NO Grains in This Granola - Why?

How do you decide what to eat?  For a lot of people it seems as if taste is the number one determining factor when it comes to them deciding what food goes into their bodies.  This could be one of the reasons why we're seeing obesity levels at all time highs in this country.  Yes, it's true no one wants to eat something that taste like dirt and luckily for us our consumers all rave about how great our granola tastes but we're still trying to get more people to see the bigger picture.

We didn't remove the grains because we thought it would be a cool thing to do, but rather incorporated a lifestyle that lead us to further educate ourselves about the reasons why to go Grain-Free and the better taste of our granola compared to most was really a side effect.  It's very easy to lose people in geek speak so here is a short summary that may help you understand the benefits of avoiding grains.

1. Grains promote inflammatory response in the gut. What this means is that although you cannot see it, every time you ingest high levels of grains the gut lining can become inflammed.  Sometimes you feel bloated after a pasta dinner and hence inflammation occurs.  Long term inflammation leads us to a series of health related issues.

2. Grains spike insulin levels.  With something as simple as two slices of bread that most people use to make a sandwich your ingesting around 40-50 grams of carbohydrates which leads to an insulin spike.  So what's that mean for you?  It means a lot, but the best way to put it is, you're at risk of ruining the way your  body regulates its insulin.  - This leads to a series of conditions but usually starts with something simple like high blood pressure and then slowly the domino effect begins - high triglycerides, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer etc.

It's no coincidence that this pattern will play out with people having their first type of issue in their 40's or 50's and then they'll see more serious problems start to occur with every passing year.  Some people get on the accelerated track and notice these issues popping up when they are a lot younger.

3.  Empty calories and fat retention.  Forget everything you know about why we get fat and look no further than your carbohydrate intake.  The body has an interesting way of storing fat and when we intake grains/excess carbohydrates we convert those calories into stored fat.  I say empty calories because you're not getting a lot of nutritional benefits from eating the pale looking stuff.

So there you have it in it's simplest form but there is really a ton of information out there that is worth looking into for yourself.

--- Switching Gears

The Farmers Market this week proved steady and the weather was excellent.  Repeat customers are always nice to see and this week was no exception.  I do think that because of the Holiday weekend some regulars were out of town and but we hope to see them next week!




Support Paleonola!