
The apparent correlation between diet and health has long been studied by the most brilliant of minds in an effort to determine which foods provide humans with the happiest, healthiest lives possible.  Throughout humanity’s existence, a myriad of diets have emerged from cultures across the globe, yielding a virtually endless spectrum of hypotheses concerned with how these diets affect the people who practice them.  Typically, the effects have proven to be beneficial toward human health throughout most of history.  However, within the past few decades in developed nations, especially the United States, medical science has concluded otherwise.  Humanity’s style of eating has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000, and not for the better (Schlosser 7).  Developed nations have exponentially increasing rates of various health issues, which is attributable to the macronutrient composition of their diets.  Regardless, government health organizations such as the American Diabetes Association (ADA) continue to emphasize the importance of a “balanced” diet that completely digresses from the diet that humans ate for thousands of years before modern agriculture came to be.  In particular, carbohydrates (i.e. sugars and starches) have infiltrated the western diet, causing rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and numerous other health ailments to top the charts of leading causes of death in developed nations.  Though millions of lives have already been lost from the modern western diet triggering these health issues, millions more can be saved with an ancient and natural dietary practice around since the dawn of humanity:  the HFLC (high-fat/low-carbohydrate) diet.  Low-glycemic foods, which are foods that have minimal impact on blood sugar levels, compose the HFLC diet.  Such foods include, but are not limited to:  cheese, full-fat yogurt, fish, poultry, pork, non-starchy vegetables, eggs, sour cream, avocadoes, and nuts.  Consuming these foods and other HFLC foods while reducing carbohydrate consumption will prevent and cure numerous lethal health ailments, whereas the contemporary western diet will encourage them.

Firstly, a notable health issue in developed nations is heart disease.  In medical science from recent decades, increased consumption of dietary fat has been considered, but not directly proven, to raise one's chances of contracting heart disease.  This false, misleading fear was introduced by Ancel Keys, a biochemist from the University of Minnesota, who theorized that the amount of fat in the diet is directly correlated with the likelihood of contracting heart disease.  He derived this theory from the observation that a considerable amount of Minnesotans were dropping dead from heart disease after World War II when red meat became a commonality in the American diet.  To test his hypothesis, Keys studied the diets and rates of heart disease in 22 different countries from 1958 to 1970.  At the conclusion of his study, he saw no clear-cut connection between fat intake and rates of heart disease, though seven of the 22 countries did seem to follow his hypothesis.  He decided to omit data from the other 15 countries that disagreed with his hypothesis and only showed the data from the seven countries that showed a “relation” between fat intake and heart disease (McDougall 276-84).  This study was known as the Seven Countries Study and is the foundation of the fat-is-fatal assumption that health agencies frequently superimpose upon society today.  In other words, the results of this study set the stage for the birth of the contemporary western diet.

Even though Keys had cherry-picked the data in his Seven Countries Study, Senator George McGovern, one of the most influential voices in nutrition during the 1940s and 1950s, quickly agreed with Keys’ fat-is-fatal theory.  Because of this support, the American public soon became convinced that the hypothesis was correct.  McGovern’s advocacy of the fat-is-fatal theory caused US health agencies to quickly endorse a diet low in fats and high in carbohydrates, thereby labeling the HFLC diet practiced since the beginning of humanity’s existence as dangerous.  Surely this new style of eating would decrease the rates of heart disease?  It actually did the opposite.  What Keys failed to realize was that carbohydrates derived from grains, not the saturated fats from animal products, were the cause of the elevated heart disease in developed nations.  For instance, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Finnish government encouraged its farmers to switch from exportable animal products to basic grains in an effort to provide the population with more food via “sustainable” agriculture.  About two decades later when Keys studied Finland in his Seven Countries Study, it had the highest rate of heart disease out of all 22 countries, and was consequently one of the seven countries whose data was not omitted (McDougall 285).  As additional countries such as the United States, the Netherlands, and England started extensively adopting the grain-based, carbohydrate-rich western diet in subsequent decades in forms such as concentrated orange juice and microwavable TV dinners, they too experienced elevated mortality rates stemming from heart disease.  

The massive increase in heart disease induced the false fear that dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, was to blame.  This fear continued to persist in proceeding decades and is so common today that very few people dare to question it.  The unfortunate implication with this scenario, though, is that dietary guidelines implemented by renowned health organizations are promoting the consumption of carbohydrates while insisting that saturated fat intake should be extremely limited, when the solution is the exact opposite.  The HFLC diet goes completely against modern dietary guidelines but nonetheless has been proven as more effective in lowering rates of cardiovascular disease; there is scientific evidence to support this.  Sarah Knapton, the science correspondent of The Telegraph, offers some valuable information on this topic.  She claims, “When researchers at Ohio State University asked volunteers to try out different diets, they were surprised to find that raising the intake of saturated fat did not increase fat in the blood, as it was burned up quickly by the body.  In contrast, when the level of carbohydrate was raised, dangerous fatty acids did increase in the bloodstream” (“High-Fat Diets”).  When one’s diet is high in fats and low in carbohydrates, the body tends to rely heavily on saturated fat for energy, thereby decreasing its time present in the body.  Also, since carbohydrates are corrosive to arterial walls and promote plaque buildup in arteries via inflammatory hormones, the reduction of them in the diet lowers one's risk of experiencing cardiovascular implications.  However, if carbohydrates are extensively present in the diet along with saturated fat, plaque will build up in the arterial walls and increase one’s chance of contracting heart disease.  After years of flirting with this deadly macronutrient chemistry, the body is more apt to develop cardiovascular disease due to the excess plaque residing in the arterial walls and cardiovascular tissues.  Consequently, one can conclude that the contemporary western diet, being extremely rich in carbohydrates, is attributable to heart disease.

Obviously, the widespread practice of the western diet appropriately shows how detrimental this style of eating is through heart disease mortality rates.  “In the twenty years after the fat warning went into effect, medical procedures for heart disease nearly quintupled from 1.2 million to 5.4 million per year,” claims sports nutritionist, journalist, and marathoner Chris McDougall (276).  According to these numbers, Keys' dietary proposition was harming, not helping, the health of those in developed nations.  If fat were so detrimental to human health, then why is it that in the decades when the American diet shifted from dependence on fats to carbohydrates that rates of heart disease increased so drastically?  Before developed nations began relying heavily on grains for food supply in the mid-20th century and the HFLC diet was the norm, cardiovascular disease was almost unheard of.  With the ADA’s current guidelines advocating against fat and promoting carbohydrates, cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of death in the United States (Freeman et. al.).  Based on this information, one can conclude that excessive carbohydrate consumption, not excessive saturated fat consumption, increases one’s chance of contracting heart disease.  Practicing the HFLC diet mitigates this risk and should therefore be considered ideal for cardiovascular health.

Of course, heart disease is not the only health ailment that the HFLC diet can prevent and reverse.  With the exponential rise of type 2 diabetes cases in the United States and other developed nations in the subsequent years from which the western diet emerged, insulin resistance has also been indicated as a health issue resulting from excessive consumption of sugars and starches (Ye).  Interestingly enough, these cases represent only a portion of those who actually have diabetes.  Jennifer Mayfield, a M.D. at the Bowen Research Center, states, “Currently about one half of the people who have diabetes have not been diagnosed and may remain undiagnosed for up to 10 years.  People who are asymptomatic and undiagnosed continue to develop the complications of diabetes mellitus” (“Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes”).  A significant amount of people have insulin resistance and are unaware of it because they are in the initial stages of developing type 2 diabetes, commonly known as the pre-diabetic stages, resulting from excessive carbohydrate consumption.  Typically when one hears the term “diabetic,” he/she will almost instantly connect this term with the image of an obese individual.  However, diabetes often goes undetected for years, or even decades, in seemingly healthy individuals.  Only in the latter stages of the disease does insulin resistance become apparent.  

One crucial component that many people fail to comprehend about the development of type 2 diabetes is that it is a disease caused by hormonal imbalance.  Particularly, it is concerned with excessive insulin in the bloodstream over the course of several years resulting from the sugary western diet.  Insulin can be viewed as the body’s warehouse foreman; it regulates the levels of glucose in the blood to prevent sugar toxicity.  However, insulin evolved to handle complex carbohydrates found in nature such as those derived from chewy roots and vegetables; it is not made to handle excessive amounts of simple, processed carbohydrates found in the western diet.  Sugars and starches are metabolized by the body’s cells very rapidly.  By the time the insulin reaches these cells, the glucose has already been absorbed, and the still-active insulin keeps searching for glucose it will never find, causing hunger pangs to occur.  For most people, this cycle will occur throughout the course of the day due to a constant lack of satiety and craving for carbohydrate-rich foods.  After several years of this abuse, the body’s cells fail to respond to insulin, causing them to store the excess carbohydrates as fat rather than glucose (McDougall 277).  This is why many patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are obese; their bodies are not getting fuel they need while storing fat they do not need.  They depend too heavily on carbohydrates, thereby decreasing their reliance on fat and increasing the amount of it that is stored in the adipose tissue.

Fortunately, type 2 diabetes is a completely preventable and reversible disease with the practice of the HFLC diet.  Since insulin resistance is a hormonal disease encompassing the inability of cells to use glucose for energy, the solution to this issue is to make the body reactive to insulin again.  To achieve this, one should minimize their consumption of carbohydrates and maximize their consumption of fats.  In doing this, the pancreas will not need to release as much insulin into the bloodstream, as fats have the lowest impact on blood sugar levels of the three macronutrients (“Reversing Type 2 Diabetes”).  After a few weeks of practicing the HFLC diet, the body will rely more on fat, especially saturated fat, and less on carbohydrate (“High-Fat Diets”).  This is more effective compared to “treating” type 2 diabetes with several hundred units of insulin, which costs Americans approximately $250 billion every year.  Even while prescribing so many units of insulin, the ADA dietary guidelines continue to instruct Americans to consume at least 60% of their daily caloric energy from carbohydrates (“Reversing Type 2 Diabetes”).  In fact, one study conducted by Medically Supervised Weight Loss Program at IU Health Arnett decided to determine just how effective the HFLC diet was in treating diabetic patients compared to injecting several hundred units of insulin daily on while on the sugary western diet.  One group of 50 patients was placed on the HFLC diet, while another group of 50 patients was placed on a diet endorsed by the ADA.  After six months, the HFLC group decreased their insulin medication requirement by 493 units per day, whereas the ADA group had actually increased theirs by 349 units per day.  The typical member of the HFLC group inherently saved $2,000 more on medication in the proceeding year compared to the ADA group members, and their diabetes had been mostly, if not completely, cured by that point (“Reversing Type 2 Diabetes”).  Again, the solution to type 2 diabetes is simple, which is to drastically reduce the cause of the issue:  carbohydrates.  Injecting thousands of dollars of artificial medication while continuing to practice a diet high in carbohydrate is a vicious, and relatively expensive, cycle.  Therefore, the HFLC diet, which requires no insulin medication and permits the patient to eat as many low-glycemic foods until satiety is reached, is the most effective and natural means of treating type 2 diabetes.

As previously mentioned, insulin resistance is frequently accompanied by obesity, a health condition characterized by excessive fat storage in the body.  As body cells become less responsive to insulin, fat deposition in critical organs including visceral adipose tissue, liver, and muscle starts to occur extensively to the point where it can cause potentially life-threatening health complications, especially when this fat storage accrues over the span of several years (Hardy et. al).  What exactly causes obesity, though?  The mechanism behind it is relatively simple:  the affected body relies heavily on carbohydrates, thereby storing any fat included with those carbohydrates.  In addition, when the consumption of carbohydrates exceed the body's glucose/glycogen storage capacity, (i.e. when glucose in the bloodstream and glycogen in the muscles and liver are all maxed out) they are converted into more fat.  

Why would the human body do this to itself?  Surprisingly, this is an evolutionary adaptation, not a new one.  A couple hundred thousand years ago before hunting tools were invented, humans extensively practiced persistence hunting for survival, and some Hispanic and African cultures even still practice it to this day because of its effectiveness.  It is the practice of lightly jogging after an animal for several miles in large hunting groups and eventually capturing the animal after it overheats from the continuous bursts of galloping (humans cool themselves off through perspiration rather than panting, thereby preventing them from overheating in the same conditions).  Being long in duration and low in physical intensity, persistence hunting requires large stores of a consistent, clean energy fuel:  body fat.  The body prefers to use this as its energy source because it is heavily concentrated in energy, spares the muscles and tissues from being metabolized, and is the most abundant source of fuel in the body.  In fact, it is estimated that the average, healthy-weight human body has approximately 167,000 calories on tap:  about 2,000 from carbohydrates in the form of glucose and glycogen, 25,000 from protein, and over 140,000 – nearly 85% of the body’s total calories – are from fat (McDougall 265).  Would it not make sense that the body’s natural metabolism encompasses the use of the macronutrient that is most abundant in it?  “Your body loves fat; it’s a treasure your system would rather hoard than burn, so if it senses there’s any other fuel at hand [i.e. carbohydrates], it will use that first and convert the leftovers into more fat,” states McDougall.  “When you teach your body to rely on fat, your combustion of carbohydrates goes down, and so does your craving for them” (265).  Essentially, the human body is designed to rely on fat for energy rather than carbohydrates, thereby proving that the HFLC diet is the body's preferred way of fueling.  This is the metabolism that the earliest ancestors of contemporary humans relied on.  In forcing grain-based foods into the cultural norm, today’s society is to blame for the switch from fat to carbohydrate for energy and, consequently, the obesity epidemic in developed nations.  Western diets essentially toy around with this evolutionary adaptation by giving the body fuel that prevents it from functioning the way it prefers to, which has unfortunately costed the lives of millions through completely preventable illnesses.

Though the HFLC diet has vividly proven its effectiveness in preventing and treating various health ailments, some people continue to advocate against it. One common misunderstanding about macronutrient consumption is that all three macronutrients must be present in the diet for survival.  This is false; the human body is capable of surviving without ingesting carbohydrates, which is what it did extensively for thousands of years before modern agriculture pushed the harvesting of grains.  While the brain and other organs absolutely require some glucose for energy, this glucose does not need to be ingested through the diet.  The body is capable of manufacturing its own glucose through the conversion of excess amino acids via gluconeogenesis, a natural and harmless metabolic function that occurs in all humans and most animals regardless of the ratio of macronutrients present in their diet.  Because of gluconeogenesis, the HFLC diet is able to provide the body its energy needs without compromising any vital functions.  The body absolutely needs to consume proteins and fats in the form of essential amino acids and fatty acids, respectively, to survive (“Reversing Type 2 Diabetes”).  Obese individuals who consume HFLC foods while excluding foods rich in sugar and starch can expect to reach and maintain a healthy weight without the need of spending significant sums of money on expensive fad diets.  This is the most natural way to combat obesity because, as previously mentioned, it is the body’s preferred state of metabolism and will therefore restore the body’s ideal physical condition. 

In addition, individuals are also frequently concerned with the large ratio of fat to other macronutrients present in the diet.  In the decades following World War II, humans residing in most developed nations were brainwashed to believe that dietary fat is dangerous when consumed in large amounts, which was sparked by the previously mentioned Seven Countries Study conducted by Ancel Keys.  Consequently, recent generations have been raised on western diets that discourage the HFLC diet, deeming it as dangerous.  This style of eating is essentially a foreign concept to them, so they often refuse to adopt it.  The word "fat" itself undoubtedly has a negative connotation to it superimposed by misleading dietary organizations in recent years; however, people need to understand that dietary fat is not dangerous at all and that making it the bulk of one's diet is a step in the right direction toward ideal human health.  Through the increased consumption of fats and decreased consumption of carbohydrates, the human body will function the way it is meant to function in the most optimal means possible.  Accepting the fact that this is the metabolism the earliest humans relied on should convince oneself that this style of eating is completely safe and ideal for overall health, as it encourages completely natural bodily functions.

Conclusively, the HFLC diet is scientifically proven to prevent and cure health ailments in contemporary society such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.  On the other hand, the contemporary Western diet encourages them.  Through the adoption of a diet rich in dietary fat and low in carbohydrate, the human body reverts to its natural metabolism of reliance on fat, especially saturated fat, for energy. This inversely decreases the body's reliance on carbohydrates, which prevents the previously stated health issues from emerging.  In ignoring guidelines enforced by misleading dietary organizations such as the ADA, one can expect to live a life characterized by happiness, healthiness, and longevity through the HFLC diet.  As Socrates once said, "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food" (“Reversing Type 2 Diabetes”).  The medicine humanity needs are the foods it relied on for thousands of years.  It is time to end the vicious impediments and cycles which the western diet has plagued modern society with, and the solution is returning to humanity's earliest roots by consuming more fat and less carbohydrates.  Through mass practice of the HFLC diet, humanity will revert to its natural metabolism, understand that dietary fat is not fatal to health, reclaim the health of millions, and leave this carbohydrate chaos in the dust. 
