What do you eat, revisited!

As a health coach and wellness consultant by far the most common question is:

“What do you eat?”

I originally answered this in a post here in 2013 and thought it was worth revisiting. If you’ve read any of my work, you know I follow the Low Carb/High Fat/Keto Lifestyle. I’m also a LCHF Nutrition Network Certified Advisor, thus putting my cards up front on the table.

Let’s take a peek at the 2020 additions to the original question.

• Sustainability
• Importance of metabolic health
• Original list of foods eaten or avoided
• 2020 additions

Sustainability

Something that often comes up concerning the LCHF/Keto nutritional path, is “oh it’s not sustainable” and why certain individuals (read medical experts) shy away from recommending it. Not knowing what is officially considered ‘sustainable’ in definitive terms, I confess to following it for more than 13 years. Sure, this is a science experiment of n=1 or rather n=2 in our household its’ a mutual choice that works.

That said, using a good ole Midwestern phrase 13 years is no chunk change! One can at least qualify it as a gallant effort. Moreover, it’s still working great with no change in sight. The reason to bring this up is, why discourage individuals from trying something just because “you” think they may not be able to sustain it. I would ask:

• Have you tried it yourself?
• For how long?
• What did or didn’t work?
• Did you have assistance as in a partner, health coach or other support?
• What were the big barriers?
• Were food addictions addressed?

While anyone working in the area of nutrition will say clearly there is no one specific diet that works for each and every person. Given our current country’s state of ill health, particularly poor metabolic health, encouraging efforts to eat real food and be mindful of eating less sugar and carbohydrates is worthy of exploration. Just because there’s an assumption it “might” not be sustainable is not a reason, in my opinion, to not give it a go.

Lastly, if you look back at photos prior to the initial dietary guidelines in 1977 as a whole most Americans did not have weight issues. This photo reportage of the funeral train of Robert Kennedy gives good insight into how we as a diverse nation used to look. Once the government got in the business of telling people what to eat and what not to eat things dramatically changed. That is not a political statement, just a reality.

Metabolic Health

One thing Covid_19 has taught us is that having underlying chronic conditions put you at greater risk for the virus. As Cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra states in this 5-minute interview (highly recommended) that diseases associated with Metabolic Syndrome put you at a 10-fold risk for mortality and or severe complications with the virus. He goes on to say that simple changes to one’s diet can greatly improve metabolic markers, particularly by eliminating highly processed foods, refined sugar and grains. Additionally, that these improvements can be seen in a matter of weeks.

What is Metabolic Syndrome? It has previously been labeled Syndrome X and recently in Ivor Cummins and Jeffrey Gerber’s book Eat Rich, Live Long (great book btw) Metabolic Insulin Resistance Syndrome (MIRS). Labels aren’t everything but they highlight also the importance of insulin, specifically insulin resistance in the conversation.

Most regulative bodies, CDC, WHO etc. concur in some fashion or other that if you have 2 or more of the following 5 components this constitutes having Metabolic Syndrome. Just for perspective, only 1 in 8 Americans is currently achieving optimal metabolic health, see article here. An alarming 88% are not metabolically well.

1. High blood pressure
2. High blood sugar
3. Excess waist circumference
4. High triglycerides
5. Low HDL cholesterol

Whether you follow a LCHF/Keto type lifestyle or other nutritional path, of grave concern is that your food sources are not contributing to the above list. What does that mean? Simply that you are doing your upmost to keep your blood sugar and insulin levels in a healthy range. Foods that contribute to fat storage are not your friends, irrespective of weight loss being a goal. Simply in terms of the desire to have a vibrant metabolically fit body.

Original List

What I don’t eat

• Processed food of any kind
• Low-fat products of any kind
• Sugary drinks such as soda, sport drinks and smoothies
• Highly commercial foods that contain GMO’s and other chemical substances
• Foods high in carbohydrate and sugar content that raise your blood sugar

What I do eat

• Organic whole milk dairy products, including all types of cheese
• Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi
• Whole nuts of any kind, with no added sugar or salt
• Organic vegetables and fruits, (WAY more veggies than fruit)
• Organic, grass-fed meat and poultry (local when available)
• Organic, pasture-raised eggs
• Fish of any kind, preferably wild not farm raised
• Dark chocolate (big smile)
• Our own homemade products like kombucha, yogurt and cheese etc.

What’s changed if anything?

1. Stronger emphasis on consuming adequate daily protein, primarily from animal sources! I find meat gives the biggest bang for your buck from both a physical as well as mental strength standpoint. Here’s a post that goes more in depth on why I eat meat.
2. Avoiding snacking, realization it was more out of habit than hunger, and so called “healthy snacks” still disrupt your body’s ability to burn fat. Having more time in between meals, whether you call it fasting or restricted eating feels good on the body.
3. Consuming much less fruit: only occasional berries on a bowl of yogurt or cottage cheese. Sugar is sugar which gives that spike on blood sugar and before you know it, you’re hungry again.
4. Absolutely no utilization of any toxic seed or vegetable oils. If there is one thing you can do for yourself for the New Year, ditch these oils that are so pro-inflammatory.

Final Note

Part of finding the lifestyle nutritional path that works for you is being open to change. I’ve written previously how after twenty years being vegetarian and its’ negative effects on my health a new way was imperative. Now as a mature individual the LCHF lifestyle works incredibly positive for me, in terms of energy, exercise, weight, metabolic health and mental health. I find it gives the maximum performance and feel stronger now than ten years ago.

“Make your diet work for you; don’t work for your diet.”

Denise Minger, author of Death by Food Pyramid

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