Whole Grains, Empty Promises: The Surprising Truth About the World's Most Overrated 'Health' Food

by Anthony Colpo

Think Whole Grains are Healthy? Think Again!“Anthony Colpo, a maverick ‘independent health researcher’ like myself, has always been after my heart with his irreverent, entertaining, and cutthroat writing style. In this book he reminds us all that no matter how ‘ingrained’ a nutritional belief may be amongst nutritionists and the general public alike, it often stands atop an enormous mountain of fragility—or in this case a pile of shi*.”~Matt Stone; bestselling author of Eat for Heat“I think that this is the simplest yet best nutritional advice I have ever read!”~Todd“Great, concise, snarkily entertaining analysis. Thank you Anthony for superior myth-busting!”~VictoriaIn Whole Grains, Empty The Surprising Truth about the World’s Most Overrated ‘Health’ Food, independent health researcher Anthony Colpo unmercifully slaughters the healthy whole grain myth with a mountain of scientific evidence interlaced with his unmistakable wit.For nearly a decade, Colpo has been slaying nutritional dragons and diet gurus with his scientific rigor and the unapologetic truth in a way that could almost be considered a martial art. In this book he examines the pervasive belief that whole grains are both healthy in general and healthier than their refined counterparts.The verdict? No they’re not. And the foundation upon which the belief that whole grains are healthy is built will shock you!In the book you’ll learn that you may be giving yourself arsenic poisoning with all that brown rice you’ve been eating, depleting your body of valuable minerals with your whole grain bread and porridge, and otherwise torturing your bowels and taste buds with spoonful after spoonful of empty promises.Read Whole Grains, Empty Promises and decide for yourself if whole grains are really all they’re cracked up to be.

Genres: Health, Nutrition, Science

113 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 24, 2014

Reviews

[Fotis Chatzinicolaou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αρχικά πρέπει να κάνω ένα μικρό σχόλιο για τα comments που κράζουν το στυλ γραψίματος του Anthony και λένε ότι θα έπρεπε να είναι πιο ήπιο και να σέβεται τα άτομα τα οποία προσπαθεί να καταρριψει.

ΒΛΑ ΚΕΙ ΕΣ

Προφανώς δεν έχουν ξαναδιαβάσει τον Anthony Colpo, πολέμιο της ψευδοεπιστήμης. Βρίσκω το στυλ γραψίματός του απαραίτητο για να μπορέσει κάποιος να συνεχίσει να διαβάζει το ξεκοκάλισμα που κάνει σε όλες τις πτυχές της ανάλυσης μιας έρευνας.

Και αυτό κάνει και στο Whole Grains, Empty Promises λοιπόν. Ξεκινά με την ιστορία των δημητριακών ολικής άλεσης, το πως μπόρεσαν και γίνανε γνωστά και δημοφιλή για τα υποτιθέμενά τους οφέλη και δίνει ένα πολύ ωραίο μάθημα στην ανάγνωση ερευνών, που για άτομα σαν εμένα που δεν μας τραβάνε τα στεγνά αναγνώσματα, είναι μια πολύ ευχάριστη αλλαγή.

Όλες οι έρευνες με τα οφέλη των δημητριακών εξετάζονται αντικειμενικά, σε κάποιες δίνεται ιδιαίτερη έμφαση και άλλες αναφέρονται ονομαστικά.

ΌΛο το βιβλίο είναι to the point, δηλαδή δείχνει γιατί τα δημητριακά ολικής είναι ένα μεγάλο φιάσκο, που όχι μόνο δεν φαίνεται να βοηθά τον κόσμο, αλλά ίσως και να του προκαλεί προβλήματα.

Το μόνο σημείο που παραμένω σκεπτικός σε όλο το βιβλίο είναι κατά πόσο καλά ψαγμένη είναι η έρευνα στο κομμάτι των αντιθρεπτικών. Σίγουρα έχουν φανεί προβλήματα σε κάποιες έρευνες, οι οποίες όμως εξέταζαν μικρό πληθυσμό (μία μάλιστα εξέταζε 2 άτομα) και παραμένω αδαής στο πόσο εύκολα μπορούμε να εξάγουμε μία παρατήρηση από ένα τόσο μικρό δείγμα.

[Brad Belschner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whole grains are overrated. Although they're loaded with minerals, they're also loaded with anti-nutrients and toxins that are difficult to remove. Believe it or not, you actually absorb more minerals eating REFINED grains (at least, that's what every experiment done has shown so far). All the scientific evidence we have supports the notion that whole grains are probably slightly worse for you than refined grains. Shocking, but true.

Moral of the story: Don't force yourself to eat whole grains just because you think they're healthier. If you ENJOY whole grains, then sure, go ahead and eat them---just don't do it to gain minerals or fiber or whatever. If you want minerals, just drink milk, or cook with bone stock. And if you want fiber, just eat fruits and vegetables. Those are much healthier options.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only are grains bad for you, but refined grains are no better than whole. This snide, poorly written book is more about the author posturing and proclaiming his superiority over, well, everyone. Everyone in the field of epidemiology, doctors who dabble in poo, and anyone who believes everything they hear. The latter I do agree with, that didn't make the book any better to read. If there's a point to be made, make it. Lay out the arguments and facts, and don't make fun of others just to make yourself look better

[Adriano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anthony Colpo is a violent criminal and an obsessive stalker of some authors who has more fame than him. Just read his website to see what an absolute psycho he is. His books are super boring to read and full of contradictions.

Just google him up and see what I mean...

[Mardel Fehrenbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Anthony Colpo's Whole Grains Empty Promises, which I believe only exists as a kindle edition, because it was being offered free of charge when I downloaded it, although I believe the price has goine up to $2.99. The book was worthwhile for the extensive notes and references to the research, which make up a significant part of the short book. But aside from that it was easy to read and Colpo did an excellent job of explaining why whole grains are not necessarily the be all and end all of great nutrition. His information is based on solid research. Given his research I can understand the antagonism toward the establishment view that pushes whole grains, but even so I found his writing to be overly sarcastic and inflammatory. I wish his tone had been more measured. I'm giving it 4 stars just because of the solid research and the extensive references. On pure reading, I found it off-putting enough that I would probably only give it 2 stars, which is a shame, because I think the tone of the book would antagonize some readers who would find the information otherwise useful.

[Nasos Psarrakos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book quickly demonstrating why whole grains are not a super food and even sometimes can be bad. Anthony Colpo is doing a great job debunking myths coming from misunderstood research studies.

Highlight:
“This dissection has shown there is nothing to be gained from eating whole-grains, but it is true you may get a little something extra from brown rice. Unfortunately, that something extra happens to be a Group 1 carcinogen. You see, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and trace elements are not the only things plants absorb from the soil and water in which they grow. Toxic metals like arsenic also find their way into plants; analyses of hundreds of varieties of white and brown rice have found the latter to contain higher levels of arsenic than the former [84,85]. The higher concentration of arsenic in brown rice is attributed to the fact it still retains its outer layers; rice bran is an especially rich source of arsenic [86].”

[Mario Tomic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and as expected from Anthony Colpo, a controversial book on the consumption of unfermented whole grains that are widely available in the modern food environment. It's a quick read that might change your mind on some of the food choices you might be making every day.

[Jack Oughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Colpo...human bulldozer...

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting evaluation of the subject.