Carb-based diets are bad for everyone… but a new study shows how they can be especially destructive to women.

You might know how these diets can lead to big, bulging bellies, and how the sugars can rot your teeth right out of your mouth. But the latest research finds that loading up on carbs can also double your heart disease risk.

Italian researchers say the problems are caused by simple carbohydrates–foods highest on the glycemic index, which are most quickly converted into sugar inside the body.

Most of these are forms of sugars or highly refined carbs like white bread that you should be avoiding anyway… yet these are the foods that most of us are eating morning, noon and night.

It’s the starchy white backbone of the modern American diet of disease.

The researchers studied data on 15,171 men and 32,578 women collected over eight years, and found that women who consumed the most total carbs had twice the heart risk as those who ate the fewest… but that the association was mostly caused by foods high on the glycemic index.

In fact, these women had 2.25 times the risk of heart disease than women who ate low-glycemic foods.

Of course, this isn’t especially new–but the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine confirms the dangers of these foods. Other studies, including the Nurses Health Study conducted here in the United States, have also found a heart risk for women from carbs.

The researchers say they did not see the same risk in men… but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Since a lifetime of carbs will make anyone, male or female, fat and diabetic, you’ll eventually face that heart disease risk anyway–along with a host of other health problems.

The easiest way to avoid these risks is to avoid the carbs–especially the deadly simple sugars. In an ideal world, you should minimize all your carbs, but cutting back on sugars and other high- glycemic foods is a great place to start.

To learn more about them, check out the Glycemic Index Web site.The site has a searchable database, which shows you not only where each food ranks on the glycemic index, but what the overall carb load is as well.

We know what poor eating habits will do to your waistline.

But for women, new research shows how the high-carb lifestyle can harm you in other ways: These foods, and foods that rank high on the glycemic index, can increase the risk of breast cancer.

Swedish researchers analyzed data collected on 61,433 women who answered food questionnaires in the late 1980s, and examined their medical histories over the following 17 years.

The researchers found women who ate a lot of carbs, women who ate foods high on the glycemic index (these are often the worst of the carbs), and women with a high overall glycemic load (which measures both the glycemic value of food and the portion size) all faced an increased risk for breast cancer.

The women who ate high-index foods had a 44 percent greater risk of breast cancer than women who ate foods at the lower end of the index. Women who had high glycemic loads had an 81 percent greater risk of developing tumors, and women who had the highest amounts of carbohydrates in their diets had a 34 percent increased risk.

The study was published in July in the International Journal of Cancer.

Another study out in July in the online version of that same journal found that postmenopausal women with elevated insulin levels also have an increased risk of breast cancer.

Researchers in this study found that women in the upper third of insulin levels had twice the risk of breast cancer as women in the lower third of insulin levels.

Not only that, but the researchers found that even lean postmenopausal women with high insulin levels had a higher risk of breast cancer – suggesting that even if you are at or near your ideal weight, you still need to be careful about what you put into your body.

And that means avoiding food high on the glycemic index, as well as those bad carbs that make up the bulk of the modern American diet.

These high-carb processed foods aren’t just responsible for an increased risk of cancer, but many of the health problems that we as a nation are facing, from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and stroke.

There are lots of reasons to eat right, but avoiding this illness epidemic and reducing your risk for breast cancer are pretty good ones. It doesn’t take much work, involves no pricey drugs, and will almost certainly save you money at the supermarket.

Get ready to forget everything you’ve been told about food.

I’ve been warning you about the dangers of what I call the Torture Chamber Diet, that high-carb, low-fat nightmare that has helped make Americans fatter and sicker than ever before.

The latest science shows more clearly than ever how even the most “healthy” of the Torture Chamber foods can contribute to these conditions.

One new study published in June in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology illustrates the direct relationship between high-carb foods and cardiovascular risk.

The researchers looked at foods especially high on the hypoglycemic index – some of the worst carbs – such as white bread and cornflakes. In this case, they fed patients cornflakes, and studied their bodies as compared to patients who got better foods, and otherpatients who got only water.

They found that high-glycemic meals such as cornflakes impair the function of endothelium, or the cells inside our blood vessels. Poor endothelium function has been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Another study, presented in June at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, showed how even moderate cutbacks in the amount of carbs you eat can help you feel fuller, and eat less as a result.

In this study, folks who cut back on their carbs were allowed to eat more fat. And after just a month, they had lower blood insulin levels, more stable blood sugar levels, and were less likely to be hungry after eating than those who ate a more typical high-carb meal.

So now you can see where this is going – how every single meal has a direct impact on the tiniest parts of your body, including the cells lining the inside of your blood vessels.

A common breakfast of cornflakes and toast, for example – something many people consider a “healthy” way to start the day – is a carb-crazy recipe for poor health and disease. And it would be off the charts on that glycemic index.

Most folks eat a meal like this one, and find that they “need” a cup of coffee a couple hours later, not long after the workday gets under way. I’ve got nothing against that cup of coffee – unless you load it with sugar – but the reason most folks feel that way is because they’ve eaten a breakfast that does nothing to help the body prepare for the day.

But that’s only the immediate impact of that supposedly healthy meal.

Processed foods, packed with starches and sodium, are the only foods some people eat. Cornflakes for breakfast, fast food for lunch, and something in a bag from the freezer for dinner.

I’m worried sick over these diets – people are making bad food choices day after day, meal after meal, and in many cases have no idea they’re doing it – because we’re being told these foods are low in fat.

Eat some eggs for breakfast. Enjoy a steak. You can even have butter as long as it’s the no salt kind.

And then be sure to get a little steady exercise.

It may be the opposite of what you’ve been told, but the evidence doesn’t lie: Eat more fat to be less fat. After a few months, have your doctor prove it to you by ordering a follow up cholesterol profile.

September 2008 PDF Eat your way off diabetes A drug-free plan that can slash glucose levels There’s an old saying about digging your grave with a fork and a knife. As it turns out, that adage may be true: The single greatest contributor to your developing type-2 diabetes could be your food choices. But who [...]