There is no doubt about it: refined carbohydrates are the nastiest things we can put into our bodies. Meat, fat, fruits, and veggies have been on our menus since the dawn of mankind, but refined carbohydrates have not. History and anthropology has shown that the human race has been able to get along fairly well on just about anything, be it all-meat, all-veggie, or somewhere in between.

One thing and one thing alone masquerading as "food" has done more for the decline of our health - and that's refined carbohydrates. Carnivorous Inuits, veggie-loving Hindus, and many, many other traditional societies were healthy until the white man brought his white foods made with generous amounts of flour and sugar. Jams, jellies, breads, pastries... where these foods have gone, disease and death have invariably followed. Obesity. Heart disease. Diabetes. Stroke. Cancer.

Many people blame it on the meat and saturated fats. At first glance, this is as good an idea as any - meat and fats may also increase when people start eating Western diets. But when healthy, robust almost-carnivores like the Inuit and Maasai are taken into account, it becomes obvious that this theory is false. So what does that leave us? The other half of the Western diet equation - refined carbohydrates.

The Western world has had a history of taking perfectly healthy foods and drinks and sweetening them up to suit their sugar-addicted tastebuds. The Chinese didn't sweeten their tea, but when we discovered it the first thing we did was put sugar in it.

We sweeten our meats, our fruits, and our breads. We sweeten our condiments and our sauces.

As if this wasn't bad enough, we take grain products and start making them with processed white flour. Processed white flour is pretty much flour with all of the good stuff removed, leaving behind something that isn't much better for you than pure sugar.

Then we start exporting these products to other countries. We stand back and watch as previously-healthy people suddenly start ballooning and keeling over from "modern diseases" just like us. Misery sure loves company, huh?

Refined carbohydrates are addictive. They behave in a manner analogous to a drug: first they cause a high and a sense of well-being. Then they cause a crash resulting in an intense desire to get more. During the "low" point the victim may become extremely weak and irritable - violently so, in some cases.

Jack LaLanne, the famous health guru, started out as a weak and sickly child. As a teenager, he developed an addiction to sugar that gave him terrible headaches and a temper that lead him to chase his brother with an axe. Lalanne found help in the form of nutritionist Paul Bragg. Bragg advised eating a whole diet free of processed foods. By switching to a whole diet, LaLanne was able to turn his life around. At 93 years old, he works out for two hours a day.

So, what's the verdict, doc?

Refined carbohydrates cause poor health. They mess with our heads. They kill.

Why, then, do we keep eating it? Why do we feed it to our children?

Please visit these links to learn more. The time has come to say NO to refined carbohydrates.