Re: Dieting

That doesn't surprise me.

Indeed the inabilty to absorb nutrients will impact on all the systems in the body which is why coeliac has such devastating effects.

Indeed this is why we have to look at the changes that have occurred to plant breeding, crop production, the processing of foods, over the past 50yrs if we are going to understand why people are following dietary/lifestyle guidance from health professionals yet still ending up obese, diabetic, demented and with increased cancer risk. It's not all in the food but there have been significant changes in my lifetime that are adding to our problems.

But the grains that early man had access to were fundamentally different to those that are available in your supermarket today. Dr Davis has indeed experimented with the original grains and with Heritage Wheat varieties and to some extent these do explain some of the French Paradox.
Giving up wheat for a month is a simple enough experiment that we can all do, providing we can read the labels and stick to making as much food at home ourselves from the raw unprocessed ingredients.

If you weigh yourself before you start and again at the end of the month you'll perhaps understand better what Dr Davis is trying to explain.

But do be aware that our gut flora, these are the the bacteria that digest our food for us, takes somewhat longer to change so the benefits of changing the ratio of good/bad gut flora depends on several factors (use of antibiotics, frequency of natural live yoghurt, etc) and may take six months or more to achieve.

Re: Dieting

When it comes to attributing illness to the content of ones diet it seems to me there is research available to fit every hypothesis. I could spend hours finding research papers to support any theory I might have. Those who agree with my findings will nod approval, those who don’t will largely ignore it.
Here is just one example of what I am saying which mentions studies relating to colorectal cancer obviously this is dismissed by the proponents of a low carb/ high meat diet...

'High intake of red and processed meat is associated with significant increased risk of colorectal, colon and rectal cancers. The overall evidence of prospective studies supports limiting red and processed meat consumption as one of the dietary recommendations for the prevention of colorectal cancer’.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21674008

One piece of research is often superseded by further research offering an opposing view. However it appears the advice relating to restricting consumption of certain kinds of meat is still being suggested as of 19/2/2012 by the WCF and the AICR
http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/e...ions/index.php
Some people will say a lot of the research itself is flawed because it is funded by people with a vested interest.

Just about every food one can mention with a few exceptions will at some time have been implicated as having adverse affects on health. So who does ‘the man in the street’ go to for guidance on what to eat to reduce the risk of illness and to stay healthy.

For me it is down to using a little common sense. As no one can be completely certain what is best/safe for us to eat it seems logical to me to spread the risk and eat a variety of foods while at the same time observing a few precautions;
..If a chemical is used to kills insects it is probably not very good for humans either so I don’t want to eat food which has been sprayed with it.
..If a food has been pumped full of antibiotics it is probably not a good thing to put in my body so I will avoid it .
..If a food is full of chemicals and bears little relation to anything one would natural eat it is to be avoided,
..If I eat more food than my body requires I will become overweight and that is not healthy so I need to moderate my overall food intake. This means applying a little willpower over my bodies urges to eat to excess . I appreciate this is not always easy, I have spent a lot of my life having my access to food restricted so the novelty of being able to eat what I want when I want can be difficult to resist.
Going on diets for a short periods of time to reduce weight is not a wise option . Although there may be an initial weight loss many diets are so restrictive they can’t be maintained because people get bored or disheartened with the content and return to eating things they are trying to avoid.

Choosing a moderate sensible approach to eating and allowing oneself the occasional treats seem the best option to me for achieving a healthy and happy life.

Re: Dieting

I agree with those sentiments but would like to comment on the red meat/cancer issue.
When humans evolved we lived mainly outdoor lives wearing little if any clothing, all the meat we caught was free range organic and had been grazing on grass or other animal that grazed on grass.
So the red meat of paleo times had a much higher omega 3 /vitamin d status as did the humans who consumed it.
We can see buy meat that is mainly raised outdoors and mainly grassfed.
We do have to be careful about meat produced intensively and rather than grass fed is mainly fattened on grains.

I doubt it's feasible to do research into the cancer incidence resulting from red meat consumption from grass fed animals, by people with adequate omega 3, Vitamin D3, magnesium status but I'm confident I could predict the outcome.

Re: Dieting

I have been overweight for most of my life and obese these last few years. Food became a comfort, then I began to drink heavily. My addictive personality played havoc with my body. However, I discovered that if I cut most carbs from my diet, including all sugars, convenience foods, fruits and berries. I find that I go through a similar withdrawal as if I were on drugs as I have now turned my body into a fat using machine instead of it being used to glucose.

After two or three weeks I start to add more and more things to my diet. In the first couple of weeks I allowed myself 15 -20 grams of carbs in the next few weeks that will gradually rise as I add, more varieties of vegetables, soft cheeses, seeds, nuts,Berries. Until I find that I am not losing weight any more. Very gradually I will add wine, pulses fruit other than berries, starchy vegetables and whole grains.

Because I have a lot of weight to lose this On going weight loss will take some time. Maybe years. Throughout this time I can know that I will not be hungry and I will not be tempted to eat anything that is going to wreak havoc with my weight loss.

When I eat I am satisfied and need reminding to eat again.. I am for the first time in my life completely in control of my eating. I will not be eating refined sugar or convenience foods again. All of my food will be fresh and home cooked. My snacks will be a packet of nuts. They are good for me and help my bowels.

I am sincere about my diet and have no reason to ask anyone else to change the way they eat except for knowing that to me this is the best thing that has happened to me. To be in control of my eating. To not ever overeat and to never eat rubbish. It is a good thing.

Re: Dieting

Ted I am aware of that, again it is logical (though perhaps more obvious to those of us raised in farming families) and that is why whenever possible I eat organic meat, it costs more so I don't eat meat every day and have to eat other things including carbohydrates. I like to eat fish but again the cost can be prohibitive, I won't eat the cheap farmed salmon which seems to be abundant these days.
I never have eaten chicken, the smell of it cooking makes me feel ill. So many people buy and eat non organic fast grown chicken believing it to be a healthy option to red meat but it is full of additives to speed growth and not at all natural.

I eat organic food whenever I can, my bread is home made with organic flour and fresh yeast and I adopt a slow rise technique which requires less yeast . If I made bread everyday I would go back to the ways used for 100s of years and keep my own 'leaven' so would not need to use yeast at all but I have tried this and found it was not a practical option.

Life is not without risk and this applies to food too. We are not all the same with identical bodies and each of us has to decide what food best suits our particular beliefs and needs.
When deciding on what to eat I think quality of life should be a consideration too. Deny yourself too much and you may extend your life but there is little point in that if life ceases to have many pleasures.

Re: Dieting

post 125 continued..

Ted you are clearly a great advocate of the low carbohydrate diet and I agree some foods in this category are totally unnecessary and should be avoided or at the least limited (eg sugar white flour). I agree wholeheartedly with the quote above about meat.
But how many people on low carbohydrate diets are actually eating only free range organic meat do you think and how many are eating the stuff in supermarkets which for me is a poor apology for meat.
I can hardly bring myself to walk through the meat sections in supermarkets, they turn my stomach with their pale wet looking containers of intensively reared pork with hardly any fat because the animals have not been allowed to mature.
The pale pink flavourless beef again young animals not allowed to mature correctly. The only thing I would class as edible is the lamb which has to be reared outdoors and is more natural to a degree.

I admit I can't afford to eat every day meat which has been correctly raised neither can I afford sustainably raised fish and living inland fish which is of a freshness I consider to be acceptable.

I have to eat something so for me a better option to the supermarket 'meat' is to supplement my diet with other organic foods some of them carbohydrates like porridge oats, wholemeal flour and potatoes. For me a baked organic potato with some butter or cheese and steamed green vegetables or an egg on a piece of freshly baked brown bread is more wholesome than the pale horrors lurking in the meat sections of most supermarkets and non organic butchers.

Re: Dieting

Cate said earlier :------
BE FULLY COMMITTED AND BE VERY STRICT

I would like to add to this, once you have lost your weight no matter what diet you follow, be fully committed to your diet FOREVER, yes forever, because it will mean you have found a diet that suits you.
Keep strict keep your eyes on the scales, and above all exercise.
If you are unable to exercise try some chair exercises Youtube
you do what you can, not as hard and fast as this guy, but to your own capabilities, music helps.
Watch your calories, proteins and vitamins and of course your blood sugar levels.
You may have to make the odd adjustment now and again, especially if you go out for a meal or some celebration, if you find your weight is beginning to creep up, go back to the original foods that took it off.
If you do go out to eat, try to eat as near as possible to your diet.
That is how I work with mine using the blood diet I posted earlier, I allow myself a 3 llb leeway.
Always consult your doctor, for an occasional blood test, to make sure you are not lacking.
Good luck!

Re: Dieting

Well said Wrinkly and may I say you look well on whatever way you look after yourself.

You see its not just to look or even feel better that I must lose this weight and yes keep it off too. If I don't have knee surgery I will end up in a wheel chair. I need to lose weight to have the op and to keep it off so that I don't undo the good the op will serve.

My husband is the same, not just to look good but he does bless him but as a diabetic he really has to keep his blood sugars under control.

Good to see your post

Re: Dieting

It sounds like a sensible plan although I think there will be some people who find that the years of eating junk food MAY have so damaged their regulatory system that the reintroduction of starchy vegetables MAY be a problem.
We also have to understand there are other factors besides the nutritional quality of the foods we consume that may influence our ability to control weight.
Our water supply for the most part contains recycled antibiotics and prescription chemicals that may be altering the makeup of our gut flora.
The plastics that much of our food is wrapped in MAY also be disrupting our endocrine function.
The atmospheric pollution in urban environments may also be affecting our ability to regulate our weight.
It is NOT simply a matter of calories in = calories out.
Unfortunately the complexity of the problem is something that most dieticians and nutritionists seem to ignore.

Re: Dieting

That is a recipe for disaster.
The stricter you are the more Committed you become the more you are setting the scene for disaster.
Stress, particularly the stress from unreasonable and unrealistic commitment and strict adherence to unscientific guidelines inevitablty raises CORTISOL levels.
Now if we go the NHS and see what the side effects of short and long term cortisol use are we find.,


If you put people in a situation where they are bound to fail because the stress involved causes them to gain weight and lose control of their appetite then you are simply making matters worse.
If you are going to suceed in losing weight and keeping that weight off the very last thing you want to do is to raise cortisol levels therefore the answer is to do the exact opposite of being fully committed and very strict.
You need simple evidence based guidelines that actually work and which can be adhered to without dedication or strict commitment.
This is what worked for me and I don't take kindly to obey rules or complying with stupid rules and regulations that don't even meet common sense let alone the most recent scientific understanding of to use up calories already stored in fat tissue.