Bacon is a superfood

You need to eat your whole grains, vegetables and fruits to get all that good fiber. How many times have you heard this statement?  It’s everywhere from Metamucil ads to cereal boxes, nutrition websites and bestsellers.

Normally, the message is eat less. But then when it comes to fiber, it seems you can never get enough. Some think fiber is the end all be all, that precious substance found  only in plant foods that has miraculous benefits for human health.

Is fiber good or bad? I don’t think it’s one or the other, nothing to be overly concerned about or anything. Let’s just try put a few things we know about fiber together to get a clearer picture. By the way, before the 70’s nobody talked about the importance of fiber. Google Denis Burkitt aka The Fiber Man to know the historical context of this fiber revolution. He’s the man behind what we’ll call the fiber hypothesis.

First off, what is fiber? That’s kind of like asking a person what is cholesterol or what is a hormone. Everyone has heard about those but when it comes to explaining what they are, not many people can give you a decent answer. Most people are just content knowing that fiber is found mostly in grains, veggies and fruits.  Dietary fiber is undigestible plant matter, it’s kind of like the squeleton of a plant. There’s fiber in all plants, just different kinds, soluble, insoluble and they have different chemical formulas. Soluble fiber  ferments in your gut, the bacteria living there eats up the fiber and converts it to short chain fatty acids. Some foods contain more of one kind of fiber than the other. For example, wheat bran is considered an insoluble fiber, whereas carrots are in the soluble category. The insoluble kind of fiber has the reputation of acting like a broom through your digestive tract. It does not get fermented.

Fiber is considered a carbohydrate but it does not have the same effect as sugar. It will not raise your insulin, on the contrary it is known to balance blood glucose by slowing down the release of insulin. Most people on low carb diets subtract the total fiber from the total carb count.

Total Carbohydrates: 14

Fiber: 9

14-9=5

5 net carbs, not bad! I can eat that, in moderation (whatever that means!) So, fiber’s not evil. The more fiber is in a food, the less carbs are actually in it. The problem I have with fiber is that it’s overrated in the treatment of or prevention of alot of diseases. A common problem is constipation. Most people think constipation automatically equals not enough fiber in the diet. This is simply untrue. Why do people on very low carb diets or meat only diets experience improvement in bowel movements and others on fruit and vegetable only diets still have issues with constipation? I’m not saying all low carbers are not constipated. I’m just saying that fiber isn’t always the answer. I think it’s more complicated.  I’ll give you my example just for fun. And I am not making this up, I swear!

My whole life I  had stomach aches, I always felt constipated, bloated…just really uncomfortable. Ok, so most of my life I was on the standard american diet minus the sodas. (Thank goodness!) It was pretty low fiber, low fat, low protein…pretty much alot of grain products. I decide to get healthy, get on this whole high fiber bandwagon. I’m buying heroic amounts of leafy greens, vegetables of all kinds and lots of fruit and I start blending away and making these huge salads. I never counted how many fiber grams were in these meals but needless to say they were much higher than what everyone I knew was eating. Was I feeling better? Was I going more than before? No… and I didn’t get it. I was doing everything right, fiber, lots of water, no cheese and meat. The whole bit!

I get frustrated. Duuhh! Who wants to spend an hour washing and cutting up all these veggies anyway?

So I try low carb, very low carb. The first weeks were beef, pork, chicken, cheese, fish, a bit of cooked spinach and saeurkraut, avocado, tomatoes…Drastically lower fiber than before. What happens? Magic… no more cramping, no more bloating, less gas and I finally go without having to …ok that’s just too much information. You get the picture. What a relief!!

Less fiber, more fat. Erika, do you mean to say that the fat acted as a lubricant instead of sawdust clogging you up more like fiber was doing? Yes. Another reason why I love fat. I should of known about this years ago. When I was a kid, my grandfolks would take castor oil or a tablespoon of olive oil with their meals to “stay regular”.

People back then didn’t have much respect for fiber, it was called roughage and it didn’t belong in your plate. Mom would carefully peel the carrots, potatoes, apples before serving them. Kids didn’t snack on raw apples like today. They ate properly processed apples, a product called apple sauce. A nice warm bowl of apple sauce was nourishment. Eating a raw apple? Umm no, deer do that…  When we process foods in our kitchens we are making the nutrition more available to us.                     

The only fiber I avoid is the one in grain products and legumes. These seem to give me trouble.

So if I resume how I see fiber it kind of goes like this: can be your friend, can be your foe if you take too much and defenitely won’t work miracles, ok?

If you thought taking your All Bran in the morning was gonna prevent colon cancer, check out Barry Groves’s article on that. http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/colon-cancer2.html Save yourself the embarrassment of buying an industrial waste product and try having eggs and bacon instead.

If you want to try increasing your fiber intake slowly, I suggest looking at the carb to fiber ratio. Try choosing the foods with the lowest carb content and highest fiber for weight loss purposes. My favorite choices would be:  spinach, collard greens, avocado, swiss chard, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus…

I was outside today with my dogs and thinking about how I’ve changed in the last year. When I think of myself, I remember feeling very uptight, pretty antisocial and moody… for probably, at least the first 22 years of my existence.

I hated school because of the 15 minute recess and lunch hour, where I’d have to actually talk to other classmates. I loved sitting in my chair, all alone in my bubble just listening to the teacher explain things. When I was younger and attended religious meetings I had the same problem. I’d get nervous about the last amen pronounced because that was like the signal that I’d have to get up from my chair and talk to the brothers and sisters.

Basically, I lacked alot of confidence in myself and I thought people were constantly judging me. I believed I had nothing interesting to say to others, that they wouldn’t care about whatever I’d say.

So what’s the point of this whole post? What does low carb/high fat have to do with my mental disposition?

Have my thoughts and mood improved on this diet? The answer is YES! Tremendously!

 I don’t go to bed and stay awake for hours remembering every single thing I said and wonder if it offended someone or if it will come back and haunt me.

 I feel very positive about the future and I no longer contemplate suicide.

 I like being around my friends and feel like meeting new people.

 I don’t stress over details as much. I don’t feel as obssessive anymore. I realise I can’t always be in control of situations.

I’m not as rigid and dogmatic as before. I let people have their say, express their opinions but I don’t try to convert anyone. If someone challenges me I don’t take it personal and I focus on learning more instead of trying to justify everything. I’m not into mental gymnastics anymore. You know where you have this theory of how the world works and if something contradicts that you either ignore it, downplay it or lie about it. I’m sure I still do that once in a while, but I try to be more conscious about it and open minded.

My theory is that my brain was malnourished, it wasn’t getting nearly enough of those essential fatty acids. Well what do you expect? How can a diet that’s low in fat be adequate in efa’s? I was consumming low fat milk or even worse soy beverage (don’t let anyone call this abomination milk, as far as I know beans don’t have breasts), low fat cheese, little to no meat, very rarely had fish or eggs.  Didn’t have any of those important animal foods in my late teens and early twenties. I lived on sugar and more sugar. I was always complaining that I was too tired and depressed. That’s another thing, when you’re utilizing glucose for energy, you constantly have these dips in energy. When you use fat for energy you don’t run into that wall you do when eating lots of carbs. So, when you’re not scared of fat, you’re getting all these nutrients and a better, more stable energy source.

Oh and guess what? My sex drive is up, way up!

So what’s up with my title? Well, even though I do occasionaly indulge in a bit of alcohol, I don’t need a bunch of spirits and pills to get me through the day or make me feel at ease with people. Instead of taking drugs, I eat the proper foods that are the building blocks or precursors to neurotransmitters. I let my brain make up the right drugs for me. Because, let’s face it, all of us are on drugs all the time. 

You know what use to be my drug of choice? Pillsburry chocolate chip cookies with a tall glass of cold milk. You’ve got a mix of some of the most potent drugs in there: grains and milk, which contain opioid substances called exorphins, cacao, contains a caffeine like substance called theobromine and then the sugar… Just think of the nice blend of tastes and textures, warm and cold, soft, crumbly and liquid….The first couple of cookies you have you feel so good, it almost feels like love or heaven. But it doesn’t last. Just like I’m looking for a more reliable/constant  energy source, I also want a more stable mood and feeling of happiness?! I stay away from the cheap pleasures of carb binging and instead rely on the quality fats and animal proteins to keep my brain running smoothly. I’ll snack on some jerky, tinned fish, some cheese, a cup of coffee with some heavy cream, cooked veggies smothered in butter, nuts and so on.

When you think about it, it kinda makes sense that dietary fat does your brain good. Your brain is mostly fat. Just like you would apply fat to lubricate your body, you should eat fat to keep your brain well lubed. Don’t forget fat is part of every cell membrane. It’s ubiquitous!

Fat gets no respect. Whether it’s the fat on your bod or the fat in meat, the comments you hear are always negative. Either it looks bad, in the case of it being on your tush, or it’s bad for you in the case of it being on your steak. When do you ever hear about the importance of fat and the role it plays in human health?

I’ll start with the fat on you. It’s refered to as adipose tissue.  Do you know why it’s there? No, it’s not just there to annoy you or make you look either fat or extremely hot in a bikini. It’s there to provide you with insulation from heat and cold, cushions your organs like a protective padding and it serves as an energy reserve that most of us want to tap into.  This tissue is also an endocrine organ, which means it secretes hormones that send different signal to your body. One group of  hormones manufactured by the cells in your adipose tissue are the estrogens. If you are severely underweight or overweight you are more likely to suffer from hormonal imbalances. In the case of being underweight, we are all aware that you can suffer from amnorrhea. I know, you guys out there are probably asking yourself why a chick would use the word suffer when she’s talking about not having her period. Well, let me tell you… Not having your period can make you very anxious. The first thing you think is pregnancy. Am I pregnant or why am I not becoming pregnant? Being underweight can also lead to earlier menopause and increase your risk of osteoporosis. Being overweight is not better. Your risks of developping low sex drive, fatigue, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, pcos, pms, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer all go up….Basically, you don’t want to be too skinny or too fat.

Ok, now let’s look at the importance of dietary fat. You’ve probably heard the expression “where there’s fat there’s flavour”. I’m here to tell you that where there’s fat there’s NOT JUST FLAVOUR. Hopefully after reading this you won’t ever feel guilty or like you’re indulging when you’re eating that fatty ribeye. You’ll think about it as doing yourself a big favour.

The first time I was shown the importance of animal fats was through 2 websites. The first one was Mark’s Daily Apple. (How I found out about Mark’s website is funny. I was looking at a video on youtube that featured raw vegan Doug Graham. Basically, his diet philosophy is resumed by 3 numbers: 80/10/10. They are macronutrient percentages, 80 for carbs, 10 protein and 10 fat. So I was looking at this guy’s vids and I read a comment left by a guy who said something like this: you guys should check out MDA, Mark eats high fat and low carb and looks way better than Doug. After reading that comment, I was curious to see what this guy Mark would look like. So I go to MDA and what do I find? A better looking guy? Girls and guys, that is a huge understatement. Mark looked at least 20 times better than Doug. Call me superficial but that did it for me. Ditched Doug’s program and tried out what Mark was saying.) The second one was the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website. I recommend both these websites for more in depth info on nutrition.

Here is a list of reasons why you should eat more animal fats and saturated fat ladden tropical oils:

You need fat to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K.

Animal fats contain a good amount of these fat soluble vitamins, especially animals raised on pasture and fish.

Eating saturated fat lowers Lp(a), a type of ”bad” LDL.

Eating saturated fat increases levels of HDL cholesterol.

Animal fats are quite low in pro inflammatory omega 6s, the polyunsaturates that are implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, cancer and auto immune diseases.

Fish oils have been found to  suppress the deleterious effects of overconsumption of omega 6’s. Omega 3’s are essential for the normal development of 3 major organs: brain, eyes and nerves.

Coconut oil which contains lauric and capric acid has antimicrobial, antiviral and immune enhancing properties.

Saturated fat protects the liver of alcohol damage and other toxins.

Saturated fat helps you absorb calcium more efficiently.

This is certainly not a complete list. For more information check out these  links: http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Skinny-on-Fats.html,

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/uopm-o3f022706.php

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/coconut-oil-health-benefits/

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/?p=268

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17368431/

Fat was framed. Sugar’s the guilty one.

If you wanna know how your body produces fat and cholesterol you should go and read the first 10 chapters of my dear friend Dr James Carlson’s book. You’ll learn that the fat you eat does not simply get dumped in your bloodstream. Sugar is what produces cholesterol and tryglycerides or the fats in your blood.

http://drjamescarlson.com/content.aspx?idx=35

So, eat more fat, less carbs and you’ll have less fat in your blood and on your bod.

Depends…

Some people get away with 100 grams of carbs a day, some 60 and others less than 30.

When I started my whole low carb journey I did the meat and fat all you want and a bit of low carb veggies. I personally love this way of eating. I could eat meat and only meat and still be very happy. I understand most people would not enjoy this way of eating. We get used to the variety and that’s cool. If you stick to meat and greens, it’s a no brainer, right? But you might get bored.

If you try to include lots of different foods, well then you might have a few too many carbs creaping up on you. See what I mean?

What I suggest to people is to start by eliminating the worst offenders: sugar, wheat and other grains, beer, soda, rice, potatoes, juice, bananas, apples. If you manage to eliminate all those, you’ll defenitely see results. If you do all that and stop losing then I would suggest doing it a little more seriously or hardcore as they say and watch out for all sweet fruits, nuts, seeds, parsnips, beets, all those starchy veggies…oh and milk, especially skim.

I don’t count carbs anymore because I’m happy about how I look and I can sort of guesstimate the carbs in my plate.

See what works for you. If you can still lose while having a baked potato or an apple a day, good for you. I can’t do that and you know what? I don’t even feel deprived, ever… But maybe I’m a freak. That’s what my friend Val says when I tell her I don’t eat sugar anymore. My taste buds have not been bombarded with the excessive amounts of sugar for the last 11 months. I don’t crave sugar anymore, instead I’ve developped a taste for fat. I can’t stomach a skinless chicken breast anymore. When I was a kid, my parents use to buy skim milk or 2% and when I’d go to a friend’s house and have to have 3,25%, I’d say: “Eeeeww, how can you drink this? It tastes like cream!” As if tasting like cream was a bad thing. Now I can almost drink a glass of 35%. Ok, I’ll admit I almost never do that!

Maybe you just read that last paragraph and you’re freaked out because of all the saturated fat I’m ingesting. I do eat lots of saturated fat. I love it. But I don’t feel guilty or scared of doing that. Now remember, I use to think saturated fat was the devil. I’d say things like it causes heart disease, diabetes, alzheimer’s, cancer….You’d think I was reciting the China Study for goodness sake.

So why have I changed my stance on fat, especially saturated, so drastically? Did I fall on my head, was I bought by the meat and dairy industries? What could of convinced me that natural saturated fats were harmless?

And that will be the subject of my next post.

What are carbs?

A carbohydrate is a fancy word for sugar. All foods contain carbohydrates, even meat in miniscule amounts.

When most people speak of carbs they are refering to carbohydrate rich foods such as bread, pasta, cakes, crackers, sodas, juice, beer, candies, fruits, potatoes….These foods are composed almost essentially of carbohydrates, which means they are low in protein and fat.

When you consume these foods they have the effect of raising your insulin. Exactly what you want to avoid if you care about your waistline.

By eliminating or drastically reducing your intake of the high carb foods mentionned above you will achieve normal blood sugar levels and ultimately, lose excess fat.

So, what do you eat once you’ve eliminated grains, starchy vegetables, fruits and sugary desserts? Or what do you replace the carbs with? Protein, fat and low starch content veggies.

For example, instead of ordering a sandwich you could order a salad with some meat or fish on top. For breakfast, instead of the toasts or boxed cereals you could eat a spinach and cheese omelet.

By making simple choices such as these you will be cutting carbs and increasing your diet’s nutritionnal density. Don’t forget that essential carbohydrates do not exist. Protein is essential for life and you’ve probably heard alot about  the essential fatty acids, such as omega 3’s.

I do not advocate totally eliminating all carbohydrate foods such as low starch vegetables. These foods give you more variety, taste and color.  Leafy greens are my favorite. They are super low carb and rich in beta carotene, vit. C, K, folate, potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Insulin. You’ve heard about it. It’s something diabetics need to worry about, right? Yeah, just like everyone else who lives in the 21st century.

Go to the grocery store. Look inside everyone’s basket. What do you see?What’s the fat chick pushing around in her cart? Is it loads of red meat and pounds of butter? How bout full fat mayonnaise and pork rinds? I mean come on, she’s fat, she must be eating buckets of lard. NOT!

Chances are that chick is pushing a cart filled with low fat foods such as juice, bread, pasta, low fat cheese, skinless chicken breasts and a bag of mini carrots. Ok maybe not, maybe she’s eating boxed pizzas, fried chicken and oreo cookies.

My point is, most people are eating a huge amount of carbs. We’ve never had access to so much sugar in our whole history. At the same time, we’re facing an obesity epidemic. Just a coincidence? I don’t think so. You could argue that we have access to more fat too. That would be correct.

So is it the fat or the carbs that are making people fat?

Let’s talk about insulin again. What is insulin’s nickname? Oh that’s right…the fat storing hormone. When you eat carbs your pancreas secretes insulin to lower your blood sugar. When your blood sugar is high, your insulin is high. When your insulin is high it’s sending the message to your fat cells to store the excess carbohydrates as fat. It’s that simple. Getting fat has nothing to do with excess calories, it’s about excess carbohydrates. This is not a secret or anything controversial.

I was reading an old anatomy and physiology manual the other day. The chapter on the digestive system and metabolism contained a few interesting tidbits. One line said: The quantity of glucose that the body can store as fat is virtually limitless. Carbohydrates have the effect of storing fat.

Notice it did not read: Consuming dietary fat drives fat accumulation. No, it’s glucose, a sugar molecule that does that.

What does the book go on to say about weight loss? Does it mention carbohydrate restriction? Nope, caloric restriction. Do you get it? I don’t. The answer to what regulates fat accumulation is carbohydrate intake not caloric intake. They have the answer but they can’t seem to see it.

Don’t believe me? Listen to my story. At one point I was consuming around 1000 calories a day, 80% of those being carbohydrates. I was around 145 pounds. I learned about carbohydrate restriction and went on an Atkins style induction diet. My caloric intake quadrupled. Did I gain or lose?

I lost 6 pant sizes in 3 months.

Yeah, screw caloric restriction.

Next post will be about carbohydrates and how to cut them.

Reasons why I consider it a superfood:

It’s delicious, I consider it an antidepressant, it just makes everything taste better.

It’s low carb so it won’t raise your insulin like carbs will.

It’s mostly monounsaturated fat and is pretty low in Omega 6’s compared to vegetable oils.

Because of it’s animal origin, it is a first class protein which means the animo acids are in the right proportions. Soy, for example, is a second class protein of low biological value because it is low in the sulfur containing amino acid methionine. Humans must consume methionine containing foods because it cannot be synthesized. Plant foods are very low in methionine. Foods richest in methionine include eggs, dairy, shellfish and meats.

In my next post, I will explain why controling insulin’s level is vital for overall health.