century. Cola drinks started the movement (we were big water drinkers before then) and the
refined white flour and sugar products that now dominate our diet were only introduced in the
early 1900s. Before then, sugar had been prohibitively expensive for most people. Interestingly,
heart disease was virtually unheard of in sections of our society before this time.
Much has also been made of increases in life span during the century. Life expectancy in the
early 1900s was only 50 years, but itfs increased more than 20 years since then. Many have chalked
this up to improvements in diet and lifestyle, but itfs frequently forgotten that the incidence of
death among citizens under the age of 16 has dropped dramatically during the century. A national
program of vaccinations for disease, medical advances in pediatric and perinatal care have greatly
decreased the death of children at birth and through adolescence. When you take these figures
into account and factor them in with advances in adult medicine, the average lifespan increase
is not so remarkable.
The fact is, wefre out of shape as a society, and not nearly as healthy as many would have you
believe. The birth of television, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, advanced technology, service
economy, lack of exercise and other changes in the way we live have combined to produce a
society with a real fitness crisis.
I think our 20th century carbohydrate-loaded diets also play a major role here. As discussed
above, the chronic insulin response we get from all those carbs greatly increases the laying down
of fat in the body. Obesity results, and therefs no doubt obesity can play a large role in heart disease.
Chronically high carbohydrate consumption may also decrease motivation and general disposition,
as wefll discuss later, and this could have an effect on overall exercise and lifestyle habits.
But instead of falling into the carbohydrate trap and letting them get the best of us, we use
the carbs for our own purposes in the Anabolic Diet. By scheduling and manipulating their
place in our diet, we time hormone bursts to obtain a positive effect on amino acids and muscle
growth. Then, before those hormones can create a bodyfat problem, we cut them off. Itfs very
simple. But itfs also very effective.
for more information about diet please visit Fitness and Diet