“Do Fruit Loops Count?”
I wrote about the “Big 3” for the writing life last week. But there is another set of “Big 3” principles that can simplify how to eat. We are bombarded by all sorts of ideas on how to lose weight, how to lower cholesterol, how to control diabetes, how to fight cancer-causing free-radicals, and on and on. I’m almost to the point where if it says, “how to,” I avoid it.
However, there is a list of three things we can do to dramatically improve our health. These will help all the items I listed and a whole lot more. They are almost a miracle list in the power they hold to transform our health.
1. Radically curb or eliminate carbohydrates. This means sugar, yes, and a whole lot more. Carbohydrate-rich foods include potatoes, breads, chips, crackers, pretzels, soft drinks, sports drinks, muffins, bagels . . . you get the idea. And fruit. Please hear me. I’m not suggesting that you stop eating all fruit. But choose wisely. Berries instead of bananas, for instance. Whole fruit instead of juice. Juice is pure sugar. This also means fake sugar elimination, as I have written before. What you may not be aware of is that excess protein also digests in our bodies as glucose. So, what I advocate is not a high-protein, low-carb diet.
2. Adequate fat. No, fat that you eat is not your enemy. Fat on your body is. As strange as it sounds, eating fat (while limiting carbs) will not make you fat. The right kind of fat is also crucial. Adequate animal protein will contain some fat. Otherwise, good fats are olives, olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, and coconut oil. Any other oils besides olive and coconut are harmful, in spite of what we’ve heard for the last thirty years. New research shows just how harmful. They may be responsible, together with the low-fat fad, for the rise of dementia and a whole host of other degenerative diseases.
3. Animal protein. This would include salmon and grass-fed-only meat, poultry and eggs. Feedlot animals are fed grain and corn to fatten them up. This produces meat high in omega-6’s and very low in omega-3’s. Grass-fed animal meat is the correct ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, or even higher in omega-3’s. Adequate protein is much less than the average American eats. Six to eight ounces of meat or fish per day will do it. Not per meal.
Of course, be sure to eat your veggies, and lots of them!
When you get hungry, eat a fat. Good snacks include olives, avocados, nuts, and nut butter. Fats are what provide satiety. But really, once you adopt this eating plan, you won’t feel hungry between meals. It’s like the difference between feeding a fire with kindling and feeding it with logs. You don’t have to keep throwing more logs on to keep it going.
Sources: The Inflammation Syndrome by Jack Challem, and Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas
Kathryn also writes at and.