Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Introduction: The Birth of Fast Carbs

Part I: Trapped in Food Chaos

Chapter 1: An extraordinary opportunity to save lives

Chapter 2: There is a path out of the lifelong trap of food chaos that leads to lasting weight loss and health

Chapter 3: Until we learn the truth about fast carbs, we won’t break the weight loss-and-gain cycle

Chapter 4: The problem posed by highly processed (fast) carbs has been suspected for decades

Chapter 5: Only 12.2 percent of Americans are metabolically healthy

Part II: How Food Stopped Sustaining Us

Chapter 6: Over the past half century, Americans have greatly increased their average daily intake of processed carbohydrates

Chapter 7: A turning point for our diet

Chapter 8: Government guidelines led us to carbs

Chapter 9: “Complex carbohydrates” is a misleading term that fails to distinguish rapidly absorbable carbs from those we absorb slowly

Chapter 10: Today’s ultraprocessed foods allow us to absorb more calories

Chapter 11: The food industry claims there are no negative effects to processing

Chapter 12: From whole grain to the cereal box: What are we really eating?

Chapter 13: Food processing changes the chemical structure of starch

Chapter 14: The altered structure of processed starch makes it a rapidly absorbable fast carb

Chapter 15: Processed fast carbs serve as delivery vehicles for the pleasures of sugar, fat, and salt

Chapter 16: Without processed starch, we would not have a vast array of processed foods

Part III: Weight

Chapter 17: Recommendation: reduce or eliminate fast carbs for good to achieve and maintain a healthy weight

Chapter 18: Highly processed carbs wreak havoc on our bodies

Chapter 19: Where we digest carbs determines how our hunger is satisfied

Chapter 20: Highly processed food triggers speed eating

Chapter 21: Eliminating as many fast carbs as you can is essential to weight maintenance

Chapter 22: Maintaining weight loss requires us to eat less over the long term

Chapter 23: Creating new habits can lessen the appeal of fast carbs

Part IV: Metabolic Chaos

Chapter 24: Recommendation: to avoid metabolic harm, reduce or eliminate fast carbs for good

Chapter 25: Consumption of fast carbs may lead to metabolic syndrome

Chapter 26: Fast carbs interfere with fat metabolism

Chapter 27: A vicious cycle connecting fast carbs, obesity, and diabetes traps many people who struggle with their weight

Chapter 28: We have the ability to reverse metabolic disease

Chapter 29: Improving metabolic health is important for preserving cognitive function, reducing the risk of certain cancers, and improving male libido

Part V: Heart Disease

Chapter 30: Recommendation: reduce your LDL levels to prevent heart disease

Chapter 31: LDL causes heart disease

Chapter 32: Eating less starch reduces salt intake and lowers blood pressure

Chapter 33: Diet or medicine to lower LDL? Probably both

Chapter 34: Recommendation: engage in daily moderate-intensity exercise to stay healthy

Part VI: The Optimal Diet

Chapter 35: Most successful diets have one thing in common: limited fast carbs

Chapter 36: A diet emphasizing plants and slow carbs is optimal for your health

Chapter 37: The pros and cons of low-carb diets

Chapter 38: Don’t consume processed meats

Chapter 39: Your diet doesn’t have to be perfect

Epilogue: In the Public Interest: Changing Our Food Environment

Meal Charts

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Q&A

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

About the Author

Praise

Also by David A. Kessler, MD

Copyright

About the Publisher