products on the market today are high in carbohydrates and have a high glycemic value. Brown and white rice flour, staples of the gluten-free world, actually have a similar (as in brown rice) or higher (as in white rice) glycemic index than a Snickers bar. Without a change in other ingredients, the current craze for gluten-free products will only feed the diabetes epidemic.
The average Western diet today consists of more than half carbohydrates, which the body quickly metabolizes into sugar. All carbohydrates, which have a high-glycemic value, create blood sugar problems and inflammation. The most cost effective diabetes prevention and treatment methods include regular physical activity and a healthy diet, i.e. one that isn't half carbohydrates.
LOW-CARBOHYDRATE DIETS, ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & GLUTEN
Research from the Mayo Clinic in 2006, published in JAMA Neurology, showed that patients with widespread cognitive degradation made "significant improvements" in cognitive ability after switching to a gluten-free diet. Scientists have known for some time that all physical degradation and all degenerative diseases - including problems in the brain - start with inflammation. Gluten (Latin for glue) causes inflammation in the body because the body has difficulty breaking down that "glue."
Over the past century, grains has undergone considerable "re-engineering." As a result of the ongoing enriching of grains, the gluten is now "super gluten," a substance unrecognizable compared to the grains of 1900. Our genetic structure has not been able to keep pace with these changes in our food. So the immune system is called in to help out which can lead to intestinal complaints. The immune response - inflammation - can also bypass the intestines and instead travel through the blood to other areas of the body, including the heart and the brain.
However, the threat to the brain doesn't stop with gluten. Grains in general - even gluten-free grains like rice and corn - are able to cause damage to the brain. This is because all grains have a high glycemic value and create blood sugar problems and inflammation. In the book "Grain Brain" by neurologist David Perlmutter, the author discusses the relationship of grain consumption, insulin resistance and Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is more and more often referred to by the medical community as "Type 3 diabetes."
In 2014, The New York Times reported on a Mayo Clinic survey from 2012 that concluded that 1.8 million Americans (roughly 1% of the U.S. population) have celiac disease. It is an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attack the small intestine when gluten is ingested and it can lead to other debilitating medical problems. In addition, 18 million people, or about 6% of the population, is believed to have a gluten sensitivity, a less severe problem with the protein in grains.
Besides those consumers who are looking for healthier food and those who have Celiac disease, there are many people who have food allergies. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), more than 50 million Americans have an allergy of some kind. Food allergies are estimated to affect 4-6% of children and 4% of adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cow's milk is the most common food allergy in America. It affects 2.5% of American children. A milk allergy, an immune response to milk proteins, is different from lactose intolerance which is when the body lacks the enzyme to digest milk. Eggs are the second most common food allergy in children affecting 1.5% of American children.
These are the reasons why the Blooming Lotus Bakery, in addition to being grain-free and processed sugar-free, is also dairy-free and egg-free.
THE TIMING IS RIGHT
The timing is right for grain-free (not just gluten-free) products.
With the publication of books including "Wheat Belly" (by cardiologist William Davis) and "Grain Brain," the idea of going grain-free is becoming more mainstream.
There are only a few grain-free bakeries in the U.S. At this time those bakeries are not dairy-free and egg-free. Most of their grain-free products contain cane sugar, coconut oil or palm shortening. There are a few mail order outlets that have some Paleo products (grain-free but not egg or dairy-free). Their products are expensive and taste "unusual" to the general consumer. There are several grain-free cookbooks on the market, but many of the recipes are high in sugar and/or fat.
What is needed is an alternative line of bakery products for the growing demand for low-carbohydrate, high protein, high fiber, processed sugar-free breads, muffins and cookies.
The Blooming Lotus offers delicious baked goods that are on the leading edge of nutrition. These treats will revolutionize the way people eat.