Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of a series on achieving better health.

There is a growing list of studies showing that when we remove the empty carbohydrates (grains) from our diets and replace them with organic meats and vegetables, our body’s transform themselves. Good supplements providing the needed micronutrients are a good investment. Don’t waste your money with them if you are still eating the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.).

I continue to see clients who just eliminated bread, cereal, and other grain products from their diets who lost weight while eating more, eliminated their allergies, and other whose chronic gut problems healed themselves. In spite of what we grew up being told, it’s not oil and fat that make us fat—it’s the carbs.

Inflammation is now seen as the cause of many diseases. Carbs are proven to be the cause of inflammation. Carbs become an irritant to the body, much like scratching your skin would be. Over time your tissue becomes inflamed. With constant irritation and inflammation, your body develops an auto-immune response; it starts fighting itself. Rather than rebuilding, your body is in a constant stress situation. You aren’t getting the nutrients you need to rebuild; you are getting the irritants that are injuring your body.

There are many “diets” that people advocate as the best no-carb diet. When you study them, you realize there is very little difference between them. Don’t fret the details. Find one that you like and follow it. Here are a few of the more popular ones: Paleo, Bulletproof, Ketogenic, and Primal. Conceptually they are based on what our genome was designed to eat. 10,000 years ago since we left the cave or genome has only changed .01%. Our bodies changed a lot less than our diets. The caveman was not hanging out at Mc Donald’s.

Meat Is Good

For decades I see clients where their major symptoms can be attributed to the lack of animal protein in their diets. There are clients who I will not work with because they are so protein deficient that I would be wasting their time and money.

Another misnomer is that meat is bad for us. True grass fed cattle and cage free poultry will have less of the contaminants and more of vital nutrients such as Omega 3 oil. For rebuilding tissue, there is no nutrient more important than protein. You can’t build new tissue if you don’t have its building blocks.

In our next article, we’ll discuss the best resources and therapies mentioned in all the articles.

Owen Marcus, MA, is a certified advanced rolfer and the author of “Power of Rolfing”. He can be reached online at www.align.org or www.sandpointwellnesscouncil.com, and by phone at 208-265-8440.