I am not a diet advocate. There is so much more to eating for health than adopting the diet trending on social media this year. The truth is most diets have benefits and most have opportunities for improvement. To adopt an eating strategy, there are a few keys to success
Avoidances
Nothing is more powerful than identifying items that are damaging to our biology in all instances. If you want to be healthy, avoid things that always make you less healthy.
Vegetable Oils
Even the name is deceiving. Vegetables seem healthy, however these oils are better named Industrial Seed Oils – canola, corn, sunflower, and more. The process to manufacture these is crude, even including hexane which is used in making gasoline. Once the product is consumed, especially when heated, they unleash a firestorm of oxidative stress (think the rusting process), especially on our endothelial cells (lining sensitive tissues such as our vasculature). Further, much of the fats in these oils are omega 6, which are pro inflammatory. This pro-oxidative, pro-inflammatory fuel wreaks havoc on our entire system.
Modern Grains
Yes, grains (seeds of grasses – wheat, corn, rice, etc) have been used across the glove for thousands of years. Yes, they are still a critical avoidance. Genetically modified and treated with Roundup (glyphosate) the biological burden is too great and I haven’t even got to the gut. They make the gastrointestinal tract more permeable – termed leaky gut. It is as gross as it sounds. Further, the starches in these grains raise blood sugar more than table sugar itself. Collectively, they are a pro-inflammatory storm, whether or not whole grain. Do NOT fall for the trap these should be part of any healthy eating strategy (with the possible exception of occasional rice).
Added Sugar
Foods with added sugar overwhelm our biology over time. We can only handle so much. Circulating at any time in our bloodstream is about 4 grams (slightly less than a teaspoon) of glucose. Compare this to any food label where it is common to find in excess of 10 fold this number per serving. Added sugar consumption leads to a number of maladies such as diabetes, fatty liver, and others. Yes, fatty liver. Excess sugar is turned into fat in the liver (de novo lipogenesis).
Genetically Modified (GMO) and Roundup (glyphosate)
To improve crop yield, they have genetically modified plants to change attributes, including the ability to tolerate glyphosate. GMO, and its foreign proteins, cause problems by themselves. Roundup (glyphosate) causes immense problems. It was originally patented as an antibiotic, chelates metals, interferes with drug processing pathways (CYP 450 etc), and can even mimic glycine (the most predominate amino acid on our body). Like grains, glyphosate can also precipitate leaky gut, cumulatively with the effects of grains. Together, GMO plus glyphosate are a troublesome twosome.
Processed Foods
Processed food providers profit by offering the perfect combination of the above avoidances. Chips, crackers, and anything with a food label that has an ingredient list that goes on for miles. The problems above are all included, but there are more! The unnatural high carb, high fat combination overwhelms our body’s innate ability to regulate appetite. Our reward systems, mediated primarily by dopamine, are triggered – you keep coming back. Consumption of processed foods leads to an increased waist size and chronic disease over time.
When To Eat
When to eat, or not to eat, is important to include in mapping out a plan. Unfortunately, most diets omit strategies for meal timing.
Yes, food types and diets signal vast biological processes. Not eating impacts equally important processes as well.
The 30,000- foot view is that feed stimulates growth signaling, while fasting signals recycle and repair. Many of the chronic diseases we face are at least partly attributed to excessive growth signaling.
This concept takes a bit more to dig into, over 30 pages anyhow. Please click here for a free whitepaper I put together on this topic of enormous importance. When To Eat Whitepaper.
What to Eat
You won’t find a prescription for a specific diet here. The truth is many can be implemented as part of a healthy lifestyle if the concepts above are included. The key is to switch it up a bit – VARIATION IS CRITICAL. I am a fan of keto, but not all the time. Carnivore? Sure, I like well-sourced meat (grass-fed, pasture-raised, organic, etc), but not for the vast majority of my meals every day. Vegetarian? For a short time sure, but it is very hard to maintain indefinitely. The cool thing is you can, and should, eat a variety of foods. Historically, we have been a species that eats seasonally available foods. This should be enhanced and doing so improves our metabolic flexibility – the ability to change fuel sources – and this may be one of the most
Next Steps
Implementing a dietary strategy, especially for the purposes of alleviating a chronic health condition, can be daunting. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone. Please reach out for a free consultation.
Further reading
The best place to start is the whitepaper mentioned earlier, When To Eat.
Below are some recent posts relevant to the material above.
Spaghetti Causing Headaches – A Personal Story
How spaghetti contributed to my daughter’s headaches is another example (more here and here) of experiencing a health challenge and finding a new answer. My youngest daughter was getting periodic headaches and made a connection they were occurring every 4H meeting on Mondays. A helpful observation as we had fallen into a routine of spaghetti […]
Learning From Vegetarians Returning To Meat
Yes, I am a fan of well-sourced meat. No, this is not a vegetarian bashing exercise. There have a been a number of recent articles showcasing vegetarian/vegan dieters returning to meat. The reasons vary, but all line up with my approach to Eating For Health. The stories Here are the stories I caught recently: VIRPI […]
Misleading Advice on Gallbladder Health
Fake Health News is how I like to describe terrible info on the web that looks official. Here WebMD is giving terrible advice – the same advice that resulted in record amounts of gallbladder removal (300,000 annually). We can optimize of our gallbladder function by ignoring advice and replacing it with common sense. The WebMD Article’s […]
Cereal + Roundup: It’s whats for breakfast
Most people envision their breakfast cereal with just milk added – like pictured below. However, a new study just released documented those bites may be swimming in milk and Roundup (glyphosate). I have written about both glyphosate and the bad idea of cereal for breakfast (Milk + Cereal Grains: Fattening Pigs and Kids since the […]
Easy Way To Slow Aging
We all possess an easy way to influence the speed at which we age – and the good news is it isn’t hard to implement. Ageing is the most important risk factor for the majority of human pathologies. We propose the concept that the advancement of the hallmarks of ageing is dictated by several distinct […]
Whitepaper | Why When You Eat Matters
Please click here to download!