What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?

[Jake Di Vita]

Link

Breakdown on eating habits and the BS the FDA and AHA have been feeding us for 20 years.

[Greg Bell]

Good read, I've seen several of these points before. I'm becoming more dissatisfied with my eating habits and I think it is time to shift my habits back in this direction.

[Pittbug]

Link

Interesting read, thanks for posting. I'm currently on my own diet which I've crafted from personal experience. What works for me, is if I cut back on carbs (bread, rice, pasta, etc), candy and sugary foods and dairy products (mainly cheese). By doing this I've lost about 22lbs so far and gone from a 38 to a 34 waist. All I did was read a couple of nutritional books and figured it out for myself. I don't believe in a completely carb free diet, I think you still need some carbs, just not as much as we're usually accustomed to eating.

[Seth]

I was good and fat about 7 years ago. 228 on 5'9" frame. Read Atkins and did it. Getting 180 was EASY. Good lifestyle living in San Diego and I kept the weight off for years. My wife got pregnant about 2 1/2 years ago and so did I, as it appears - zero control.

I restarted the lean meats, veggies and cheese a few weeks ago and I feel better already. ZERO acid reflux. I'm at 198 right now and I'll be at 180 by nationals.

Garbage in, garbage out.

[gregoryd]

I also fight acid reflux aka heart burn. I switched my diet 3 weeks ago, to the Adkins guidlines. After 5 days I stopped taking all anti acids. I now sleep through the night, with out having to get up and get the maloxx. I have lost weight, but even if I didn't it would be worth it, just for the reduction of heart burn. great post jake

[Flexmoney]

How about at least a quick summary in the opening post?

[DarthMuffin]

Great post! I'm currently on Atkin's again. Did it several years ago and fell off the wagon. I intend to stay on this time

If you think about it, Atkins is very close to how your body was designed to be fueled. Think back to hunter/gatherers, and they ate meat, nuts, veggies, and some fruits when in season. They did not have wonder bread and soda available.

Atkins isn't about "eat all the bacon-and-lard you want" so much as it's about avoiding processed foods. Keep the diet simple -- meats, green veggies, a few nuts and the occasional bit of whole grain or a baked potato. No sugar, bread, pasta, etc.

[Sean Gaines]

does anyone have the cliff notes for this one.

[Stuck in C]

My only problem with Atkins is the limiting of vegetables. My take on it: meats, lots of low starch vegetables, cut out the processed carbohydrates. Avoid flours, sugars and especially high fructose corn syrup. Hard to do in this processed food society. Hard for me because I love good bread. My wife convinced me to switch to a low fat diet years ago (which almost requires high carbs) and my bad cholesterol and triglycerides went through the roof along with my weight. I'm trying to get back to the diet I used to eat in my 20's and 30's. I'll also say that a lot of the so-called nutrition suggestions out there are big fat lies-I had a lot of biochemistry in grad school and don't understand how they come up with some of this stuff.

[Jake Di Vita]

I had a lot of biochemistry in grad school and don't understand how they come up with some of this stuff.

I don't either man, but it certainly isn't through science.

[SharonAnne9x23]

I remember Sunday mornings at the restaurant after scuba class, bacon, eggs, homefries and lots of them.

Supper was almost always beef, potato and a vegetable but the meat and potato was the staple.

And we were all skinny.

No more.

[SiG Lady]

Eating a CLEAN and BALANCED diet is still a good guideline. Avoid excessive fats, saturated fats, salts and sugars. Processed foods are made with the lowest common denominator ingredients and have a lot to do with all these symptoms of 'indigestion' that people have (and that the pharmaceutical companies are getting rich off of).

Example: If you like peanut butter, eat natural peanut butter that contains ONLY peanut butter. The 'commercial' brands contain sugars, fillers, thoroughly indigestable fat substances and lord knows what quality of peanut butter. The sugars and paraffin-like fillers will cause diarhhea and cramping in some people much like the "Olestra" (and indigestable fat substance) product they once put into potato chips to keep people from gaining weight. These substances will clog your arteries and throw off your blood sugar balance--and cause digestive distress.

Example: If you like yoghurt, don't buy the goddamn' ones that have tons of sugar in the ingredients! They're more sugar and syrup than they are yoghurt, for God's sake! Check the labels for additives.

Example: If you like canned chili, PLEASE READ THE LABELS!!!! The salt content is often freakishly high, the fat content ungodly, and the calories way too high. Many contain MSG, a toxic salt not meant to be consumed--ditto for canned soups. One of the better canned chili products of commonplace branding is Nalley's: Lower salt, very low fat, modest calories. And they have a 'vegetarian' version that is tasty and has virtually NO fat content and is low-calorie. Many of the dangerous brands that contain MEAT are simply stuffing you full of the FAT content from the meat and not much actual meat protein. Protein count in the 'meat' versions and the 'vegetarian' versions are almost identical! The protein is coming from the beans, folks, not the meat content.

Example: fresh vegetables should be eaten within a couple or so days of picking. Try to buy locally if you live in temperate zones where farmers markets are available. Many of the fruits and vegetables in the produce section of the store have been either in transit a long time or, in some cases, stored for months at a time, we're told. Their nutritional value is all but gone---and they may never have ripened properly to begin with! And if they've been hothouse pushed to growth, they've not had the benefits of solar radiation to develop fully in the way that they should. Heck, I've been told that canned vegetables (if they were canned from truly fresh-picked foods) hold their nutritional value better than "old" fresh store veggies.

A few carbs are OK. Everything in moderation. A little butter is fine. Too much butter will kill you. A little bit of pizza is fine. Too much pizza will give you a belly ache (heartburn). A little pasta is quite alright. Too much pasta will stuff you full of empty calories and can cause tissue edema (and water retention) in some people.

Moreover, I eat so much oatmeal that I must have negative cholesteral. And I like oatmeal, besides. No sugar or milk on it, either. They say that putting milk on oatmeal ferments the grain incorrectly in the stomach. I haven't finished my research on this yet. Interesting thought, though.

OK... I got carried away with this. Sorry. But I've been on a personal nutritional 'mission' for years and have discovered a few things.

And yes, I do eat meat--most every day. But only a little.

[Kyle O]

Moderation is the key.

[Jake Di Vita]

I'll say this once to reiterate...Fat is good for you.

Also, legumes are not good for you. Show me a true vegetarian, I'll show you an unhealthy person.

Here's another good Link with lots of great info on hunter-gatherer nutrition.

[AlamoShooter]

I'll say this once to reiterate...Fat is good for you.

Also, legumes are not good for you. Show me a true vegetarian, I'll show you an unhealthy person.

Here's another good Link with lots of great info on hunter-gatherer nutrition.

Oh realy

[SiG Lady]

"Moderation is the key."

Exactly.

[Jake Di Vita]

Oh realy

Care to expand?

[AlamoShooter]

Oh really

Care to expand?

I have not eaten a mammal since 1983 or was it 82

I don't evaluate others buy what they eat or don't eat.

A interesting book that came out in 1996 is "Eat Right For Your Type Dr Peter JD Adamo the book compares genetics through Blood Type for historical when type A blood type came around. Blood type A is A for Agrarian.

Type O blood historically are Carnivore The book is a good read just out of Historical value.

I happen to be type O blood

[XRe]

I have not eaten a mammal since 1983 or was it 82

I don't evaluate others buy what they eat or don't eat.

No mammals does not equal vegetarian, though, Jamie... I've watched you eat fish

The short gist - eat the right amount* (almost certainly smaller than you think) of lean-ish protein, balanced with fresh veg or low glycemic fruit, and good fats (mono-unsaturated stuff... olive oil, macadamia nuts, avocado, etc). Mostly stay away from grain products (breads, cereals, etc) and sugar (so much stuff, its not funny). The net effect is that your insulin level will stay lower and blood sugar level will stay more consistent. This results in a consistent, high level of energy (no crashes post-lunch, and that kind of thing) and you will tend to burn fat rather than store it.

* the right amount is typically 5 ounces or less at any given meal, or up to 7.5 ounces of lean ground beef and stuff like that.

If you stick with something like that the majority of the time, you can get away with a "cheat" meal (big steak, or dessert, or...) every once in a while, and do OK. I'll tell you, though... Once you've done that low glycemic diet for a while, and you eat a bunch of carbs, you will crash hard... and probably feel kinda hung over, too

Oh, yeah... all that beer you're drinking? Needless to say, high glycemic reaction there, too...

[Jake Di Vita]

I'm not evaluating people, but I sure can evaluate health by what they eat or don't eat. At first glance, the notion that the same species has a different genetically programmed diet strictly based on blood type has some serious gaps in logic to say the least. I can't think of any species in which that is the case. You don't see random cows eating meat or cheetahs munching on berries.

Nearly all upper body disease and obesity is caused by a condition known as hyperinsulinemia. Essentially this is a chronically elevated level of insulin in the body causing insulin resistance. The more resistant the body becomes to insulin, the more we need until eventually the body becomes so heavily leveraged on it the pancreas can't produce enough on it's own - which then becomes type 2 diabetes. Insulin is the hormone used for storage that is produced by our body when we digest carbohydrates. When we digest protein, the body produces a hormone which regulates usage called glucogon. Fat is hormonally neutral when digested.

We are at the healthiest when our levels of insulin and glucogon are balanced - which isn't the case in 95% of western diets. It's funny that the French (and other Europeans) eat 10 times the amount of fat we do and have a fraction of the disease and obesity as us. In other words, the most important thing we can do for our health is regulate the amount of insulin in our body and stay away from fad "low-fat" diets - which is nearly impossible from a vegetarian / vegan standpoint.

[Bill Nesbitt]

I just finished reading all 11 pages.

Made me think of this thread http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8483 when I started on the Atkins plan in 2003. It worked for me. I lost 30 pounds. My cholestoral levels were much better, BP down, etc. I'm a believer.

Today I have returned to the plan after slipping. I have gained 12 pounds because I thought a couple of slices of bread every day and some potatoes wouldn't hurt.

An interesting point about my earlier thread. Two of the posters who were very strongly against Atkins have since passed away.

The food pyramid that the government has been passing off on us for many years is all wrong.

Jake, thanks for posting.

[gar2376]

I love it...Crossfit is seeping into my shooting life! I really didn't expect to see anything related to diet/exercise here.

Jake...love your "Pukie" avatar.

BTW...Crossfit is awesome!

[BritinUSA]

I've been trying to eat healthy my whole life, but it seems that the classification of what is or is not healthy seems to change. This stuff about Atkins is pretty cool, I was wondering if there is a food-pyramid for Atkins ?

[GentlemanJim]

The way I look at it

If I can catch it or kill it or pick it

I am likely to eat it...The exception being my nose of course

Jim

[Bill Nesbitt]

If someone is thinking about starting on the Atkins plan, I suggest they buy his book. http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Atkins-Diet-Revol...5035&sr=1-1

Atkins has you eating meat, cheese and certain vegetables (good carbs) to start and adding more good carbs as you lose weight. He steers you away from bad carbs ie: breads, pasta, sugar and processed foods. If Atkins had a pyramid then meat and cheese would be the base, then veggies, then fruit.