The Three White Devils of Nutrition
Nutrition can be confusing. There are countless plans and endless research at your fingertips. If you are wanting to make a change, where do you start? It’s overwhelming! Follow this one simple rule to begin eating better and feeling great this year: Avoid the Three White Devils – Sugar, White Flour, Milk (well, four if you are counting Ace Ventura)
Avoid Equinsu Ocha at all costs!
Nutritional White Devil #1 – Sugar
I’ve written in depth about the consequences of sugar before (see Sugar, Cholesterol, and Plaque Explained). Sugar can be harmful to your organs, lowers your energy, rots your teeth, and makes you gain weight when it is present in your food on a regular basis.
We know that too much sugar is bad for us, but people desire sugar so greatly that land and laboratory have been scoured for substitutes that have all the taste and no negative consequences. Guess what? That doesn’t exist. These chemicals – saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, sorbitol, maltodextrin, dextrose, splenda – are so dangerous that if a sugar substitute is added to a product, manufactueres must put a warning label on the package!
Bottom Line: If the only sugar you are getting is from fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables then you are doing great. Fruits and vegetables deliver a small amount of natural sugar along with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water. That is a huge win in your eating lifestyle. If you need to use a sweetener, your best bet is raw local honey.
Nutritional White Devil #2 – White Flour
Flour is bleached. Dead. It is an empty food stripped of all nutrition where only compressed sugar remains. Flour does nothing for your health. No vitamins or minerals, just loads of empty calories. Still want to know why it’s bad for you? Go back and read White Devil #1.
The problem with sugar and white flour is that they are both incredibly calorie dense, nutrient deficient, and easy to eat a lot of. They are present in anything you buy in the middle of the grocery store (the outsides of a grocery store are produce, deli, meat, and frozen – shop the outside and you are off to a great start).
Refined carbohydrates like sugar and flour also increase the oxidative stress level in your body, which increases overall inflammation (if you haven’t read Sugar, Cholesterol, and Plaque Explained, now really is the time). Over time this leads to obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease.
Bottom Line: When you see flour, think compressed sugar.
Nutritional White Devil #3 – Milk
More specifically, pasteurized and homogenized milk. Here are two very interesting facts
- Humans are the only animal that drinks another animal’s milk.
- A calf cannot survive on pasteurized milk.
Make you think? Good. Let’s go deeper. All foods have purpose, the purpose of human breast milk is to add a couple dozen pounds to a child over a relatively short period of time. The purpose of cow’s milk is to add several hundred pounds to a calf in the same period of time! What’s the difference? Human milk has a much lower concentration of proteins that are smaller in size than that of cow milk. It’s no wonder dairy products are a leading cause of allergic reactions and immune problems, it isn’t made for humans!
Due to pasteurization, the calcium in milk and dairy cannot be used by humans for bone growth. In fact, consuming it does just the opposite! Milk depletes calcium from bones and increases fracture risk while creating an acidic environment inside your body. Read more here, here, and here.
Bottom Line: Stay away from milk, especially if it’s pasteurized. Almond milk and Coconut milk are great alternatives.
Do you have anything to add to the conversation? Did I leave out any White Devils? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Bonus Tip: If you see this guy coming your way, he’s scared of bats. Especially large white ones.
About Cole Bradburn
I'm a writer and doctor in lifelong pursuit of health, happiness, and adventure. I currently live in Raleigh, NC with the love of my life and our amazing boys.
What is your opinion on raw milk?
Great question Dave.
Pasteurization or ultra-pasteurization actually makes the milk acidic, denatures (rots) the proteins, and makes the calcium in milk worthless. We don’t pasteurize human breast milk before giving to a baby, and if we did it would be like the calf and the baby wouldn’t survive. Raw milk, if it can be obtained, does have nutritional value and will provide good levels of calcium and protein.
That being said…
You know how I said the purposes of milk differ in that cow’s milk tries to put hundreds of pounds on a calf? Goat’s milk is MUCH closer to human milk composition, and is your best milk option. Interesting fact: If you go back to Biblical times, people drank raw goat milk regularly (they also drank camel and sheep’s milk, but never cow).
Finally, I live in North Carolina, where it is illegal to distribute or sell raw milk. If you live somewhere you can get it, and your body is not intolerant to dairy, then go for it.
Hope that helps!
It does, thank you! I drink raw milk sometimes, but pretty much stay away from pasteurized milk.
Does organic raw goats milk also deplete calcium?
Great question Kristine, no it does not. Goat’s milk is much closer in composition to human milk, and the “raw’ part is the key. The pasteurization process is what changes the milk to deplete calcium from the body, because it is no longer a living fluid. Thanks for stopping by!
“Doctor of Chiropractic degree” This made me laugh! Chiropractors are NOT doctors. Doctors go through years of medical school and chiropractors do not. So please stop calling yourself a doctor. I was going to ask a question about this article, but you don’t have enough credibility.
I’m not sure if you are here trolling the post, or if you are serious. If this is what you truly believe, then here is a resource – http://www.yourmedicaldetective.com/drgrisanti/mddc.htm – demonstrating that chiropractors not only have as much training as medical doctors, but more. Chiropractic school is a 4 year post-graduate education.
Did you actually have a question?
OMG This is no kidding. I was /am eating a whitebread sandwich, a few cookies, and sloshing all down with much cold milk. You know Dr. Bradburn, among fruits and vegetables, unfortunately I consistently have had the 3 white devils in my diet for some 60+ years .So the blind man now sees why his Weight Watchers membership is failing. Their program pretty much “poo-poos” the 3 white devils too. And to think that someone once called me intelligent. Certainly not in diet. Thank you for your posts. PS. As a youth and young man I lived at the ‘chiropractors” being put back into place. Have not been in many years, but maybe that just means I need and adjustment. Continue to be blessed.
David
David,
Thanks for your comments and kind words. As a child and young adult, I consumed much sugar, flour, and milk while not knowing what I was doing to my body. It truly is amazing how much it helps the body by simply cutting these 3 things out.
Whats your opinion on soya bean milk?
Hey Kim,
I stay away from pretty much all things soy. Soy depresses your thyroid (via goitrogens) and has things called isoflavones that mimic estrogen. These effectively raise your estrogen levels, effecting both men and women.
Men – Improper balance of testosterone to estrogen in men can lead to a lower libido, fat accumulation around the waist and loss of energy, stamina and virility.
Women – Having abnormally high levels of estrogen can disrupt your periods, fertility and even put you at risk for breast cancer.
Here are some resources where you can read further:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/soy-scrutiny/#axzz2DLNPLcYH
http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/dangers-soy/
Interesting I never knew this not that I like soya milk but believe in soya base foods. Thanks dude.
No problem, happy to be of help!
What is your opinion of turbinado sugar. I know white sugar is the devil anything that good has to be a sin.
It would not be bad in quite low doses, but any sugar itself is harmful for the body (for more info – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-sugar/#axzz2HQE415Rk).
I use honey or coconut sap sugar when I’m looking to sweeten things. Hope that helps!
Don’t forget white rice…
how about potatoes are they an added white devil?
salt!
Salt has a caveat – if you aren’t eating processed foods (a choice my family made a few years ago) then sea salt or himalayan salt can be part of a healthy diet. That’s why I did not place it on this list.
Avoid the White Devils
There are four ingredients everyone ought to avoid, or at least greatly restrict. They’re what fitness expert and author Paul Chek calls the white devils: flour, dairy, salt, and sugar. Bread and other products that use refined flour are high on the glycemic index and shouldn’t be a staple. Milk is full of sugar, causes intolerance, and is overrated for bone health. We get far too much salt thanks to our processed foods. Then there’s refined sugar, the most important to cut back on – and the trickiest. First of all, our sweet tooth goes back millions of years to ancestors who didn’t have enough good fat in their diet. As soon as you cut sugar out of your diet, you’ll lose the craving for the stuff entirely and won’t even be able to handle a regular soda. Another reason sugar is hard to avoid is that it’s in everything – it’s even in salad dressings. My rule is to straight-up avoid processed sugar, especially high-fructose corn syrup, which is hidden in so many foods.
– Laird Hamilton
What about the land of Milk and Honey. What milk is this and it was a blessing to who?
Hi! If a land is flowing with milk and honey it for sure means 2 things: there’s lot’s of livestock reproducing (grasses and good water are abundant, conditions are favorable for animal growth), and there’s a bountiful supply of nectar from flowering plants and trees (which would have been pollinated by the bees indicating abundant plants and fruit for eating). God could have given this description of “flowing with milk and honey” primarily to indicate it’s good land and not necessarily that we should eat lots of honey and/or milk.That being said, I ABSOLUTELY ENJOY A GLASS OF VERY COLD, WHOLE OR RAW MILK (especially with nuts, raisins, chocolate, or cookies)! We know a nutritionist that says milk is terrible for you and I guess Dr. Cole too. Honey is definitely eaten in the Bible- John the Baptist and others, however, there is the Proverb about not eating too much honey or you’ll vomit. As ‘baby’ Christians, we are to “desire the pure milk of the word (the Bible)”, but that also doesn’t imply that as an adult we should drink alot of cow milk. In Leviticus or Deuteronomy God says,”Don’t boil a calf/baby animal in it’s mother’s milk.” I believe this wasn’t a nutritional thing but God thinks that is perverse. As far as, “should we adults drink milk…” I’m on the fence because I LIKE milk and really don’t want to give it up. Maybe just cutting back would be better.
Also, I wanted to comment re:human milk above- God made it much more sophisticated than just to make a baby gain pounds. In the first days of nursing human breast milk contains colostrum which helps protect the infant from disease as his immune system is still immature. Also, the nutrient and calorie content is perfect for what a human baby needs to grow well. This also is evidenced in the make up of different animal’s milk: i.e. Polar bear milk is super high in fat and I guess tastes like cod liver oil. Human breast milk is very sweet and tastes like milk with honey or sugar in it. That is funny to me!
Niiicccce so if I avoid milk then I can continue using cocaine???